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This day has been sponsored by : Sarah and Daan Kegel

Week 4 Day 1 - "Adventskalender & Adventskränze"

Any of you who have ever been to my place between 1st December and xmas will have noticed at least the former, if not both those items. I even brought an Adventkalender to Lock Haven that year. This might be the first year that I remember that I don't have one... and I warned my mom that this is only an exception and that next year the tradition shall continue as usual. And since this experience is not only about volunteering, but also about cultural exchange, I had to make sure I "import" one of my favourite traditions from home: the Adventskalender!

On the first picture you can see the result: All the cups were made by the children at the Hogarcito, three cups each. Then Caitlin and I filled with 8 candies or stickers or similar per day and closed it with some paper and an elastic. And then we built a christmas tree from it. I explained to the children that this is a count down to xmas, and that when all the cups are open, it will be xmas Eve. Now, every day, we draw a name and that child is the one to open the cup and distribute the content. The empty cup then goes to the child who made the cup. It is the first thing every kid who can speak only words is greeting me with in the morning... "Sabine... vaso... abrimos un vaso?"

Yesterday, on the first Sunday of Advent, some of us went to support Rebekah for her participation at the talent contest at her church. She did two singing bits and won for one of them! On our way there, narrow stairs led to a very fragile suspension bridge. On the way down the stairs I came across people carrying a Corona de Adviento - what a surprise! One thing I noticed was that one candle had a different colour than the other three... and in the meantime I have investigated this mystery:

http://www.corazones.org/biblia_y_liturgia/temporadas/navidad/corona_adviento.htm

Hmmm... it mentions that the Corona de Adviento comes originally from Germany... but I do not remember that we ever had the colour code! The candle of different colour is appearantly lit on the third Sunday of Advent and represents el gozo, the enjoyment or boon.

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For today's sponsors

Sarah & Daan... Have you decorated your house for advent at all?