Emotion runs high in my first Ethiopian Christmas

You know you're behind in your blogging when it's February 10th and you are only now writing about Christmas. But before it gets any later, let me begin.

  The lead up to our first Christmas in Ethiopia was filled with anticipation. Ethiopia definitely doesn't treat (nor celebrate)  Christmas with the same degree of excess that we are more accustomed.  Addis Ababa does acknowledge the presence of many ex-pats so as the date drew closer there were more traditional Christmasy stuff available in the stores.  Gradually our home was beginning to look the part. We were even able to buy a frozen turkey, imported from France.  It was by far the smallest turkey I had ever cooked and the most expensive, but it was a piece of Christmas tradition that we agreed was necessary.

We picked up Johanna from the airport December 23rd.  She and I did some last minute running around during the day of Christmas Eve.  Everything is available in Ethiopia, but you just have to know where to go and find it.  Grocery shopping can be rather time consuming and oft times disappointing when you don't find what you're looking for.  For the first time in years I had to resort to Stovetop stuffing cuz I couldn't find the ingredients to make my traditional stuffing.  Oh well TIA, at least we had turkey and I had requested that Aley bring stovetop stuffing and cranberry sauce, so we were set.

So now it's Christmas Eve and we're ready.  The stockings were laid out (no fireplace in sight) by our Christmas tree, our liquor cabinet was stocked, Paul and I put together a Wife saver's Breakfast for the following morning and JoJo and I both remarked, "Does it feel like Christmas yet?"  Weather in Ethiopia from November to the end of May is really quite idyllic.  It doesn't rain during this period with the exception of short period (Feb/March) of six weeks, but even then the rain is short lived and overshadowed by sunny days. The temperatures rarely exceed 26 C, so it's always a nice, dry heat. No it didn't feel like Christmas because we were missing the snow, but did we actually miss that?  Not a chance!  The only thing (or should I say people) that would make Christmas complete would be the arrival of our children.

View from Oma's solarium. Ottawa, I miss YOU, but you can have the snow & cold.

We were now hours away from picking up our 3 children from the airport.  We would have to wait until December 28th when Allison arrived to complete our family picture.  Going to the airport Christmas morning, was as emotional as it can get, so perhaps it was good to divide the kids' arrival. I had not seen Jenn since the morning of July 27th and yet all I could do was hug her and cry. Did the whole crying thing all over when Allison arrived 3 days later. Emotion gone wild.

So now with the picture, almost complete, Christmas could begin.

Christmas Day Ethiopian style

Aley, Daylan and Jenn arrived at Addis Ababa airport via Ethiopian Air at 8:30 am.  The flight leaves from Toronto and time varies from 11 to 13 hours depending on whether the plane stops in Rome.  They didn't get a lot of sleep during the flight. It seems Jenn and Daylan heard "open bar" and suddenly sleep seemed secondary. It may have helped them, however, to grab a few hours of sleep.  Aley known to like her wine, was surprised when she woke from a "nap" to see a beer in front of her.  Oh,  Daylan thought it might be frowned upon if he ordered 2 beers at a time for himself.  Smart boy!

So arriving tired, but excited to begin their African adventure, we sat outside on our patio and caught up over a yummie Wife saver brekkie.  It's always good (learned from experience) to take a little nap and then try and stay up as late as you can on your first day.  The kids did just that.  I did have to wake Jenn when it was time to Skype.  Christmas is all about family, so not having ALL our loved ones with us in Ethiopia meant "seeing and talking" to them through Skype.

We spoke with Allison first as Switzerland is only 2 hours behind.  She was spending her first Christmas away from home with her boyfriend Alex and his family. I was disappointed at first when I learned that Al wouldn't be with us.  But the more I thought about it, it was in keeping with Christmas 2013 that Allison would be celebrating in Lyss, family at home were in Woodbridge, Ottawa and Winnipeg while the rest of us were in Addis Ababa. Why not indeed!

Yup, Christmas 2013, Double A's, Allison & Alex

The next Skype call was to Oma, Patricia and Janik.  Pat and Janik were spending Christmas in Ottawa. It was nice to send Christmas cheer from 7000 miles away.  It also makes you realise how small the world really is. We (Jenn, Johanna and I) were sitting in Ethiopia and having a conversation with Oma and Pat. It felt like they were so close and as though we were just sitting around and catching up on life. They were both pretty envious of our green and sun-filled Christmas. We wished them a Merry Christmas, but none of us seriously "wished" to be home in the ice, cold and snow.

Our next Skype was also to Ottawa.  Gail, Brooke and Brad were halfway through their Christmas morning and we were enjoying Christmas in the late afternoon.  Most striking difference in this conversation: while we were holding cocktails, they were on their second coffee. Again, it was incredible to be able to connect with family. It helped compensate (though of course not completely) for the fact that this would be the first Christmas in a long time that my sister and I didn't spend Christmas Day together.  It's easy to rationalise your feelings and cope with missing family (especially your sister), but when you're on Skype you can't hide your feelings.  Tears flowed again, but not surprising since my kids and my sister have that effect on me.

Now please don't think that all I did was cry Christmas Day; far from it.  Life is making the most of what you have and what you've been given.  Paul and I are extremely fortunate to have been given this opportunity to live and work (at least Paul works!) in Ethiopia. It has been a wonderful experience, but like any experience it has times of sadness; times when I painfully miss "home" and my "other" life. Occasions like Christmas bring with it so much emotion that had I not cried I would have checked for a pulse.  I know the day would have been very difficult had it just been Paul, Lexxie and me and the wonders of Skype.  As it was, the arrival of Johanna, Aley, Daylan and Jenn made Christmas 2013 an extremely happy day and another amazing memory in our Ethiopian adventure.  

Regardless of where you may have spent Christmas, if you were surrounded by those you love, were able to reach out (Skype) to those not there, then you were blessed with the true spirit of Christmas: love.