sick awesome.

It is officially December. I am really excited about the holidays. Last night my roommates and I put together our Christmas tree and set out all the decorations we could find. Out decorations came as hand me downs from past years of Mission Year participants. The boxes were full of lights, garlands, and other various trinkets. My favorite was a miniature snow globe that looked like plastic television that had the nativity scene inside. There were also some plastic elves stocking hooks that Lu insisted were leprechauns. She didn’t enjoy the Christmas decorating as much as I did and thus mocked the decorations…I have forgiven her.

Our thanksgiving was good. We woke up early on the morning of and headed to center city (downtown) for the Thanksgiving Day parade. Lu, Amy and I decided to walk. We thought that public transport might be down or really slow. I am not naturally much of a walker but hanging out with Amy has inspired/forced me to walk really long distances already this year. So after the 4 mile walk into center city we sat and watched an awesome parade complete with the giant inflated balloons shaped like Garfield and Hello Kitty, marching bands, and various celebrities. I might have also seen Rachel Ray live in person. There were also approx. 98 clowns in this parade, which would have really freaked Bre out had she been with me. I took some pictures to scare her with later.

After the parade we came home took naps and just rested before dinner. Around 5 we headed to our neighbors house for a night of eating. I walked into the kitchen and I didn’t see a lot of food and was thinking that it was going to be a small meal. WRONG. I walked down into the basement and there were about 15 huge trays full of food. I was immediately handed a bowl of goat soup (my neighbors are Jamaican) that I cheerfully ate trying to avoid the bones and other items that I was questionable on what they were. They had a huge spread of traditional thanksgiving food with tons of Jamaican food mixed in. It was an awesome meal. There were probably about 50 people there over the course of the night eating, playing domino's, and just talking. The night ended with rum cake, which I have learned is a staple in Jamaican homes. I went home full and happy.

The day after thanksgiving is known by a lot of people as black Friday. Some of my friends and I embraced the opposite and celebrated Buy Nothing Day. Partnering with our friends at the simple way we headed to downtown dressed in crazy costumes and handed out free hot chocolate and encouraged people to be counter-cultural and buy nothing. It was really fun to act ridiculous and to hear that people really agree with us. They agree that the holidays are a time for family and friends, not for consumerism and spending. I might have more to say on this later, for now you can check out this http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=4220 and see the perspective of one of my fellow my Buy Nothing Day participants.

I have also had a revelation over that past couple of weeks about what really brings me joy. Working with people applying for jobs, filling out rental assistance, getting LIHEAP applications in the mail gives me joy. The days that I have spent laboring with people over theses types of things have been the most joy filled days I have had here in Philly. As I am praying through what graduate program I should do in the fall, or over whether or not I should even do grad school, God is showing me what brings me joy. Joy is not being with kids all day. Joy is not sitting in an office all day. I am slowly learning what the future might look like for me, and it is exciting.