I've been murdered.

So I'm happy to report that I'm feeling better, despite being murdered today.* I'm a little less homesick, though no doubt, I will be missing my family immensely this Christmas.

I have made some travel plans, which definitely help. I'll be taking a trip to Lisbon for 5 days, and spending New Year's there. So exciting! I've been wanting to go to Lisbon for a while now, so I'm really glad we have the chance to go! Everyone is telling me that it will be preciosa this time of year. I'm sure they're right!

My friend and I are also planning various activities in and around Toledo for the long break. I'm sure we'll be keeping busy! On the agenda: A guided night-time walking tour of Toledo (we've always wanted to do this!), visiting nearby pueblos, going to Madrid to see the Christmas lights, another little trip within Spain somewhere (though we have no idea where that might be)...
But all in all, it should be good.

I've received a couple of packages this week. One from Chelsea and one from Aunt Judy. I opened Chelsea's (because I got it at the height of my homesickness, and needed to open it for my own well being!) It was a bag of HUGE marshmallows. Like, baseball sized marshmallows. Try sticking that in your hot chocolate!
And I haven't yet opened the second package, because I decided that from here on out, whatever I get, whether it be cards or packages, I'm going to save it until Christmas. And the anticipation is already building!

Yesterday, I went to watch a movie with one of the teachers that I work with. They are going to show this movie, Ágora, to the bilingual students, and they wanted all of the teachers to watch it. (Though I'm technically not a teacher, I wanted to watch it anyway, and I can't watch region 2 dvds on my computer.) So I went to her house to watch it. She made tea and had cookies from one of the famous bakeries here in Toledo. We watched the movie, which was horrible. It was really poorly made, and the content, I'm sure, won't be interesting to 12-15 year-olds, but what can you do?
After the movie, I helped her and her daughter with their belén, or Nativity scene. They were making plaster and pouring it over their mountainous landscape made of newspaper and cardboard boxes. I was delighted to help. We were listening to Christmas music and wearing aprons, working on a Christmas craft, and it was just a really heartwarming, homey atmosphere. They invited me to have dinner with them on Christmas Eve, which I'm sure will be just as delightful.

My plan for today is to make gingerbread cookies. Which first requires that I find a rolling pin. But I'm pretty excited. I haven't done this kind of baking since I've been here. I'm going to play Christmas carols and, though I won't be wearing an apron, I'm sure my heart will be warmed again. (And hopefully my fingers will be warmed as well, since the bitter cold has definitely returned to Toledo.)

It's finally beginning to feel like Christmas. Maybe that's because I'm no longer avoiding it!

*After two months of playing a school-wide game of Clue, I've been murdered. The teachers all got a piece of paper, naming another teacher, a specific location in the school, and a weapon (pen, scissors, etc). To kill somebody, you have to get them alone, in that place, with that weapon. Which, let's be honest, for me it's rather impossible. Today I was finally murdered, which means that I now must buy a gift for my killer. Seems kind of backward, doesn't it? :)