Christmas fell on a Saturday this year, and at the end of the day we said, "It was a really nice, special sort of Saturday, but it didn't really feel like Christmas."
We got up early, which was fun because we opened our presents when it was still dark outside, which made the lights on our tree much prettier. Unfortunately, the electricity went off about halfway through, so we finished by the light of a candle and the rising sun. It came back on after 30 minutes or so, so it wasn't out all day or anything.
For gifts, we had received a box from my parents, a package from Andrew's mom, and a wee little package from one of his sisters. His dad sent his gifts via Internet (gift cards). Also, for our gift to ourselves, we experimented with ordering books off Amazon and having them shipped to us here in Musoma, and were very pleasantly surprised that they all arrived quite quickly!
For Andrew, it was strange to not have very many people/kids around. Two of his sisters each have a little troop of kids, and so for him, Christmas with no nieces or nephews around felt a little too quiet. For me, I grew up with Christmas being just our immediate family, so I was the youngest and there were definitely no kids around, so Christmas wasn't too odd with it being just two adults, although I really missed my parents and Christmas Eve service at home church.
It was also strange to not give any gifts this year. Andrew especially missed the challenge of shopping and finding just the right thing and eagerly awaiting seeing the receipient open it. I was relieved to not have to stress about finding stuff to buy and all, but it was kind of sad, too, that we didn't have any presents for each other.
One thing that went really well, however, was the food! For breakfast we had some amazing cinnamon rolls, and for Christmas dinner we had BBQ pork with garlic mashed potatoes and pan-fried zucchini. Carrot cake finished our meal.
So, to liven things up we went for a Christmas walk. We borrowed our friends' dog, Ellie, and headed out on a trail that runs along the border of the local military base and a plethora of small cassava farms. It was really fun to be out in the fresh air and outdoors together. We don't go outside very often, so it was nice to be out and about! It was so quiet, too. Two lots away from our house there was a wild and noisy party with really, REALLY loud music going on all afternoon and well into the night, but when we were on our walk, we were far away from there and it was peaceful and quiet. There are huge rock formations in NW Tanzania, and Andrew got some pictures of the landscape. It's always nice to see Lake Victoria in the distance and giant rocks scattered around.
To close out our day, we talked with our families via Skype, which was really nice to be able to do. I don't know what missionaries way back when did, but we sure appreciate the Internet!
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