Merry Christmas to all, and to all, Baked Goods!!

Well, here we are, Christmas in two short days, and it can't come fast enough. We are closing the shop for Christmas Day, and honestly, we could all really use the break. Between setting up the shop here, trying out systems and recipes, and setting up the shop in Greater Noida in Honey Money Top (a grocery store), we have been going non-stop for weeks now, barely getting time enough to sleep. The Boys come in at three in the morning, and bake all the breads and pastries for the day, and are often here till as late as six in the evening. Anna and I arrive at eight or eight thirty in the morning depending how fast we find a rickshaw, and stay most nights until eleven preparing things for the Honey Money order the next day. It's a crazy life, but this is the way it will be until we can find reliable employees to open and close shop for us so we can leave at a reasonable hour. Thus far we have gone through two full time front end employees, both of which came and worked for two days and didn't return on the third. The fellow we have at the moment, Pintu, is only part-time, but works hard and is fairly punctual and very loyal. He used to be one of the street kids at the community center near our house, but has since grown up, cleaned himself up and got an apartment with some friends and is going to school and works here. He's a great guy. So far it seems as though everyone we hire that has some sort of degree or lots of experience turns out to be a bit of a bust, so we are now just going for former street kids or villagers who live here in the city and send their money home to their families. They are loyal hard workers, and tend to learn quickly as well.

As Christmas draws closer I am reminded of what Christmas is really about. Although consumerism is as much of an epidemic here as at home, the mad rush to get everyone piles of things that they don't need and will never use isn't quite as prominent. There is a mad rush like that at all times anyway. The only Christmas lights I have seen so far besides the ones in our front window and on the Christmas tree at home are at the Holy Family Hospital down the way form our house. It was started by Catholics I believe, and they have some lights up. So without the millions of coloured lights, hundreds of Santas ringing bells on street corners, gift wrap and bows being sold out in every shop, and thousands of Fathers out on Christmas eve attempting to scrounge the bare shelves of the local toy store in a last minute attempt to finish their Christmas shopping, it just doesn't feel like the holidays. So I guess when you take all that away, you are left with the original meaning of it all. I look around at all the dark faces and think to myself that Jesus was born just 3500km west of where we are right now, and that he might have looked a bit like some of these people do. His house may have been similar to some of those I have seen, and he probably worked much harder than the millions of people I see every day sitting at the side of the road watching people drive by for hours on end. And his smile was probably just as radiant as the ones I see on the faces of the street children that we give our day-old baked goods to. His hair was probably all dusty like theirs too, and he probably had dirt and mud caked on his bare toes like them too. But I bet he didn't say "praise Jesus!" when someone gave him a loaf of bread. I bet you his laugh was just as contagious as theirs though! I like the Christmas season even more now, not because of the gifts and decorations, but because it reminds me of my savior, the one who was once a child like the ones we play with in the streets, unspoiled and without great wealth to blind him from reality. Possibly a dirty but happy kid who is content to play with a chunk of wood on the end of a string or a pile of rocks for days, and never get bored of them. It makes me smile, and it makes him all the more real.

So despite the madness, tiredness, and all of us being completely overworked, Christmas day will be a day of rest and feasting. We plan on getting all dressed up and going with a few friends to a five star hotel where they have turkey. Hopefully the usual turkey hangover won't be too bad! Or else the boys' three o-clock shift will be a mighty tough one.

I apologies for not having any pictures to go along with this entry, but I don't have the cable for my camera here, and Dave and Anna's camera is dead and without the power cord to re-charge it. I'll see if I can post some pics of the staff and the finished Bakery in a few days.

Have a very Merry Christmas all of you, we miss you greatly, and look forward to when we can see all of your beautiful faces once again.