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December 26, 2003, Christmas Day, by Chris

Penwarn Lodge.

Yesterday we celebrated our first Christmas in South Africa. Christmas here seems to be much less formal than in North America. With the weather hitting a high of 32 C., braais (barbecues), horseback riding, family bicycle jaunts and tubing down the river in front of our house are all popular Christmas day activities. We had a quiet morning starting at 5:30 with a phone call from our son Scott in Edmonton. In the afternoon we celebrated in organized chaos at Penwarn lodge with our friends Peta and Bruce Parker and their family, friends and guests of the lodge – about 50 of us altogether.

Penwarn is always exciting. Yesterday as we munched on a traditional Canadian type dinner of turkey, ham and plum pudding we shared stories with a young couple from New Hampshire, and a South African couple working for an international brewery in Beijing. Assorted adolescents were home from boarding schools and university. Remember that home for the Christmas holidays here is always home for the summer. No wonder it’s hard to get anything done in South Africa in December.

Christmas at the Village.

But what about Christmas for most of the people in this area? For our staff and most of the black people here, unless they are required to work, Christmas means going home to their villages and being reunited with family. Husbands come home from the mines, wives from their work as domestics and children return from grandparents and other extended family. At this time of the year the “taxis” are crowded not only with people, but with groceries, gifts, and live sheep. The sheep will be slaughtered for the traditional Christmas day meal of meat, rice, and a huge dumpling called a fusazana. All of the cooking is done over an open fire since there is no electricity in most villages. The feast is then shared from a large communal platter. By Sunday the festivities will be over and people will once again disperse to the cities and towns to work for another six months or a year in the homes and businesses of the rich white folks that still dominate this country.

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