Vergie's Christmas

last day of work before Christmas vacation

Vergie has left on a trip home to the Philippines for Christmas. She will spend a month with her family, including a new grandson. Vergie has mixed feelings about returning home for the first Christmas in 12 years. She is excited to be celebrating with her family but she is also heart broken over the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.

There is also a culture around home visits that is hard for some of us to understand. The purpose of expatriates like Vergie is to work hard and send as much money home as possible. She lives very frugally in Doha so that every month she can send money to meet her family's needs (one son still in University, one son with a new baby, her mother with health issues, one unemployed brother, several family members living in temporary housing).

And when she goes home for a visit, the expectation is that she will bring extra money with her to give to everyone she meets. She says relatives will come to her door asking for money. She has managed to save an extra 12000 QR (a staggering $3500) to give out to people in need. She says that she will spend much energy reminding people that she is "a Philippino housemaid in Qatar -- not the Sheik"!

This is so different from our family's expectations of us coming home for Christmas this year. Our gift to our family is our presence with them at a special time of year. Our family will spend much energy lavishing us with gifts, time, words, food, memories.