Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Around the World

Christmas Day finds my family on three different continents, what's new? We're in Barcelona, the sun is shining and the sky bright blue over the Mediterranean Sea. Our Christmas dinner will likely consist of tapas instead of turkey. My older sister is in the midst of an Australian summer while the younger one is on a local boat somewhere on the Amazon between Pucalpa and Iquitos in Peru, a few cows are penned on the boat deck and apparently there was potential for one of the chickens to turn into Christmas Eve dinner! Mom and dad are staying in Calgary this Christmas, celebrating with old friends while my in-laws are having a feast in a brown and snowless Manitoba...what a family it is!

Of course, Christmas in much of the world is very different than the shimmering lights, Christmas markets and designer boots we find ourselves surrounded by here in Spain. I love the public health messaging campaign below about the 'festive season'. The gift of health for Christmas is priceless but as 'cheap' as two doses of antimalarials for some!



Wishing you all the best of Christmases, may you know hope and peace, and share some of it around.