Yes, It Is The Same St. Lucia

Thanks to everyone that sent me birthday greetings on Monday.  In addition to your felicitations, I received a birthday card from my Sunday School class (very special; much thanks, everyone!) and a package from home, which included my much-anticipated birthday present, a replacement camera!  So I can for-sure regale readers with pictures and video of the holiday goings-on here in the Federation.

I had an enjoyable weekend, planning for the festivities at the beginning of the week.  Monday was Santa Lucia day, the Swedish Christmas holiday and the first day of winter before the Gregorian calendar moved it to the 21st.  I celebrated by attending my church's annual Christmas concert, a rather big to-do on the island; the Governor General and the Prime Minister were in attendance, among hundreds of others.  My host father sang in the choir representing our parish, and some other friends sang in the St. Christopher Memorial Choir.  The combined ensembles finished the performance with a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus, which effectively lodged itself in my cerebrum for the rest of the night (not a bad thing, incidentally).  Some other favorites included Schubert's Ave Maria on trumpet and a male solo of O Holy Night.

And though it was technically my 25th birthday on Monday evening, I chose to celebrate it with friends on Tuesday evening instead.  As mentioned before, about ten of us went to dinner at Domino's, which is conveniently located next door to the movie theater, before catching a discounted viewing of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Without going into the details here, suffice to say the movie was mostly worth the wait.  I was thrilled to have everyone that could make it over to the apartment afterward, where I was delighted to entertain for an hour-and-a-half before we all got rained on waiting for the bus.  But that's okay; it was a warm rain.

All the while at work I have been helping clean up around the office.  In the islands, what we think of as "spring cleaning" is generally observed in the weeks anticipating Carnival.  It's still quite warm here, of course, with seasonal lows of 75 degrees, and so there's no need to find a small hole to hibernate in for four months like those in the Midwest are already having to do.  No cabin fever, no spring cleaning, no snow.  In fact, I might just find myself at the beach on Christmas! (Now it sounds a little like bragging.)

I think I'm coming down with a mild sinus infection; I've had mucus issues for a few days now, and now the fever and lack of energy is kicking in.  But it's not enough to knock me off my feet, so I'll just wait for it to pass in time.  And with Carnival and J'ouvert looming on the horizon, I've still got a few things to take care of before everything on the island shuts down until the new year.  In the meantime, find some time one evening to Skype me!