Rudolph ... SABS Style

A fellow fellow, (excuse the pun) taught her 6th grade class the Holiday classic ,"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer." She then captured it so you all could get a glimpse. Check it out here!

http://youngcharlotte.blogspot.com/2009/12/rudolph.html

'Tis The Season?

It doesn't feel like Christmas.

When I began this journey in Senegal, nearly four months ago, I figured that the holidays would be the most difficult time for me while I was here. In my 23 years I have never spent a Christmas away from my family so as the holiday season approached I prepared myself to deal with some intense homesickness. However, the anticipated nostalgia isn't anywhere near where I expected it to be. In fact, this season isn't really affecting me at all.

No, I haven't donned emotional armor or have a heart that has turned to stone; it just doesn't feel like Christmas.

I think the absence of the seasonal sentiment can be attributed to a couple of factors. The first of which is the weather here. I grew up in Michigan where, like most places in the United States, there are four distinct seasons. Of course Michigan's winters are rivaled by few other states but across the country winter's cold thaws into spring, spring heats up into summer, summer falls into autumn then it comes full-circle back to winter where the cycle continues. These changing seasons also serve as benchmarks for passage of time. However, in Senegal there are really only two seasons, rainy and dry. So here all my body recognizes is that it was rainy when I arrived and now it's not. The significant changes that occur over the course of four months in the states do not happen here so my whole body clock is kind of thrown off. Not to mention my December in Dakar feels more like September.

Also, the commercial Christmas spirit in Dakar is nowhere near the frenzy it is in America. At home I'm accustomed to hearing Christmas songs 24/7 starting with Thanksgiving. I think I've heard a grand total of two Christmas tunes this holiday season. There are no Santa statuettes on every corner, no toy ads littering the media, and the few decorations are just now starting to pop up with less than a week left before the 25th.

So how does one miss out on a holiday that doesn't appear to be going on?

'Tis the season?

Doesn't really feel like it.