Christmas in India

We know this is a bit late, but it’s the first time we’ve had the chance to upload it!  We thought you’d enjoy it anytime of year!

 

Well we can all say that this was by far the most bizarre Christmas we have yet celebrated.  It was hard to think of this time of year being Christmas because, to me, Christmas is so deeply intertwined with family and December weather.  Thankfully when Annie came here she brought along a little bit of Christmas cheer with her.  Christmas movies, candy canes and a paperback copy of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  We also had a few Christmas decorations from packages sent to us as well, so we were pretty prepared to bring in the Christmas season.  Luckily, we had also packed along plenty of Christmas music and in the weeks leading up to Christmas it was  constantly playing.

On Christmas Eve Sara and I started out the day right with Swedish Pancakes, chai and then the classis Anderson Christmas Eve run.  After spending the day prepping for dinner, we enjoyed a beautiful Christmas Eve meal including stuffing, cranberries, a corn broccoli and green bean stir fry, artisan bread, ice cream cake, and a few other select items.  It felt good to have a big meal on Christmas Eve, it was the one part about the night that felt normal.  After dinner we all gathered in the living room around candles and finished reading A Christmas Carol aloud to each other.  We then brought up some lyrics for classic Christmas Carols and sung the night away.  Right before bed, Sara and I decided to open one present from each other. It was a great way to end the night.  We also got to open two Christmas packages a little after Christmas.

  

Christmas Day Sara and I opened the presents we had prepared for each other as well as stockings we made out of bandannas.   That day our friends Paul and Rujuta were having people over to their house for a Christmas party.  It was an all day affair (about 1 o’clock to 10 o’clock) of friends, food, carrom and dancing.  A lot of the people that were there were other volunteers from abroad and they were happy to have friends to spend Christmas Day with.  Again, it wasn’t the classic Christmas experience that we are all used to, but for being a Christmas spent abroad we were very happy with it.