It just doesn't feel like Christmas. 
While I hear (at least parts) of Washington are experiencing the coldest temperatures in almost 20 years, I am getting sunburnt and impatiently awaiting my first scuba diving experience. Without snow, cold weather and being assulted by holiday sales, it just doesn't feel like the season is here. Although I appreciate the peace that comes from the lack of advertisements (not that they don't exist here, I am just isolated from them, no tengo TV), I miss seeing streets of houses lit up with little white lights and Christmas trees poking through windows. 
Many people here have Christmas trees but due to serious deforestation issues, most of them are artificial. Inside some houses it does feel a bit festive but since many people keep their doors, curtains and shutters closed preventing me catching a glimpse of their "arboles navideños". There are periodic decorative encounters that make me laugh. For example, the giant inflatable snowman hanging from a second story window 
(multiple stories in and of themselves are quite uncommon). The enourmous Frosty lasted about a day before losing all its air and hanging limply. Here, instead of hanging lights the common activity is to paint your house. I am amazed how frequently people change the colors, inside and out. My neighbors house is change from green bricks to yellow, the mortar is still white. 
To bring a little American tradition to Honduras, I decided to make paper snowflakes with my summer school kids. I agreed to teach English to a group of 2nd-going-on-3rd graders during vacation. We skipped the English yesterday to make Christmas cards and snowflakes. Even though they can't imagine real snow, they loved cutting up paper to make pretty designs. Tuesday we are having
a party. That means I have to come up with Christmas activities and make gingerbread cookies. Although I am not a huge gingerbread fan, it's too traditional to pass up. (And I don't want to buy food coloring and put the time into red and green frosted sugar cookies. The more intricate types, the ones I like, either would not be appreciated or ingredients are too hard to find.)
As for actual Christmas, I plan to dine at midnight (as is tradition) with my host family on the 24th and fulfill my family tradition by making Danish pastries for breakfast with them on the 25th. Really, it's all just keeping myself busy until I can meet Marta at the airport on the 26th.
Thing I love: the ridiculously popular trend of drivers putting the seatbelt over one arm or across their lap but not buckling it. Occassionaly, this is due to broken seatbelts but the majority of the time, that does not seem to be the case. They police enforce the lax seatbelt law from time to time but most people don't want to wear them.
Thing I hate: cuetes (firecrackers), still.
photos: girls in my English class making snowflakes and christmas cards, 6th graders performing at graduation, and my favorite sign in Talanga, a paper on the side of a house stating, "for sale information"; I think they mean the house is for sale but it's still funny (and it's been there as long as I have). Also, a few from the waterfall near Lake Yojoa.
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