Árbol de la Navidad!

OK, let me preface this post with a disclaimer: I have NEVER put up a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. But today our CRC Christmas tree was hunted, chopped, positioned in our rotunda, and some of last year's first-year decorations were placed upon its limbs. It's pretty Charley Brown in its own way; it leans like it's been wind-blown, as Dinorah likes to say. The views below of our tree show both sides... you can sort of see the "wind tilt" in the second photo.

Setting up the tree this early is so that for the last four weeks that the students are here, they'll feel the holiday homeyness and get to take part in holiday celebrations. (And besides, jolly old Saint Nick is already on all the Coke advertising billboards, the Pozuelo cookie factory's billboard, and holiday decor lines the streets, peoples' front yards/balconies/patios/garages, and holiday music is playing in all the stores.) Costa Rica loves it some Christmas spirit!