Soundbyte!

I am officially in the Christmas mood now. The stores are all pretty and decorated. Its December 12th. Wow. I close work for the year next week, some of my friends are coming into the country for the holidays parties and get togethers, christmas trees...Its christmas time. So let's go back in time with one fo the most played carols in Nigeria:

Boney M - Mary's Boy Child

Where do i start? For the longest time, it seemed that christmas carols meant playing Boney M's christmas tape/cd. Every store had the same music on. I especially remember going christmas shopping with my parents to UTC (on Oba Akran road in Ikeja) where we would buy fixings for christmas breakfast - frankfurters, bacon and stuff. We also went to see the Father Christmas in the grotto. Oh such excitement. In we went into this dark hut like place and in to see Father Christmas. He put us on his lap, said what big children we were and reached into his sack and handed over a present. oh the joy. I remember my baby sister screaming her head off all the time. I guess Father Christmas scared her. I dont remember when i began to REALLY see this for the load of crap it was. UTC's standards went down and it was just a big space with crappy stuff. Then the grotto didnt seem magical anymore. It was just a cardboard like contraption. When you got inside, there were some witchy looking ladies saying "Turn here" and it smelled musty. It was decorated with those colorful christmas lights that always had some bulbs either dead or missing. Then Father Christmas wasnt jolly. He was a man with cotton wool as a beard, a dirty ill fitting sants suit and he had red eyes. The sack of gifts was nothing more than a burlap sack and the gifts were cheap white paperbags with a plastic container and a pencil in it. What happened to all the magic? That year was the last time i was entralled by christmas and Father Christmas. My joy in the holidays was reignited the first christmas i spent in New York. Oh the snow. The lights. Rockerfella Center. The massive tree. And yes, the Santa Claus (not Father Christmas) in Macy's. I saw the cute elves and this rosy cheeked Santa and rudolph and a sleigh and gifts wrapped in wrapping paper with bows and Santa asked you what you wanted and if you had been good all year round. Forget the fact that was 17 or so. I wanted to join that queue and have a santa experience. Such joy.

Now, i am still a huge fan of christmas. Just more sedated. Okay i lie. I bought a mini christmas tree last year for my house. It seems that since the kids left, my parents just didnt bother with the huge tree we have. So i bought this cute one with silver ornaments. I made christmas lunch last year and will do so again this year. I bought presents and wrapped them all myself. Woke up at 6am on christmas morning to dash into my parents room screaming "its christmas day". Tossed their presents at them and commanded them to unwrap. I was like a maniac. And yes, i had on a new christmas ensemble. Granted it was more like new adidas joggers and a new white tshirt but still. They were new.

Boney M - remember them. With their shiny skin tight outfits and the token man with the afro. I used to think that Boney M was actually the man and the ladies were his dancers. LOL

Get into the spirit of the holidays. Sure there is a big reason we celebrate - the birth of Christ but i think we older folks (LOL) need to lighten up and become almost childlike again. Enjoy.

*If you would like this song, leave me an email address in the comments section*