Christmas Away From Home

This was my first Christmas away from home, away from family, away from friends. (Not entirely away from friends, as it turned out, as we will see.)

I was worried as the date neared. In part I was nervous about a package that had not arrived yet. In part I was worried about how I would be getting to Kurdamir. Mostly, though, I was worried because I knew what was happening back home, and I wasn’t feeling it here. It could be very easy here to hide out and pretend nothing was happening. They have Christmas trees and Santa Claus, but both are connected with New Year’s, so I’m missing the build up and excitement for Christmas that I would experience and love were I home. The specials on TV, the decorations, the tree, the Christmas books, the candles lit up in the dark church as we sing “Silent Night,” the recording of “A Christmas Carol” and Scrooge crying “I’m as light as a feather!” the thrill of seeing the stockings full and the cookie crumbs and carrot nubs from Santa’s visit. I am a Christmas person. Who would I be without Christmas being all around me?

And I did miss those things, very much so. But, you know what, I survived. In fact, I had fun. It didn’t feel like Christmas, necessarily, but it was a good time. A married couple in Kurdamir put us up for the weekend, and there were about 14 of us all together. Fortunately for us, Azerbaijani houses usually have a large number of roll up mattresses lying around, so we all had somewhere soft to sleep. We had Christmas movies to watch, games to play, and most importantly for any holiday, home or abroad, lots of good food to eat. Spaghetti, garlic bread, pancakes and syrup, chili, pizza, granola, burritos, cookies, and apple pie. As good as the Azeri food that my host mother cooks is, it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to eat food from home.

I know also that I was fortunate to have a group of people to share the weekend with. I am fortunate that we were able to get to know each other some before the holiday, so that we could share the time together. Just as this was not my ideal way of spending Christmas, it certainly wasn’t as bad as it could have been and perhaps I was expecting it to be. As much as I miss home and those at home that I love, I am fortunate in many ways. For one, that I have people that I love, and for another, that I have friends in yet another country, people that I’m learning I can count on to support me and help me through tough times, just as the friends I have back in the United States do. God bless us, every one.