And There Won't Be Snow in Africa This Christmas Time

Celebrating Christmas in South Africa was definitely an interesting experience.  Nobody seemed to be bothered by the fact that it was summertime, that there was no snow and that there would technically be no way for Santa's sleigh to arrive.  Including me!

I must admit Ali and I had put up our Christmas tree way back in November.  This is, of course, mainly my fault, though secretly I think Ali was encouraging me the whole way through.  Both of us could not wait for Christmas to arrive for various reasons - she would be going to home to celebrate with her family and I would be spending it with Cesar.  So surely if we put up the Christmas tree, Christmas would come faster!

I quickly got put in charge of organizing our office Christmas party back in October.  The restaurant we ended up choosing is called Cape Town Fish Market and is right on the beach, with its patio overlooking the ocean.

Ali, myself and Sherylle

We were encouraged to bring our 'plus one' and as I could not choose between Ali and Cesar, I brought them both.  We had a wonderful time, complete with Christmas crackers, good food and great company.

Christmas Eve was a bit of an emotional time for me.  My family and I are extremely close and we have very specific Christmas Eve traditions that I was trying really hard to follow.  I must say that was one of those moments during my stay here that was really tough.  Though I had explicitly told my friends and family not to send me anything through Cesar, they had all of course sent something.  And I felt so grateful that they did.  It made opening the presents so exciting and special! 

Christmas Day was also amazing.  When we woke up and looked out the window there was not a cloud in the sky.  So we thought, "What better way to spend Christmas morning than on the beach?"

We went for brunch at Mugg & Bean and then spent a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine and the ocean.  As I always say, "Who needs snow, if you have sand!" Actually I just started saying that. Just now.

We actually had the honour of being invited to celebrate Christmas with Willene and Dave and their family.  Willene is a colleague of Ali's at the Legal Resources Centre and is absolutely wonderful.  She has become a really good friend and I was looking forward to the opportunity to meet her family.  Willene and Dave have a beautiful house in Kloof which is about a twenty minute drive from Durban central.  Their house is located on the side of a hill with their patio overlooking a magnificent valley. 

We had a wonderful time, complete with great food, beautiful weather and amazing people.  There was even some Afrikaans dancing involved, which was wonderful to watch.

We also had the honour of being invited to Sherylle's house for Boxing Day for a braai.  Sherylle's family is so much fun and we had a great time.  Her mom's cooking is amazing (although I am not that good at eating spicy food I loved it) and her husband is a master braaier (I don't even think that is a word, but it should be!).  There was a lot of dancing involved and Cesar and I even learned how to kwaito (which wikipedia says "is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples.").

Thank you everyone for making my Christmas away from home so wonderful and special!!!