Doha Christmas 2011

The first Christmas away from home (2010) was very very difficult. I didn't bring any decorations with us, the stuff I could find here was cheap and "odd" (really horrible fake tree with LED lights shooting out of the needles?!?), and without Christmas music and lights, it really just doesn't feel anything like the Christmas season here to me. at. all. John's parents' visit totally saved me from complete emotional breakdown over the oddity of the whole thing.

This year was better. In January 2010, I spotted a Norfolk Island Pine at our neighborhood grocery store. Let's not discuss how much it cost...only that it was about three feet tall and I bought it on the spot without one hesitation. In Texas, my Mom and John's Mom had them, and I loved having one to decorate with one string of pepper lights and some little light, clear balls or some light little wooden apples. (The ones in Texas were a couple of years older than the one I bought and could handle a little decorating.)

Well, somehow that little tree along with some carefully spotted actual Christmas wrapping paper helped me significantly with my attitude. The only challenge was that the little tree was struggling under even the weight of one string of tiny LED lights. So I asked John to keep his eyes open at the Omani/plant souq...that maybe we could find a larger N.I. pine. He told Babu, an amazingly awesome Nepalese gentleman that knows everything about landscaping plants in Doha.

Then one evening, the doorbell rings, and it's Babu. He has this beast of a pine/fur/??? tree. The trunk is as big around as my lower arm and it has a huge old head of hair on it. It is outstanding...only the needles are so sharp that putting the lights and ornaments on was quite the arduous task. I ended up having to wear oven mitts because the pokes were do damned sharp.

Anyway, we survived Doha Christmas 2011 in much better spirits this year. It was a simple affair--just a few presents for the kids, some Charlie Brown Christmas music, and a special breakfast. Two days later we were leaving for the trip...In fact without the terrible jarring absence of Christmas I experienced last year, it was kind of nice not to have the overload of Christmas that happens in the US. No black Fridays...no interweb Mondays...no Jared diamond commercials...The relative simplicity was actually very nice. If I could just transport our church's Advent service over here, then all would be good.

Even at 11 years old, Jack still gets the full-on Christmas Crack disease every year. Here is his at six years old. Notice the lingering similarity. Doha Christmas Beast is in the background.