It's absolutely incomprehensible that tomorrow is Christmas! I really can't believe it. In fact, it seems like some other holiday is going on and that's what the masses of relatives visiting and bands playing music and rickety floats careening through town are for. My idea of Christmas seems to not have a place here at all.
Except that Tongans love to sing, and Christmas was brought to them by missionaries. So occasionally I'll hear a song I recognize and then I realize, yes, 'tis the season. Silent Night, O Holy Night, and Angels We Have Heard on High have all been translated into Tongan. Same tune, different words. When I hear those old friends, they bring me to the present reality. That and he Christmas pageant I'm being part of tonight. I'm so curious to learn what Tongan Christmas is like. It all starts tonight, with the pageant.
This is the first time I've been really truly homesick. I hope you feel blessed to be wherever you are, with whomever you're with. I feel blessed to be here, but I still miss my Christmas.
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