Christmas in Kenya

Christmas Blog
We thought you’d all be interested in how Christmas was for us over here in Africa, so we’ll tell you all about it.
First of all, let us tell you what Christmas is like here for the Kenyans. From most that I talked to Christmas is a holiday, but not to the scale that it is for Westerners. It is not nearly as commercial. A small, practical gift from someone is very appreciated and there is very little, if any, decorations around here. This is much more Westernized in Nairobi. Most of the Kenyans spend time with family, having big meals and going to church on Christmas eve and/or Christmas day. Kenyans also celebrate another holiday, Boxing Day, on the 26th. Here that is the day when people open all the presents they have received.
The 24th is not a holiday, but the 25th and 26th are. This year the 27th was declared election day, so that was a holiday and then it was announced the 28th would be as well to give people a chance to rest and get back home after voting.
So this is how our Christmas went. The 24th was a very busy day. That AM I returned the drinks from the prison ministry to the dukas. We spent the day around the house fixing cookies and treats to give out to our neighbors as gifts. We also had dinner with Lisette and the Ganeys and afterwards had a Christmas eve service at the church. We took our time walking back with our friends and looking at the Christmas lights with our special holographic glasses we had received. We then came back and relaxed and watched “The Nativity Story” while drinking hot chocolate.
I worked on Christmas day itself. Fortunately things were fairly slow. A group of us had lunch at the Robert’s and then I finished up at the hospital. That afternoon we called and talked to our families and to some of our friends on Skype. It was fun.
I was off on the 26th. We spent the morning preparing for lunch with our house helpers and their families. They each gave Sarah a menu what things they’d like. We had 10 guests- our helpers, their husbands, children, and a few cousins. Because of house size constraints, we sat up and ate outside. We had a big meal. The menu was beans, rice, chipatis, sweet potato casserole, turkey, dressing, and gravy, along with dessert. After the meal Maggie and kids (all girls) blew bubbles and played with side walk chalk. The adults went in and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. I stayed outside and watched the girls eat popcorn while this was going on. We then went outside for desert, followed by us giving gifts, a prayer and then we released our guests (you have to tell your guests they are released before they will leave).
After all this Maggie took a nap and we cleaned up. Then we set out Maggie’s Christmas stuff. She was overwhelmed and appreciative of what she received. We then ate leftovers and rested.
On the 27th, well, all I could say is that for us it was a day of much needed rest. We did nothing but relax, which was nice.