Gloomy Christmas morning
The morning sky was a brooding dark grey once again threatening to pour any minute. As I looked out the bedroom window, a solitary bright flare from the oil refinery danced in the far distance. Very soon, it started to rain and a cold spell had descended upon Kuwait. It was late in coming this year, though, being the third week of December already. Usually, by the first week of this month, one had to wear a jacket to ward off the cold. But not this time. There must be some truth to this global warming phenomenon.
We all had a late breakfast. Mine was muesli and nuts floating in a bowl of milk. I have a high cholesterol level again based on last week’s blood check-up - way above the proscribed limit. The wife has put me on a strict diet once more. Nothing fried – everything steamed. No meat, just fish and vegetables. I protested that it’s probably in my genes and metabolism that I will always have these high levels of LDL and Triglycerides no matter what I do. All the more that I should cut down on greasy food, was the admonition that I got. I wonder what I’ll be allowed to eat during the New Year celebration.
We called Myke in
I tried to help James do his 2,000-piece Egyptian jigsaw puzzle that I bought for him in Barcelona as pasalubong but after a few minutes, I gave up with a throbbing headache. This stuff’s not for me – got no patience trying to figure out what fits where. But he loves it - although out of his usual laziness, it had been sitting on the carpet for quite sometime now. Until I told him that he’ll get 2 dinars if he finishes it before the clock strikes twelve on January 31st. It worked just well enough to motivate him to get down on his hands and knees the whole day, putting the pieces together with the help of his favorite alternative rock band playing noisily in the background.
With nowhere to go due to the bad weather outside, I decided to spend my free time in what I thought was a useful pursuit: editing the video of our last trip to
A nap did wonders so much so that when I woke up, I was raring to go to church. Coming from me, that would be quite surprising! We went to attend the 5:30PM Tagalog Mass in Ahmadi church. Due to the daylong downpour, the parking lot was filled with muddy slush since there was some digging going on. It played havoc on everyone’s shoes. The Filipino priest, Father Wendell, officiated and was his usual lighthearted self. Towards the end of the Mass, he introduced the new Indian Parish priest. The choir was okay and the church was full. Funny though, there were no Christmas carols sung. Maybe they did it before we came since we were a bit late. Nobody tarried around the church grounds because of the mud and the rain so we didn’t see any of our friends.
We were invited for dinner at Ros Feliciano’s place in Jabriya and that’s where we headed for. I drove well below the speed limit due to the wet and slippery expressway but I was a bit afraid of an accident due to the usual idiotic daredevils on the road who thought that they were at the Daytona speedway. The highways in
Ros and his Iranian wife, Nahid, were having a family reunion of sorts since all their four children came for the holidays. Mario flew in from
One of the guests was Mrs Garangan, the wife of the former Consul General who had been recalled back to
James, Mario & Gladys beside the Christmas tree
Got to talk with Mario for a while. He was full of idealism which was heartening to hear. Honor, duty, country - these things you only learn in the military. I told him that I will have full bragging rights, once he becomes the future AFP Chief of Staff or President of the
After some photos for posterity, we left at 10:00PM. Well, another Christmas gone by and another year about to end. Time marches on relentlessly. It would do well now to count one’s blessings, give thanks and pray that a better future awaits us all in these tumultuous times.
