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Published: December 26th 2014
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Lima
Kim and family just before the graduation ceremony Since I am writing this on second Christmas day I thought I could afford myself the luxury of having such a corny blog title. Merry Christmas indeed! A Merry Christmas from Lima, with family. My brother's family in this case. Christmas in Peru, but with a Swedish twist. The twist being our Christmas dinner, with some traditional Swedish dishes like Christmas ham, herring in mustard sauce, Janssons temptation (a potato dish with cream, onions and anchovies) and herring salad. A lot of fish. The Swedes love their fish, and their dill, which is in nearly every dish as well.
Now talking about family, a friend of mine, this Christmas discovered, much to her horror, that her great-great-grandfather was a slave owner back in the day. Slightly unsettling perhaps, but really, it has nothing to do with her. Rumour in my family has it that sometime in a distant past we were swashbuckling pirates, which might explain my affinity to wooden pegs, eye-patches and parrots. But the past is the past, and Christmas is a time for the present, and in the present my friend is an extremely sweet, friendly, talented, and tolerant person, no matter what some great-great-grandfather might have
Lima
Getting his diploma been up to. Its good to know your past, and where you come from, but it's no use as a guide to who you are, and it certainly is no use feeling guilty about what some ancestor did or did not do.
Christmas for me is being around family, the present family. I always endeavour to spend this time of year with somebody in my family. This is the second time I spent it in Peru with my brother, the other time was 10 years ago. Kim, my eldest nephew was 7 in those days. He became 17 this year. Time flies.
I not only succeeded in getting to Lima in time for Christmas but also for Kim's graduation ceremony. That is how old he is! He is at the end of his high-school years. Well, nearly. In Peru he is, but Peru is different. They only have 5 years of high-school here, after that you can start studying at a university in Peru. The key-word here, being Peru! If you want to study anywhere outside of Peru, you will have to add one more year to this, just like the rest of us. And obviously Kim wants
Lima
Graduation 2014 to study elsewhere, which means he has one more year left. A year to complete his International Baccalaureate. They only offer this extra year at international schools, luckily for him that is what his school is. Be that as it may, the graduation ceremony is this year, whether or not some pupils will continue on for another year or not.
And so I shed a tear as I watched Kim in his fine toga and hat, picking up his diploma for finishing his first 5 years at school. I thought about the time I finished high-school, about my dreams and aspirations. Then I realised I didn't have any. I recall I just wanted to travel. Well, that worked out pretty well in the end I guess.
With graduation came the usual parties, and the proms. Kim has had several proms already, in Peru they have pre-proms, and pre-pre-proms! Which means he has had some form of prom for the last couple of years. Needless to say, we didn't see much of Kim the week before Christmas. With the parties lasting up till 6 in the morning, you can guess when he slept.
Next up in the family
Lima
Teary eyed uncle is Ida. Ida likes to sing and she plays guitar in a band. I was treated to a concert of hers. An all female band, like the Bangles (for those of you who know the eighties). I was impressed. And surprised. I am not sure where she got her musical talent from. Certainly not from our side of the family. Believe me, you don't want to hear us sing. A few more years and Ida will be starting her pre-pre-proms, pre-proms and proms and another one will spread her wings, possibly adding a celebrity to our family history.
Finally there is Nina, the youngest. She loves to swim and, unfortunately, she loves Furby. Furby is an electronic toy which looks a bit like a Gremlin, and is highly annoying. But I love her none the less. What will become of Nina only the future will tell. I am sure it will be good.
And their parents? Two plant geneticists, working in the field of potatoes. Clever people, who are helping the world, one potato at a time. And I do my part by eating one potato at a time.
Christmas, family, good food, good company. We sang,
Lima
Kim ready for prom we drank, we made some awesome meals, and Santa dropped a whole bunch of present beneath the tree. He seemed to have known that certain items in my wardrobe had fallen apart during this trip and was clearly determined to replenish them. I have good walking shoes again! And t-shirts without holes. What a luxury indeed.
Let's see what the future brings. I happen to know I will be using those new shoes pretty soon.
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Stanley Gleiman
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Happy Holidays
Thank you very much for the blogs,your my hero.Have a Happy Holiday and a Happy and Healthy New Year.Travel safe. All the best,Stanley