Part Fifteen: Happy Christmas! (23rd – 28th December)

Total nightmare of a day! The direct shuttle from Windhoek to Otjiwarango only had one seat left so we had to take one that went via Omaruru – this is travelling two sides of a triangle. When we asked for directions to the shuttle depot we were told it was in easy walking distance, after wondering around lost for 20 minutes we got into a cab and it turned out it was a 5km walk! The bus left at 11 and we were supposed to get there at 3 but everything took longer than it was supposed to and at 3:15 the bus broke down! We then had to wait for a rescue bus and we didn’t get to Otjiwarango until 5:15 and not back to Otjikondo until 7; so much for a 4 hour journey between Windhoek and Otjikondo! Gilly very kindly insisted that we stay with her over Christmas rather than in the Gap Flat so that we would be properly included and be part of the family. We went to Paul and Sara’s for supper where we were fed delicious fish, which they had caught on their boys fishing trip, with asparagus and potatoes. This was followed by brandy soaked cherries with ice cream – this was REVOLTING as it was so potent, luckily I was able to siphon them off to Simon, Sara’s brother! We met all of Sara’s family; her Brother, Mother, Father and Grandfather had all arrived for Christmas.

Christmas Eve started with receiving a lot of post which was amazing! As usual I had lots of exciting things from Mummy including colour changing popping candy, mini face washes, moisturizer and Sudoku to stick into my diary. I had a second hilarious letter from Staighty which made me laugh out loud multiple times and the most amazing package from Emma. Emma definitely deserves a MASSIVE shout out as my most regular friend correspondent, despite having to revise for all her exams – she sent me nine photos of the two of us together and they all had really sweet friendship quotes on the back; “Friendship isn’t about whom you’ve known the longest...it’s about who came, and never left your side”. We spent the day prepare for the evenings celebrations and generally chilling out. In Germany they celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and as Reiner is German, they also celebrate here on Christmas Eve as well as on Christmas Day.

It was requested that Chelcie and I sing something in the evening service so we went over to the Church to try out a couple of things. We ended up singing four verses of Amazing Grace – the first and last in unison and the middle two in harmony. We had a really lovely intimate service, we all sat around the altar rather than in the pews and throughout the service we were joined by more people from the Otjikondo community. Gilly had put me in charge of choosing the readings and the hymns for the service so we sang “How dark was the stable”, “Silent Night”, “Once in Royal David’s City” “While Shepherd’s Watched” and “O Come all ye faithful”. I also read the first reading which was Isaiah IX. As usual the prayers set me off and I had a quiet cry, unfortunately as we were all sitting together the tears didn’t go unnoticed as usual!

After the service we all went back to Gilly’s and Reiners and presents were handed out under the tree. Obviously, Chelcie and I didn’t expect anything but Gilly had bought us a beautiful candle holder each made from Namibian wood. She also gave us a bottle each that she had been given – Chelcie’s turned out to be red wine and mine was whisky! We also got a little wooden carved elephant and a wicker basket. All so lovely and unexpected. Supper was a seafood feast – we had massive platters of prawns, crab claws and crayfish which were accompanied by bowls or rice and asparagus with lemon butter or garlic butter. We then had the most incredible chocolate and walnut torte with strawberries and WHIPPY CREAM (so much fun!). We then sang through every Christmas song and carol that we could think of which got rather hysterical. Sara and I were convinced that there was one about Christmas pudding but we couldn’t for the life of us remember it....luckily after a quick text to Mummy she came up with “We all want some figgy pudding!”

I started Christmas Day reading my kindle by the pool as Chelcie slept in our room. After she woke up we opened our stockings which was great fun. I received a net of chocolate coins – Rand, a packet of chocolate raisins, a bar of Lindor chocolate, an elephant cuddly toy on a key ring, a South African fabric badge to go on my rucksack (I have the British and Namibian flag on there and I said that I wanted to add other countries that I travelled to, hopefully I will be able to add the South African one at some point!), and a shot glass with an Elephant on and Namibia written underneath. Chelcie did very well as I told that I always get chocolate coins from Father Christmas and a new cuddly toy even though I am 18. We had a Christmas breakfast with Gilly and Reiner which included my first taste of stolen which was pretty disgusting!

Christmas lunch was at Paul and Sara’s and it was another feast (no wonder all the teachers keep telling me I’ve put on weight over the holidays – I blame the Stommels!). It started with chicken liver pate, olive tapernade, peppers and tomatoes and homemade walnut bread. We then had duck breast, smoked chicken, mashed potato, carrots and green beans with walnuts and bacon. This was followed by panna cotta with berries and Christmas pudding. I feel full just writing it all down! As well as being with all the Stommels we were joined by Byron, his girlfriend and his Mother so there were a lot of us.  I spoke to home twice and they seemed to be having a nice day, they had changed their routine and were having goose. Made me cry...

Boxing Day was held at Gilly and Reiners and we watched Mattie and Ola swim before having a cold lunch of ham, cheese and salad followed by ice cream and chocolate sauce. I found it very funny that as I was watching the children swim in the heat my family would have been at the Boxing Day meet in the cold! Gilly got a Kindle for Christmas and I helped her upload some books on to it – I got a text from Mummy saying she wished I was helping her with her new Kindle instead... I also spoke to Alex (PT volunteer in Luderitz) and they were going down to Luderitz for the rest of the holidays so Chelcie and I decided we would definitely go and see them after our tour. In the evening Chelcie and I watched Bridesmaids on her laptop which was absolutely hilarious, and I kept on getting the giggles when we were trying to go to sleep thinking about some of the lines!

The 27^th became a day of organisation for us – I rang up the tour people to book it and it turned out they had quoted us the wrong price before and the actual price was £999 so very unaffordable! This was so frustrating and it just felt like everything was going wrong for us. We then had to decide what we wanted to do for the rest of the holidays and we decided we would go straight down to Luderitz to see the others and then maybe we could all go on a short trip together in the New Year. Gilly very kindly organised for Tate Simon to drive us to Otjiwarongo the next morning so that we could catch the shuttle to Windhoek and from there we would try to organise transport to Luderitz which is easier said than done!

The next morning we said goodbye to the Stommels and thanked them for having us to stay for Christmas and everything that they had done for us. They were so kind to welcome us into their family and we really felt included in everything – I can’t express my thanks to them enough. After arriving at the Cardboard Box we went had lunch before setting off to find

Brandberg Street

. Some family friends from home had come to Namibia on holiday and had kindly brought out a couple of packages from home for me so we set off to find them. I didn’t get to see them as they were on a safari but they brought out one of my favourite dresses, a new pair of Toms (mine were so full of holes by now), two wife beaters and a package for my birthday as well as 4 magazines which were very welcome. We are so out of gossip here! It was incredible to get everything especially the dress as it felt like a little bit of home so big shout out to the Goods and to Mummy for buying/sending the things for me.  We had a lucky break from a taxi driver who told of us a place where we could catch a Combi to Luderitz and he gave me his number in case we were ever in need when in Windhoek! We spent the evening playing cards and saw some of the guys we have met the last time we were in Windhoek which was nice.

Being totally honest I found Christmas day incredibly hard, I thought it would be easier to be with a family and although we were welcomed totally into their family and treated as one of them, it just emphasised to me that I wasn’t with my own family. However, Christmas Eve and the days after Christmas were amazing and it was lovely to be with a family, to be cooked for, to be able to properly chill out and relax and we really owe the Stommels! I hope that everyone in England had a lovely Christmas and that you ate as much as I did, although, I’m not really sure that’s possible!

Missing you all loads and sending you even more love

Me xxx