Celebrating Christmas amidst our Arab brethren is never easy in this part of the world. Here in Riyadh, religious police called mutawahs would zealously scout for any outdoor activities related to Christmas and anyone caught on the act are dealt with accordingly. If you think they are kill joy, please don't. I never blame our brothers because they are only doing - by faith - what they think is right. The mutawahs are only particular with outdoor gatherings, though. Gathering inside residential places, are spared provided the number of merry makers is just tolerable.
That is why, today, I was brave enough to convince my house mates to invite people to join us in tonight's noche buena. Ate Girly & Kuya Danny - the Filipino couple living next to our flat was here with their two kids. The other two couples living across the street - the Mendoza family, Ate Flor & Kuya Cen with their kids were also present. Two more couples joined us at around 11pm, with four more kids with them. That brings the total kids in my place to over 10. You guess it right, they were all noisy.
Being the one without a partner in the group, I stood as the Santa Claus for the kids. I gave each of the kids gifts (I bought several gifts few days ago) and ask them to perform a trick for the parents. Hehehe... it was fun, really!
I actually invited my nurse friends from Hammadi but they politely turn it
down because they were not allowed to go out beyond 8pm today. Besides, they also have a party at their housing accommodation. Much as they wanted to visit us tomorrow, they couldn't. All of them are required to report on duty and the next four days and only after Jan that they could enjoy their day off.
Anyway, with or without my own friends, I had a very nice noche buena - my first for so many years. Being with the kids was more than fun enough.
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Happy holidays to all my friends and regular blog readers. You've been my inspiration since day one when I started writing here. Thanks for your personal mails, comments and criticisms. I owe a lot from all of you
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