Christmas

Last Chrstmas I was far away from my sunny home in Queensland, Australia in a small village outside the capital city Lome, in Togo, West Africa.

Selfishly I must admit that I missed the salty air, the hussle & bussle of Christmas, my family and our small but special traditions. Banana smoothies and mangos and hot lunch that can only be enjoyed if you jack up the electricity bill by cranking the A/C.

This year, while I am full of joy to be at home with my family, I miss the sounds of the African birds in the morning, the shy smiles of children , the white rice pudding for breakfast with stale instant coffee. Last December 25th we ate a cup of rice and shared cans of coke for Christmas lunch, tied countless balloons and cuddled hundreds of babies. Played games despite the horrifically hot African sun and finally sat silently as we pondered the "realest" christmas, any of us will probably have.

I hope its ok to love both.