Well we officially celebrated our first Christmas out here on Kwaj! It may not have been the traditional Christmas Johnathon and I are used to, but it was special and wonderful all the same. Kwaj really tries to make Christmas a big deal out here with Santa's arrival in an outrigger canoe, to scuba Santa and the lighted boat parade....while some of the festivities were very "kwaj-y" (read quirky), it did help us to get into the Christmas spirit. A couple days before Christmas, everyone brings chairs and gathers on Emon Beach to watch Scuba Santa arrive. This unusual Kwaj tradition is equal parts cool and creepy, and involves scuba elves emerging from the lagoon with a Christmas tree lit by glow sticks, only to be followed by Scuba Santa emerging a few minutes later. One could argue that Santa's aquatic emerging somewhat resembles the emergence of the creature from the black lagoon, but the kids really seemed to dig it, so who am I to point of the creepy factor in this festive holiday tradition?!? After all the Christmas characters hosed off their flippers and scuba tanks, everyone turns there attention to the lagoon where sailboats lit with Christmas lights cruise around for everyone's viewing pleasure. This was actually very cool to watch, and I know Johnathon enjoyed this light display much better than last years epic trip to Austin's Trail of Lights, that Johnathon still affectionately refers to as the "Trail of Tears." Since all of this holiday hoopla took place at night, my photos were a little sub par, but luckily my friend Sarah is a photographer, and captured much better photos than we did. Thus, I will redirect you to her website for a better visual description of Scuba Santa and the boat parade!
http://www.sarahdahlphoto.com/
Here are our few photos I got from that night:
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| Waiting for SANTA!!!! |
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| Santa's helpers pulling the tree from the lagoon |
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| gorgeous sunset for Santa's arrival |
For Christmas Eve, we gathered with our Texas family at Wes and Cher's house for a Mexican food buffet, then biked over to the island Chapel for Christmas Eve service. I have to point out that we got to church 5 minutes before the service started, did not have to search for parking spaces, and didn't have to stand in the back. #Christmasmiracle
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| Christmas Eve at Wes and Cher's house |
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| the reality of our Christmas Eve meal...controlled chaos :) |
I really enjoyed Christmas Eve church. The island chapel is open air, and at the end of the service, they turned off the lights and we sang Christmas carols by candlelight with the ocean waves in the background. It was simple and beautiful...just as Christmas should be.
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| Some awesome Kwaj style Christmas lights |
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| overwhelmed by Christmas gifts...we are too lucky |
We woke up early the next morning to open gifts (by we I mean J woke me up at 6:30). We got lots of great stuff and Sadie was very excited for her doggie treats!
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| J modeling his new shirts |
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| a sleepy me rocking my new shirt and Game of Thrones!! |
After opening gifts, we met up with our friends Sarah and Nick, Amy and
Greg, and the whole Mitchell family for a Christmas trip to Ebeye. Ebeye
is and island North of Kwaj and is half the size with probably 3 times
as many people. The Marshall Islands are a collection of third world
islands, and Ebeye is no exception. Our friends went there last
Christmas and said it was a really touching and neat experience so we
decided to check it out for ourselves. We really had no game plan for
the day, we just hopped on the ferry with bags of candy, soccer balls,
and crayons with the hope that some of the kids on the island would want
them. We spent most of the afternoon on Ebeye, and I have to say, my
heart was completely touched by what I saw. Here is an island full of
people and children living in absolute poverty, but celebrating the
birth of our savior with so much joy and happiness. We were welcomed
everywhere we went. Strangers invited us to their church services. One
church we walked into had their members get up from their seats so that
we would have a place to sit, and gave us beautiful handmade shell
necklaces to welcome us. They were giving US gifts. We have more worldly
possessions than any one person should have, and these people, with
very little, gave us gifts! As we walked around the island, we passed
out candy to the children we encountered. The smiles on their faces as
they ate the candy was the greatest gift. They were so excited by such a
small gift, and were more than happy to take photos with us. They
especially loved it when I would show them their pictures afterward :)
Johnathon passed by 2 different groups of kids, and handed out the
soccer balls. The boys were so excited, they ran off with it to go play
right then. We took so many pictures of our trip; I hope they show how
meaningful and humbling our trip was. This Christmas brought us the kind
of simple joy that Christmas is supposed to be about. Christ came in
the most humble of places to save his children, and there was no better
reminder of that than in the faces of the children and families who
welcomed us into their homes to celebrate with them.
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| J giving some boys a soccer ball |
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| These kiddos were having a lot of fun posing |
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| These beauties LOVED seeing their pictures |
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| Sarah and I |
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| Evan walking around Ebeye |
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| This one won my heart, I tried to hand him candy, and he grabbed my empty hand, and held it instead :) |
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| Angela and the boys stopping for snacks |
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| Amy and I |
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| Angela watching a church performance with a beautiful wreath the church members gave her when we arrived |
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| Amy and Greg on the ferry back...those are the necklaces we received |
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| J and I on the way back from Ebeye |
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| a little girl who was ready to play with her soccer ball |
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| Not sure if this is the jail, but it had barbed wire just hanging off the gate |
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| one of the nicer restaurants on Ebeye |
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| we were brave/hungry enough to stop in...their Lumpia was suprisingly good! |
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| Outside the hospital...nicer than I thought, but the gov't didn't finish paying for it so the electrical wiring is on the outside |
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| Owen made fast friends |
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| Neighborhood on Ebeye |
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| She loved the princess crayons! |
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| Elementary school |
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| Abandoned house on the ocean |
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| This handsome man loved getting his picture taken...he had to approve all his photos :) |
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| local cemetary |
For some reason the video we took of the church performance won't upload, but I will try again later!
