Christmas In Abuja (by Slyph)

I know most people were worried and I myself was somewhat worried, as to how Christmas Day might have turned out for mom and I, but to my great surprise we both had a lovely day.

Christmas in Nigeria was most certainly different. I cannot speak as to how Nigerians celebrate the holiday, however I can provide an insight as to how a true trini celebrates Christmas.

I spent most of Christmas Eve online chatting with friends, exchanging Christmas greetings and good wishes to one and all. At 7:30pm I had the privilidge of wishing my girl in Delhi, Merry Christmas, because based on our geographical dispersement, she was the first in the batch to welcome the day. I would be the second, however as the golden hour rolled around I swiftly abandoned my friends, switched off my laptop and jumped straight into bed, almost as though I was 6 years old and my mother had chased me to bed before santa's arrival. I rolled out of bed around mid-morning and to be honest the day started off bleak, PRETTY DAMN BLEAK.... Because all that was going through my head was thoughts of home and my family and friends, and freshly baked bread and ham, and turkey and sorrel and ginger beer, and pastelles, and black cake, and punch-a-creme, and parang and the gifts and gift giving, the thoughts were too many and the reality was BLEAK. Because none of the above was taking place around me. I pulled the covers up and attempted to go back to asleep. Because for sure this was a nightmare that I had rolled into. So lets try again for some sweet dreams. I toss and I turn and the sleep would not come, so I roll over again and attempt to go online to say hi to my peeps. Turn on the computer, plug in the charger, no response... Dear ole charger decides he is not in the mood to work. WHAT THE HELL!!!!! Of all the days you would decide to stage a one-man protest, you would select CHRISTMAS DAY???? Okay. In light of such, I swiftly check my email and turn off my laptop, because now I have to save up the battery power for a time when it is really needed. So I decided to attempt to fall asleep again. Pull up the covers and repeat the same process, toss and turn, toss and turn, this time placing the pillow on my head. TOSS AND TURN some more.

Eventually my cell phone rang and like magic my Christmas began. It was my nephew calling to wish me MERRY CHRISTMAS. So we spoke for a while and exchanged greetings and I complained about my charger and he advised me on how to seek redress and we spoke some more and he spoke to mom and then to me again and I complained about the charger some more, because by now you should know that my computer, coupled with the internet is my life line. The only other thing that can match up to those two right now is SKYPE. Nuff props to SKYPE..... This service has been a life saver. You will be certain to read more about it in the not to distant future..... Back to the phone call.... So we chat and chat and then I realise that he was calling via my favourite service SKYPE. So I asked, don't you have a webcam, why haven't you called via my computer???? Oh, I am not online...... The damn charger not working. So I put it on anyway.... Where there is a will, there is a way!!!!! So I hang up my cellphone and we make contact via SKYPE and we begin a video call and this is when Christmas Day came to life. Thanks to my new best friend - SKYPE, mom and I were able to share in my sister and her family Christmas morning celebrations and was right there for the exchange and unwrapping of presents. It was just wonderful. Because as a child that was the highlight of Christmas. Getting up early on Christmas morning, just before sunrise to open presents as a family, to ensure that all the wrappings were out before the garbage truck passed. LOL..... And this would be followed by family breakfast. There was no garbage truck to run down this Christmas, however sharing the moment with my sister and her family was definitely worth the while. And the icing on the cake was that the charger started to work, just as the battery power was about to run out on our conversation. So we were back in business.

After sharing that christmas moment, I proceeded to make all of my necessary phone calls and emails, while mom prepared lunch. Thankfully I was able to reach all of my family and loved ones, so my mind was at ease, we were all having a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Mom and I shared a pleasant Christmas lunch with one of the locally recruited staff at the mission and she shared with us some of the christmas traditions in Nigeria. All in all, we had a wonderful day. We spent the rest of the afternoon online, mom listening to hear favorite trini radio station WACK 90.1 FM and I stayed in touch with family and friends. It was definitely a special day.

Christmas is about bringing new hope to life and this year hope was most certainly needed to come alive. And it did.....

May the miracle of the first Christmas always fill your heart with joy. Merry Christmas to one and all.