I was able to spend Christmas at Jonathan House two years ago (2006) and what a blessing it was! It was wonderful to celebrate our Savior's birth with these precious African children. Many of the women (staff and spouses of staff, etc) spent a few hours cooking for the big Christmas dinner either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We had fried rice and beef (not very common at all in the Bo area). The kids weren't crazy about the fried rice, marking an ironic meal--the kids NOT liking the rice and the three Americans LIKING the rice (a lot!). That same meal we split up in groups with a different adult or older kid leading each group as we discussed what Christmas was all about.
Another favorite memory of that Christmas was when I was trying to sleep. It didn't start out to be a favorite moment, however. It was late at night...and I could hear drumming. I had only been in Sierra Leone for a few weeks at this point and flashbacks from my first trip several years before when late night drumming wasn't a good thing came to mind. After 20 or 30 minutes or so I heard them playing a silly Christmas song--maybe "Jingle Bells" or something like that. And then there were other Christmas carols. I had to laugh at how funny it was to hear Christmas carols by drummers sitting around the fire out in the West African "bush". And I knew there probably wouldn't be another Christmas like that...
New Year's in Africa stories coming up in a week or so (maybe). Things are a little crazy for me right now. If you'd like to help out with the blog (even sending articles, personal testimonies, etc) this would be a great time to jump in. Email Kim83anthro@gmail.com .
Your JCC Blogger,
Kim
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