A Sunny Christmas

My last weekend in Zambia was filled getting ready for Christmas. Most everyone went over to Zimbabwe for the weekend, but I was just there and would be back in a few days so I stayed in Zambia. Most of the people that had been in Zambia remained with me, as it was most of our last weekends in Zambia. We were preparing for Christmas Day, which would be spent at the orphanage with all of the boys and the kids from the community.

The weekend went by and soon it was Christmas Eve. Everyone was quite excited about it being Christmas. It is still strange to spend Christmas in Africa though. Somehow, walking around in shorts and a tee-shirt just doesn’t seem right when you are supposed to be eating chestnuts around a fire. There are no Christmas trees, decorations or lights littering the town; commercialization still hasn’t reached the heart of Africa. We all went out for drinks on Christmas Eve as everyone was in a festive mode and wanted to go and celebrate.

Christmas Day arrived and Santa forgot to visit Zambia. Maybe he just boycotted because there was no chimney, no tree, no cookies and there’s a good chance that the milk is sour. Oh well, Dan saved Christmas by cooking up a wonderful English breakfast. We all got ready and headed off for the orphanage. All of the boys were there, along with a lot of community kids. All of my class was there, so we went off to play some football while everyone was getting ready. There was a lunch of pizza, chips and cookies and presents were handed out to everyone. It was the best Christmas that I have ever spent. I didn’t receive anything but just to be around all the kids and see how happy they were was amazing. Everyone had a huge smile on their face, as I’m sure that this was the first time they had received presents at Christmas. All of the boys wanted to show me what they received and go play. Dan even dressed up as Santa and went around yelling ho, ho, ho. I’m sure the kids loved it, but poor Dan was sweating his ass off in ninety-degree heat wearing that stuffy suit and beard. We packed up in the afternoon and headed back to the house. The plan was to have Christmas dinner all together, but the Simba decided to overdose on malaria tablets, taking the once a week tablets every day for two weeks. He was recovering in bed so Ciara, Dan and I were left to cook dinner. After four hours in the hot kitchen, dinner was served. It actually turned out really well and sat around eating and drinking. Everyone stayed up drinking and talking, but I went to take a nap because the Eagles were playing at two in the morning. It is always a happy Christmas when Philly beats Dallas.

Boxing day I promised all of my kids that we would go and play football. It was my last day in Zambia and I wanted to spend it with the boys. I took a taxi over to the orphanage, passing all of the kids in the community, all wearing and playing with their Christmas presents. I met all of the boys and we walked over to the football fields. I felt like the pied piper leading forty kids thorough the town. We arrived at the field and played a full match. I didn’t score any goals, but it was just good to spend the day with the boys and a good way for me to say goodbye to them all. Once the match was done, I had to leave to go and pack. I said goodbye to everyone and promised them that I would return some day; I just hope that it is soon.