Merry Christmas!

Well, here it is, the day after Christmas and I'm just getting my Christmas greetings out to you.  It seems I won't have an internet connection at my new house until this coming weekend but I'll write when I can.

A little before Christmas I happened by the park when the people from the nursing home were having an event.  I love these people!  Enjoy.

It's hard to imagine just how short most of these folks are.  I'll try to give you a little measuring hints as the photos go on.  Don't you just love Santa? It's traditional for the indigenous people to present a serious face to people most of the time until they get to know you and this woman carried it off beautifully.

She encouraged me to take her picture.  I just loved her costume.

Everyone was being directed by the nun on the right.  They were striking their sticks in perfect time to the music coming from the speaker on the back of that truck.

I love this little nun.  She was out there dancing right along with the music.  You can't tell from the picture but Santa was keeping up very nicely.

Even the ones who can't do much anymore were clapping along as they could.  The woman on the right was too little for the chair behind her so she was sitting on a small stool.

I adore this little woman.  She was so excited that I was taking her picture.

Look at that little twinkle in her eyes!

"Shall we dance?"

Mary and Joseph

The dance around baby Jesus.  The nun in this picture is such a delight.  She is someone who truly loves her vocation.  You can see it in her eyes and the way she just gets into everything she does with the people.

Wrapping the baby Jesus in the shawls.

This tiny woman was standing by the edge of the park watching the goings on. She looks like she might benefit from being in the nursing home.  She has so much trouble walking--I felt so sorry for her.

You really have to love a dad who kisses his baby's toes.

Mary and Joseph posed so nicely for their photos.  They're not looking at me, though, becasue one of the nuns is standing next to me taking their pictures, too, and they're watching her.

Two more adorable women.

When I didn't have the camera held up she would smile at me but as soon as the camera moved into position she put on her serious face.

I think she's about ready to go back to the home.

 The bench right behind this woman is standard height for the average Ecuadorian (that means it's a little short for me). Look how tiny this woman looks next to it. For that matter, her walker is lowered as far as it will go and it's still a bit too tall for her.

 She was so excited that I wanted to take her picture. "Oh, wait, we have to include baby Jesus." This lovely woman is said to be the oldest indigenous person in this area.  She is either 103 or 104, depending on who you ask.  I'd say she's holding up pretty darned well.

"No, we don't just need to include Him, we need to have a photo just of Him." No problem, I can do that.

And off they go, back to the nursing home.  I promised the nun I would bring her photos of their little group so I need to get down there and do that.  She is such a sweet woman.  If I can, I'd love to find someone who could translate for me so she and I could actually have a conversation rather than stumbling over my little bit of Spanish.

I'll have more Christmas photos for you when I have internet access and then we can focus on other events both past and present.

Merry Christmas from Cotacachi!