Writing this on a cold Thursday night. My hair is damp, fresh from a long, hot shower I rewarded myself with justice because I made 20 pieces of fat spring rolls. We had them for dinner with Vietnam-made sweet chili sauce. In between dinner, I told the husband that we’re only 15 days away from Christmas. Wow, this year is in a hurry to finally rest and pass the baton to 2016.
As of this writing, it’s the 10th of December, and yet only the Christmas songs played in the mornings before breakfast indicate the spirit of this holiday season. The tree is not yet up. The lights are still in a box. The decorations are yet to be bought. I’m not even thinking about gifts.This is my first Christmas outside of Asia, the continent where I moved around in most of my 29 years of roaming around wild and carefree on this earth. While I stepped on other continents from time to time, there was nary a moment that I thought of leaving Asia. Well, not until May 2015, when the husband and I decided that America will be the best place for me to deliver Baby No. 3.
So…here we are. In a city called Kalispell, in the state of Montana, in the United States of America. It was snowing today – and everything was once again covered in snow. Amazing, I thought. What am I doing here? my mind asked. The tropical princess in the dead of winter? The island girl staring at white flakes falling from the sky? Where’s eternal summer? What happened to the joy of sunshines?
In 15 days, Christmas will be here. But I’m not feeling it at all. I long for Christmases in the Philippines which start in September; that although commercialism is largely a part of it, I still believe in the glee that Christmas lanterns and carols bring; the magic of food and how it brings family members together, even the estranged ones; and lest I forget, the early dawn Holy Masses which begins on the 16th and for nine straight days, people wake up as early as three in the morning to go to church and hear Mass.
A warm treat awaits the faithful ones after hearing Mass. If you’re reading this and you’re not Filipino, google “puto bumbong”, “puto, manga, and sikwate/tsokolate”. I miss having those. But more importantly, I miss the people. The crowd of people, in which most individuals you don’t even know but they smile at you and nods to acknowledge you because somehow you have this shared experience of leaving your bed and sacrificing a few more hours of sleep to be there in church, present, ready to celebrate for the coming of someone special.
Most of the time, I sound like I’m complaining. You must be very tired of reading my whining. But indulge me again this time as I spend my first Christmas away from the very first place I call “home”.
This day is going to be tough for me. I might even cry.
I’m thinking of finding comfort in sweet-style spaghetti, the way most Filipinos like it.
Merry Christmas from my cold spot here in winter wonderland!
Please send me some warmth from the tropics. I will be forever indebted.
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T30WC or The 30-minute Writing Challenge is a writing exercise born out of this blogger’s need to maintain a habit of writing. Subjects of each writing challenge is just about anything but should ONLY be written within 30 minutes.
