Yesterday, as we watched the Kona Christmas Parade roll by our store, and sang a few carols in shorts, tank tops and flip-flops, I was reminded of the last time I felt hot and sticky during the holidays. It was my first Christmas overseas. I was seven going on eight and we had just moved to New Delhi, India. The smell of burning manure left the inside of my nose black the minute we got off the airplane, and I don't think I could ever forget the hot, heavy air hitting me in the face, reminding me that we weren't in Kansas anymore (incidentally, we really were moving from Kansas).
After something like 22 hours on a PanAm flight, seated in the middle four seats (my parents were either very brave or very masochistic), we were greeted at the airport by the family who we were replacing. I remember looking out the window as they drove us to our new house on Bagwandas Road, seeing all the different cars and colors and so many people out in the streets, peeing on the side of road and honking their horns at everything that moved. To a seven year old from Kansas, it was quite a new world.
It must have been a few weeks later when a group of Indian men in white shalvars came to our door with drums in hand and asked if they could come in and sing us some carols. We invited them inside and they set up in our living room. Seeing this large group of Indian men squatting in a semi circle on our floor, listening as they sang a bastardized version of Jingle Bells, is a treasured memory in our family's Christmas history.
"Jingel-da-bell oh oh, Jingel-da-bell oh oh, Jin-gel all dee way. Oh what a fun, it is to ride in a one horse op-en sleigh."
Transcribing it doesn't do the song justice. It's a classic.
As we sang Mele Kalikimaka on the street yesterday, I felt an ache to be at my parents' house, putting together our beat-up fake tree and pulling out all the dough-art ornaments and ugly tinsel garlands, singing Jingel-da-bells. I don't miss my family very often, and it felt good and, well, kind of made me happy.
HI Melissa, I frequently enjoy your blogs and sometimes tell Roberta about them. I need your help. When we set up my Blog those yrs ago I think I set it up to be private but now I am wishing others could read it so that I can connect with others...esp. the "mature, retired grp" Can you tell me what I need to do? I cannot find the info here...Thanks, Barb L. e-mail winnebaer@aol.com
Posted by: Barbara Lutzewitz | January 06, 2007 at 11:26 AM
Two years ago we spent Christmas in Hawai'i with my family (on the big island). It was such a special time, and such a different experience to see how Christmas is celebrated on the island. This year, we're celebrating Christmas by ourselves (because the baby is too young to travel yet). I'm missing my family terribly, but it helps to think of the times we've had Christmas together.
Mele Kalikimaka!
Posted by: Rebekah | December 20, 2006 at 09:10 PM