A Chaotic Christmas

Well this Christmas was definitely different. Apart from lack of snow and cool weather, I was also lacking a gaggle of family and friends at hand to make the season bright. I did do some unconventional things...well unconventional based on my traditions of Christmas to date. On Christmas Eve, I woke up on the beach in Winneba at 6 am and watched the sunrise. It was a very moving and spiritual thing to do around Christmas Day if you haven't tried it yet. After that moment of peace and solitude, Christmas Eve became very chaotic. We tro tro-ed back to Accra only to get stuck in mad Christmas shopping traffic. The girls and I had our own groceries to get and we managed to struggle our way through the city with our Christmas chickens and veggies. On Christmas Eve night, we ate pizza (not the usual tourtiere affair) and went to mass to see the Nativity and sing carols. I got home at 10 pm and made hot chocolate (if you can believe that I can actually drink hot chocolate in 30 degree weather) and watched a Christmas Carol (the old black and white version).

I woke up very late Christmas morning and made coffee while the girls stirred. If you can believe it, Santa even made his way to our small home (well if you call yours truly cutting out stockings from coloured paper and laying treats on them on the coffee table, Santa, then yes). When Caitlin got up we started to make brunch (a delicious strata with granola and yoghurt to start). We pumped Bing Crosby through the house and we were really getting into the spirit. Around 1 pm, Caitlin and I took a crate full of oranges to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital to distribute to the patients. Things were very quiet on the wards so we were happy to stir things up a little for them. We returned almost ready for a Christmas nap and then realized that we had to start preparing our feast. So yours truly starting rubbing down two chickens and preparing them for the oven. We were busy bustling around the kitchen for most of the afternoon leaving briefly so we could go put on our party dresses.

At 6:30, our boss was supposed to come over with his family for a visit. In true Ghana time, at 7:30 he shows up and tells us he's taking us to dinner. We pleaded that we were having guests over for dinner and had been cooking all afternoon but he insisted and said, "I've already told my girls you are coming", so how could we say "no"? We get back from dinner at 9:30, fire all our food back up and have a late dinner around 10:30! I was exhausted and couldn't believe the cross-cultural communication breakdown that made a calm and relaxing Christmas into a fiasco. When recounting the story now I laugh to myself and say, "only in Ghana".

I think I've learned a few things about Christmas this year that I don't think I could have learned had I not been away from home. In Ghana, the true meaning of Christmas is stark. Yes, there are Christmas trees, tacky tinsel garlands and carols being played everywhere but apart from that the fanfare from the West is eerily absent. This leaves you contemplating on what it actually is we are celebrating, the birth of Christ. People don't make a big deal out of the commercialized Christmas because some only have Jesus at Christmas. I think I've come to understand this a lot more during Christmas and throughout Advent this year.

However, I can't and won't deny that I missed some familiarities of home this Christmas. I think I missed the following the most:
- putting the angel on the Christmas tree
- mom's fruitcake
- standing in the stillness of a snowfall and watching big flakes fall as if time itself is slowing down
- sitting in front of the fire and warming my toes while reading a book
- lying under the Christmas tree while listening to the Carpenters Christmas album on vinyl
- going to church Christmas Eve and feeling the warmth of joy and celebration in the air
- picking family up from the airport (wearing one of my mother's many funny Christmas hats)
- jamming with friends (you know who you are) and eating homemade sweets

Hope all your Christmases were magical and joy-filled. I know this isn't spelled right but I wish you all an "Efishia Pa", which means Merry Christmas in Twi! Don't ask me to write "Happy New Year". Pictures to follow soon...