One thing I’ve learned about living in non-Christian countries is that if you want Christmas, you have to create it for yourself. In Algiers, come December, there’s no “All I Want for Christmas” blasting from grocery store speakers, no twinkling lights on street poles, and certainly no falling snow. But all those cozy and funContinue reading “Christmas in Algiers”
Tag Archives: Christmas
That Certain Christmas Sadness
Every year at Christmastime, I watch four movies. The 1990s version of Little Women, which isn’t a Christmas movie per se, but is positively dripping with the Christmas spirit, despite the Marches being “temperance people.” National Lampoons Christmas Vacation because I’m an American. Love Actually, because I pine for the simpler days of meeting lovedContinue reading “That Certain Christmas Sadness”
Searching for Christmas in the Holy Land
Last weekend, hoping to catch the Christmas spirit, I went on a tour of Bethlehem (which is just a 15-minute drive from Jerusalem, a fact I was totally oblivious to until arriving here two months ago). While my new city is the place where Jesus is believed to have died and been resurrected, JerusalemContinue reading “Searching for Christmas in the Holy Land”
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…Except if You’re in Yemen
So apparently, it’s the holiday season, but I wouldn’t really know it. In Yemen, it’s 70 degrees every day; “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” hasn’t played once on the radio; and there are no commercials indicating that Mr.YemenEm should go to Jared or buy me a Mercedes with a red bow and deliver itContinue reading “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…Except if You’re in Yemen”