Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  :)   It's Christmas Eve here, and - well, as in a secular society, you can expect all the silliness of commercialized Christmas to affect us here too.  Silly parties and dinners with people running around like elves, wishing people 'Happy Holidays', not mentioning God with the excuse of 'offending people', and all sorts of other silliness that goes on using the Holy Day of Christmas as a big excuse to act like a bafoon.  (Yes - things are the same here just like back at home).  We did have a 'Secret Santa' gift exchange - which was kind of fun (the gifts exchanged were all in good taste).    On the other hand - today and tomorrow, though business is 'as usual', there are Christmas Masses and services all around - which is awesome!    It is kind of weird to say it's Christmas because the temperature shot up to a comfortable 16 to 20 degrees Celsius.  (My pocket thermometer says it's 25 degrees Celsius!)  As you can imagine - we're all walking around without coats.  The puddles of muck are still around - which makes it funny to see troops trying to walk on the dry 'islands' and not fall into what has become the parking lot size of the puddle.  I once stood back after dinner and watched a group of all these troops trying to negotiate the big 'Lake Kandahar' in the dark.  With their arms stretched out to help them keep balance, it made them all look like a group of bears walking through the forest... or the graveyard scene from the Michael Jackson video 'Thriller'!   Last night I went to what must have been the biggest party gathering of Filipinos here on the base ever in the history of this place!  (I'd say over a hundred and fifty!) The number of Filipinos here is already huge - numbering in the hundreds.  Whatever it is, for sure their numbers are far greater than some nations in this theatre of operations officially involved in the conflict.  But because of hardships in trying to find employment in the Philippines, they have come to this warzone to work.  Anyhow - one Evangelical Christian from the US who began teaching Bible study to Filipinos (he speaks Tagalog!) set up the party for the Filipino workers.  He is married to a Filipina, and his wife sent all the groceries needed for an authentic Filipino meal.  It was AWESOME!  We (the Catholics who came) began with Simbang Gabi (Holy Evening Mass in Tagalog - a Filipino custom).  After Mass, the priest and the congregation sang Christmas carols to the other side of the camp where the gathering was to meet the other Filipino party goers.  (I was sent out to the Kandahar Tim Horton's to pick up doughnuts for the party).  When I finally got to the party place, everyone was gathered outside singing Christmas carols in Tagalog!  There was even a Filipino Christmas lantern a couple of the guys spent hours making.  It was so cool!  On entering, you could smell the awesome food being cooked by a large group of Filipino men and women whipping up a storm of everything: Adobo, Bistek, Pancit, Fruit Salad, etc.!  I contributed with the cans of Laing, Camansi, and Bicol Expres I had packed away - which, when people identified it - disappeared like a flash!  There were games such as Musical Chairs, and a version of the game where a guy and gal dance around a piece of paper that gets smaller and smaller with each turn.  In the end - to keep the couple on the paper, the gal has to jump up in the arms of the guy.  While everyone is laughing, the poor guys are struggling to keep balance AND the girl in his arms!  Haha!  It was such a riot!  For sure, there was also Karaoke... and a singing contest!  I almost got cornered to sing, but that never happened.  Good thing - my voice hasn't been exercised in singing in months!  (Not that I can really sing anyways - but I try!)  The antics of the Filipinos were awesome!  You could see that they were so happy to be together and not working.  Everyone let loose and was joking and singing.  I was so proud and happy to be there!   We got our Christmas parcels today!  The Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency and Family Resource Centres get all sorts of companies from back home to sponsor gifts for us to receive at Christmas.  I must say - we are the envy of all the forces deployed here.  We got things like a bag, toiletries, a shirt, hats, food... and of course a Tim Horton's coffee tin!  There was so much stuff that some fo the gifts didn't even make it into the box!  One artist named 'Kiesza' had a bunch of CD's sent over for us.  Wow - it made you feel proud to be appreciated by our country.  Sadly - members of other countries looked on as we got our big boxes in real envy.  One other nation got a small box of gifts from their government.  Two nations who are really sacrificing a lot here didn't give anything to their troops.  One guy who was wearing a uniform similar to ours jokingly lined up with us Canucks to get a package.  I asked him what his government gives him.  He said sarcastically: 'We get a big swift kick in the pants... and if we complain, we're welcome to recover and take another swift kick to the head!'.  Well - I guess that said it all.  I felt sorry for them though.    As a side note - you might be interested in 'tracking' Santa - a fun and magical thing for the little children who still believe in Santa.  Track Santa with the North American Air Defence Command!  (The guys keeping the skies over North America safe!) They have a fun tracking syatem that includes 'nose cams' of CF-18's that give 'visuals' on Santa's sleigh while conducting escort duty for Santa through friendly air space.  ;)  The site gets tons of hits on Christmas Eve, so hopefully, if you check (when you get back from midnight Mass!  ;)  Haha!) you will be able to get access to see callsign 'Big Red' flying through the sky on his yearly trip.  Check: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html   Well, nevertheless, we're going to try and have a good Christmas here, and I mean a real Christmas.  There is Evening Mass today and another tomorrow - I will be thinking of you all.  May the Blessings of the Holy Family - Our Infant Lord, Our Lady, and St. Joseph - be with you and your loved ones during this Holy Season!  Please remember to keep Our Lord in the holidays (or: HOLY Days - as the word is really meant to say).  Thank you for keeping us who are deployed in mind!  Thanks to all those who have sent me Christmas greetings - Merry Christmas to you too!  May you all have a very Merry and Holy Christmas!  (And remember - Christmas doesn't end on the evening of the 25th of December, so keep greeting people Merry Christmas!  By the way - an Afghan friend just came up to me and wished me a Merry Christmas!  Awesome!)    Veni veni Emmanuel!  Adeste Fidelis!  Gloria in Excelsis Deo!   The Nativity, by Gerard van Honthorst (1590-1656)