Christmas in Kenya
Christmas in Kenya, in some ways, was not so different than it would have been in the US. In some ways, it was a LOT different!
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Christmas in Kenya, in some ways, was not so different than it would have been in the US. In some ways, it was a LOT different!
I was walking home from the hospital last week, after my third C-section of the day. It was dark, the stars were out, and I picked my way over a rocky downhill road to my house while my own baby kicked inside of me. The day and the environment made me start wondering about Mary. The Bible is notoriously absent of all the details we seem to want to know. Why are some passages repeated in great detail, sometimes retold in multiple passages, and some are far too sparse (in my opinion)? Perhaps it wasn't so important to know the details of Jesus' birth. In fact, I am as an obstetrician probably more curious than most.
When I was at Belmont University, I kept hearing about this author named Frederick Buechner from the religion majors. I first read "Son of Laughter", probably because it was required reading for some religion class, and thus ended up in the free book pile at the end of the semester, and I had a habit of scavenging.
Since our last Christmas decoration post, things around here have gotten even MORE festive (I know, is it possible?). We got a brand new ornament in the mail from Eric's sister Mariah...the three snowmen that Maggie is pointing to, with our names and 2010 written on it.Then, Eric got the brilliant idea of where to put our Christmas presents. Since we never use our fireplace, it seemed the logical place to store our gifts. We put the grate in front and for some strange reason, Maggie has not disturbed it in the least. It's like the "gift cage" or something.
On Saturday, a fellow missionary family loaned us a small tree that they weren't using. We place an angel from Bangladesh atop, wrapped 1/2 string of lights around it, and fashioned decorations out of wrapping paper (creating a paper chain) and green snowflake ribbon bows. Ooh! says Maggie.
And finally, let the Christmas baking begin! So far, buckeye balls and Russian tea cakes have been checked off the list. Sugar cookies (cut-outs) and molasses cookies to go.
Long has it been one of my stated aims in life to eat as many different animals as possible. However, I admit to a noted complacency on this goal overall. Thus, 3 months or so ago, we visited Gilani's Butchery in Nairobi, which is where we normally get most of our meat. I had noted that you can get several unusual meats there, including pigeon, ostrich, and rabbit. You can also get crocodile, which is probably quite expensive, but they had these little nuggets for only about $2, so I picked it up, just for the next time you thought "Hey, I wish I had a crocodile steak."
One year ago, we packed up 8 suitcases and departed the US for Tenwek Hospital. We celebrated this morning by having a candle-light breakfast (because the power was out, not because we were really all that festive). Hard to believe it's been a year, in some ways. Seems like quite a long time in others. Next year at this time, we'll be drinking egg nog that we bought in the store. Adding flavored coffee creamers to our coffee that we didn't have to make ourselves. Eating cereal for breakfast, because it's not $8-10/box. Driving around in a car on the right side of the road, to do something frivolous like running to Target for one thing. Strapping TWO kids into their carseats to make the short trip.
Here in Kenya, there are not necessarily a lot of "Christmas cues." The weather is just about the same, 70s and sunny with afternoon rains most days. We don't have TV or radio, or get the newspaper, so no ads. We haven't been to a store outside of Bomet since October, so haven't seen any stores selling Christmas stuff or putting up decorations. So all that to say, we have to take steps to make ourselves feel like it's Christmas! Many missionary families around here have a lot of traditions that help. We're trying to make some.
Over the past year, Maggie has had several books as her favorite. In fact, her normal mode seems to be that she has a favorite book (or 2 or 3), and that is the only one that she wants to read. This changes roughly every 2 weeks.
Last Monday I traveled a few hours away to attend a faculty meeting for the small department of Family Medicine at Moi University School of Medicine. This being Kenya, 10 o'clock meant chai break, and as is invariable, the chai milk/water mix came in the obligatory thermoses. You aren't really Kenyan if you don't have a thermos.
Elated by the success of our Chinese dumplings, we decided to try another "ethnic dumpling" type of recipe: samosas. Now, samosas are MUCH more accessible here in Kenya, due to the high percentage of ethnic Indians in Kenya, and we have actually had a number that were quite tasty. Even so, we thought it would be fun to try our own.
Our friends and fellow missionaries, John and Vera, came into town for some meetings. They live out in Maasai Land. Apparently, way out there. We've never been there. But they have a pet. The kind of pet that you get when you live way out there in Maasai Land. It was given to them by a village kid, who had heard they were looking for one.
I was commenting to Eric a few weeks ago that one of the foods I miss the most from the US would have to be Chinese dumplings (potstickers). Back in Ann Arbor, we joined a small group at our church that was about 50% Asian in the beginning, and once in awhile they would have dumpling cookoffs. Ah, heavenly. Then we found out that instead of making their own, many "authentic" Asians bought their dumplings in frozen packages. Wow! We would routinely keep 3-4 bags in our freezer for an awesome go-to meal. Here in Kenya, I must admit, I was missing the potstickers, and the sesame oil/soy sauce dipping sauce almost as much.
A few years ago, my parents gifted me a pocket-size English Standard Version bible, which has traveled far with me since then. It usually matters little to me what version I read, but I had enjoyed the ESV a bit and so had requested it.
Last June, when Rachel's family came to visit, they brought lots of beanie babies and stuffed animals, so many that they weren't able to distribute them all to the kids in the hospital, and so when my parents were just here, they raided the stash, and made another distribution, which was enjoyed immensely, just as before.
I can't believe Maggie has already hit the 1 1/2 year mark! She still seems so small in some ways, but is obviously growing and changing every day. And when we think of a new baby in just a few more months, she seems ESPECIALLY old! :) She now has 10 teeth, enjoys eating most things that we eat, and recently savored her first Tootsie Roll pop on Halloween (where she dressed up as Little Bo Peep, shown below).
It was great having Eric's parents with us for three weeks, and they made it safely home last Saturday...exhausted, but safe. One interesting thing about their visit was that Eric's dad, Tim, has something called Meniere's disease. It's an inner ear problem resulting in vertigo, tinnitus (ringing), and hearing loss. This comes and goes in the form of attacks, and he has found that if he adheres to a low salt diet, the attacks don't come as frequently.