Tis the season...

Merry Christmas!!!

My first Christmas away from home was not terrible. I really wish I was with my family but since I was not, I do feel that I made the best out of the situation (thanks to my roommate Sam). Christmas eve was a tough one, I was sad because I LOVE going to Nana's to be with the family (but, I did hear that it was much "quieter and felt like 10 people were missing" which I don’t really consider a good thing unless it was due to less overall laughter).

In place of the usual Christmas eve festivities, I found myself with Sam and her friend (who I can't remember his name, crap...anyway, he's really nice and Windy would be in love with him in point two seconds due to his INCREDIBLE smile and superb bone structure...he is 22 but what's 2 years..). We went to a "hip-hop" concert, I can't say that without thinking of Wedding Singer and that old lady rapping but, anyway, we went to the National Stadium which is about a mile up the road for the 4:00 concert which apparently means 7:00 Rwandan time...why they say everything starts at 4:00, I have no idea why. So the concert consisted of every singer in Rwanda basically. At 7:3o a bunch of amateurs performed and then around 10:00 the famous people came on. We left around 12ish but I think it went to 2AM. Just to back up a bit, by preformed I mean used a Mac notebook that was hooked up to speakers to play their track which they then proceeded to lip-sync off of...apparently that's what they do here...straight Milli Vanilli style (except they claim to be the people for real). A couple of the real famous ones do sing for real with a band but only about three of fifteen did. Another interesting point is that due to the limited laws protecting artists and their music (by limited I mean nonexistent), they have no way of making money besides the show. They get famous by having their music played on the radio but they are not paid and there are huge piracy issues. When the good guys, and there were a few that were great, preformed, the fans would come up and stuff money into their pockets. For me, who has been blessed to attend a "real" concert, this seemed like a college spring day concert...for Rwandans this was their equivalent of an NSync concert at the Garden...different worlds. O, and another thing, they don't make up their own music, most use beats from the US and but new words to it. Bye, Bye, Bye by NSync was used, a few Brittney tunes and a couple others. No one here can read notes so the musicians play everything by ear. Sam has friends in a band and said it is fascinating to watch them practice because a singer brings in a track they have never heard and within 10 mins the guitarists, drummer, and keyboard player can play it back perfect. For a nation that is so musically inclined, it will be interesting to see how it morphs over the next couple years if they can get some laws in place...but this is Africa (no offense but corruption is corruption). Overall, good experience but different than the usual Christmas eve festivites.

For Christmas day, I went to another one of Sam’s friends houses. They are an older couple who are Rwandan but fled to Uganda awhile back and then to Canada. Their older son, daughter and son-in-law came in from Canada and they have an adopted nine year old. They were such a nice family and it was really comfortable, which I was thankful for. The mom was so nice and an unbelievable cook and the father was such a sweet guy. The youngest son decided that he wanted to be a vegetarian so it was just funny to see the banter between the father and son…the dad was so supportive which I was very surprised by. The mom made homemade guacamole and chips as well as a sorbet for dessert. AND, we had chicken!!!! I miss chicken so much! Haha it was such a welcomed treat. We stayed the afternoon with them, watched New Moon (mixed reviews, a bit too dramatic for me) and then headed home. Once we got home I had the chance to skype with the family for awhile and then we headed out for Christmas dinner at a couple from Oklahoma’s house. Everyone is so nice. (I need a new adjective but that really describes them…just nice)! This Christmas dinner was pure southern cooking…it was delicious and I had never had most of the foods prepared but you could tell that it was southern. I tried a bit of everything but just by the looks of it, it was obvious that a bit was all you should have. She was a great cook though and their family was wonderful as well. Their house was decked out in Christmas decorations so being there with some Kenny G playing in the background made it feel much more like home.

So, there is the play by play…probably too much info! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I really missed you all. At least this time away makes me even more thankful for my family and how lucky I am to love them so much.