Longest post I have ever written

The post that everyone has been waiting for is finally written.


So to start off I hope everyone had a good new years and it started well. Now onto this post of mine and the stories and adventures Ive had since my last post. They will of course be summarized and some days will be cut out, but the way this will be written is that I will talk about the previous leading up to today.

Now onto my first topic:
What is a Posada?
I found someone who summarized it completely because knowing I could just expand it and it would take me a long time to write exactly what we do. Here it is: "A posada is a celebration in Mexico. It's done every Christmas. Starting on the 16th to the 24th, they celebrate the nativity. Which is the birth of Jesus. these posadas are enactment of looking up to Joseph and Virgin Mary. Which in spanish we call them ''Los Pelegrinos San Jose y La Virgen Maria.'' The head of the posada will carry a candle inside a paper lamp shade that looks like an accordian but open at the top. This is called a ''Farolito'' or a little lantern. The head of the posada will take the crowd to three different houses singing, but out of the three houses only one house will let them in. they will mostly eat ''panes y bunuelos'', which means breads and sweet candy. at the end of the gattering all the kids will gather and break a pinata. This is what the posada is all about." Now, there are a couple of things that we dont do, like above it says that the crowd goes to 3 different houses, but we go to 3 different doors around the house. There are also a group of people singing outside and inside reenacting how Mary and Joseph asked to be let in. Also, someone within the outside crowd carries the Peregrinos <-- that would be something similar to what the person would carry. Oh and we dont break a Piñata either, instead we all gather around and pray the rosary then eat. Thats basically how we do it and its a lot of fun!

What I got for Christmas and how it went

So this year I wasnt expecting to get something usually because our parents ask me and my brother what we want but this time they didnt and its not because they dont like us or anything, but because we were just busy.

When we came home from my grandma's house on Christmas Eve well it was already Christmas day when we came home there wasnt anything under the tree when we came home. I was kind of sad, but just thought well we'll see what happens in the morning. I was awoken by my younger brother instead of me waking him up because thats how it was when we were younger. I would wake him up but now he wakes me up. Because from upstairs you can see our tree and the living room I saw we had presents, of course they werent wrapped, but there they were. We almost ran downstairs, but tried not to make any noise as we went down.  

I was surprised at what I saw. We had recieved another Xbox 360, but this one was the Kinect version. It was the whole bundle the one that includes the xbox, controller, a game and the Kinect sensor. We already have two Xbox 360's but theyre the first gen's, but still it was shocking. We also got pajama pants like those that are soft and you can sleep with. I hope you know which ones Im talking about. I also got $200 cash and my brother got the same. I was shocked at the amount and I couldnt believe it. I still havent spent any of it because I dont know what to buy. I got $40 from my grandparents and that went towards getting my mom something for Christmas because she didnt get anything. Me and my brother pitched in to get her something.

We went to church then came back home and played with the Kinect. Man it gets you worked up and sweaty lol. Its really fun. Then went to my aunts house and took pictures with Santa. Yeah, there was a Santa Claus there and he looked legit. It was to change things up a bit and also because my cousins kids are young and I guess they thought it would be a good idea. It turned out to be good. We got to take an all cousins picture there are a couple of more but not so many. The one I always picture is when I was 7 or so. That was a long time ago. Then we did our secret santa gift exchange  and I got a $25 Best Buy gift card and I still havent spent that one yet lol. After that we just spent the day with the family and watched tv and talked about things.

Paintball on the 29th

That morning man I was running late right from the moment I woke. I got lazy and played some Black Ops and then before I knew it I was supposed to be meeting up at my friends house. We quickly showered, loaded up and took off. We stopped to buy waters and gatorade. Then off to my friends house. I brought them some camo clothes and they quickly dressed and we took off. From my friends house it was pretty far so we did about 20 minutes in driving.


We got there and there was a mess with paying and stuff. That got sorted and we started getting ready. I had loads of fun especially with my friends and I gave myself a memorable bruise and memory. I had to clean the barrel of my gun because I got a bad ball and I popped some in there so I unscrewed and cleaned it then screwed it back on. My friend bumped into me and I accidently pressed the trigger and I shot my chin. My gun was no less than a foot away. My gun is very advanced and up there with those fast and expensive ones so I have a very senesitive trigger. Oh and all of this happened during a game lol. Guess what I did that night? If you guessed it good but if you didnt its ok, but I cleaned my equipment and the stuff my friends used. Yeah I own a lot of equipment. I shared guns, masks, pods, harnesses, and gloves with 4 different people so yeah I own alot.  


How New Years went

The day of New Years Eve was memorable. I woke up played some Black Ops and started watching the Sun Bowl game. Just knowing that I live 15 minutes away was exciting, but not having ticket because it was sold out wasnt bad. I got to see it on tv which was good because I was warm and comfortable. It was really cold that day. Then around 2 pm we all started to get ready and around 3:30 left to Juarez, Mexico. We were the first to arrive and we helped around as much as we could. By around 9 pm everyone was there and the cousins were talking and watching tv. There are so many cousins that the 5 oldest of which me and my brother are part of just talked amongst ourselves. The other 13 cousins just played amongst themselves.

Occasionally some would come and talk to us because they are somewhat old like from 8-12 years old. Then we went to play ping pong within the same house and before I knew it we were counting down to the new year. We then made some speeches not long ones of course wishing for the best in the coming year and this year most of us got to say something. Mainly because most of the cousins are shy, including myself, but this year we just did it. Some of the younger cousins cried while speaking. You could tell it came from the heart and it did. We, as in the whole family, have gone through some tough obstacles in 2010 that came out in the speeches. Then after we just messed around played a couple of family games. Of course because we are so many there was one table with adults playing cards and another table with kids and adults playing Mexican Train Dominoes. Then went for some ping pong again. I ended up going to bed at around 5:30 am. I woke up at around 9:30 and ate some breakfast and took off with my uncle at 11:30 am. I came home and fell asleep and just lazed around the whole day.

Ok, so I covered 4 out of the 6 topics and posted 2 of 3 pics. I think its good enough especially how Im tired of writing. I will post the remaining stuff in another post. I think this is enough on your guys' eyes it is rather long if you ask me. I wouldnt be surprised if you guys took a break then returned to finish reading the post, lol, its all good.

Anyways, lates,

John.