I'm Dreaming of a Hot and Humid Christmas

Well the "summer" holiday season has come and gone. Our Hanukkah celebration was a success due to Lindsay's white trash menorah, which she made from bits and pieces of things in our recycling bin, and Deeeeeelicious latkes complete with applesauce. We opened up our balcony windows for dinner and listened to the sound of Christmas carols being sung by the locals in the Strand Park just down the street. It was very entertaining.

Although I worked all throughout the Christmas holiday, we were able to connect with family via Skype. I can't say enough how great that is. We spent most of Christmas day just talking to family, and we even opened our Christmas presents via Skype with Lindsay's parents, sisters, brother-in-law, and grandmother.

Just as it does in the U.S., the tsunami of Christmas cheer began just before the begining of December. We saw the decorations go up all around town and heard the same old Christmas carol standards in the malls and grocery stores. However, I must say it was a bit surreal to observe the reindeer and snowman decorations hung up in palm and banyan trees while at the same time listening to "Let it Snow" or "White Christmas" in the 95 degree heat with 90% humidity. But, according to our Aussie friends, the summer heat doesn't stop them from keeping with the traditions of the Motherland and cooking up a traditional Christmas feast, an activitiy that raises the temperature of the traditional holiday kitchen from moderately unpleasant to completely unbearable.

Here in Townsville the locals really get in the spirit of Christmas down in the Strand Park. Every Christmas season for about 5-6 nights before the big day the Strand Park is transformed into Old Bethlehem. Imagine, if you will, massive cardboard walls that look like bricks arranged to enclose a city. Inside the city walls are hundreds of local volunteers dressed up as characters from the time when Jesus was just a little baby. There are Roman soldiers complete with spears. There are tradesmen with either real or fake beards in sectioned off stalls doing everything from pottery to weaving or cooking. There is even a real live nativity scene with a real baby playing baby Jesus. The highlight for Lindsay was the stable where she was able to pet a number of baby animals including baby pigs, sheep, goats, and juvenile camels. The highlight for me was "The Promise." The Promise was a 20 minute interpretive theatrical presentation of a smattering of Old Testament stories leading up to the birth and ressurection of Jesus. One of my colleges in the ED played God, so I was kind of obliged to go. It was really bizzare, but overall quite entertaining.