December - strike, package bureaucracy, and Tabaski

This morning I walked past my sixteen-year-old neighbor sitting in a plastic chair on the sidewalk talking to a friend and stopped to ask why he was not in school. He informed me, with a smile, that the students decided to go on strict so they could get out of school earlier for Tabaski. Now starting today, instead of Tuesday, their school is on break until after the first of the year.

Small packages are the way to go because if you receive a large package you have to pick it up from the package office. I went to the package post office with a friend to pick up her package and we had to go through ten steps to get her package. First we gave the man in front her package slip, then we walked back to an office and had a man give us another slip, then another man stamped the slip, followed by someone else taking us to the package room who then found and opened the box up for us. He decided how much the box was worth and gave a price for the fee which was then negotiated. After my friend went and paid the fee and then took the slip to another who stamped it verifying she paid and then she received a slip to pay another small tax. Finally, when this was all done the man at the front who we originally talked to went and brought the package from the back to hand to us. It was a good thing we were the only ones there at the time.

The streets near my house resemble a barn, filled with sheep and hay, in preparation for the Muslim holiday next week (either the 20th or 21st depending on the moon). Besides the winter wonderland of Santa decorations at the near by bakery, an occasional street vendor with a Christmas tree or santa toy, and a few stores carrying Christmas decorations, life continues with not much attention to the festivity of the Christmas season. Despite this, you can pray that God would give opportunities for me to share with others the reason for Christmas and why it is significant.