You can imagine, it is difficult to be away from family and friends for special occasions. I will say, however, that our current technologies and communication options certainly do help. But the typical gatherings and traditions do not take place and you can't hug the people you love who are so far away or share a meal with them. Even so, it is really fun and interesting to celebrate holidays for the first time in a new place with new people. In the case of Christmas especially, it also brings me back to the real meaning and purpose of the celebration. It's not about eating certain foods at special meals with certain people. It is not about exchanging gifts or having just the right decorations put up around the house. While those things are fun and can be good, the bottom line is that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior, Emmanuel, God with us. I can experience the joy of the Christmas celebration anywhere that I am. So even while missing family and friends, getting to celebrate here was completely full of joy!
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| My perfectly sized Christmas tree and decorations |
A few days before Christmas, a local friend and I got to cook some traditional foods together and share a special Christmas meal together. It was a good time of learning to cook the most typical local dish, practicing my language, and getting to know her better.
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| Ugali & Beans |
Most of the kids went on home visits during the school break (staying with extended family or community members), so there were only 8 kids remaining in the village for Christmas. Having a smaller group opens up a lot of opportunities to do fun things that you can't do with 60 kids. So on Christmas Eve I decided that it would be fun to let the kids make homemade pizza. Pizza is not a typical item on the dining hall menu :) I knew it would also be good experience for them to work in the kitchen - cutting toppings, cooking the meats, assembling the pizzas, and cooking them in the oven. It was a blast!
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One of the aunties teaching them how to chop the veggies
for toppings and for sauteing in the meat |
Like I said, one of the goals was to give them some experience in the kitchen, even if that means that your pineapple gets slightly butchered in the process ;) We did still end up with enough to have nice slices as a side to our pizza.
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| She obviously had lots of input and coaching from the other |
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And there actually wasn't any waste because these guys
were happy to take care of the scraps |
I wish I had pictures and video from them trying to spread out their crusts (it would have been comical), but I was too busy trying to help them fill holes and trying to prevent total disaster and and found myself with hands covered in flour. Just try to picture 8 sets of hands all trying to spread dough. In the end, I learned that dough is actually very forgiving. With a little assistance, they all ended up with nice crusts that were fairly round. And really, it was all about the fun and experience any way. Checkout their beautiful creations!
With their successful baking of the pizzas, they all proclaimed that they are "professional pizza makers". They are quite the characters and had me laughing throughout the process. They were partnered up so that each set could make a pizza that they would then eat, but the deal was that they each had to share with their mama, auntie, and me. So I can personally vouch that they made delicious pizzas and they were enjoyed by all!
After pizza, my teammates and I went to a candle-lit Nine Lessons and Carols service at our church. It was beautifully done and helped to make it feel more like it was time for the celebration of Christmas.
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Those are lanterns strung across the church on ropes with real
candles burning inside. We were thankful that we made it
through the whole evening without a fire ;) |
Christmas day was a beautiful one. I started off the morning by FaceTiming with my parents as I opened my stocking and cards. I am so thankful for video chatting! Then I had the Martins over for breakfast on my porch. The kids went to church with their mama and auntie. Since we like to give all staff the day off, we became the cook staff for the day. It was really a lot of fun! Again, it's a chance to do something special with the few kids who are there and to celebrate like family. For lunch, we made a very traditional Christmas Day meal - rice, chicken and greens. The kids are big fans of rice! So my teammate made a large amount of rice. She had picked up some healthy-sized frozen chickens from the bigger city, so she roasted those. She even made some gravy from the chicken drippings; we just told the kids it was meat sauce and they enjoyed it. I chopped Chinese cabbage that the kids had harvested from the garden that morning so that we could saute it and have it as a green side for the chicken and rice. It was a scrumptious holiday lunch!
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Kids were welcome to fill up and come back for seconds on
their favorites! |
The table was even set with the fine plates and fancy napkins to give the meal an added special touch.
After the hearty meal, the real treat for the kids was that they got cake AND ice cream. That hardly EVER happens! I'm not sure how they didn't just pop after all that. Haha! And then we played games together for a good portion of the afternoon.
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The older kids played a new game taught by our pastor while
I played Apples to Apples Jr. and Trouble with the younger ones. |
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| The kids' Christmas tree in the dining hall |
We took a short break from games so that we could all rest and get ready for more fun in the evening. It also gave us adults a chance to check in with our family members and friends who were just waking up for Christmas morning back in the states.
The evening plan was to build a little fire and roast hot dogs and s'mores! Just how much fun can we cram into one day?!
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The mountain made a stunning appearance right at sunset
and as the fire was being built |
The kids helped gather the sticks for roasting and the wood pieces for building the fire. My Eagle Scout teammate showed them how to build a proper fire. Then the roasting fun began!
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Getting a soda was also a treat for the day. Can you say
sugar overload?! |
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It makes me happy to see them laughing together and just
enjoying being kids |
As it got dark, we sang a few Christmas songs together while gathered on the mats. I even got them to sing a couple of the local songs in the local language. Then the fire was prime for marshmallow roasting!
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| Can we get s'more? |
What a blessing to get to share the day with these precious kids and my awesome team...
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| Merry Christmas! |
