of the race.We as a team had some fun things planned, and I was looking forward
to the day. It had already been a good weekend, with getting to cage dive on Christmas Eve already the hightlight of my time so far in South
Africa. I expected it to be special, but
also recognized that it also might be a little bit emotional for me. I’m not an
emotional person (at least not outwardly), so I was not prepared to embrace the
way I felt as the day progressed.
We woke up on Christmas morning and packed in the
back of a pickup truck to head out to Hillsong church in downtown Cape Town. We
stopped along the way and picked up two boys from the township (the equivalent
of a slum/impoverished area) and took them with us, excited to give them the
special opportunity to go to church with us on Christmas. I was looknig forward
to being at Hillsong; I have a lot of their worship albums and really enjoy the
music, but it just turned out to be a bit too much for me. It was really over
the top, lots of fog and flashing lights and flashy video presentations. At one
point, the Pastor got all the kids up on stage and had them show off their
gifts that they had gotten. One had a new set of headphones, another, an iPad.
I could not have felt more uncomfortable and resented the message that was
being sent, and I was especially aware of the township kids sitting next to me
that will probably never even see an iPad, much less recieve that or any gift
of such magnitude on Christmas. All I wanted was to be back home, with my
family and in my small church of 30 people and away from this church where I
didn’t know anybody.
As we traveled back home I found myself in a very
pensive, reserved mood, not really talking to anyone. I had just heard a
Christmas sermon, everyone was talking about how it was Christmas, but it
didn’t feel like Christmas. It was 80 degrees out, my family was nowhere to be
seen, there were no gifts under a tree, and no special Christmas breakfast
cooked by my mom. Nothing around me
signaled that it was Christmas, at least not from every Christmas I had ever
known. I was having a hard time for some reason, and I wasn’t sure why.
For lunch I had expected us to be going out to
dinner as a team, but some people had already made plans to eat at home, and
when a few of us went to find a restaurant, they were all closed. My mood
dampened even further, and I just wanted to be alone. I spent the afternoon
reading and thinking in my hammock, waiting for the fish and chips dinner that
evening that we all had planned. Before dinner I tried calling my parents, but
couldn’t get a hold of them. Having limited internet access meant that I
probably wouldn’t be in a place where I could try again, and already feeling a
bit homesick, this was once again tough for me to not even be able to talk to
them on Christmas.
We ended up having a delicious Christmas dinner
of fish and chips, and even during dinner I was still in a quiet mood. However,
things took a turn for the better afterwards on our walk back to town (dinner
was about 45 minutes away from our apartment). As I walked along the coast
overlooking the waves splashing up on the rocks, gazing at the pink and light
blue dusk sky, and soaking up the cool ocean breeze, I couldn’t help but be
joyful. I may not have been at home with my family and may not have been
experiencing Christmas the way it normally looked for me, but where I was was
pretty darn awesome nonetheless. I am spending my 24th Christmas in Cape Town,
South Africa with six incredible people, living for a month right next to the
beach. playing soccer with kids everyday, on the trip of a life time.
I am incredibly blessed.
and for the first time all day, it felt like Christmas. I may not have been
with my family back home, but I was with family. We were sitting around,
exchanging gifts, eating cookies, and enjoying each others company.
