01x11 - Christmas In Africa

[bunniefuu]

♪ Our family loves to look for weather ♪

♪ There's so much we want to know ♪

♪ Weather Hunters All: That's us, Weather Hunters!

Lily: Let's go!

♪ We love discovering together

Lily: What is rain?

Lily: Why does it snow?

♪ Weather Hunters

♪ Around the world, around the corner ♪

♪ our adventure's just begun

♪ Could be cloudy, could be sunny ♪

Al: Hey, kids! The forecast calls for fun!

♪ Whatever the weather, we're in it together ♪

All: Weather Hunters!

“Christmas in Africa”

Lily: Christmas is one of the most fun times of the year

for us Hunters,

but nobody enjoys it more than my sister Corky.

Corky: Yes! Snow!

Just in time for Christmas.

This will be the best Hunter Christmas ever.

My holiday schedule is wrapped up like a Christmas present.

Lily: Ooh, I can't wait to hear it, Corky.

It took a lot of planning, but I think I crushed it.

This year

our gingerbread house will have two floors and a balcony.

Benny: Yay!

Lily: Sweet, in more ways than one.

Corky: Lily, can you make the icicles out of vanilla frosting?

Lily: Sure can.

Since it's snowing outside

our neighborhood snowman building contest is on.

Benny, I want you on my team to help me design it.

Benny: We can use

my old scarf on the snowman so we won't get too cold.

Perfect.

Speaking of cold weather fashion,

I'm going to wear my special holiday sweater

for opening presents on Christmas morning.

Lily: You mean the wooly one with the big Santa's face,

the giant Christmas tree, silver ribbons, candy canes,

reindeer and flashing lights?

Corky: Yep.

Is that thing actually comfortable to wear?

Not really.

The lights are kind of itchy, but sometimes

we have to give up comfort for Christmas spirit.

Lily: Very true.

Corky: I also have a surprise for Dad.

Lily, you know how you and I always

bake cookies with him right before the holiday?

Lily: Yeah.

Corky: Well, I found great Grandpa Wallace's

secret holiday cookie recipe for his special snowball cookies.

Lily: What? No way.

Dad's always talking about how much he loved those cookies.

Corky: Well, he'll be really surprised

when we bake some for him.

Lily: We Hunters usually love holiday surprises,

but Corky had no idea we were about to get the biggest

Christmas surprise of all.

Al: Hey, kids.

Hi, Dad!

Al: Did you catch my forecast on TV tonight?

I'm predicting we're going to get a lot of snow.

Dot: I predict that someone

is going to have to shovel our driveway tomorrow morning.

Al: Good forecast.

Dot: [laughs]

Corky: Mom? Dad?

Are you ready to hear my Hunter holiday activity schedule?

Of course you are.

Al: Yeah, we want to hear it,

but first, your Mom and I have a big announcement.

Al: This Christmas,

we're spending the holiday far away in another country.

Benny: The North Pole, where Santa lives?

Al: No, Benny.

We're actually going to spend Christmas in Nigeria

with our good friends, Gyang and Binta.

Lily and Benny: Yay! Ooh!

Corky: So we won't be home for Christmas?

Al: No, we won't, but we hope you might find this just as much

fun. Gyang runs a weather observatory in Jos, Nigeria.

Al: And December

just happens to be right in the middle of Nigeria's

Harmattan season.

Benny: What's the Harmattan season?

The Harmattan season is a dry season with very low

humidity, no clouds, and high winds.

Dot: Fun!

It's very different than our winter weather.

It's very hot.

Al: And the Harmattan winds

bring dust all the way from the Sahara Desert.

The dust and setting sun create the most

beautiful red, orange and pink colors.

Al: Those sunsets are gorgeous.

Lily: Ooh, that sounds so exciting.

I've always wanted to see the Harmattan season in person.

Dot: Gyang and Binta enjoyed visiting us so much

they wanted us to spend Christmas with them.

And the best way to celebrate the holiday I know of is to be

with people you care about.

Corky: But does it have to be this holiday?

Can we visit them on Valentine's Day?

President's Day, National Taco Day, which is totally a holiday.

You can look it up.

Dot: [laughs]

Dot: Your Dad and I get why you might be disappointed.

Spending Christmas in Nigeria will be a different way

for us to celebrate.

Dot: But let's try something new.

It could be the most fantastic Christmas ever.

Benny: Where's Nigeria?

Lily: I'll show you, Benny.

Follow me.

♪ music

Lily: This is the continent of Africa.

Lily: Here's Nigeria, and here's the Sahara Desert.

The Harmattan carries dust from the Sahara Desert over

a thousand miles to Nigeria.

Lily: I can't wait to see those sunsets.

Corky: I want to see Binta, and Nigeria

sounds fun,

but I like our Christmas. With cold air and snow and hot

cocoa and sweaters so thick I can barely put my coat on.

Dot: Look at it this way.

We'll get to celebrate

a Nigerian Christmas with Gyang and Binta.

And you never know,

you might get some cool holiday ideas for next year.

I don't know about cool ideas.

Sounds more like I'll get hot, dry, and dusty ones instead.

Al: Okay,

I just dropped Cumulus off at Miss Joyce's house.

Al: He should be happy and comfortable there

while we're away.

Dot: All right, Hunters,

we have a long trip ahead of us, so let's get going.

Lily: Wait!

I'm going to measure our winter weather now

and save it in my tracker tablet so I can

compare it to the weather when we get to Nigeria.

The temperature is °F.

It's snowing with % humidity.

That's very humid.

And there's a light breeze

of five miles per hour.

Hmmm...

So temperature is degrees.

Humidity is % and wind is five miles per hour.

Okay, now we can go.

Al: Nigeria! Here we come!

Looks like it's time for a vansformation.

♪ music

Benny: So, I was wondering,

why is it so hot in Nigeria?

Lily: I know why.

Lily: This is the equator.

An imaginary line that divides the Earth

into North and South. Countries near the equator

always have warm weather.

Al: You're right, Lily.

The sun shines

with greater intensity on that part of our planet.

So it's warm all year round.

Al: Gyang and Binta live in the city of Jos.

It's on a raised area of land that's flat on top,

which is called a plateau.

And we're about to see it up close.

Next up, Gyang and Binta's house.

All: Yay!

♪ music

Lily: Ooh! Just like you said Dad.

It is very windy.

Dot: And dusty.

That must be because of Harmattan.

Corky: It feels like July.

Lily: It's warm,

but it feels different than when it's hot at home.

Well, that's because it's dry here. Where we live,

we've got a lot more moisture in the air when it's hot.

Al: So it feels more humid, at least here, with lower humidity,

there's a lot less sweating.

And with this heat, there are no sweaters,

especially Christmas ones.

The temperature is °F.

and the humidity is %.

Lily: It's very dry here.

The wind speed is mph.

So temperature is degrees.

Humidity is % and wind is mph.

That is different than at home.

Gyang: Welcome to Nigeria, Hunters!

Binta: We are so happy you are here.

Al: Binta and Gyang, my old friend.

Dot: It's wonderful to see you again Gyang.

And you too Binta.

Binta: Merry Christmas Lily, Corky, and Benny.

I'm so excited

that we'll be spending this Christmas together.

Lily: Merry Christmas, Binta.

We're happy to see you too.

It'll be fun to see how you celebrate.

Binta: I know the weather's a little different here

than at your home.

Lily: It's a lot different.

Lily: The temperature here is more than degrees warmer.

The air is much drier, and it's much windier.

Lily: I can't believe it's the same time of year.

♪ music

Corky: I like your Christmas tree,

but I'm not used to seeing them when it's hot out.

Binta: The temperatures are actually cooler now.

At night here, it can get down to ten degrees Celsius.

Binta: [Brrr]

Al: That's the same as °F.

Binta: You taught me a lot about your winter activities

when I came to visit you.

I'm excited to show you our Nigerian Christmas traditions.

Corky: Do they include gingerbread houses?

Binta: Umm, no, but we have dancing, Christmas dinner,

with our favorite Nigerian food.

Gyang: And we have Aso Ebi.

That's what we call it

when every family member wears matching outfits.

Binta: My Mother always picked out the best outfits for us.

Al: I am so sorry we never got to meet your Mother

Binta, before she passed away.

Sounds like she was a wonderful person.

Yes, she was.

Aso Ebi was my Mother's favorite Christmas tradition.

Binta: But speaking of traditions, is there something

you like to do on Christmas?

Maybe we can do that too.

Corky: Hmm...At home, I did want to build a snowman.

But here, there's no snow.

Only sand.

Benny: Should we build a sandman?

Dot: I'm not sure that that would work, Benny.

We'll have a snowman building contest when we get home.

Binta,

our holiday traditions

usually involve things you can only do in cold weather.

Corky: We build snowmen, drink hot cocoa,

and have sleigh rides.

Binta: I guess you can't do that here.

Benny: Santa Claus uses a sleigh to deliver presents.

Binta: And it flies, right?

Benny: Not by itself.

It's pulled by flying reindeer.

Oh, no.

I just thought of something.

What?

What if Santa comes to our house on

Christmas and sees we're not there?

Binta: Don't worry.

We have Santa in Nigeria.

He's called Father Christmas here.

Dot: Benny.

Santa can find you here in Nigeria.

Remember, Santa's reindeer can fly anywhere.

Oh, yeah.

♪ music

Lily: It's °F.

It definitely can't snow when it's so hot out.

Al: Great observation, Lily,

but can you think of any other reason it can't snow?

My hydrometer says there isn't much moisture in the air.

I don't think it can rain or snow when it's this dry outside.

Lily: And I can see that there are no clouds here.

Al: Can you figure out why that is?

Lily: Yes. Clouds are made of teeny tiny water droplets.

The Harmattan winds are so dry there isn't enough water

in the air to form clouds.

Al: Correct!

Lily: Whoa!

That was a mile per hour wind gust.

Gyang: The dust causes what we call the Harmattan haze.

When it gets thick, it blocks out the sun.

The haze is why we have beautiful

sunsets and cooler temperatures.

When we left our house,

the temperature was °F and the humidity was %

because it was snowing.

The wind was only five miles per hour.

Al: So a big freeze

and a light breeze.

All: [laughs]

Lily: Wow. That is a beautiful sunset.

Al: It sure is, Lily.

Benny: It's amazing.

My picture of it is my favorite drawing so far.

I'm going to give it to Binta.

♪ music

Binta: Oh, it's such a lovely drawing, Benny.

Thank you for this.

Corky: I have something for Corky, too.

I know you're missing snow.

So Mom helped me freeze some water for you.

They're not real snowballs,

but they're cold and round.

Corky: Thank you, Benny.

That's really...special.

Benny: You're welcome.

Corky and Binta: [laugh]

Binta: I can see that

your brother cares for you and wants you to be happy.

Corky: What are all these plates and bowls for, Binta?

My Dad is letting me help with the Christmas dinner this year.

He's such a good cook.

Lily: Corky and I can help too.

Corky: Yeah!

Binta: Okay.

We're making jollof rice

and we're having chicken and chin chin.

Benny: Who's chin?

Binta: [chuckles]

Chin chin is fried dough made from flour,

sugar, butter, and milk.

Benny: Sounds yummy.

Corky: Ooh, that sounds really good.

But it's not Christmas without cranberry sauce.

Binta: Sorry, Corky.

Dad and I don't have cranberry sauce for Christmas.

Maybe we can find some.

Gyang: But we'll do our cooking tomorrow.

Tonight, it's time for some holiday entertainment.

Corky: We're watching holiday movies?

Gyang: Come, you'll see.

Gyang: Dance is an important

part of our culture, especially during Christmas.

Gyang: Binta and I want to teach you some moves.

♪ Nigerian Music

Binta: Take two steps this way.

Now hop, two steps the other way.

Hop again. Now you try.

Dot: Okay. Two steps this way.

Hop. Two steps that way.

Hop again.

♪ Nigerian Music

Binta: Now add your arms.

♪ Nigerian Music

Corky: Oops! Sorry!

Maybe I should just watch.

Binta: It only takes practice, Corky.

♪ Nigerian Music

Gyang: Let's take it from the top.

A one, two, three, four.

♪ Nigerian Music

Benny: Weee! This is fun.

♪ Nigerian Music

Corky: I think I got it!

Lily: Me too!

♪ Nigerian Music

♪ Music

Gyang: Now it's time to cook.

Who wants to help make moi moi?

Lily: Me, me!

Ummm. What is moi moi?

Gyang: Nigerian bean pudding.

And it's yummy.

Come, Lilly. I will show you how.

Binta: While they make moi moi Corky,

you and I will make the chin chin.

Corky: Okay.

I have already put in the flour,

sugar, milk, two eggs, and butter.

My Mom also liked to add cinnamon powder.

Binta: [sighs]

Is something wrong, Binta?

Binta: This was something I always did with my Mom.

She died when I was six.

I remember the fun things we did at Christmas.

Like aso ebi and making chin chin.

Corky: You must miss her.

Binta: I really do.

Binta: But my Dad still makes

sure I always have the best Christmas.

Corky: You and your Dad do a lot of fun holiday stuff.

Binta: My Mom loved to sing Christmas songs.

So we do that together.

Her favorite was about getting new clothes on Christmas

since that's a present kids usually get.

We sing songs at Christmas too.

I always miss my Mom a little more during Christmas.

Corky: I'm sure you do.

Corky: I have an idea.

I'll be right back.

Corky: Mom, can you help me and Binta with the chin chin?

She used to make it with her Mom.

Dot: Of course I will.

Lily: As our Mom helped make chin chin, Corky realized

that Binta was missing her holiday traditions too.

Lily: Corky might not have snow this Christmas,

but she had something even more important.

Al and Gyang: [laugh]

Dot: Look at you two.

Al: [laughs]

Binta: That chin chin we made is so yummy.

It means a lot to me that your Mom helped me make it, too.

Corky: I know you wish your Mom was still here

to make chin chin with you.

Maybe there's something fun we can do that

reminds you of your Mom on Christmas.

Binta: Oh, I know just the thing.

Another Nigerian

Christmas tradition is to make hampers.

Corky: Hampers?

Like for laundry?

Binta: No, hampers are gift baskets full of food and sweets.

We give them to our friends and neighbors.

That sounds like a better gift than dirty clothes.

Binta: [laughs] Corky, I know

you're missing your cold weather

holiday at home.

If we make hampers together,

that could be a new Christmas tradition for both of us.

I love that idea.

But what can we add besides chin chin?

Binta: Hmmm...

I know!

Because the Harmattan makes our skin so dry,

my Mother would make hand cream

out of beeswax, and almond oil.

Corky: My skin is super dry.

That's a great idea, Binta!

Cold air also makes your skin dry.

I could give Miss Joyce some hand cream as a thank you

for taking care of Cumulus.

This is the perfect way for me to remember my Mom.

She always made homemade gifts for our friends and family.

Corky: I can't imagine how you're feeling.

Missing your Mom during the holiday.

It wasn't easy at first.

I used to get really sad at Christmas,

but I love

celebrating with my Dad,

even though our family is just me and him.

Corky: Well, now you have us.

Gyang: It was so cold.

All: [laugh]

Corky: Let's pack up these hampers.

Lily: Christmas morning

might not have been what Corky planned,

but I think that the way it turned out,

she had even more fun.

Santa found me all the way here.

Look, he got me a new sketchbook.

Dot: What are you going to draw first, Benny?

Benny: I'm drawing all of us in our matching clothes.

Al: There is one last present.

Corky is missing her Hunter holiday family

traditions this year.

And while, I can't bring cold weather and snow to Nigeria,

I did bring all the ingredients for Great Grandpa

Wallace's famous holiday snowball cookies.

So we can have our cookie baking day after all.

Corky: What?

Wow! Amazing!

But how did you...

Lily: I secretly gave the recipe to Dad.

I figured you needed a surprise treat more than he did.

Corky: Thanks, Lily.

Can Binta join us

so she can make another new Christmas memory?

Al: Of course, if she wants to.

Binta: I am so honored to be included

in your special family tradition.

But if they are snowballs, do we have to throw them?

No, the only way they're like real snow

is they melt in your mouth.

All: [laugh]

♪ music

Dot: That dinner was delicious.

Dot: I'm stuffed.

Benny: Me too.

Corky: And thanks for getting me cranberry sauce.

Gyang: You're welcome.

Al: Who thinks we should add chin chin to our holiday menu

next year?

All: Me! Me! I do!

Al: All right.

Al: Chin chin for the win.

All: [laugh]

Binta: Save room for snowballs.

Corky: Yeah!

Snowball selfies.

♪ music

Al: There, all set.

We want to thank you so much

for letting us celebrate Christmas with you.

Corky: Binta, I'm sending you the video

I made of our holiday,

so you can always remember our first Christmas together.

Dot: And you're both invited to

our home for Christmas next year.

Corky: Or we could come back to Nigeria again.

That could be our new holiday tradition.

Lily: Yay! I think that's a great idea.

Benny: Yeah!

Dot: Why Corky,

I'm happy to hear you'd want to do that.

Al: It's never too early

for Corky to start planning Christmas.

Gyang: You are always welcome here.

Corky: I was right after all.

This year was the best Hunter Christmas ever.

Corky: See you again soon.

Gyang: It was so great to have you here.

Binta: Stay in touch.

♪ music

Lily: We learned a lot about how our friends celebrate Christmas,

but we learned something else too.

Lily: If you're with people you love,

you'll have a happy holiday.

Lily: Whatever the weather,

we can always celebrate together!

♪ music