A very hot Christmas!

Sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvellous things;

his right hand and his holy arm 

have worked salvation for him.

The Lord has made his salvation known

and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

He has remembered his love

and his faithfulness to Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen 

the salvation of our God. 

Psalm 98:1-3

It’s been a fantastic week celebrating Jesus’ birth with my Brazilian family and friends and enjoying the privilege of getting to see Christmas in a different culture (and climate!) My Brazilian family and I had an early Christmas present on the 23rd in the form of six tiny Pug puppies born to our dog Bella and since then it’s been a bit of a blur of having a constant stream of visitors to see them and getting up in the night to make sure they all feed enough! 

It’s Monday afternoon and Im in the back of the car with Bella the dog in a box between me and my Brazilian sister Clara. Bella’s in labour and we have decided to go to the vets as her first puppy arrived stillborn; however soon we realise the second one is arriving. Everyone starts to shout, Clara’s panicking and everyone’s yelling instructions at me in Portuguese... Why didn’t we learn this vocabulary at uni?! By the time we arrive at the vets I’ve somehow delivered a tiny, healthy puppy, who is wriggling around in my hands and as I hand her over to the vet I’m speechless in the face of how incredible nature is. 

I’m sitting on the sofa at my Brazilian Grandpa’s house and it’s Christmas Eve, which is when the big Christmas dinner is here. Earlier on in the evening we went to church as a family and even got to sing Silent Night in Portuguese! However now it is nearly midnight, when the dinner starts and next to me on the table there is a delicious looking collection of foods, including a turkey (yey!), a cod and potato dish, rice and chicken. At midnight we join hands and Lucas (my Brazilian brother) and I pray and we sing a hymn to the words of this prayer by Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace; 

Where there is hatred, let me sow love; 

Where there is injury, pardon; 

Where there is error, truth; 

Where there is doubt, faith; 

Where there is despair, hope; 

Where there is darkness, light; 

And where there is sadness, joy. 

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek 

To be consoled as to console; 

To be understood as to understand; 

To be loved as to love. 

For it is in giving that we receive; 

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; 

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 

I've never met some of the family members who are there but there’s something pretty uniting about spending Christmas together and it’s a great night of laughter and eating and chatting. There’s also something very familiar about my Brazilian Grandpa putting more and more food onto everyone’s plates, whether they want it or not! 

With Clara and below with Lucas

It’s Christmas day afternoon and after not very much sleep I’m sitting on the beach eating crab with the family. They laugh at my inane grin every time I remember that it’s Christmas and try and get my head round how hot it is! Before we head back to check on the puppies we eat ice cream and it’s melting so quickly and I end up laughing so much that I end up pretty covered in ice cream... some things don’t change! 

Other highlights from the last week...

Eating what my family here call “Brazilagne” (Brazilian lasagne – which has ham instead of mince!)

The Christmas service at my church last Sunday and the dinner afterwards – which 400 people came to.

A Christmas party with friends, during which I tried to introduce them to apple crumble. 

The Christmas show at the project where I work in Barra de Jangada and the chance to meet some of the children’s families. 

The ‘mocidade’ (my age group at church) Christmas pool party (!) and playing a game very like Articulate with them.

Spending time getting to know Lucas, my Brazilian brother, before he heads off to Mexico in January - particularly enjoying his love of English Christmas songs and coming home to hearing Hark the Herald Angles being played at top volume.

Seeing 10 year old Eviliásio learning to read little by little.

The Children's party with their church 'madrinhas' (godmothers) where they received presents and were reminded that they are an important part of the church family.

Judith and 12 year old Erica receiving her present

I hope that wherever you were you had a very Merry Christmas and that it's a Happy New Year! Thank you so much for all your lovely Christmas messages/cards/skypes :)

Christmas morning Puppy Watch!