Well, all of the above, but just done in another way.

First off the food was not as it used to be, but great never the less. We were not able to catch a bird, so we had calf. And instead of the traditional rice pudding we had some of my mothers homemade coffee ice cream. A small tree in our living room from china, no real trees were available in Damascus. We only had 2 presents under it so the relative smaller size of it was actually OK. 

This year we only got presents for my brothers daughter who is 4 years old. So in all fairness she was the only one we received gifts from. If you look pass the fact that she has no economy to support the gifts there is a pure joy in getting something that comes so close from the heart. Just like last time I got something from her, I’m guessing that she also this time picked it out herself. 

I know of some people who calculate the price of the gifts they are getting, and then go out and get something that costs the same. This is economically speaking a fair trade, but has nothing to do with the act of giving a gift. One gift I got from her was a hood, that she picked out in a cloth store I usually get my cloth from. The reason being that she never saw me with one on, and it was getting cold outside. I must say that I don’t remember having that thought process when I was that age. 

To get back to my point, a lot of people need to fall back down to thinking if the people we are giving the gift to actually needs it, rather then going out with an amount of money that we need to use on a gift. The easy way of doing this is getting a prioritized list and just getting the one on the very top. What did I get from her this year? A new bracelet. Not that I’m a collector, this will be my second one. The first one I got and still use is one that she made for me last time I went to Syria to keep me safe. It was made from pearl and string that I got her for last Christmas. What did I get her? A dress like shirt, with tights that was on the top of her list.