The Holidays Are A Little Different This Year.

When Paul and I attended orientation in Houston, when he was interviewing for this job, it was strongly stressed that we leave any possessions that are important to us and have to do with religion or holidays celebrating certain religious events or people, with someone at home.  Some of the religious laws here pose strict rules on what can and cannot be brought into the country and going through customs can sometimes be a devastating experience because they can take your things and there is nothing you can do about it.

Throughout my life and my marriage I have collected some pretty awesome and cherrished things pertaining to the Christmas holiday and I didn't want to take any chances, neither did Paul - who is a fervent follower of rules.  He's smart, because he recognizes blessed opportunities for his family and himself and doesn't want to "rock the boat."  SO, we left all our decorations and religious relics at home with our parents.  Now that we are here, we realize things aren't as strict as portrayed and there are ways of getting things here . Of course, there are still laws that need to be obeyed and a respect of the dominating culture that is very important for a peaceful life here.  But life inside our little world is very different than life outside these walls that surround us - that is for sure.

Originally, I imagined we would be travelling home to the States for the holidays, so thoughts of decor or plans for holidays were not worried about.  Even after we found out the news of little Abigail Lily entering our lives and finding out her due date was the end of December I didn't worry because I planned on coming home for the birth.  When we really thought about it and the pregnancy progressed we realized leaving wasn't the best thing to do for our family, so we decided to stay. This time of year has always been so important to me.  I have so many wonderful memories of times shared with family and friends and I have always wanted to make Christmas an exciting, memorable time for my children, so not having any decorations was a little upsetting. 

This is the first year Madeline is actually excited about Christmas so we have tried to make it memorable for her by reading Christmas stories, making paper snowflakes to hang in the window, listening to holiday music... I even found a lovely, crackling fireplace video on Vimeo that is only 3 minutes long, but will play over and over when put on a loop.  It's almost like we have a real fireplace going! Closing the curtains, popping on some holiday tunes, and boiling some cinnamon and orange slices on the stove sometimes makes me forget I am living in the desert of Saudi Arabia.

We got rid of our beautiful new tree when we moved here - a deep regret - so I have wanted to find a tree for our house for several months now. Rumors of stores with trees in secret rooms, trees in a nearby country for sale, or possibilities of getting an old tree off the camp classifieds were all possibilities, but we have had a hard time finding one.  We finally and easily caved and got a Charlie Brown from a store in Khobar for way too much money, but it was something, and Madeline in all her adorableness was quite pleased with it.

Then I heard about a recycled "holiday" sale going on in camp where people who have been here a while donate their used decorations to sell (the money going toward a great cause) to new expats who don't have anything. Even better, they would have a donated tree raffle we could enter to possibly win a more normal looking tree!

Here on camp there are some really thoughtful people who always try to make the new expats experience here in Saudi a little better by helping them feel more at home.  They provide extremely helpful information and opportunities for a more comfortable, normal-feeling life.  Sometimes that is really hard to do.  I think that's one of the reasons I've stayed in my house more than usual since we arrived (other than the fiery hot summer weather) - because in my home I can create my own comfort zone and there have been many times that I forget where we actually live, which has been a good thing on those hard days of adjusting. 

Things are changing, and after 8 months here we are getting happier, more at home, and used to life as expats.  And I am starting to notice that staying in the house isn't really the best way to feel better on those emotional days.  Every time I do go out and attend a social gathering I feel so much better and happier about being here.

So on the 10th I attended the recycled "holiday" sale.  I was able to find some lights - another thing that is really hard to find here because of the difference in voltage in homes inside camp and outside camp.  They just don't sell a lot of products that are 110 volts.  So I scooped up 3 of the 4 white light strands - I felt a little guilty but first come first serve - and some garland, wrapping paper, and a wreath.  I also purchased 8 raffle tickets for the tree drawing.  In all they had 12 trees - one big one you could bid on and 11 that ranged from a craft store Charlie Browner to a not so bad one with some lights already on it.  I put most of my raffle tickets on bag #5 and went home. We got the call a couple hours later that we won it!  So now we have a pretty nice tree, and after some electrical re-wiring on the part of my brilliant husband, we were able to get most of the lights I bought to work - just enough for the tree. I'm so happy!!

I was also able to find some supplies at a local craft store here to make a really nice wreath.  Somehow our stockings, a glass tree for candy, and our advent calendar also made it to Saudi so we do have some decorations, which is really nice and adds to the ambiance and feelings of the season. 

All of these discoveries have really created a nice feeling in our home for the holidays.  I love this time of year, and although we won't be spending it with our family in a snow-covered house, the spirit is still here and I've realized as the holidays have gotten closer that even if we had no decorations the meaning of Christmas, and feelings shared and felt this time of year would still exist.