Christmas and More Traveling

Christmas in Ndola was definitely a blessed time. I am very fortunate to have Johnny and Michele with me. Having them around has brought a different sense of excitement to my life, and it has also kept my mind off of not being with my family during the holidays.

Christmas is definitely not celebrated as much in Zambia as in the States. In many senses, it is just like any other day. Many shops are open, and people can be found milling about. It definitely was a different experience. Johnny, Michele, and I made the most of it though. We bought cheap presents for each other, had stockings, and made a fake Christmas tree. As you can see from the pictures, our tree was made out of a green towel. It looked really good in our opinion. Along with the presents we bought, we also tried to steal each other’s personal items and wrap them without the other person knowing (Michele's jacket in the picture). Oh, the joys of Christmas in Zambia. Who says you have to have extravagant gifts to have fun? For all of our presents, decorations, and stockings, we probably spent $40 total. We just made sure the experience was fun. (Those are elephant window shades for my car btw).

I think this Christmas, more than others, has taught me about the gift of friendship. I know that I mentioned it before, but I cannot begin to describe the joy of having my friends around for the holidays. I guess you don’t know how blessed you are until you have something taken away from you. I think that blessing becomes clearer when the thing, which was taken away, is given back.

Anyways, I am presently sitting in the Lusaka airport boarding a plane for Kenya. That is where my friends are traveling to next, and I decided to join them for a few days. We are going to be spending New Years on a safari. I bought a stupid safari hat the other day and I am very excited to wear it. Don’t worry I will take plenty of pictures. Also, don’t worry none of your donated money is going to this trip. All donated money goes to ministry needs not pleasure trips. This is just a Christmas present I decided to give myself. I made it to the new year; therefore, it is time to celebrate like a tourist. Also, don’t worry I am not missing work time because the Jubilee Centre is on a two week break. Just wanted to ease any concerns people may have had.

If you want, you can also check out my friends’ blog at hoffnerworlddomination.blogspot.com. They update it every couple of weeks during their trip around the world. You can also check out their website at jonathanhoffnerphotography.com. Sorry but their pictures from Africa will not be up until the summer. Their photos of Zambia are amazing so go buy you when they put them up.