Christmas was a lot different this year. First of all, it was on a Tuesday. So, I had to work and the kids had school. Nothing special. Didn’t feel any different than any other day really. David had made a special dinner when I came home with the kids – homemade Mexican (delicious, but not too traditional).

Another reason is things have changed around here. The govt. doesn’t want Christmas celebrated here anymore since it is another influence from the Western World. We had seen postings online about not celebrating Christmas and don’t give/receive gifts. Because I had previously been informed I couldn’t share anything of religious nature in the classroom (and before I knew about the Christmas ban) I bought neutral Christmas crafts like snowmen and Christmas trees. . . I still taught Christmas terms and songs, but couldn’t mention Jesus’ birth. There is always a local teacher sitting in on my classes, and she didn’t seem too supportive of my fun activities and crafts for my Christmas lessons. Only AFTER my lessons did I realize I probably wasn’t supposed to teach that, but nobody said anything to me. . . before or after . . . so. . .atleast the students enjoyed it!

We did have 3 small gatherings in our home with friends. We made cookies, shared a meal, played games, gave gifts and shared the Christmas Story! Two new friends had never heard that story before.