Greetings and salutations friends and family!
Currently there’s less than 10 days before we head out to our next country, Nepal. I wanted to let all of you hear about how my team celebrated Christmas in India. On Christmas eve we went to a production of the Christmas story put on by the church we have been attending. All of us missed that memo that it was a black tie event, so my team and the REAL MC were in causal clothes. We all felt severely under dressed. However, we made the most of it and had a great time watching the production. Before, the production I was with Tiffiny amd Catherine and we spent the day at the mall. We had lunch and took in the new Stars Wars movie the Rise of Skywalker. After the movie we had a few errands to finish up before the production at 7pm, so we took care of them at the mall. When the production was over both teams discussed what we would like to do. Most of us hadn’t had dinner yet, so we decided on Funnel Hill Creamery, a local ice cream shop that also serves food. Our teams separated and met back up for dinner. We were out spending time with each other until after 11pm. My team didn’t get home until closer to midnight. Christmas morning, my team met up again with REAL MC at the roastery, a local quaint coffeehouse with amazing food! After brunch, our teams separated again to do our own things. My team had drawn names for secret santa. So we went back to our house and did our gift exchange. It was a lot of fun. We did worship and read the Christmas story from Luke. For dinner, we did a potluck with the house moms that we live with. I made mashed potatoes, others bought pizza, cheese fries, apple crisp, rolls, peanut butter chocolate cake, cornbread and shawarmas. It was an amazing dinner full of laughs and good conversations. Some people watched part of It’s a Wonderful Life while others chatted with people back home in the states. Christmas this year was definitely different from what all of us are used to, but it was one of the best ways to spend Christmas abroad. Holidays spent with friends that have become family and family staying up late to wish you a Merry Christmas even though it’s only Christmas eve where they are.
Wishing all of you a Happy New Year from my family here in Hyderabad, India to yours. May you go into 2020 with open arms and hearts. Much love!
Jamie
