So I am still here in paradise, at the finca I am working at, giving tours and helping whereever needed. It is Christmas here too, but it is somewhat hard to get into the spirit since it is hot as always and only cool during the night. I can still swim in the river and the trees are as green as ever. Besides - luckily - there are no supermarkets that remind you every day that you should buy more than you need because it's Christmas. There are Christmas decorations here and some are as bad as it gets but mainly they are pretty and not very disturbing. There are Posadas which can mean two quite different things: A posada can be a Christmas party just like we have in Europe with food and drink and music and sweets. The sweets are in a Pinata that you have to hit until if falls to spill out the sweets, which is quite fun. The other type of posada is the "real" one: People from the village come together in a procession carrying the figures of Maria and Joseph. Every night a different person of the village hosts the posada. They will wait inside their house to receive the procession first denying entry and then welcoming them as the parents of Jesus. The figures of Maria and Joseph are put on a table and will stay in the house until the next posada. This is followed by a prayer. Then food and drinks are offered to everyone and there is also music and dance. I had the privilege to get to know both types and I must say, the "real" posada for the first time in many years reminded me that, yes, for Christians supposedly Christmas is an important holiday and makes a lot of sense. Not for all the commerce around it, of course, but it is a great way to unite a village. On Christmas Eve there will be a school play - which is part of just about every major holiday in Mexico, and schools invest a lot of time in preparing them - then we will have another Pinata followed by a dinner and not much party. New Year's will be more party and less religious.

I am still happy to be here, and only half eaten by mosquitos, so enough of me remains to go bird watching and enjoy. I have reached at more than 45 species entered in ebird, and I have seen many more, that I couldn't identify for certain and therefore did not enter in ebird. But many of the 45 were life birds for me and are very beautiful and impressive, so I am very happy already. And every day I add new species. And I still go swimming in the river almost every morning to enjoy the fact that I can. Also my time here is passing quickly and about half the time I am to spend here has passed already. Still, I feel very happy and honored that I can pass both Christmas and New Year's here with the people that are here and without the stress caused by the city.

I will write more in due time but will leave you with a short blog this time in the hope that you too can enjoy some peace and quiet in your holidays.