Blog 6 of the 5 days of blogs: “Christmas Season on the Race”
I LOVE Christmas season. Like, I absolutely love it. You can ask anyone that knows me how I feel about it, and the answer will be the same. Christmas season is my favorite time of the year. Not winter season, but Christmas season. My favorite time of the year this year was so different, yet so fun. I will always remember my African Christmas, birthday, and New Years.
Christmas Day:
Christmas was sooo fun!! Our squad leaders gave us the day off from ministry to celebrate. We woke up and I opened my cards from home (which made me cry) and got a little worried that the day would be full of emotion for me. I pushed the emotions aside and went right to breakfast in my pjs. Our amazing cooks made us chocolate donuts and cinnamons rolls along with Nutella bread and a banana. During breakfast, we did our team’s Secret Santa. It was really fun and we all appreciated the gifts that were given more than I think we’ve ever appreciated simple gifts before. Our squad leaders gave us their presents to us after that in little tiny stockings. Then, our squad opened up our stockings filled with words of encouragement from each other. After that, we did squad-wide white elephant gifts. It was so fun to steal gifts from other people and have them stolen right back. After lunch, we did a powderpuff game (throwback to highschool). It was very fun and really brought out my competitive side. That took up the whole afternoon and after dinner we had a bonfire and a time for worship with Christmas songs. It was really good to be able to worship under the stars closer to where Jesus was born than I’d ever been before. Lastly, we finished the night watching Christmas movies. I can easily say that I went to bed extremely exhausted from the day. My first and probably my last Africa in Christmas was a good one.
My Birthday:
If I’m being honest, I wasn’t exactly sure if my birthday this year was going to be good or not. My mom does a really stinking good job at celebrating me and making me feel loved, and I just wasn’t sure how Africa was going to top being with my mom. I woke up and opened cards from home and cried a little (I know I’m probably the most dramatic person you’ll meet). Then, my team blindfolded me and I had a breakfast picnic outside. They served me pancakes, Nutella bread, coffee, and apple juice. There was a sign hung on the guest building that said, “We love Nat” with pictures all around it. I appreciated it so much and felt very loved. Our squad leaders also gave us the morning off of ministry to rest from Christmas, so that morning I was able to just relax and rest. My squad leader, Brit, asked my family to send happy birthday videos from home for me to watch. I giggled as I watched and felt very blessed to even have that be apart of my day. The afternoon went by fast, and after my team surprised me. They got the couch in our living area all decorated with lights and blankets and popped popcorn and made hot chocolate while we did face masks. We watched my favorite Christmas movie (it’s “The Polar Express” if you were wondering) and I absolutely loved it. After the movie was done, I had been hearing rumors about being able to call family with certain data plans. Soooo I decided to try my luck and gave a call to my mom. Guess what? It went through! It made my day feel complete being able to talk to the person I always spend it with. I talked to her for a while and then I called my dad and Nate. After that, I went to bed feeling very blessed. I might not have been home for my birthday, but it was still really stinking good all thanks to my team.
New Years Eve:
We didn’t have afternoon ministry because of celebrating (duh), but we did have morning ministry. It went by fast, and then we had a volleyball tournament after lunch. My team got in all rainbow colors and tried to be as obnoxious as possible. We played and had so much fun, but we also got burned really bad. I guess we all kinda forgot that we’re in Africa for a second there. Because we sat in the sun all afternoon, I was exhausted, but still good. I hung out with the kids that afternoon too and I absolutely loved it. They’re so sweet and they’re stinking hilarious. This is the part that I’m embarrassed to admit, but I didn’t stay up for the party. I was so tried from the day and wanted time to process the past couple weeks and rest before diving into the end of the season and heading into the new year. I also felt very weird saying, “Happy New Year” when it really wasn’t the new year back home. So sadly, I did not stay up until midnight and celebrate, but I really did enjoy being able to process the past year and prepare for the next. It was what I needed that night so I don’t regret it.
Looking back on this Christmas season, I really enjoyed it. Yes, I fought a lot of homesickness and sadness, but I really loved it. Through the two weeks, I was able to choose in and celebrate full of joy. I think that it was super cool how my route worked out to have me in Africa for this season. God taught me to give everything up to Him and to stop being anxious. I absolutely loved celebrating these holidays in the country that I’ve waited so long to be at. My favorite part of this whole thing is that not many can say that they’ve been away to Africa during the Christmas season, but I get to say that and remember it every year now. Thanks Africa, you treated me well.
