Christmas!
jaajh
Posts: 1,262 Member
Hi! Lorraine asked about Christmas and how we coped being abroad. I thought I'd start a new discussion topic on this (in case that tempts any other ex-pats out to join us!)
Mali is almost 90% Muslim, so Christmas doesn't figure much here! The kids do get a week off school between Christmas and New Year though (literally ONE week - my kids break up at 5.15pm on 23rd Dec., and go back at 8am on 2nd Jan.!) The Christians in town do celebrate, but Mali is a very poor country, so celebration really means a 4 hour church service on Christmas morning, and people tend to use that as the time of year to dress up in new clothes too. No Father Christmas, presents for kids, decorated houses etc here :-(
However, I LOVE my Christmas traditions. The kids and I made our Christmas cake yesterday, and 4 large jars of mincemeat - ready for all those mince pies we'll make maybe next weekend! My husband (Malian!) thinks that decorating the house more than one week before Christmas is excessive, but the kids and I will go MAD about that next Saturday! Had the Christmas music blasting out as of yesterday! My husband isn't a total Christmas scrooge though - I've been in Mali for 15 years now and EVERY year he has found me a turkey (live one, that he (or his younger brother!) "deals" with for me!) and since I was in the UK this summer, we have one lovely big Christmas pudding I brought back with me AND another smaller one a friend sent that I received in a parcel just this week! So we'll be enjoying that ... when we eventually return from that LONG service on Christmas Day!
So yes, Christmas is very different here (celebrating in 30 C is a part of it too!), but I try to make it as "English" as possible (my kids being my excuse, but really it's because I love the traditions so much!) Such a shame so many of those traditions revolve around food though!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, however you spend it!
Ali
Mali is almost 90% Muslim, so Christmas doesn't figure much here! The kids do get a week off school between Christmas and New Year though (literally ONE week - my kids break up at 5.15pm on 23rd Dec., and go back at 8am on 2nd Jan.!) The Christians in town do celebrate, but Mali is a very poor country, so celebration really means a 4 hour church service on Christmas morning, and people tend to use that as the time of year to dress up in new clothes too. No Father Christmas, presents for kids, decorated houses etc here :-(
However, I LOVE my Christmas traditions. The kids and I made our Christmas cake yesterday, and 4 large jars of mincemeat - ready for all those mince pies we'll make maybe next weekend! My husband (Malian!) thinks that decorating the house more than one week before Christmas is excessive, but the kids and I will go MAD about that next Saturday! Had the Christmas music blasting out as of yesterday! My husband isn't a total Christmas scrooge though - I've been in Mali for 15 years now and EVERY year he has found me a turkey (live one, that he (or his younger brother!) "deals" with for me!) and since I was in the UK this summer, we have one lovely big Christmas pudding I brought back with me AND another smaller one a friend sent that I received in a parcel just this week! So we'll be enjoying that ... when we eventually return from that LONG service on Christmas Day!
So yes, Christmas is very different here (celebrating in 30 C is a part of it too!), but I try to make it as "English" as possible (my kids being my excuse, but really it's because I love the traditions so much!) Such a shame so many of those traditions revolve around food though!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, however you spend it!
Ali
0
Replies
-
Hi Ali
You have a very different Christmas, I have also made mincemeat for the mince pies , Its the first time I have made it , also made a guinness christmas pudding a few weeks ago MMmmm.... cant wait . My husband is Danish and has taken well to my Christmas traditions and now enjoys Christmas cake and so do his work collages, for the last 2 years I have had to make 2 christmas cakes one for Kjelds work and one for home. Your turkey is very fresh !! we can only buy frozen here , when i ask for a fresh not frozen turkey they look at me as if i have gone mad ! It is impossible to buy a fresh bird here. Last year in our local paper a farm advertised Fresh Turkeys for christmas, so I thought great and off i went to order one , i was told that I can collect it 2 weeks before Christmas !! I asked so how can I keep it ? the answer was well it is frozen ! so how can it be a fresh turkey then ! i asked, their reply was well its fresh when its frozen!!! i should hope so. i said. haha what its like living abroad and i am close to home than you are.
Hope you and your family have a wonderfull Christmas and a very happy new year
from Lorraine
PS can we have just a little bit of your warm weather
0 -
LOL! Loved your "fresh" turkey story Lorraine! We are still trying to find ours - it's been relatively easy this year but for some reason there is a severe shortage of turkeys around this year. My husband is on a hunt, but I am hoping we don't have to resort to chicken. I am such a lover of tradition! And there are so few of them I can get here!!
Glad you made mincemeat too. Mine is a very adapted recipe as I couldn't get most of the ingredients in the recipes I found. Substituted dates for sultanas, make my own candied peel, local nuts work great in it too, .... a recipe that has developed over the last 15 years, but works well enough. (I often wonder what my kids would think if they tasted mincemeat from the UK! Thankfully they love my version!) Christmas pudding with Guiness sounds good though! (Not that I can get Guiness here!) Another disadvantage of being in a majority Muslim country! However, I did get some cheap red wine when last in the capital, so on Christmas eve, I will be inviting my American neighbour over and we'll lock the doors and have our secret Mulled Wine and Mince pies party! Wouldn't be Christmas without it!
Mmm - stomach is rumbling now! Shouldn't have started talking about mince pies! Off to drink a cup of coffee (that sometimes works to stave off food cravings for me!)
If we don't chat beforehand, I hope you (and any other members reading this!) have a GREAT Christmas! May the homesickness stay away!
Love,
Ali
P.S. I'd WILLING swap some of our warmer weather for your colder climate right now. Do you have snow? My kids would LOVE to see that!!!0 -
Hi Ali
We havent got any snow just yet thank goodness, this time last year we where digging our way out to the main road to get the cars out !! great exercise at the moment its just cold and damp , Anyway good luck on the turkey frount ,ours is still in the frezer with its friend a goose, we have never tryed one before , better check the good food website to see what I should do with it ! Hope you enjoy your mulled wine
have a great time
from me0 -
My fabulous husband finally found a turkey today. It is currently shut in my garage! Will get my brother-in-law to "deal" with it tomorrow! The kids have been in to "play" with it! I don't intend to get involved until it is dead and plucked!
Goose sounds interesting. I have never tried that either. You will have to tell us all whether it's good or not!
Made mince pies yesterday and the marzipan is on the cake. Getting there slowly! But why do all these traditions revolve around food?!!! Still managed another 0.5 lb loss this week though, so I'm obviously (so far!) getting the balance right between tasting the goodies and not overindulging!
Have a really GREAT Christmas!
Love, Ali0 -
HaHa have a great Christmas have the kids given it a name yet ?
from me xxx0 -
They called it "Christmas"! And it tasted delicious!
I hope you had a great time. How was the goose?
I ate far too much. Weigh-in day tomorrow and dreading it BUT I wouldn't do it differently if I did it again! Had a great time and lots of fun with family and friends. Now just need to work really hard at getting back into it. Started exercise and logging food again this morning!
Ali0 -
Well i am glad Christmas tasted good !!! hehe
We had the turkey for Christmas and goose Lucy is comming out to New year . the family would have liked to try both but i dont have an Arga cooker and there was no way that both birds would fit in the oven .
I have had a few logging free days and not much exercise ;(( the work begins again after New year we have had a lovely time with family home and our 5 year old under tons of lego !!
Have a great New year, enjoy the evening and we will be back logging again 02/01/2012
best wishes from me xxxx0 -
Hi Lorraine! And Happy New Year to ALL of you in this group!
So how did Lucy taste in the end?!
Hope you're now back into the exercise routine. I've tried to really step up my workouts this week. Finished Day 8 of the Leslie Sansone 4 fast mile "10 day challenge" today. Thankfully only 2 more days to go! Getting bored of the same workout each day! (And the same aching muscles!) But it HAS had the advantage of getting me to do some DAILY exercise and I needed that kick. Weigh-in tomorrow, so we'll see if it's had a positive effect or not. (Was still eating up mince pies from Christmas at the beginning of the week! Can't waste those!)
How are you all planning your exercise for 2012? Would love to hear. Perhaps I'll start another thread for that question...
Hope 2012 is a GREAT year for you all!
Ali0
This discussion has been closed.