What some may call Xmas Eve...

So, we celebrated Christmas Danish style because Christina's father is from Denmark (although he was on a plane to the States for a golf tournament Christina's brother is in!). The Danes have Christmas on what is traditionally considered Christmas eve, so our main celebration was last night. Before dinner we had "crackers" which are these little things that you pull on the ends of to find a little prize and a joke inside. I think this is an African tradition cause you can find them in all the shops around South Africa and Kenya, but I may be wrong... (If you look in the photos you can see them on the table).

We had a traditional Danish dinner, consisting of roasted duck, caramelized potatoes and red cabbage. It was quite delicious! For dessert we had chopped almond rice pudding (I forget their name for it, but it is similar to Tapioca). What is special about this is that they add a couple of whole almonds into the mixture and then serve everyone up. Whoever finds the whole almonds gets a special present (which in our case was chocolate). I love the idea of this and encourage everyone to start a similar tradition in their family because it really is fun! (Mom, take note of this!)





After we finished eating, we went outside and surrounded a tree, held hands, and walked around in circles singing Christmas carols (another Danish tradition). It was actually quite amusing because the some branches of the tree were rather low and kept hitting us in the face... :) Present giving isn't really a big thing like it is in the States (which was actually really nice!) so we just talked for a while and then us younguns went out to experience the Nairobi nightlife, where, at midnight everyone sang along to Feliz Navidad. A cultural Christmas indeed!





On another note, Kenya is having a petrol shortage, a water shortage, and a power shortage! So whenever we see a station with fuel, we fill up no matter how full the tank already is- We have been bathing one of the country clubs Christina's family is a member to- And, luckily, they have solar power for backup energy or else I would not be able to write this!

Second note- I am leaving for the coastal city of Mombasa today and will not have access to internet, so I will not be able to write or post pictures until my birthday on the 3rd of Jan! So I hope you all are well and that you have a good xmas and a happy new years!