After my mom went back to the States, she bought and sent me a Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar. I've never had a virtual Advent Calendar before. They're pretty genius. You can't not get stoked about Christmas with the prospect of these little surprises every day. I loved the mini-doors and pictures when I was a kid, and I loved the chocolate calendars so much that a few years I made Christmas come early.
Today I clicked on the snowy globe in the corner of my desktop and entered the Christmas village. Thirteen animations had already been played, so I could see the kids sledding on the hill, people skating on the pond, a horse pulling a sleigh, people feasting in the cafe, toys playing music in shop window, and the Christmas tree lit up in the town square. Over half way there! I clicked on (14), which took me inside a house where a cat was playing with the ornaments on a Christmas tree. It shorted the lights and I had to turn the switch back on. All the the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." It made me miss my cat. We changed our decorating style because she was pooping tinsel.
It's strange to be in Palestine during the holiday season. This time two years ago, I was working construction and listening to the same ten songs on repeat on the radio. I hated that stupid radio. After two days, the only song that had retained its magic was "Last Christmas" by George Michael. And the
occasional Mannheim Steamroller. I just realized, if I marry a non-Christian, this is going to be an awful big quirk, dancing around to a prog-pop version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
Anyways, it's almost funny that I feel so removed from Christmas now, now that I'm in the Holy Land and just a stone's throw (is that a bad joke here?) from Bethlehem and Nazareth. I don't happen to know any Christians here. When I showed my daily advent animation to my adult students, one of them said, "ah, but this is for children!" Haha, it is indeed. Somehow, the bell still rings for me.
Tomorrow is the 15th, ten days from Christmas, and I'm going to be embarking on a CouchSurfing journey through Israel and Palestine. A few days will be spent in Ramallah, but otherwise I plan to spend every night in a different place. I want to see Nazareth and the Galilee. I wonder if I can adopt a family for Christmas.
It'll be an adventure. Advent-ure. whoaaaaa.
One word-nostalgia.
