Friday, January 13, 2006
No Place like Home for the Holidays
Each year there are people who rail against materialism and proclaim that Americans have forgotten the “reason for the season”. I am not one of these people. The argument goes that we lose sight of what is important and replace family and faith with shopping, movies and television. Being away from home this year naturally makes one think about all the things he is missing. What I found is that I did not miss the material things, in themselves; rather I missed the modern day traditions that are signified by these material things. Christmas shopping with my sister for my parents, going to a romantic comedy with my sister, mother and grandmother and watching hours upon hours of college football with my dad and friends constitute the traditions that bring me close to my friends and family and these traditions have been with me for all my life
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Fortunately, I was not the only person in Burkina who was missing these traditions. The other Peace Corps Volunteers do a tremendous job and banding together to enjoy the holidays, reflect and even try to emulate the traditions we are missing at home. What follows is an account of my holiday season:
I spent Christmas in my city of Fada with three female volunteers from nearby villages. I bought a pathetic plastic Christmas tree from a stand that sells liquor and stickers of the Virgin Mary. I put the girls’ presents underneath the tree. They were wrapped in notebook paper and then colored to resemble actual wrapping paper. Christmas morning began by waking up the girls with, Mariah Carry’s “All I Want for Christmas”. It was the only Christmas song we had, so we played it on repeat until we could not take it anymore. Shortly after that we opened the presents that we had bought for each other in the local market. I received a pair of white plastic loafers and a machete. We next moved on to making a huge brunch that included omelets, French toast, hash browns and fruit salad. While I am sure that I could find finer brunches in America, no brunch has ever tasted as good. All and all, Christmas was great; not as great as being at home with my family and friends, but the surrogate family we have created over here makes life much easier.
The next week was filled for preparation for our New Years Eve Celebration, which was a themed Moustache and Turtleneck Party. The theme was actually given to me by a friend who had to return to the States. It was a party that he and his friends created to College and continued well into the five years after his college career had ended. He so cherished this party that he and his friend went to tremendous lengths to ensure that it could continue even though they were now working in the corporate world where it is inappropriate and unprofessional to grow a beard or moustache. The resolution to their problem was found in charity.
One of his friends spoke with the ‘Make a Wish’ Foundation and organized all the paperwork for a “Beard-a-Thon”. Shortly after Thanksgiving the annual patrons of the Moustache and Turtleneck party took the fundraiser sheets to their respective bosses, thus forcing the bosses to say NO to the ‘Make a Wish’ Foundation. Without fail, no bosses could say “No”; the patrons raised money for charity and were able to continue the tradition. The reason I give the back-story of this party is to demonstrate the lengths to which people have gone to preserve it. I have already mentioned the importance of emulating American traditions in Africa; and for Kevin, it was important to bring this time honored tradition to Burkina Faso. In his absence, I wanted to make sure his vision was carried out to fruition.
We scoured the local market, which in all seriousness, is better than any thrift store in America. The girls were able to find one piece jumpsuits of crushed velvet and satin. I was able to find a red turtleneck and seersucker pants. The other Peace Corps Volunteers were able to find similar treasures at their local markets and thus, the themed New Year’s was a success.
The next morning I awoke cold and shivering. Africa changes you, the other day I thought that it was quite pleasant and even mild, maybe somewhere in the high 70s; I then came to learn that it was, in fact, 100 degrees. The point being, you get used to the heat and when it actually is in the mid 70s you are freezing. As the sun continued to rise over the steppe, it became warmer and more people began to wake up. New Years Day, was not filled with watching football, but instead filled with watching elephants. Any pictures that I post at a later time can not convey how amazing it was to be 100 feet away from wild African Elephants. Amazing is a word that could easily be replaced by intimidating or crazy, though these emotions are lost in the photo’s because pictures of wild elephants are ubiquitous on travel/adventure shows, and magazines like National Geographic. The experience of walking across the tall grass of the West Africa with my good friends and then coming upon a pack of elephants as the first day of the New Year began to break is an experience that I will be hard pressed to forget. With this, a very unique holiday season came to a close. I wish everyone a happy 2006 and I look forward to ringing in the next New Year in the United States.
.
Fortunately, I was not the only person in Burkina who was missing these traditions. The other Peace Corps Volunteers do a tremendous job and banding together to enjoy the holidays, reflect and even try to emulate the traditions we are missing at home. What follows is an account of my holiday season:
I spent Christmas in my city of Fada with three female volunteers from nearby villages. I bought a pathetic plastic Christmas tree from a stand that sells liquor and stickers of the Virgin Mary. I put the girls’ presents underneath the tree. They were wrapped in notebook paper and then colored to resemble actual wrapping paper. Christmas morning began by waking up the girls with, Mariah Carry’s “All I Want for Christmas”. It was the only Christmas song we had, so we played it on repeat until we could not take it anymore. Shortly after that we opened the presents that we had bought for each other in the local market. I received a pair of white plastic loafers and a machete. We next moved on to making a huge brunch that included omelets, French toast, hash browns and fruit salad. While I am sure that I could find finer brunches in America, no brunch has ever tasted as good. All and all, Christmas was great; not as great as being at home with my family and friends, but the surrogate family we have created over here makes life much easier.
The next week was filled for preparation for our New Years Eve Celebration, which was a themed Moustache and Turtleneck Party. The theme was actually given to me by a friend who had to return to the States. It was a party that he and his friends created to College and continued well into the five years after his college career had ended. He so cherished this party that he and his friend went to tremendous lengths to ensure that it could continue even though they were now working in the corporate world where it is inappropriate and unprofessional to grow a beard or moustache. The resolution to their problem was found in charity.
One of his friends spoke with the ‘Make a Wish’ Foundation and organized all the paperwork for a “Beard-a-Thon”. Shortly after Thanksgiving the annual patrons of the Moustache and Turtleneck party took the fundraiser sheets to their respective bosses, thus forcing the bosses to say NO to the ‘Make a Wish’ Foundation. Without fail, no bosses could say “No”; the patrons raised money for charity and were able to continue the tradition. The reason I give the back-story of this party is to demonstrate the lengths to which people have gone to preserve it. I have already mentioned the importance of emulating American traditions in Africa; and for Kevin, it was important to bring this time honored tradition to Burkina Faso. In his absence, I wanted to make sure his vision was carried out to fruition.
We scoured the local market, which in all seriousness, is better than any thrift store in America. The girls were able to find one piece jumpsuits of crushed velvet and satin. I was able to find a red turtleneck and seersucker pants. The other Peace Corps Volunteers were able to find similar treasures at their local markets and thus, the themed New Year’s was a success.
The next morning I awoke cold and shivering. Africa changes you, the other day I thought that it was quite pleasant and even mild, maybe somewhere in the high 70s; I then came to learn that it was, in fact, 100 degrees. The point being, you get used to the heat and when it actually is in the mid 70s you are freezing. As the sun continued to rise over the steppe, it became warmer and more people began to wake up. New Years Day, was not filled with watching football, but instead filled with watching elephants. Any pictures that I post at a later time can not convey how amazing it was to be 100 feet away from wild African Elephants. Amazing is a word that could easily be replaced by intimidating or crazy, though these emotions are lost in the photo’s because pictures of wild elephants are ubiquitous on travel/adventure shows, and magazines like National Geographic. The experience of walking across the tall grass of the West Africa with my good friends and then coming upon a pack of elephants as the first day of the New Year began to break is an experience that I will be hard pressed to forget. With this, a very unique holiday season came to a close. I wish everyone a happy 2006 and I look forward to ringing in the next New Year in the United States.
