Our first Christmas in Africa was a lot of fun. But as with anything involving the Peace Corps we had to be patient and flexible. We had originally planned to invite as many as could comfortably sleep in our guest rooms. Guest room #1 has a double bed, so we figured two in the bed and one on the floor. Guest room #2 has a single bed, so we figured one in the bed and one on the floor. Total: 5 guests. We put the invitations out to the Volunteers we knew that had expressed an interest, most of whom were fairly close by. The original five were VA from Moshupa, Tom from Ramotswa, Britt from Khakea, Liles from Kanye, and Diana from Letlhakeng.
Christmas approached and people began asking each other what they were doing for the holidays, and the word got out that we were hosting some people. Daniel and Theresa from Tshesebe called and asked if they could join us. We said, “Come on”. Then Dinah from Shakawe called Tish, and said her plans fell through and was hoping for an invitation. Dinah was our host during language week in Shakawe so how could we say no. Then Shanta from Ghanzi called and told us she did not have any plans for Christmas, would be alone, and wanted to join us. How do you turn someone away at Christmas. Tish and I struggled with that. We invited Shanta. Now we had nine guests.
I was worried about space in our house. We only had eleven places for people to sit, less than eleven plates, glasses and sets of silverware. We hoped no one else would ask. As it was, we were going to have people sleeping on the floors in the guest rooms and the living room.
Then one of our very favorite volunteer friends emailed and asked if he and his sister, 
visiting from the states, could join us. We just could not bring in two more. My fear was that if we didn’t it could grow larger and larger still, until it was so crowded that everyone was uncomfortable and no one had a good time. Also, we felt it was unfair to our original five, who had signed on for a small family-like gathering, to turn it into a huge bash. But how can you turn someone away at Christmas? It is hard, but we had to do it, so I replied to his email and said how sorry we were, and said the only way we could have him was if he slept elsewhere, and gave the name and number of a nearby lodge.
I was relieved when he replied the following day saying that it was no problem, and he had another option. The word must have gotten out that there was no room at the (Mobley) inn, and no one else asked. So we breathed a sigh of relief and got ready for our visitors.
We knew people would enjoy staying at our home. We are blessed to have some amenities everyone loves and few have. Such as wireless internet in our home, lots of room, and a washing machine. We also have indoor toilets, and hot water which a few do not have. The Mobley B&B was in business.
First to arrive on the Friday before Christmas were Daniel and Theresa. Last to arrive on Friday night at 8:00 pm, after starting her travels 2:30 am that morning was Dinah. Our 9th and last guest, Tom, arrived Saturday morning.
We had all been through PST together and were like a family already. Just like most families, we liked being together. We sat around and talked and caught up. We watched movies two evenings, using Liles’ laptop, projector, and the big wall in our living room. We played charades. We went on a hike to the top of Phaphane hill one day, and went on a few trips into the village shopping areas to buy food and alcoholic beverages. We drank. We had a lot of fun. It was Christmas.
There was a noticeable lack of Christmas decorations around. We did have a tree however, Liles brought one that had been left in his house by the previous resident. It was about three feet tall, and stood on an upside down bucket in the corner of the room barely noticed. It did have some lights on it but it had not been in the house for ten minutes before I managed to burn out the lights by plugging it in without a voltage converter. Oh well. I was reminded of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
Christmas Stockings over a fireplace would be nice. We ran a string from one end of a curtain rod to the other and with clothespins we put up 10 socks plus the real stocking Britt had brought. VA promptly used her artistic skills and put our names on each of the “stockings”.
We had our big meal on Christmas eve. The kitchen was a beehive of activity. We pulled in a second table we had and managed to sit together, all 11 of 
us. We had ham, sweet potatoes, and a lot of other good food that we enjoyed very much. It is funny, I had worried about not wanting to eat the food in whatever country the Peace Corps sent us to, and now I am gaining weight. Before we ate the Christmas feast, we gathered around and held hands and Tish said a nice prayer. That was the only “religious” aspect to our Christmas celebration. I think most of those present were atheists or agnostics, but we all got along and enjoyed Christmas for whatever it meant to each of us.
Christmas morning we had a nice brunch casserole – Tish’s specialty. Then we had a gift exchange. We had told everyone to bring a gift 
but not to spend more than P50. These weren’t to be “gag” gifts but just inexpensive gifts. We had a lot of fun with that and then opened our stockings and found what Santa (Tish) had managed to find around the house to leave us. I got a granola bar, two pieces of hard candy, and two packages of Ibuprofen… yay.
The rest of the day was spent hanging around visiting. We had two outside visitors to our house that day. Michael, a Motswana who I have worked with at the DAC office stopped by. Also, Parisa, a Peace Corps volunteer who was visiting a friend of hers in Mochudi, came by.
VA, who’s skills include cutting hair, was asked to cut a few people’s hair, which she did. Getting your hair cut correctly in Botswana is a challenge. Tish cuts mine and I am glad she knows how to do it.
Monday morning we escorted groups of people up to the road to catch the bus to Gabs. It was back to being just Tish and myself. Sigh… we miss them already.
So Christmas came and went, and so did our nine Peace Corps Volunteer visitors. Looking back I have no regrets about expanding our guest list. I loved having each and every one, and it wouldn’t have been the same without each one. We had a full house for a few days and it was wonderful. It may have felt like Summer, and none of our real family were present, but our house was full of our Peace Corps family and that made it very nice indeed.
