Sailing Part stand in – back to the present:

My current "Christmas" place - SANTA Maria. The boat is anchored up in the background.

Christmas party!!!

I have to apologies to all the loyal readers of this blog for some days of radio silence – in the middle of a storm of waves! But something in my present life (yes, I survived the sailing journey;) happened which was so important that I for a short second will forward the plot to present time; Sunday December 12^th – halfway to Christmas.

Christmas has since I was a child meant a lot to me and even though Santa has revealed himself (what the heck; I some years ago even was “him” but found myself running down the neighborhood - in full costume - with my younger sister and brother crying out my name! I would at any given day have been able to run and hide from them and that was also the plan if it wasn’t for my father’s clogs being several sizes too big for my food. I was caught on the holy day and there was no more ho ho ho that Christmas:) 

In Denmark we have a lot of beautiful Christmas traditions and my family especially this involves some bonus elements like spicing up the Christmas hymns in church with extra vocals, having cracked beans in milk to the Christmas dinner and apart from dancing around the Christmas tree we every year find ourselves running in one big line around in the house (and outside!) screaming a specific Christmas song (“nu er det jul igen”). No wonder that birds in winter time go south in our area. It’s crazy fun!

Also there are the Christmas parties with friends and colleagues in the weekends up to the 24^th. Rituals like Christmas food, Christmas beers and snaps, speeches, gift games, songs (semi- or full perverted), and if a copy machine available it would not be used for copying paper… if you know what I mean.

So here I found myself voluntarily away from all that. I was trying to get just a hint of the Christmas spirit by listening to a bunch of the nicest Christmas songs but sitting in the boat while windsurfer passes you on one side in the glittering 25 degree sea and on the other side the beach with people swimming and licking up the sun - it somehow just don’t match these Christmas songs. I guess the mind is really bound up on all the traditions including the cold dark winter!  

I was getting overwhelmed by the Christmas blues.

With this little introduction to my thoughts and Christmas feelings you will better understand how über awesome delighted I was when being invited to a Danish Christmas party here in Cape Verde. A Danish guy I just met 2 days earlier who work here just returned from Denmark with 15 kilos of Danish Christmas party food and drinks – pure gold! Being able to come together for an event that for me was needed greatly was a true gift send from heaven. I couldn’t help it; did print out a crazy Christmas song, prepared Christmas music and did some thoughts on a small speech – Typical ingredients of these Danish Christmas parties… and after all this was the closest you can get to a white Christmas in Cape Verde.

So Sunday afternoon when the Sun was not so hot anymore, we gathered together in a cool bar named CABO bar. It is owned by another Dane.  He turned out to be from the same small town as I. We even went to the same business school the same years. See, it’s a small world!

We were 10 happy party animals. One ended up a little too happy and got seasick. Well she was named Mrs. SOS and participated in a certain sailing journey so could very well have been the after shakes of that specific tour…  

It was a great party with all the customs I was longing for so now I am positive that after all Christmas will arrive this year…J

I leave the non-spoken work to some images of this wonderful Christmas celebration: 

The holy place for the "divine service" :) I love the painting!

Some of the party people...

The happy girls...

The barman and his neighbor are posing for the camera...

The captain and the cameraman... 

Danish snaps and beer - yummy! Notice the goblin holding the snaps - respect;)

Warm pate with bacon beet roots etc.

Meatballs and red cabbage. The girls discussed the size of the meat balls. The boys assured that they actually come in larger versions.

It was all so delicious that cute Kiki did keep a close eye on the remaining parts;) 

Ris a la mande directly imported from Denmark and served in a beach village in Cape Verde.

Even Santa Claus gave us his pleasant visit!!! Maybe I need to stress that we did not play dart - HO HO HO

Quickly the rumor went across the streets - Santa is here. As you see kids were astonished!

The three vikings!

The coming days we will be going on a sailing trip to the neighbor island Boa Vista and in the weekend I am blessed with a Birthday party so asap next week before December 24th I will be back with more sailing part updates!

Enjoy it out there wherever you are – may the Christmas spirit be with you!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!