Christmas is coming..

But there isn't much sign of the geese (or anything else for that matter) getting fat here. Even though this won't be the first time I've spent Christmas in a hot country, it still feels really weird to hear Christmas carols in sweltering weather. Last night, I passed a house where a choir was rehearsing "Joy to the World" in good two part harmony (Indonesian men don't seem to be able to sing below tenor) and there are some Christmas decorations up in the shops, and a Christmas tree - with snow - in the hospital lobby.

There are two official "tanggal merah" (red days on the calendar) - 24th and 25th December - but I am assuming that nobody will turn up at work on Saturday 26th as every holiday I've experienced so far seems to gently and unofficially extend itself.

I've been asking about what happens at Christmas here - there is some special baking done (which is unusual in itself as baking generally does not feature largely here) and families will attend church, visit their neighbours and bring Christmas greetings. I asked "do you give gifts ?" and have been given different answers - one colleague answered me with "To whom ? Why ?" - apparently this was a rather weird notion ! Another told me that she will probably give her three children a small toy each but when I asked if she would be giving her husband a gift she thought this was hilarious ! It's certainly seen as a far less significant festival than Easter where everything closes up for a week or so - for instance, young people have no problem going away or visiting friends at Christmas but wouldn't dare be absent from home at Easter.

As for my own Christmas, I've more or less decided to take a bus trip (2 days travel) to Labuanbajo at the western end of Flores and from there visit Rinca Island. This is one of the places where the famous Komodo Dragons are to be found (but I'm not planning to get too close for reasons which will be become clear when you read the article I've linked to). As well as Rinca (which will be a day trip) I might visit one of the resort islands near Labuanbajo for a day or two chilling out without electricity before setting out for the two day trip back to Maumere. I haven't booked anything in advance but this is the low season for tourism here so I hope there won't be too many problems.I'll probably book my travel in advance though, as I expect many people will want to pulang kampung (return home to their village) for Christmas so buses may be busy.    

This will probably be my last post for a few days (I'm not sure what blogging chances I'll have during the holiday) so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas wherever you may be. I've been rambling on here for just over one year now and it's extraordinary (to me anyway) to think that this waffle has been viewed over 10,000 times since I started posting. You can see the number of hits on the left hand side if you scroll down a bit. I thank you all for the comments you've left, the suggestions you've made and the support you've offered as I sweat quietly out here, so selamat natal, happy Christmas to you and yours and I wish you all every blessing !