The holidays are usually a difficult time of the year - family and exorbitant amounts of food combined rarely ends well. I have celebrated the Christmas season in such different countries, with such different cultures that I have learned to adapt rather quickly to the differences and recognize the similarities. One similarity I have found remains true no matter where I go - hope. Perhaps, this is only common in my family, but something tells me this is the spirit of the holiday season. Somehow, the holiday season has brought everyone important to you together, so you can celebrate all you have done that year.
Whether it's a move to India or just managing to get through the past year despite all that the trials you encountered, the holiday season is a time when people share their recollections and hope for a better new year. This holiday season was especially different for me since it was the first time in my entire life that I didn't spend in a country where the majority of the population actually celebrates Christmas, or what they believe to be Christmas (Cuba is a special place...). I mean, sure the mall has tinsel everywhere and our house is decorated, but there is that indescribable element that makes your heart feel warm and content, and you recognize that it is actually Christmas.
I hadn't even realized I was missing that element until Christmas Eve, until I walk into mass and smell the incense burning and hear people crowded on the pews singing "Silent Night", when I realize just what I had been missing all this month. Somehow, the Christmas spirit managed to permeate the thick smog of Delhi in that little chapel and kindled that hope I had been missing.
India truly is incredible and I hope that I can share all my experiences of India with the world. I had a great deal of stereotypes coming here, and being here shattered my mind and left me utterly confused for the first couple weeks. I'm no expert concerning India, though many times I act like one, and I hope by the end of my time here I will be able to say I changed what others thought about India as well.
Happy Holidays!
(I promise I'll get my posting of my visits to Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan up soon)
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