Christmas Part 2

In the blink of an eye, Christmas has come and gone. There were moments where I felt the comfort and familiarity of a typical Christmas, like spending Christmas Day at Otto & Marjories. Those moments were truly wonderful and any homesickness I might have been feeling diminished. However, there were moments throughout the last 3 days where I missed Christmas at home. I missed the snow (crazy, I know, but it's true), the tradition of Christmas morning at home, Grandma's house with extended family and Christmas Eve services at church. Next year, it will resume again. I take comfort in that.

With all that I felt I missed at home, I don't think I would trade it for my Christmas here in Portugal. This was a memorable Christmas.

On the Eve of Christmas Eve, us Trekkers were spoiled by Doug and Myra. We thought we were showing up for a nice dinner with them, but instead we were surprised by a little Christmas dinner of Enchiladas, pumpkin roll and stockings!!! It made our night. I mean, who doesn't love little treasures inside stockings????



After a yummy dinner and stocking opening, we went on a mini surprise field trip to check out some nativity scenes close by in Loures. We pass by this particular nativity scene on our way to school and we were wanting to stop to take pictures, so this was perfect that Doug and Myra surprised us by taking us there.

 

The lovely and always sweet, Doug & Myra

For Christmas Eve, our team went to the home of where the boys live to spend Christmas with that family. It ended up being a very mixed bunch of people - another family from the Espaco/church in Massama, us, the host family (Edi, Rosemary, Lucas & Wesley) and some of Rosemary's family. The party did not get started until 10pm and it went until 3am - I am told it actually went closer to 5am, but us girls left just before 3am. That is true Portuguese style. We took part in a true Brazilian/Portuguese Christmas. Memories were definitely made.



 Us girls and Rosemary

 

Portuguese food involves a lot of Bacalhau (the famous salted cod). I chickened out and didn't take a whole piece of fish like the rest of the team, but I did take a bite of it and I can confirm that I did not care for it at all. People here say it's an acquired taste, so who knows, I may have my mind changed before I leave in 6 months. Other food that was had were collard greens, which were cooked in the same pan as the Bacalhau, so that wasn't a favorite for me either. There were some good Brazilian desserts though, which included coconut and pineapples.



Before the night was over, a bunch of us played the most rousing and intense game of Jenga that I have ever played :) We played guys against girls (for the record, the girls won all 4 games we played - nice work team).



It was an awesome night full of lots of laughter. Like I said, it made Christmas extremely memorable this year. I am so glad that I was able to experience a true Portuguese/Brazilian Christmas.

For Christmas morning, the girls and I had a little gift exchange among us. It was very little, but I scored a beautiful scarf from Rachael. After opening up some gifts (some people also received packages from back home), us girls made a delicious breakfast consisting of crepes, nutella, bananas, pomegranates, hot apple sauce, whipped cream and mamosas. It was absolute perfection.

 

Christmas day in the afternoon, we all headed over to Otto & Marjories for appetizers, games, movies and just good time spent together.



The Vanders joined us later on in the evening. It truly felt like Christmas with little kids running around.



Meika & Sofia got make-up kits for Christmas, so I was one of the lucky recipiants of a makeover courtesy of Sofia.

 

Sofia & Josh- so cute!

All in all, it was a pretty good Christmas - one that will be memorable for years to come.

Now we get to gear up for New Year's

These are a Few of my Favorite Things...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

So far, it has been a lovely Christmas morning and a good week for that matter. I've been enjoying many good things this week, so I thought I would share them.

• Extra hot venti latte's on rainy days
• puzzles
• Amy Grant Christmas music
• Christmas baking
• building new friendships
• Movie afternoons watching Little Women and White Christmas
• Drinking copious amounts of spiced tea
• Cozy blankets to snuggle up in when your apartment is an icebox
• The comfort and familiarity of Starbucks
• Christmas shopping - trying to find the perfect gift for under 5 euros
• Christmas choirs and carols
• Advent calendars that are still exciting to open, even when you're not a little kid anymore
• Dance parties to the theme song of Free Willy by Michael Jackson
• Living in Europe
• Receiving packages and cards from people I love back home reminding me that I am loved.
• Laughing so hard with the girls in bed about the most random things until 2am
• Deciding you need a late night snack after laughing so hard so you go to the freezer and grab an ice cream cone and eat it in bed :)
• Stocking filled with wonderful little things
• Christmas morning breakfast of crepes and mamosas with the girls
• Bruno Mars "Grenade"

Feliz Natal

Feliz Natal - Merry Christmas!

May the Emmanuel, God with us, be very present to you all this season and as you head into the New Year. Wishing you a joyous and hopeful 2011.

Videos

Here are the promised videos from the Christmas programs in Massama and Loures.

The Massama kids singing their songs

 

Our Portuguese choir in Loures

The Amadora youth singing "Oh Happy Day"

Monsaraz

Today, 22 missionaries (Otto, Marjorie, Doug, Myra, Gary, Terry, Matt & Kiri and their 3 kids Mieka, Sofia and Josh, Joe & Paula and their 3 kids Pedro, Afonso and Debora, and us Trekers), headed out to a lovely place called Monsaraz, about 2 hours outside of Lisbon in the interior of Portugal. Let me just say that the countryside was beautiful. Nothing like sheep and arching cork trees lining the highway as you drive. Unfortunately the weather was not so predictable and in the end, we all got quite wet.

This is Monsaraz. It's an old walled city dating back to the 8th century.

Heidi and Sofia are ready with their umbrellas for the rain.

The city of Monsaraz is best known these days for their paper mache-like nativity sets and figures set up throughout the city. This city still has people living here, which I thought was pretty cool.

The Woman at the Well

The view of the country side from Monsaraz was incredible.

Sofia and I

Man, I love Europe.

I love the oldness of the city. I love the stone everywhere. It makes me feel like I am in a movie sometimes.

We all enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee in a very cute cafe in the city. It seemed as though we were the only people in this place.

Rachael and I enjoying our galou and meia de leite

YUM!

Josh found someone's leftover coffee at a table, so he started to drink some. It's important to note that this is one little boy who does NOT need any more caffeine running through his body :)

At the end of the city there is an ancient bull ring.

Rachael, Doug and I

After spending some time in the city, we had 1pm lunch reservations at Joe's favorite restaurant close by. All 22 of us enjoyed a very yummy meal. I had a piece of pork with deliciously sauteed mushrooms, french fries, salad, fresh bread with goat cheese and red wine. Talk about giood food! 

All 22 of us in a very small restuarant. I am blessed to be surrounded by these incredible people on a regular basis. It was a fabulous people spent with fabulous people. This was definitely a highlight of being here in Portugal thus far.