So, I have been writing Christmas letters. All this writing is making me homesick. I keep thinking that I’ll be fine here in Mauritania. My friends will fill in the gap that’s left behind. Yet I miss the Christmas cheer. Claire and Mya have arrived at home this last weekend and I am not there to greet them.  We cannot go Christmas shopping together. I can’t help decorate the house, put ordiments on the tree, run errons to the grocery store. I can’t see the snow. I can’t complain about how MN drivers suddenly can’t drive. I guess I’ll have to make new traditions. I guess I’ll have to survive two Christmas’s without my family and friends. I guess I’ll have to survive two winters without snow.

I am going to miss the smell of pine, the Christmas lights, Eggnog, the lunch dates with my dad, the coffee dates with my friends and cousins. I will miss wrapping presents and twirling the colored string. I will miss listening to Christmas music on the radio and seeing the water freeze.

I will miss seeing every one of my family members in less than twenty four hours. Now, how often does that happen?

Anyway, I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I’ll be thinking about you.

Love,

Av

~ by avalambrecht on December 15, 2008.