JOY OF CHRISTMAS(PHILIP BARYARUHA) Schools closed, crops were sold, and animals bought. The village would have began the relentless preparation for the birth day of Christ. I celebrated the last Christmas back in the village and could not help but think of the good old days.

Christmas was a period when sons and daughters came back from town, women and men bought "brand new second hand clothes". For kids, this was a time to expect a pair of shoes, trousers, but most importantly, on Christmas day, everyone took a bottle of soda.

The Phrase "Christmas has come early" was taken quite literally. It all began in October with shopping frenzies. For once men escorted their women to the market. The market was a field the size of three football {soccer}grounds. Here traders displayed all kinds of second hand stuff. Farmers too brought animals and crops. This happened once a month but towards Christmas, it happened once every two weeks. It was not uncommon to find all men and women from the same village in the same market. A village occupied by kids and animals normally signified a market day.

For some reason, whoever went to the market went early in the morning and arrived late in the evening. Yet some came back with things that could be bought in a minute, say, a shirt or blouse, while others came back totally empty handed. In the evening, the talk of the village would be the events of the market. Women showed each other things they bought together, as men boosted of their bargaining abilities, even those that bought nothing.

From mid December, people from town began arriving. It served one well if ones brothers and sisters arrived in intervals with the neighbors sons and daughters. This meant we would listen to all their stories, pick the most interesting parts and adopt them, to tell them to our friends when school opened, with some editing of course. We were fascinated most by stories of traveling in big buses, living in storied buildings and stories of many vehicles in town.

At drinking joints, drunkards argued about whose son or daughter made the best of living in town. This depended on what they brought home. this could be a radio, blanket or lantern.

The beauty of all this is that everything was done communally. Women would share baskets full of fresh millet flour and other food stuff, men brewed alcohol, drunk and as well fought together. Kids too had their way of celebrating this period. December was and is still a season of mangoes ripening. Kids from the village were masters of climbing mango trees to get fruits for their friends from town, while kids from town impressed with sweets and stolen sugar for their friends. It was all a huge, merry, chaotic, Christmas party.

Our moment of glory came when it was time to look for Christmas trees. We always led the way as we knew where the tallest cypress trees were. Then people from town would point at the best branches. We did the rest of the donkey work. Climbing, cutting and carrying home. But we cared less, after all, moving in the village with town people made one an instant celebrity.

Around December 18th, the local church choir would begin moving at night in the village, singing different Christmas songs. We would wait at night for the light of their lantern, tiptoe to the window to see them sing. Then the father would open the door and show appreciation by giving them some money, or giving them kerosene for their lantern.

24th December was a very special day. Every family had to buy meat. There were no butcheries. Animals were slaughtered on top of different hills. The villagers had a unique way of announcing the presence of meat. There were specialists who would shout "kasade, kasade, kasade, kasadeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...." This literally means "a small knife has cut, a small knife has cut, a small knife has cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut". These specialists were rewarded with some kilograms of meat. Men would raise up early to listen for directions of "kasade". The funny part was when there were different sounds of "kasade" and you had to change direction several times along the way.

On the 25th, virtually everyone with new clothes went to church. It was more of a showing off than the message of the preacher. A mother with well dressed kids made sure they sat close to her. there were glances to check who was most well dressed. After church, every one went for lunch. All families had visitors. Actually many families had lunch together.

The celebration continued until January 2nd before the Christmas hangover sunk in.

Fortunately, the village life was never boring. Immediately people refocused on the millet harvesting season which was a communal activity too.

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