A Different Kind of 'White Christmas'
“Azã loo! Azã see!” We scream in the local language as we feast, dance and drink this holiday season. In the past, the holiday season signified to me an ending to final exams, an ending to the year, traveling home, spending time with the ones I love, decorating my home for the festivities, listening to Christmas carols, and weathering the cold, specifically, the snow. Nothing about this holiday season has been familiar to me except for the fact that 2018 is coming to an end and I did spend the holidays with family, my Togolese family. December did not just mark my sixth month of living in Togo, it also has welcomed Harmattan—the winds that come from the north that bring hot days and chilly nights and mornings. Harmattan is the longer of two dry seasons and it brings dust, lots and lots of white dust. Everything I see is perpetually covered in this dust: my house, my clothes, my body, and most significantly, my sinuses. To be clear, I am thrilled with the cooler weather and winds...