Marcel and Kelly Boers: Oh, the sweet, sweet gift of vacation ...

... if only vacation never ended.

That would be great, right? Well, I guess it wouldn't be as sweet if there weren't the hard work, sweat and tears (or gears, in Marcel's case) to make it feel so incredibly needed. And this year, Christmas once again arrived with all the anticipation, joy, and waiting of a much needed vacation!

Our Christmas this year was pretty fantastic. First of all, I couldn't believe the sheer amount of Christmas-y-ness that flooded Lubango this year! Mostly due to a new shopping mall that simply goes to prove globalization is real: the mall not only played ENGLISH Christmas music all during December, while a glowing four-story high Christmas tree stood majestically in the parking lot, but SANTA even came to town! Sigh ... all the materialistic pleasures of the good ole fashioned Western Christmas ... minus the snow of course!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at home with two South African students from the school--complete with a turkey dinner and even some stuffing. Christmas Day, we headed off to church and then to our pastor's house to celebrate with some church family. This was an awesome opportunity for us to see how Angolans and Brazilians celebrate! Of course, when they asked us to lead a few games, I couldn't resist bringing some mini-sticks to show them "hockey"--our Christmas tradition.

Boxing Day was nothing short of incredible. In the early morning, we packed up the car with pizzas and cookies, and went to visit almost every one of our MAF national staff in their homes! What a humbling, eye-opening, and inspiring day! The majority of our staff are guards--or what I, Kelly, call "the lifeblood of Africa." Why? Well, come and you'll see! On a continent where the gap between rich and poor is great, and the honor system just doesn't work quite the same--guards are the "unskilled labour force" that maintains order and safety in this crazy world.

Anyway, we had been curious for months to see how our friends and MAF family live, and we weren't disappointed. We were welcomed at every house to "Come in, sit down" and get a taste of regular Angolan life. We were humbled--thankful to live in the awesome houses we have, and to have the great pleasures and opportunities life in Canada has afforded us. We were also inspired--many of our guards have worked hard for many years to save up money and build their own houses, many of which were in varying states and sizes, but all an ode to their strength and commitment.

We even got offered a LIVE chicken at one house! WOW! We were humbled ... and honored (and, yes, I, Kelly, was a but horrified ...)

Our day ended with fellowship (and another turkey) with our fellow ex-pat friends, as if to neatly tie up the messy reality of our life here--here we are, somewhere trapped between earth and heaven, rich and poor, Angolan culture and our home culture. And it's a dirty, messy blessing ...

Following these Christmasy days, we enjoyed some rest at home, and even caught a 3-D movie in the brand new theatre in Lubango--ROGUE ONE! Imagine, watching the new Star Wars movie, on the other side of the world ...

And then it was time to pack up for five sweet, sweet days at the beach. Completely isolated. Just us, and a few more of our ex-pat friends, on a beach an hour off the paved road. Only accessible by 4x4.

Well, as you can imagine, this was awesome. Snorkelling. Spearfishing. Perfect weather. Slightly cool, but still agreeable, water. Sunsets. No loud music. No work. No cell signal. Just ... beach.

Oh, and a urinary tract infection. But hey--only in Angola can you get treated on the beach by your doctor friend who conveniently always carries antibiotics and painkillers with them. Best hospital around? You betcha.

So, enjoy a few pics as you get jealous and wish you could be called to Angola too. Because despite the difficulties here, every once in a while, Angola just blows everything out of the water, and rocks our socks off.