First Christmas

Guinness is having an exciting first Christmas. His first party was down in Wanhua, the inner city of Taipei, to an OMF Christmas party for the ladies who work in the teashops. Some of these teashops are, hmm, shall we say special teashops in that they provide special services to a male clientele. It's not what you would expect when you think of prostitute though. Most of these women are older; in their 50's. Business was of course good when they were younger and it was a good way to make a living. But as a 50 year old it is not as easy to make money. Lots of these women have serious drug and alcohol problems. Men often just want their company and bring beer or alcohol for them and they sit and talk and talk. (these women also have serious lying problems, too, because they are so used to saying what people want to here and talking up the egos of lonely men) They are in debt to local lenders who charge outrageous interest. Anyway, our women's brunch group at church did a bunch of baking and got presents for them for this party. The party organizers wanted us to come and be a part of things so Guin and I went there with another friend this morning. There was singing, food, and a great speaker who shared her testimony interspersed with songs. We didn't stay for the presents but hopefully they were well recieved. Guinness was a star of course, being very friendly and nice. That is something so wonderful about babies; they bring joy wherever they go. A blind lady held him and her face lit up, she was so excited. He got passed around the room and made everyone happy. Except this one lady who was passed out stoned or drunk: he scratched her knee a bit as he walked by and she gave him a dirty look.

We also had a Christmas Eve party at church which was so fun. Guinness was his usual happy self. I'm sure there will be more tomorrow as he opens presents for the first time.