Christmas in Nairobi

We came to Nairobi for Christmas, it has been so fun! It’s so good to be in community with people who share the same passions as I do. They’re like my family here. =) We had a badminton tournament today, that was fun. Someone told me I looked athletic after one move, that’s pretty cool. =) especially if you know me well…haha! (I’m so not athletic). Then we had a barbeque and bonfire with smores….yummmmyyy…the crackers were graham with chocolate already on one side of them, and the marshmallows were sweeter than they are in the states.

Yesterday for Christmas, the girls all woke up early to do stockings. =) we bought each other normal stocking stuffer things, like tissues, pens, lotion, candy, and someone even gave us a hand towel! I didn’t bring one, I was so excited! We had hot chocolate & waffles with strawberries for breakfast. =)

Then, we all had a Christmas lunch/brunch at 1. Here’s another Africa story. Gary, you might appreciate this story. So I tried to make “pink stuff” as we call it at home, ya know the whipped cream dish with cherries & pineapples? But they don’t have cool whip here, so I whipped my own whipping cream. By hand. Later I found out that some of the girls have an electric mixer. Oh well. So I whipped the cream, and it looked like whipped cream, but it melted in about 10 minutes while I was filling it with the pie filling, sweetened condensed milk, and crushed pineapple. There’s not regular cherry pie filling, but I did find black cherry pie filling. Which turned the mixture purple. So when it melted, it looked like purple milky mixture with some black chunks in it (those were the cherries). So I googled “how to whip whipping cream” which I should have done long before I started putting it together. It said that in order to create a cool whip consistency, add about a cup of sugar; powdered sugar works best because it blends in quickly. So I added a cup of powdered sugar that I had leftover from some chocolates I made (another story). The sugar did not blend in; instead, it looked like that old kids’ toy called “foam,” the less slimey & not as sticky version of gak, remember that? I tried whipping it to make it back into whipped cream, but it was eventually hopeless. In the end, I didn’t serve it at the lunch. I just took my candies & it was okay. There’s a picture on this post, you can decide whether it looks more like purple grits or Peter Pan’s imaginary food from the movie “Hook.” =)

Only in Africa? Probably not. Ask my mom or old roommates about some wacky cooking experiences I’ve had.
Lessons learned?
1) Freeze the whisk & mixing bowl before whipping your whipping cream.
2) Don’t whip whipping cream. Just buy cool whip.
3) Next time, just heat up a can of corn & be done with it.


[real quick, here’s my “other story” about making chocolates. They turned out edible & actually quite yummy. I made “Martha washington’s, a chocolate/coconut/pecan candy. I did the conversions wrong though, & added about 4 times as much powdered sugar as I should’ve. Meaning, I probably put 8 cups of sugar in the mix instead of 2. Oops! Needless to say, they’re very sweet.]
So after our lunch, I can’t remember what I did. But for dinner, some of us went to the SIM Sudan’s house for Christmas dinner. It was verrrry yummy, the perfect Christmas dinner. With mashed potatoes & brown gravy that were EXCELLENT, the best carrots I’ve had in Africa, moist chicken, pumpkin pie, and more! Then we came back to the compound for a secret santa gift exchange. Lindsey asked me a few weeks ago what I wanted for Christmas, & she told my secret santa, who gave them to me! I planned on buying some wooden African serving spoons, so that’s what he got! I told Lindsey, “but I’d just be happy with a pan of muffins and that’s all.” So he baked me chocolate muffins. Mmmm, yes Amanda, they made me think of you. =)

On Christmas Eve, I went shopping and bought a skirt because I want to dress more teacher-like since I’ll be teaching in January. I wore my skirt to the Christmas Eve service we went to at a BEAUTIFUL Anglican cathedral. It was wonderful, there was a choir, candlelight, scripture readings, and an organ. My favorite was the version of The First Noel/Pachelbel’s Canon that the choir sang…it was beautiful. Jesus is so sweet. Do I say that every post? It’s true! He is so sweet, spend time with Him. He’s so sweet.

On the 23rd, we had an outdoor movie night. We watched Muppet Christmas Carol, The Nativity, & The Grinch. Only, I just watched part of the Grinch. I think he’s kinda scary. I really wanted to sing every word to every song on Muppet Christmas Carol, but I refrained, but only a little. =] “tis the season to be jolly and joyous…fa la la!” The Nativity was surprisingly really good. I recommend watching it. It’s the story of Jesus’ birth, but with a lot of history in it, and a lot of it is from Mary & Joseph’s perspective. I like it & was glad we watched it.

On the 22nd, the leaders of SIMPact hosted a Christmas dinner & party. Lasagna, salad, bread, and ice cream sundaes! The games were right up my alley…building a puzzle from the outside in, how many words can you make from “merry Christmas,” (we had 222…thank you Boggle & Wheel of Fortune), stacking Jenga, & writing down as many Christmas carol lines as we could think of – at tumaini, we’ve been teaching the kids Christmas carols for their play. I’ll never sing “hark the herald angels sing” without thinking about how I tried to explain the whole song to kids who don’t entirely speak English. Dorothy & Dwight’s house was decorated all Christmas-y, it made me feel like it was really Christmas. =)

Tomorrow will be a day of rest before we head to Maasai Mara for a safari! We’ll be there 2 nights & 3 days, and will come back the 30th.

I am currently seeking & processing the LORD’s plans for me in missions. I am enjoying working with the kids at Tumaini, but I really want to tell people about Jesus who have never ever heard…the kids are all pretty much believers, which is awesome, I’ll be doing a lot of discipleship & teaching; but, my passions always seem to come back to those who are searching for Truth & don’t know it’s in Jesus yet… so if you’d like to be in prayer with me about that, I would appreciate it! Thank you!

Merry Christmas!!! =)
kt