Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all have a lot to look forward to this year and a lot to reflect on and rejoice over in this past year! I know I sure do! :) God is good, has been good, and will continue to be good throughout this next year.
I am finally back from Uganda. I spent a lovely Christmas break there with my fiancé and friends in Uganda. Our first week we spent in Ivan’s mom’s village in Nebbi, a district in Uganda that is almost in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is so far away from Kampala that it feels like a whole different country. Nearly his entire extended family turned out to the village for the event because his cousin was having her introduction ceremony (i.e. traditional engagement party where the groom presents the dowry to the girl’s family and is given permission to marry her in the presence of the whole family).
It was an exciting week. The women of the village were very entertained having me there and really made me work hard. It took the entire village working to pull the ceremony off because everything had to be done from scratch (for example, the tent had to be made from tarps after poles were cut from the forest….the peanut sauce could only be made after the peanuts were first harvested, dried, shelled, hand ground, and then finally cooked….the water had to be fetched from the river and carried on heads back to the village, etc.).
The ceremony was a huge event and after the initial issues were resolved (i.e. first the sound system didn’t work, then the generator caught on fire), we had an all night dance party and a lot of fun. Everyone danced-from the tiny kids to the old grandmothers.
After visiting the village, we came back to Kampala and spent Christmas with Ivan’s family in Kampala. We decorated a tree that they cut down from the side of the road and covered their house with balloons. Then we came early on Christmas day to help cook for our feast of a lunch later on. They don’t do presents, just a lot of food and making the house pretty. It was a quiet, happy day, even though the weather was dismal and decided to rain the whole of the day. Rain on Christmas should be outlawed or something.
After Christmas, while EAC Uganda was heading to camp with their kids, Athena and I went straight to Nakuru to be bridesmaids in Amanda and Toby’s wedding. Amanda is a Canadian girl who worked with me in Kenya in 2005 on the AIM team. She officially married Toby, a Kenyan, two years ago but just had a court ceremony and finally had the big wedding. Amanda’s family from Canada came out for the celebration after saving money for three long years to be a part of it. It was a joyous celebration and everyone enjoyed. It was also a great time of reunion with old friends from our AIM team from so long ago. (For the AIM team…the Peez, Francis, and Bridget were all around and making a lot of noise).
Athena and I arrived back in Nairobi at just about midnight on New Years Eve/Day (depending on how you look at it). We got back just in time to hear people cheering and setting off fireworks. Try as I might, I couldn’t see the fireworks though. They were just tormenting me cruelly with their sound and not letting me see them. Next year I need to find out where to see fireworks.
Now that it is January 1st, 2011, I have been thoroughly happy for a day of quiet and rest. It’s been a lovely day of prayer, worship, meditation and reflecting on this past year. There is much to do and much to look forward to in 2011, but I am not going to tell you all about it now. No, you can’t make me tell you.….ha ha ha (mischievous laugh)…it’s a cliff hanger to make you eagerly await my next update on the edge of your seats! Never fear, I will fill you in all the details of what exciting, amazing, and wonderful things we have planned for EAC Kenya in 2011 and not only so but also in the riveting life of Tara Lynn Skarin. However, if I told you everything now, you would have less to look forward to so I am going to have self-control and make you all learn patience. ;)
In the meantime, I do have pictures for you. Lots and lots of pictures, cause I know you all want to see our Christmas bush, gingerbread houses, Amanda’s wedding dress, baboons, and Tara shelling peanuts. You are in luck, you can see all these and more online. Ah, the glory of technology!
For pictures from our Christmas in Uganda, you can see them at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=262790&id=664174054&l=66c102f0ae
And pictures from Amanda and Toby’s wedding:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=262051&id=664174054&l=36d64102e5
Well, that’s enough of an update for now. May God bless you and guide you throughout this new year and may you never take for granted one day of life or one day of the lives of those around you.
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