Category Archives: Uncategorized

Adjusting to London - chapter 1

Well, I’ve been here for almost six months already, so perhaps this doesn’t really qualify as a chapter 1, but let me back up… Last week I was in a church meeting with some other non-English people and we talked … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Now it’s 2012

My ‘Decade of Christmases’ series is over…This year I’m living closer to family than I’ve ever have before. My family is still spread all over the world, but a little less than before. I am hoping this year marks the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

2001

Christmas 2001, exactly a decade ago, was my first in this life of highrolling swanky lonely floating around the world. I had just arrived in Syria two months ago and those had not been easy months. So when I found … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

2002

And Christmas the year before that? Magic. My best friend from childhood flew across the seas to visit. An American family in Damascus invited us to be a part of their family for Christmas. Ten-or-so of us in total gathered for … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

2003

While 2004 was a good one, it was probably better a millionfold in contrast to Christmas 2003. That was the Christmas in which I learned what it is like to have no one, to be truly on one’s own. That … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

2004

Christmas 2004 is surely one of my favourites. My parents and I were staying in an old Arabic house in Damascus which was converted into a backpackers’ hostel. We spent that week with my lovely Muslim friends in Damascus, and … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

2005

Christmas 2005 is a blur. I was between Lebanon and Egypt for my field research. I remember the Lebanese Thanksgiving with awesome food and another family who has taken me in repeatedly, as if I were their own daughter. Christmas … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

2006

And Christmas 2006? I can’t remember. I know I submitted the first draft of my PhD thesis shortly before Christmas that year. I know I moved to the U.S. for my first internship early in 2007. So I suppose I … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

2007

And where was I on the Christmas before that? I was in England, but barely - I flew into Heathrow on the 24th and my father met me at the airport because my mother was hosting half a dozen Brasilian … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

2008

The year before, I was all over the place: from Jordan to the U.S. to England to Cyprus. Looking for a job will do that to a girl. I had no idea what I was going to do for the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment