I hope everybody had a better Christmas than I did... I don't want to say it was bad, but definitely very different. It felt more like the 4th of July (actually, pretty much a mirror image). Keren invited Dylan and I to spend Christmas Eve with her family, so we decided to go. The dinner was great, and very filling, but that was pretty much the night. After dinner we basically sat around while some of the guests were shooting off little fireworks. We spent about five hours just waiting for midnight to come (here the big Christmas event is at midnight on the 24th). I'd like to say that it was worth the wait, but we were out of the city and all midnight was was a few more fireworks. There was no exchange of gifts, which was the most surprising of all, and of course there was no snow. Let's just say I'm looking forward to next Christmas.

On Christmas day everything is closed, and everybody sleeps off the night before. In much of the country Christmas Eve is a big drinking and partying night. I spent the first half of the day in La Chureca, but even there it was a lazy atmosphere. Afterwards I went to hang out with Dylan and his street kids in a nearby fast food restaurant called Pollo Campero (Country Chicken). We played with the kids for a couple hours and then we went to Dylan's house to throw the football around. We had to do something to feel more at home on Christmas. On my way over to his house I picked up Esmir who was talking to our buddy the security guard a few houses down. We threw the ball around for a while, and then these three Nicaraguan guys walked by. They wanted to play and said they knew a little of the rules. So we played 3 on 3 touch football, but it was hilarious. Team Nica was basically just trying to play keep away, but they couldn't even do that. We were just flat out dominating. Haha so they told us we had three downs to score and they had infinite. Esmir, who we had only just taught how to throw the ball was our quarterback to make it more fair, but in our last two drives Esmir went 6 for 6 with two touchdowns! It was pretty amazing, and a nice taste of home for Christmas.

On Wednesday we had another long session of HSM dance practice. The new additions were better then the real group members, which I found pretty funny. The five new girls were actually good dancers and the new guys all played basketball. The guys were there just for the basketball song, in which there's practically no dancing, just a little scrimmaging and basic basket ball drills. We were nowhere near ready, however, by the time practice ended. Thursday would be another practice day before the show. After Wednesday's practice I just did a little hanging out with the people who run the bakery near my house and some planning of my family's visit coming up. I got invited to go to church with the people in the bakery, so tomorrow I'll be checking out a new church.

I went to La Chureca on Thursday, but not before printing up 70 photos to take with me. That was the only present I could afford to give the kids there, and even that ended up a little more expensive than I'd have liked. The kids were really excited, though, to get photos of themselves and their friends. I drove around the neighborhoods there feeling a little Santa Clausey. After my rounds in La Chureca I showered and headed to the Holiday Inn, our big venue for the first time in three months. We practiced for a couple hours, trying to get everything down, but it was not enough time. Cristina and I (Gabriella and Troy) were told that we had to quickly learn a duo for that very night. We practiced it about 5 or 6 times while watching the movie, but didn't quite get everything down. Showtime was coming up, so we had to stop practicing and get our makeup done. It was quite hilarious to see everyone getting made up for the show. There was a gay guy orchestrating all of the hairdo's and makeup, and gave me way too much. I went to the bathroom and took it all off because I was so gay looking. It was ridiculous. The basketball song was first, and it went pretty horribly. I was the main guy, doing the lip syncing and everything, and I ended the choreography one line early, so when the music ended we were all just kind of confused. It was pretty funny. Next was Bop to the Top, which was a duo of two other members. Then came "Breaking Free," my duo with Gabriella, which actually went well considering we had just learned the song an hour before the show. The finale was "Together," which was a success and was followed by a short interview of the group and a raffle of some of the newest High School Musical products. We had a small autograph session afterwards, in which I signed three kid's notebooks. I could barely keep from laughing. Three of my friends were there for the show, which was pretty embarrassing. Melissa and her siblings Brenson and Elizabeth could not keep from laughing.

We went out as a group for the after party, which was terrible. We went to a bar instead of the restaurant we'd planned on going to, and hardly got anything to eat. I decided to leave with one of the members, Denis, and we went to a fritanga to get a meal. We talked and ate some beans, rice, steak, and plantains all for a buck fifty. That night I woke up a couple times feeling awful, and in the morning woke up with a fever. I'd told Denis that I'd stop by his house in the morning to take him to La Chureca and to work on my motorcycle since I know nothing about them and he has been riding since he was 8. I felt terrible, but took some meds and went to his house anyway. His mom invited me to eat lunch when we returned from La Chureca, and I accepted. We were only in La Chureca for a short while because I was struggling, and then we went to my house so I could take a cold shower and another dose of ibuprofen. We then went to his house and worked on my bike. My brakes were squeaking, so we took off the back wheel, and sanded the brake disk to make it a little more textured. I learned quite a bit and had a really good lunch afterwards with his mom and dad. I felt much better after lunch, and played soccer with Denis and a bunch of his neighborhood friends. I then went home, showered, and napped because all the pain had come back.

After my nap I took another dose of ibuprofen and went to Casa Habila, which is the rescue home for a few girls from La Chureca who have been abused or whose families can't take care of them. It was Rosa's 15th birthday, which in Latin Culture is a huge celebration. My fever broke and I was sweating pretty bad during the majority of the party, but it was good to participate in and to see a lot of my friends both from La Chureca and from elsewhere.

Dylan invited me to go to the movies after the birthday party, and we went to the nicest theater I've ever been to in my life. It wasn't big like an IMAX, but every chair is a lazyboy recliner, and comes with a button you can press for service. We were the only people in the theater, and could have popcorn or beer brought to us any time throughout the movie. I didn't get anything, but definitely enjoyed the recliner. The tickets were only 5 bucks, which is about double of the other theaters here, but still way cheaper than theaters in the states.

Today I came out in the paper again, with a picture of Cristina and me in our duo. The article says that we're supposed to have a show today, but I think that it got cancelled. I guess that's it until next time. I'm getting excited for my family coming down Wednesday night!