Christmas Festivities

Today was the last day of school for the next 19 days!  The kids are on a year round school system so breaks are quite long. Yippee! To close out the semester, the Primary School had a Christmas assembly at a local church, just a short walk along the canal.  Parents were invited to join in the fun, so Owen and I walked to Polworth Church (simply named after the street it's on, but the street is probably named after some famous dead guy...) The Head Teacher (principal) led the assembly, complete with performances from the school's choir, band, and orchestra.  There was a rousing rendition of the beloved Christmas carol, "Nativity Rock, Nativity Roll" performed by the S1's and S2's (kinder and 1st grades.) They read several excerpts from the Bible (new translation) and had little people dressed up as Mary, Joseph, the Angel Gabriel, the Wisemen and of course the Shepherds.  The highlight, however, was when the local pastor spoke to the crowd and used popular magazines to tell the Christmas story, Suchas, "All the PEOPLE (hold up a copy of People magazine) came to be taxed." "The people with a BETTER HOMES and GARDENS, didn't need to find a place, but Mary and Joseph needed housing..." So many magazines, like 20, were used.  Lot's of them I had never heard of.  The kids and parents loved it and couldn't stop laughing... It was truly fantastic, and strange, and a wee bit odd, after hearing the Bible readings.  Fa La La La La!

Owen found a log that looked like a chair.  He posed for a picture, and is wearing a duck hat that we found in the dress up box that the owner left for us.  Quack, Quack.

An interior shot of Polworth Church where the school Christmas Assembly was held. Just Gorgeous.

We had our family shepherds dinner tonight.  We eat the way wealthy shepherds might have eaten (gyros with tzatziki sauce, hummus, veggies, dried fruits, etc.) I love that they have lamb meatballs in all the grocery stores.

We always eat it on the ground, to be authentic.