Christmas in Zambia
I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. Though we missed our family and friends dearly, we were also blessed. On Christmas Eve we had our new vehicle, a Toyota Grandvia van, delivered to the house.
Then we joined some friends for Christmas Eve dinner at their home. We had a lovely time and enjoyed the new people we met. Olivia found a basket of baby toys and was in Heaven. These friends have a 4 month old and recently returned from the states with lots of baby toys. They cannot really be found here and I didn't realize how much Olivia would enjoy some true baby toys until she "discovered" these on her own.
We were also blessed with the offer of some loaner furniture from one of the new families we met. They are moving this weekend into a smaller home and don’t have room for everything they currently have. This is a blessing, due to the fact that Brad’s company will be needing their furniture back toward the end of January.
We returned home and read the Christmas story and the girls and Brad put out cookies and drink for Santa. The girls went to bed well and were refreshed for Christmas day.
On Christmas day, the girls woke up and went to the living room without even waking us up. I was already in the kitchen preparing to make what we would take for Christmas lunch and had to send them back to get Brad.
We turned on Skype at my family’s request and they were able to watch the girls open their Christmas presents. The girls had a great time as usual. They played all morning and Brad and I prepared to go to lunch at the house of the Pastor who leads our bible study. The theme was Mexican (it always is for Christmas day evidently) and it was a wonderful “family” time. They’ve been
in Zambia for 18 years so their home was wonderfully homey. Covered in family pictures and Christmas decorations, it was a welcome change from our empty, blank walls.
The girls found friends there to play with (who got a Zebra for Christmas!) and I enjoyed learning cooking and baking secrets to substitute for things I can’t find here. I learned the alternative name for sour cream and how to make cream cheese (since you can’t buy it here). I also learned where 3-4 parks are located so that I can take the girls (if it’s not too muddy)
All in all, we had a good Christmas—different—and not my favorite, but not too bad! We love and miss you all.
1 comment:
Well it looks like you guys had a great Christmas.
Olivia got her own car! That is pretty good. The driving age must be a lot lower in Zambia than in Alabama. Here you need to be at least 6 or 7 to drive. Especially drive the dually in the hay field. As a matter of fact, that is what your cousin (Brenna) chose to do yesterday. I don’t know how good of a driver she will be, but she will be a fast one. That old truck has never zipped around like that before.
Skype is truly wonderful and I’m glad that Mimi got to share Christmas morning with you guys. It looks like there was plenty of gift wrap to tear into and toys to play with. It is great that you’ve gotten access to a little more furniture. We have all yours safely stowed away here at my house. Maybe we’ll still get some of it sent your way.
I think that it is wonderful that you have met so many nice folks. It is a real blessing when living in a new country and culture to have others who have been there and can help you through the rough times. These are the friends that you will cherish forever. Do you reckon that they will be able to ride that zebra at some point?
Love,
Grand Pops and Granny Mom
Post a Comment