Merry CHRISTmas to all!

Christmas…what does it look like for you?

For some it’s a time to be with family, opening present upon present.

Others a time to be with family and eat lots of food.

For others a time to celebrate the birth of a little baby boy many years ago and what he stood for.

Christmas in our family has slowly changed over the past few years as my siblings have gotten married (or are getting married) and have started families of their own.  And by doing that have started their own traditions.  This Christmas is different for us all.  As my parents spend Christmas day by themselves for the first time ever.  Both my younger sisters at their significant others houses for the holidays.  And my 3 older siblings spending Christmas days with either the other side of their family or with just their immediate family (which is pretty ‘normal’ now).  And then there is me who is on the other side of the world celebrating Christmas 8-9 hours before the rest of my family.  In 30+ weather.  With about 80 children who don’t have a biological family to call their own, and to celebrate Christmas with.  But here at Lily they have created their own family among them. 

Walking down to the beach

I have loved being here at Lily and would not change the fact that I get to be here and try to serve these kids as best as I can while I am here for this short time… but it is still really hard to be away from home, knowing that I am missing things with family and friends.  I could careless about the opening of gifts and stockings in the morning.  It’s things like not being able to give my Mom and Dad a hug and wish them a Merry Christmas when they get woken up at 7:00am because everyone else is already awake in the house…(Thank you Dallas!)  It’s not being able to play games with my siblings and watch us make fools of ourselves as we try to hum a song as everyone else tries to guess what song they are humming.

I am so very blessed to be here at Lily and to experience the community here!  I am thrilled to be a part of this culture here where the kids come up running up to me yelling “Ms. Rebecca!!!” like they have known me for a long time but really it has only been 2 weeks.  There are a few kids that I have connected with more than other kids but that is normal with large groups of kids.   And it’s not just the younger kids I have been able to get to know some of the teenagers too.  Within this Lily culture there is also some really great volunteers and employees.  They have been really great at just making us (Nikki and I) feel welcome.  Right off the bat they invited us to game nights on Friday.  And now with Christmas we have planned at Christmas dinner with all of us for Boxing day.  Just a time for us to have a bit of life back home together.

Me, Nikki, Grace (another SALTer),
Rebecca (a service worker) and
Sophie (Zambia Reps daughter)

Christmas Eve was great.  In the morning we played games and puzzles with who ever wanted to hangout with us.  Then in the afternoon we watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”  (the real one) with a bunch of kids, I was pretty happy with this because I usually watch this movie every Christmas but was not able to bring it here.  Than there was a “Christmas Eve Service”, but we just watched the movie “Nativity” and sang a few Christmas carols.  Which was great.  After that the volunteers went over to Bridge and Hilary’s house to snack on some food and just visit.

Christmas Day was great! There was a service in the morning, but before the service I got to open a few Christmas cards from Mom and Dad and Steve and Kirsten!  And than pretty much got ready for the dinner that was going to be for anyone who is at Lily (kids, staff and volunteers).  Spent a lot of time peeling potatoes.  Decorating the tent where we are all going to eat and be merry.  Also I was hoping to FaceTime or Skype with some family at some point, but my internet was not working :( so Mom and Dad called me instead.  It was still good to hear their voices and talk to them for a short while.

The kids at Lily listening for instructions of how supper was
going to work.  It was a great meal and so much food! :)

Over all I would not change this Christmas… (okay maybe I would have made the temperature a little more bearable! +39 is hot!!)  I know it will be one I always remember.  As difficult as it is to be away from home at this time, I am more than happy to be here with these kids!

Until next time… make sure to take in all of the things you are involved in right now.  (As Parker from season 8 of Friends would say “I must take a mental picture! Click!”)

P.S. I will try to get more pictures of the orphanage. But I can't post clear pictures of the kids faces. I can do bigger group shots. So I only have one from Christmas Day the rest are pictures from the retreat with the Southern Africa MCC workers.

Holidays

Now that school is over, the teachers have all dispersed to their homes or other jobs for the holidays, and I have also left the farm.  Though I did not go far…  I am now at Lily of the Valley where most of the high school students who attend Hope Valley live.  Originally I was just told I was coming here for the week after the school let out to practice my Zulu with the kids, but because Nikki (the other SALTer) is now placed here at the orphanage I will spend most of my holidays here.  Except when we are on retreat with MCC staff and our learning tour trip to Lesotho!

Being here so far has been good. Nikki and I are staying in a house together and making our own meals. I am enjoying getting to eat more than just toast and something else for supper and having more variety in the food I eat.  Though I am finding it a challenge to decide what I actually what to eat. Good thing Nikki is here to help make decisions! :)

Because we are going on retreat on Sunday it feels like I will get some what settled in here and then leave. But I know I will be coming back.  It was funny to have kids I did not know my name come up to me and yell “Ms. Rebecca!” from across the compound.  I am glad they feel comfortable enough to come and talk to me already.  I have even been able to connect with some of the high school students which I like because I will be able to talk to most of them again when we get back to school in January.  My main project while I am here will be reading with the kids.  Bridge and Hilary (the managers of the Lily of the Valley Village) have asked me to take the time to sit with some of the kids who need practice reading.  Today Nikki and I made a list of the kids who were needing some extra help.  Once I have read with each of them I will be able to tell Nikki who needs the most improvement and then once I am gone she will work one-on-one with them.

Each morning at 8:00 the volunteers and staff are welcome to join in on prayer to start the day together.  And we did this at school but for some reason this just seemed more intentional and it has been a good thing to start the day.  It has also encouraged me to get up in the mornings and read my Bible.  It has been a really long time since I did this.  I think I thought that once I got to started on this trip I would just be natural to start reading my Bible all the time and that my relationship with God would just grow stronger.  But really it has not been that way.  I have not really been intentional with reading my Bible and spending time with God.  So the past few mornings I have been getting up a few minutes earlier and reading my Bible and just taking the time to pray about different things that come to mind, about my day, about home and about life in general.  I will let you know in a few weeks how it’s going and if I am still being intentional about getting up. 

I am looking forward to the retreat with everyone! Especially because there is lots of time for us to go to the beach and enjoy the sun!  There is also lots of time to just relax and do simple things like make crafts, watch movies and play games!  We also will have some sessions that different people will lead and I think these will be good!

Until next time go and enjoy some time at the beach!! …Oh wait!! You all have snow! Haha ;) Well go and enjoy the snow for me! Make a snowman or snow angel or go have a snowball fight for me!!

P.S. Sorry for no pictures will get some for you soon! :)

Changes

Philile, Alex, Jonas, Mzo and me

With December 1st here, it has brought on a bunch of changes.

First, in the morning one of the volunteers, Alex, left.  I had known it was going to happen for a while.  But it still sucks.  I don’t like saying good bye as you may know, and we had become good friends. 

Secondly, I found out that I am moving to a new bedroom.  I have been staying in Nigel and Trish’s house, but they have asked that I move to the cottage with the other female teachers, so that their son who is coming can have his room.  Which I think will be good, I am looking forward to getting to know them better.  I started packing up my things yesterday and am moving in there tomorrow.

Jonas, me and Alex after the wedding on Saturday

Thirdly, I had a visit from James and Nikki today at school.  I got some Christmas baking (Thank you Joan!!), a straightener (again thank you Joan!), and a Blackberry to use for internet and also for WhatApp.  Everyone here texts through this, because it is cheaper.  And on the plus side I get to text with friends and family back home for free!  Yeah!  If you want to text me let me know! :D

Finally, the other change would just be that it is the end of the school year so things are coming to a wrap.  There are 3 more days of school, and then Friday is registration for new kids in the morning and then the rest of the day the teachers are going to Durban to have a day at the beach.  That should be fun!  Also while the break is on I am going to be staying at an orphanage called Lily of the Valley.  This is a place where some of the high school students come from.  Because the school will be closed I will spend my days working there at the school, hanging out with the kids and Nikki!  (Nikki has just been moved placements and will be at Lily from now on! I am really pumped about this because then we are really close to each other!)

The Bride and Groom! :)

On a different note, this past weekend there was a wedding on the farm here!  It was so much fun to be apart of the day!  Alex and I were asked to take photos of the wedding so I was also kept pretty busy!  It was fun to have a reason to dress up again!  I will add some photos of the wedding!

Until next time, cherish the moments you are in, the people and the circumstances.