Christmas in Kenya

Written Saturday, December 30, 2006

I had a fabulous Christmas in Kenya! No sadness – lots of happiness! I did miss my family, but the joy of Christmas was not dampened because of it.

Lindsey and I feel as though we have celebrated Christmas in both Yatta and Ndalani. We spent most of Christmas Eve at Yatta, where the day’s big event was cooking 400 chapattis. Chapatti is a Kenyan flat bread, similar to Indian naan bread. It is Kenyan tradition to cook chapattis and chicken for Christmas dinner. With so many people living at Yatta, there are a lot of chapattis that need to be cooked. The girls were not intimidated though. I got to help with the cooking process. I spent a couple of hours sitting on a sack of charcoal flipping around hot chapattis on the jiko. A jiko is a small, portable, charcoal-burning stove. When flipping the chapattis there is no spatula – just a spoon and your thumb. It takes practice, finesse and bravery to be able to work the flipping process properly. If you’re slow and timid you’re going to burn your fingers and drop the chapatti. You’ve got to be fast and not afraid. Eventually I became fast and not afraid. I also lost the feeling in my right thumb.

When dark came, our ride to Ndalani arrived. Lindsey and I had decided that Ndalani was where we wanted to spend Christmas because we suspect that we will probably be at Yatta for the remainder of our time in Kenya. Our ride was the beat-up pickup truck. We brought our bags around to load in the back and were surprised to see what would be keeping them company. There in the back of the pickup truck, lying on a sheet of plastic and covered over with another, was the slaughtered Christmas cow. No joke. There really was a skinned cow in there. I could see the hooves poking out. This was just one more thing that is definitely Africa, MCF Africa in particular.

The ride to Ndalani was a lot of fun. Dau drove the truck and entertained us with outrageous stories of some of the things that happened in the early days of MCF. Dau was one of the first boys that Mr. Mulli rescued off of the street. He just graduated from university with a BA in Sociology.

Our Christmas week at Ndalani was very special. Most of Mr. and Mrs. Mulli’s biological children were around. They are all in their twenties, so they were great company. Christmas morning Lindsey and I opened the stockings that we had given each other. Then we joined everybody else at MCF church. In the afternoon we began what could only be classified as a feast. Apparently the Mullis have a tradition of cooking huge amounts of deliciously tasty food and eating all Christmas afternoon. Boy, does that family know how to cook. I did not miss the turkey at all. How could I when there were fresh salads, stir fries, different types of rice, potatoes and a plethora of freshly barbequed meat, including our friend the Christmas cow.

After eating all that food, this family doesn’t nap. No, they turn on the music and have a dance party. I got to pull out some of my very rusty salsa moves and watch as the guys busted out the hip hop grooves. I feel like this is a Christmas tradition I need to bring back to Canada. The evening continued with children from the home performing some music and Kaleli, Isaac and Dickson Mulli leading us in some worship songs, along with a little Bob Marley. The day closed with us young people settling down to watch 24. It was a really special day.

In fact, the whole week was very special. I enjoyed the opportunity to relax with my Ndalani friends and also do some activities with the children. It was certainly unlike any Christmas I’ve ever had in Canada. I will never forget it. Tomorrow Lindsey and I head to Nairobi to meet up with our friends Bethany and Dave. The two of them are also Crossroads interns, but work in Zambia. The four of us will be taking holidays to the coast. I am really excited.