The Dominican Republic at Christmastime

It's a little disorienting to be in the Caribbean during the holiday season. It doesn't "feel" like Christmas when it's 80+ degrees outside and you're used to frigid temperatures and a foot of snow. Sure there are street vendors (and by "street" I mean they are actually standing in the middle of the street wending their way between cars at traffic lights) selling Santa hats with blinking lights, and there are billboards of the Chief North Pole Resident hawking everything from cell phone service to peace on earth, but it's missing the magic of speeding down an icy Wyoming highway trying to get home for the last slice of pumpkin pie.

I'm not complaining, I'm just a bit nostalgic.

Last week I had the good fortune to represent the Consul General at a Eucharist ceremony held at Catedral Primada de America, and it was wonderful. A choir sang and at one point we congregants turned and wished each other peace. In a world full of turmoil and unrest, I don't take this simple act lightly; I truly meant the words I said. I sat on the aisle, close to a creche with real pine boughs, which, if  even just for a few moments, brought the holiday alive for me.

Later last week R and I made a visit to the LDS temple near the Colonial Zone. I'm not LDS, but the grounds are beautiful, and it was a nice, peaceful, nearly solitary walk in the heart of a frenetic city.

The manger scene at the temple.