Happy holidays! Here we are on the 18th of December and you would never know that any sort of huge holiday is a mere seven days away. This is something that has been a little tough in some ways, but extremely thought-provoking as well. I would like to share some of these thoughts and reflections with you this holiday season, not with the intent to evoke any sort of guilt or defensiveness by any means, only with the hope to provide some space for further examination, questioning and a reaffirmation and return to the true heart of the season, which as I have gotten older I have come to realize is love and family.
One of the starkest realizations that one comes to when going through the holiday season in a very poor country is the inconspicuousness of it. I am used to seeing lights on houses, signs in stores, trees in living rooms and people talking about the big date everywhere I go. That doesn't exist here. None of it does. Nor does Christmas candy. Or special promotions and sales. Or Christmas carols playing on the radio or in the stores. In fact, this period of time as the rainy season just is beginning is often referred to as the "hunger time" because all the stores of crops from the last season are running out and the new ones haven't had time to grow and be harvested. In a season that I am used to celebrating by adding extra stuff, I find a crushing lack of the basic stuff here. Money. Food. Even more lacking than it normally is.
This being said, when I went to the market today to give one of the vendors there back the 40 meticais he had lent me yesterday, he and his two friends were sharing a lunch of a fish sauce and xima and they demanded that I come eat with them. The food wasn't going to fill the three of them up as it was, but they wanted me to be a part of it. There is a shortage of food at the moment, but they wanted to share what they had. Money is hard to come by, but here was a free lunch being thrust at me. I ended up politely refusing and mentioning that I had already started cooking something at home (which was true), but it still took a lot of convincing before they let me go.
This is one small example from the hundreds I have accumulated during my first 8 months in Mozambique of the love and familial bonds which are so prevalent here. If love and family are what are truly important during the holiday season, then the Mozambicans celebrate all year round!
This brings us to my last point. The important things in life don't lie in the eye-catching, expensive or complex things, they lie in the simple things. The everyday things. And when you take away the possibility and means of surrounding yourself with these flashier things, the simple things are all you are left with. I may not have my family here with me, but the love that my Mozambican family here, all of it from the market vendors to hospital employees, goes a very long way in demonstrating the essence of the Christmas spirit, if you will, that I have found myself looking for since roughly December 1st.
I want to finish by saying that I am in no way trying to say our Western Christmas traditions are bad at all. Quite the opposite! I would love to be sitting on the warm rug in front of a wood stove drinking some hot cocoa with my parents and playing a game of Banana Grms. A Christmas tree would be one of the most beautiful sights at the moment. Gifts from Santa the morning of the 25th sound like a dream. What I am saying is that it's extremely important to know why all of these different parts of Christmas and its traditions mean so much to us. It's important to ask. Is it because of family? Is it because of love? I think we will find that the vast majority of what we enjoy about the season will fall into one of these two categories. And THAT's the beautiful thing, to be able to slow down, set aside the distractions and the extra and to be able to take a moment to really and truly appreciate Christmas for what it is: a time filled with family, those closest to us and the incredible amount of love that bonds all of us together and makes it all worthwhile!
On that note, merry final days and enjoy the season; I know that I will be!
This being said, when I went to the market today to give one of the vendors there back the 40 meticais he had lent me yesterday, he and his two friends were sharing a lunch of a fish sauce and xima and they demanded that I come eat with them. The food wasn't going to fill the three of them up as it was, but they wanted me to be a part of it. There is a shortage of food at the moment, but they wanted to share what they had. Money is hard to come by, but here was a free lunch being thrust at me. I ended up politely refusing and mentioning that I had already started cooking something at home (which was true), but it still took a lot of convincing before they let me go.
This is one small example from the hundreds I have accumulated during my first 8 months in Mozambique of the love and familial bonds which are so prevalent here. If love and family are what are truly important during the holiday season, then the Mozambicans celebrate all year round!
This brings us to my last point. The important things in life don't lie in the eye-catching, expensive or complex things, they lie in the simple things. The everyday things. And when you take away the possibility and means of surrounding yourself with these flashier things, the simple things are all you are left with. I may not have my family here with me, but the love that my Mozambican family here, all of it from the market vendors to hospital employees, goes a very long way in demonstrating the essence of the Christmas spirit, if you will, that I have found myself looking for since roughly December 1st.
I want to finish by saying that I am in no way trying to say our Western Christmas traditions are bad at all. Quite the opposite! I would love to be sitting on the warm rug in front of a wood stove drinking some hot cocoa with my parents and playing a game of Banana Grms. A Christmas tree would be one of the most beautiful sights at the moment. Gifts from Santa the morning of the 25th sound like a dream. What I am saying is that it's extremely important to know why all of these different parts of Christmas and its traditions mean so much to us. It's important to ask. Is it because of family? Is it because of love? I think we will find that the vast majority of what we enjoy about the season will fall into one of these two categories. And THAT's the beautiful thing, to be able to slow down, set aside the distractions and the extra and to be able to take a moment to really and truly appreciate Christmas for what it is: a time filled with family, those closest to us and the incredible amount of love that bonds all of us together and makes it all worthwhile!
On that note, merry final days and enjoy the season; I know that I will be!
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| Maybe the closest thing to a Christmas tree I'll see during my time here in Mozambique, this giant Baobab tree leaves quite the impression! |
