'Tis the season!

It's strange to be celebrating the holidays on the other side of the world. I've had plenty of birthdays away from home, but this will be my first Christmas away from the family (cats included...). I know that Christmas is going to be a ton of fun, though. Erika's piano students will have a Christmas carol recital/party a few days before Christmas, Friday night we'll have a white elephant gift exchange, and Saturday (Christmas Eve) we'll celebrate Christmas with a big meal together (I think? plans were still in the works last I heard). Since Christmas is on a Sunday we'll have church, I'm teaching Sunday School that day, and then there's the Christmas edonga (dance) and also a wedding that I might go to with Leah (we tried to go to that wedding a few weeks ago, but found out it had been postponed till Christmas day because the priest from Nakapiripirit wasn't able to get to Nakaale through the mud). I'm not exactly sure how the edonga works, but I know everyone wears their best clothes and all the beads they own, and they meet out somewhere towards Atedeoi I think, and the men jump up and down in a circle and the women dance around them outside the circle. I think it's a prime time to choose a fiancee, so that will be interesting to see. But I'll tell you what it's like once I've seen it with my own eyes, Lord willing :) The dance goes all day and night so hopefully we'll be able to pop in for an hour or two. On Monday night the Knox's are having us over for a Boxing Day dinner party.

Last night Jenny (Baumgardner) Knox had me, Erika and Leah Hopp over for a girls' night. We did pedicures (my feet haven't been this clean since I left America... but we didn't scrub all our callouses off cause we need them!), had delicious Indian food (naan, rice, and daal... sooo good), and we just chatted and relaxed. It was wonderful. I am so blessed to be here with such fun, sweet, encouraging ladies. You guys are the beeeest :)

So, today I need to bust out some more TEFL lessons (obviously this blog post is just my way of productively procrastinating!). This afternoon several of us are going to get together to play board games before dinner. Since it's my birthday, they let me pick the meal tonight, but I'm not too creative so I just picked Mexican food. It's always delicious, especially here. I am learning to cook a lot of amazing things here, I can't wait to get back to the States and try these recipes at home. Who knew I'd have to go across the planet to finally learn to cook... but I'm starting to enjoy it. It's becoming less scary to me and I've only had one disaster meal (failed tomato soup and grilled cheese... just does NOT work here) so that's not so bad.

Ok. No more procrastinating.
Much love,
Emily