Christmas in the Tropics

This is literally the only public Christmas decoration in our entire city!

This Christmas I wished for snow! It was overcast all day but we only got rain. It was close to 100 degrees. I took a cold shower in the middle of the day to cool off and seriously thought Jody was going to have to drag me out of the cool water with a wench! It felt so good to be cold!

We didn't have family to celebrate with...in fact, Christmas surrounded by 3.8 million Hindus is completely stripped of all the things our American culture associates with Christmas. It has provided a wonderful opportunity for us to focus on what the true meaning of Christmas is without all the commercialism. No one seems to notice that today is any different from any other day and all the stores are still open. Jody was checking out at the grocery store and the clerk was wearing a santa hat. She said, "Merry Christmas!". He thanked her and politely explained that he doesn't celebrate Santa but the birth of Jesus on this day. Perplexed she looked at him and said, "I don't know who that is." He was able to share about the special baby who was born on this day to save all mankind from their sins and bring hope to all nations.
I was delighted to find this Nativity set and angels made out of bamboo by a local pastor. I bought a set for everyone in my family this year.

Jody served me breakfast in bed! We ate Bacon and Onion Quiche, peppermint tea and mandarin oranges.

Thanks to our families for spoiling lavishly with gifts. Next year we look forward to celebrating with you in person around a fire!


Thanks Deborah and Michael for the Christmas presents. Jody loves his new soccer stuff.

It was impossible to find a Christmas tree in our city. Evergreen trees aren't easy to come by on the equator. Instead Jody brought a dead branch home from the village for me to decorate. The people who saw him ride by on the road had to have thought he was insane carrying a tree on his motorbike. I love a man who isn't afraid to make a fool of himself for me!

Oh Christmas tree!

December is the month that Rambutan come into season. This is one of my favorite tropical fruits. It has a white flesh about the size of a grape and resembles the taste and texture of a grape when you peel off the furry skin. Jody brought me 5 lbs today for Christmas! Yum!

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One of the blessings of living overseas is the opportunity to see and do things you wouldn't otherwise get to experience. Our area is famous for great snorkeling so we enjoy getting to explore the depths to the sea. The water is calmest as the sun comes up. Notice the volcanos on the horizon of the sunrise. These volcanos are actually on the next island over from us and it is usually too cloudy during the day to see them. It was exciting to see them highlighted as the sun came up.

The starfish are cobalt blue. This one was about the size of a basket ball.

This is my favorite fish to look for: the parrotfish. He was about a foot long.

My friend brought her underwater camera and snapped some photos of me and Jody.


This doesn't even begin to do justice to the crystal clear water and amazing marine life we saw, but it's better than nothing!

Vacation

Last week we took a long overdue vacation to a small island near us with some friends. It was possibly the most beautiful, natural, untouched place I have ever been.

Our first impression was this lobby which reminded me so much of the safari camps from Kenya.

Jody loved climbing the craggy mountains along the ocean.

These were some pictures he took on the mountain tops.


At low tide, there would be tide pools swimming with life, waiting to be explored.

I let Jody climb the mountains without me. I stayed closer to the pool!

I parked my booty right here with a book.

This was my view from the lounge chair.

Jody before he lost his sunglasses in a kayaking incident.

This was a hammok Jody and I shared after the sun went down.

And this little man would get up with his cows early each morning to smooth the sand with a modified plow.

I drank fresh coconuts when I got thirsty.

Life in the village

These are some pictures from a village near our house. I think Jody would move there in a heartbeat if he could convince me to do so! This picture reminded me that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

View of the rice fields from a distance

The local hindu priest

A village man Jody has befriended

A typical house

The ducks here have funny hair. It always makes me smile to see them in the ricefields.

A baby doesn't really need toys, right?

A Week in our life

We don't have the 9-5 working hours that most of you do...but no one here really does. Life is pretty relaxed. This week Jody visited with friends after helping them work in the rice field.

Then he attended the wedding of this family. They already have a 3 month old baby. Most couples here only get married when the woman is already pregnant. That way they know that she is fertile.

Jody got up at 5am one morning to help our neighbors roast a couple pigs in their yard. I slept in and joined the party later!

Jody sat with the men on our street to visit. The women were too busy to sit and visit.

These are some of our neighbor's kids.


Then we taught English to some local children for two days. A national believer shared a story with them in their language.


These are some of our college students, meeting on our front porch to study the word in english.

One day we hiked a long way to a village high up in the mountains. The view of the rice fileds with the ocean in the background was breathtaking.

I had taken my watercolor pencils so we sat and sketched, in awe of our Creator and His creation.


Our week ended by driving 3 hours to the capital city, where Jody preached at the English service. I got away with a girlfriend from the states for a couple days of spiritual renewal.