My Christmas Tree

I am blessed to live in a climate where pine trees grow! (known as "strange tree" in the local language) So this year some friends and I went down a dirt road outside of town and they helped me get my first real Christmas tree :)

Plain of Jars

My province is home to many sites where large stone jars are scattered around. They are one of the world's mysteries and no one quite knows how they came to be in this part of the world or exactly what their purpose is. Many tourists make their way to this area to catch a glimpse of these jars. I was able to spend part of a day at one of the sites with some friends. The weather was beautiful and it was a lot of fun to walk through the "woods" and look at the jars too.

New House

My friend P (in the turquoise shirt) invited me to attend/observe a ceremony for her friends who had recently gotten married and were ready to move into a new house. A string tying ceremony was held for this occasion (like many other big events in life) and included a couple additional elements related to getting rid of evil spirits (symbolized by burning strings, extinguishing them in water, and throwing them out of the house) and blessings of prosperity (symbolized in throwing rice at different times throughout the ceremony).