Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas in India…12/23 and more

So the big event is here, these Indian people know how to party as Christmas lasts 3 days…sound like a coincidental number? Well party they do, as the kids receive their gifts on the 23rd and clothes so that they can wear them on the 25th for the final presentations at Light of Love with all the kids together.

100_5289 The 250 kids that are staying  here at this location are all lined up and seated patiently in the 92F heat. It’s my first Christmas in warm weather and it seems odd not looking out at a winter wonderland like many of our friends are back home…I’m not complaining mind you, but it still is weird. Each child is called and given their age appropriate gift and set of new clothes to wear for the big parties yet to come. After nervously “posing” for a fast one-photo they run back to their seats and fumble over the gifts. They examine the new clothes which now proudly display New Life Children’s Home on an patch over the pocket. It reminds you of a club membership patch they can now call their own. It’s fun to watch SO many kids enjoy the season! The Indian tradition is to say Happy X-mas in which you reply Merry  X-mas; then they reply back Merry X-mas back to which you respond Happy X-mas. This can go on for several minutes with each child as they gleefully enjoy the exchange in a never ending cycle.

After the gifts are given they prepare for the main event, a Christmas in India presentation which includes dancing, singing and overall joy. One of the many different traditions is to celebrate Jesus’ birth with a cake…CAKE….this is going to be AWESOME.100_5511 After a few seconds of singing the flower candle opens up to be a fully in bloom lily candle with each of the petals burning brightly to announce the arrival. When I get some faster internet connections I may try to upload some of the dancing videos and they are incredible how hard the kids worked.

This will most likely be my last post until I get back into the states when I will continue more interesting things we did…busy time now with flying and last goodbyes will keep me from the computer and focused on what I came here for. It’s been great to be here and our TEAM wishes you all the best.

1 comment:

  1. Greetings from all the family at Grandma &
    Grandpa's house on Christmas Day at just
    after noon. We are so happy that all goes
    good for your family and the entire group
    at the Orphanage. Merry Christmas to all.

    The entire Pokorny Family Ho Ho Ho

    ReplyDelete