Merry Christmas!!

A very big Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone and since I'm in a former British colony, Happy Boxing Day. I really didn't know how I would feel on Christmas. You see, Christmas is the time of the year that I love the most. I love the music, the food, the cold weather, the giving and receiving, the time with family and friends, all of it is wonderful. Well, a lot of what I love about Christmas I don't have here which is why I wasn't sure how I would feel. It made me realize though that maybe I've put too much emphasis on these other aspects of Christmas and not enough on Jesus himself. How easy it can be to forget that when you live in the States where Christmas has become so commercialized and the true meaning of Christmas seems to have been diluted somewhat. The story of Christmas is so amazing and so out of the ordinary and it was really good to reflect on that more this year.

My Christmas day wasn't extremely eventful and I did miss being with my family, but I really did end up having a good day. I spent most of it here with my friends here at the guest house. I got to skype with my family and with another good friend, I tossed some frisbee around, and then enjoyed a very good meal at the guest house for supper. All in all I can say that my first Kenyan Christmas was a very good one.

The center closed last Tuesday so I've been on my Christmas vacation since last Wednesday. On Tuesday the one group of English students had a little party which was quite fun. We played some games and had a bunch of snacks. On Thursday I went with my friends to a water park. I was just as surprised as you that there would be a water park here, but sure enough we rolled in and there it was. It wasn't exactly the best park I've ever been to, but it was still fun. They had probably about a half-a-dozen slides, some of which were decently fast. Saturday I went to a Christmas Eve brunch at some other friends' house. They had quite the spread of great breakfast foods and since breakfast is my most favorite meal of the day I put away my fair share of calories. Today is Boxing Day and I enjoyed a nice lunch with my neighbors and then played some more frisbee.

This week I'm going to Meru National Park to do some camping, hiking, and check out the wildlife. I'm very excited to get out and see more of Kenya and hopefully next week I'll have some pictures to put up from my trip.

Random thoughts for the week:
- It was great to see the Giants knock off the Jets and their big mouth coach.
- Also really great to see Jimmy Rollins resign with the Phils. It would have been hard to see him go somewhere else.
- My brother Chad arrives next week and I can't wait.
- Skype really is a great invention.

Have a blessed week and a safe and happy New Year, everyone!