The year, the season feels different. No chilly wind, no snow predicting forecasts on the nightly news, no holiday fragrances, no Black Friday or computers for two hundred dollars, no Christmas music filling the airwaves and no sense of "holiday cheer".
The biggest holiday in the Islamic year just happened. Eid El-Kebir. It was fun, filled with family and featured plenty of food for sure, but lacked that special 'something' I was hoping for. There was no holiday decorations, no signs all over town and no special music to celebrate the occasion.
While I realize most of this "Christmas" cheer I long for is commercialized, I love it regardless. I enjoy the mall decorations, the Wal-Mart Holiday display that spans the entire store and the music, written just for this holiday. To be frank, I miss it. I miss it a lot.
In a valiant attempt to recreate some of the commercial cheer in my home, I put on Christmas music, baked some cookies and decorated my little trees. On my way back from Thanksgiving in Essaouira I stopped at Marjane (the Wal-Mart of Morocco) to find a somewhat small but welcome Christmas display complete with chocolates, string lights, giant teddy bears and even Christmas trees. It was a nice attempt on the part of an Islamic hyper-marche. I purchased a small tree, some garland, a package of small ornaments and a stocking complete with a photo of Santa Claus. Excited about my new holiday cheer, I headed home and prepared my day of celebration.
When I got back I headed to the post office to find my mother had mailed me a box with sweaters, Pumpkin flavored mixes and a tiny Christmas tree. I felt like the tiny tree, tiny ornaments, tiny garland, tiny tree skirt and even a tiny manger scene were made in America for people like me, Americans abroad missing the feeling of Christmas.
The entire next day was filled with the smell of baking cookies, hot chocolate, christmas music, tree decorating and some favorite Christmas movies.
While my little display is by no means ideal, it is perfect. My friends in the village stop by and ask about my tree, my stocking and my manger scene. I explain to them all about the culture of Christmas at home, while leaving out the part of Jesus' birth. (Trying to convert someone out of Islam will land you in jail here in Morocco. I cannot even imagine what sort of hell lies behind the walls of a Moroccan jail). It is a great way to share culture and customs of America. I even baked them some cookies to share. They women of my co-op were extremely grateful.
While my holiday season has not been filled with as much cheer as I would have liked, I think I am doing a good job creating it on my own. The most exciting thing about this holiday season is the arrival of my sister Claire on December 21st, just in time to celebrate Christmas in a land of Islam. It should be an adventure.
For now I am watching The Muppet Christmas Carol, Elf, Holiday Inn and The Grinch on rotation, just to make my rock house feel like a little more like home. After all, there is no place like home for the holidays.
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