Notes from Zambia

Wishing everyone happy holidays. We hear back home the season has been a white winter wonderland, however here its been a damp, lush-green holiday season. Yesterday we were invited by Jason Paltzer, Debby's former field experience preceptor, to join him and his family at their Christmas day church service. In the afternoon we were invited to the farm of the Dr. whom we work with here. His 10acre farm houses many unofficial foster children and friends so we were glad to be welcomed into this extended family holiday bbq. There was no turkey or ham, but some delicious Zambeef steaks along with stuffing, pasta salad, and gormet tomato salad provided by us! We danced, sang, and had a jolly ole time.

A tasty Christmas cake! yum yum yum!

We found Santa's LIttle Helpers preparing for the big night

Musicians spreading the holiday spirit at Manda Hill

This is for my worrisome mother, so she can see that I had a real christmas while here--it really does exist in Africa! While it wasn't traditional by our usual standards, it was just as pleasant and fun to experience other holiday traditions with new family and friends. We look forward to the next week and another upcoming holiday--Zambian New Years! For those of you back home, we're 8hours ahead so we'll ring in the New Year at 2pm Minnesota time. We'll give you a heads up about how things are in 2009.

Hello family and friends! As you can tell, we had a wonderful Christmas here. I did miss a few of the traditions from back home such as the brunch strata, the family around the fire, the jigsaw puzzle, and the familiar Christmas music playing in the background. But it is always good to experience something new. And the liver stuffing, friends around the balcony overlooking the pool, and the crazy dancing (Dr. Tim and his nshima dance!) were definitely new! I hope you all had (and continue to have) a great holiday back in the Midwest, the East Coast, the Southwest, or wherever else you may be! xoxo