Every year as soon as the calendar shifts over from November to December something weird happens to us. Our body clock for some reason knows that Christmas is near. Lights go up, tree hunting begins and Christmas carols echo hauntingly through shopping malls. I thought that by heading thousands of miles away from the western world i would some how avoid this phenomenon. Yeah right.
I can’t help but laugh when wandering the streets of Goma. Think of the most horrific, ugly, and tacky Christmas shwag you can think of, it has all been dumped here.
The supermarket on one of the main streets of Goma town is sporting blow up Santa Clause’s and blow up snow globes. Do the people running this supermarket really think that people have the electrical means of powering a fan to keep these things inflated? It’s ridiculous.
Step into Shoppers, the Lebanese run, Shoppers Drug Mart style store and a wall of hits you over whelming Christmas crap. Fake trees, Santa hats, and to top it all off, French and brutal Swahili Christmas carols.
Even the street venders have joined in the Christmas frenzy. Bad wool sweaters, streamers and tinsel weigh down the young men and boys as they dodge traffic trying to make their sales.
Who buys this stuff?
I have attempted to bring a little Christmas cheer to my everyday life by playing the Charlie Brown’s Christmas soundtrack and opening the tiny cardboard doors of the advent calendar that my mum sent with me. I have even made a sad attempt to have a hot chocolate (nesquick, powdered milk, and hot water).
For some reason the whole commercialized consumerist style Christmas seems out of place in Goma. Nwaboshi, one of the laborers helping me with my container project, expressed how important it was that he gets paid before Christmas because he needs to provide for a large family meal. This is coming from a guy who takes home blankets with holes in them and other discarded, unusable equipment from the container. The Christmas bug can infect anyone.
People go crazy around the holidays back at home. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it here.
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