Christmas in Cairo

Merry Christmas!
I hate to say I am not doing very good at this blogging thing. I would much prefer to post snippets on my facebook page but maybe 2010 will be a better blogger year for me. In any case, I thought I would share experiences from my first Christmas in Cairo. In December, the floral shops, located on the street corners or in the midst of the bazaar, start displaying small Christmas trees (I use that term loosely) and poinsettias of red and white color. Since a tree seemed a little too high maintenance, I chose a red poinsettia to help add some Christmas cheer to my hotel room.
It has been surviving so far, although I can't say I have a green thumb when it comes to poinsettias...it looks as though it is already wanting to wish me adieu and Christmas isn't even over! In any case, it has provided a splash of red and some Christmas cheer that was lacking in my room.



This week we had our Christmas Party at work. I wasn't sure what to expect since this is a Christian holiday. The one thing people fail to realize is the Islamic faith actually recognizes Jesus--they just recognize him as a prophet, not the son of God. Nonetheless, we celebrated with everyone at work. I loved the fact the Muslim women broke out the red and green to wear, along with their "Merry Christmas" greetings and traditional hug-kiss-kiss to the other women colleagues. It was a very festive day in our office...beginning with old-school Christmas songs being sung by the late-great Bing Crosby and other artists of that era. I felt very "at home" since I was raised with those records playing as I was put to sleep at night around Christmas time.
Instead of a work potluck, we all voted to pay money for an Egyptian lady, who prides herself in baking turkey and preparing some Western and Egyptian food, to prepare our lunch. The spread consisted of a turkey on top of some yummy rice, Kofta (mix of beef and lamb grilled on a skewer), some type of beef, fish, little cheese samosa-type things, baba ganoush, tahini, cole slaw, potato salad, beets (don't ask me!?!), some stuffed zucchini and squash, along with some very delicious desserts.

After eating, we went down and gathered with the other staff to sing Christmas carols and eat more dessert. We had a choir that led the singing of carols, including Feliz Navidad in Spanish, English, and Arabic! We also sang some traditional American carols, including "Silent Night", "Drummer Boy", and "Jingle Bells". Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves no matter whether they celebrated the holiday.

We were released at half a day on Wednesday--it was nice to have the afternoon to take a nap and catch up on some things at home. On Thursday, I was invited to have Christmas Eve dinner at a colleague's home where others from work gathered for food and fellowship. It was nice for a few of us "orphans" to have a meal and enjoy families--some big (one had 5 kids!) and some small. After dinner, I joined another colleague for the 11 p.m. church service that ended shortly after midnight. It was night to bring in the Christmas day in church singing hymns about our Savior's birth.

Christmas Day has been laid-back, which is a welcome change from the chaos my life has experienced the past few months. I was able to enjoy brunch with a colleague and her family who came to visit her for Christmas. It was a low-key, enjoyable time for all.

Although it has been strange to not be exposed to all the commercialism which usually coincides with the Christmas holiday, it has been a nice quiet time of rest and relaxation while remembering our Savior was born relatively close to where I am sitting now. There is wide-spread agreement that Jesus was not actually born on this day but I am thankful we can take this day and set-aside some time to reflect on the real meaning of CHRISTmas and the ultimate gift that was provided to us a little over 2,000 years ago.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!