Christmas wishes from the Lobo Rebello Gang- 2019

Dearest friends and family,

Greetings and the warmest Christmas blessings from the Holy Land where we are so blessed and excited to be spending Christmas this year. It has been quite emotional and humbling, to be here amidst so much history. The learning and the understanding of the different faiths, who all have a special connection to the Holy land has made this trip all that more enriching and enlightening. 

So...It was mid August and I was lamenting to a friend about the awful summer we were having. What was supposed to have been a relaxing holiday with my parents, feasting on mums home cooked meals, sleeping in late and waking up to the sound of monsoon rain dancing on the tiled roof above, had turned out to be what will go down in family history as one of the most disastrous summers ever. I will get to the details later, but this friend in a bid to make me laugh said “well atleast you already have material for your annual newsletter’. I laughed and was grateful for the friend who made me laugh. Indeed unfortunate events are often a storyteller ‘s best friend, so yes, while I will try to share some of the many happy highlights of our past year, you will also hear about how we attained a fast track degree in tropical medicine courtesy of the ‘family Culicidae’ and their blood thirsty relatives who lived across two continents.

So 2019 ...what was it like for us? Honestly the whole year seems to have been consumed with our move from Abuja to Rome. The first quarter awaiting news of the move, then closing home, then the actual move and the period of ‘homelessness’ and then finally, the settling in period. That’s life for our nomadic family and while we are quite used to it and we have a good system in place, it takes its toll. But saying that, as the move was back to Rome, our second home in a sense, it was an easy move. We seem to have slipped back into life here, and it sometimes almost feels like we never left.

Saying goodbye to Nigeria and friends who had touched our lives in so many different ways was hard. Life in our little BNL bubble (the gated community we lived in) was something quite unique. There was always a kind word and helping hand when you needed it, hospitality at neighbour’s homes that surpassed anything we have seen before, simple fun and hearty laughter; a community where even the smallest of joys could be celebrated and shared and where in rough times, soft souls reminded you of the courage and strength you thought you didn't have. We shared our cultures with a spirit and openness that brought new insights, while also reminding us of all of what we had in common. Of course, life often also spilt outside the BNL bubble, and we made some very special friends in the Indian community, school community, as well as among our wonderful Nigerian  and other colleagues, who together made life in Abuja something quite exceptional. A special shout out to my book club friends. Those evenings where we made honest attempts  to discuss books but ended up discussing so much more, were priceless and the memories still keep me smiling. 

We closed up home in end June and and braced ourselves for the long summer ahead. This period of homelessness, the period where we have given up one home and do not yet have the next can be quite discomforting.  Luckily we have family and friends who open up their home to us with warmth and love. We spent the first month in the US, meeting old friends, being tourists and celebrating my nephews graduation. From there we went to India to our home in Bangalore. That’s when it all began going downhill. Except for Arhantika and me, all the others began getting sick. So off we head to Mangalore where my parents are, as medical care is just easier there and we have more support. In those parts, as soon as you have a fever you take a dengue test. Now the strange thing is that even if it comes positive, they say it could be false positive and that maybe it’s not really Dengue; that it could be another virus like Dengue with similar symptoms. Gerard ‘s situation became particularly more complicated as he was diagnosed with Malaria and in all probability Malaria he had contracted from Nigeria. So we begin treatment and it seems to work and he gets better . Since he is due to go back to Abuja and do the final hand over etc, he leaves. Bad decision. A day after he arrives in Abuja he gets very sick and is hospitalised. Now they say he has had a relapse of the malaria and… he also has Dengue. So I am in Mangalore with two sick kids who have either Dengue or fake dengue but with very real raging fevers and Gerard is alone in a hospital in Abuja, not really getting better. Anyway to cut a long story short,after a few harrowing days (during which I read up so much about mosquito borne diseases that I think I can get an honorary Phd on the subject) Gerard got better enough to travel, and we too left India and arrived in time to meet Taliya and him at the airport in Rome. It was a very very very  happy family reunion. 

We spent the next few weeks just taking a breath, while Gerard slowly recouped. The girls had bounced back by now and eagerly began round 3 in Rome. We were quite lucky with our shipment; it arrived even before we reached Rome (Gerard claims it was his logistics expertise that arranged it just so). We were also lucky with house hunting and found a lovely place in our old neighbourhood. After some hiccups with getting electricity and gas connections (typical Italian style) we finally moved into our home end September and all has been well since. 

One of the best things about moving back to Rome (other than the food of course) is that Arhantika gets to come home more often. She is now in her final year of university and will graduate in July, just after she turns 21. She has enjoyed her time in Cardiff and has loved everything about the city and the university. She has done some great photo shoots (including one of her grand mother in our ancestral home) this year and the big highlight was that one of her photographs appeared in Vogue Russia (they did not give her credit but that’s another story). 

Ryeika turned sweet 16 this year and has been the happiest to come back to bella Roma where she got the warmest welcome ever from her old teachers and friends. She is currently sweating the first year of IB, as a result of which she claims to be continuously sleep deprived, but in true Ryeika style is nevertheless always smiling. She has also been producing some amazing art work, and has more in the pipeline for the coming months.

Neeira is 14 and very much our resident comedian and Geography/world affairs expert. When not mollycoddling the dog, or entertaining us with her wit, she can be found researching the next family holiday destination. She misses Abuja alot and is saving up to go visit her friends there later this year. She is currently negotiating hard as to what portion of the trip we will cover.

Liraya turned ten and is definitely no longer our little baby. She is little Miss Organised and has reminders, checklists and alarms for everything from when to wake up, to when to change her earrings to  fitness time. A keen reader she overly impressed her grandfather with a book suggestion when he last visited us. Oh and she also loves Math...don’t know whose genes she has:)

Taliya (our adorable sock eating doggie you will remember from last year) turned two and we are happy to report that this year she has eaten no socks and that she made the journey from Nigeria to Italy like a seasoned traveller. However she did get stuck in a lift (rather her leash got stuck when she escaped the lift just as it closed) and for a heart rending ten seconds she was lifted up as the lift moved upwards before the leash snapped and she fell to the floor tail wagging, unscarred emotionally or physically. The rest of us wept hysterically for what might have been while she covered us in doggie kisses. Needless to say we have now introduced a new handbook for lift etiquette for anyone accompanying Taliya. 

For Gerard and me life is pretty much routine. We seem to have a pretty good work home life balance and we aspire to maintain this in 2020. Gerard’s big highlight for the year was that he went to see India play at the Cricket World Cup. He has also started cooking and Monday dinners are now officially ‘Gerry’s Gourmet Grub’. The kids even got him his very own apron for Christmas. 

My big highlight was visiting the conflict areas in North east Nigeria. After only having worked as a desk humanitarian for years,  it was such a rewarding and intense learning experience to see first hand the work WFP does on the frontlines and meet the beneficiaries whose resilience will forever make me see the work I do in a profoundly new light. 

So dear loved ones, that’s our chapter for 2019. In spite of the doom and gloom, and the fake news and the dirty politics, we have also had much to be thankful for. Though our earth is dying, our leaders are legitimising hate and millions remain displaced and hungry because of war and strife, we have also witnessed hope. That hope is our children and our youth who are voicing their descent. With inspirational leaders the likes of Greta Thunberg they have showed us that courage isn’t the absence of fear but rather doing the right thing regardless of it; that confidence isn’t the absence of insecurity but knowing that you have real worth despite it. 

There is a Jewish legend that says that at any given time there are 36 righteous individuals called ‘Lamed Vavniks’, who wander the earth unknown to anyone else, including one another.  These men and women are absolutely critical to the existence of the human race because as long as they exist, even if the world were to become completely depraved, for the sake of these few righteous people, doom will not yet fall on this present world. When a community is threatened, these just people are believed to emerge and use their hidden powers, and once their task has been completed, they return to obscurity. We may not know who these Lamed Vavniks are. They may not even know themselves. But wherever they are, we can be assured of this: They lead. They comfort. They teach. They protect. They are filled with compassion. They are the very best among us. 

In a world that sometimes feels devoid of goodness, in a world that sometimes feels too heavy to bear, I think that believing in the magic of the 36, might be all we need to feel like all is not lost. I also believe that we are all at some point called to be a Lamed Vavnik, not necessarily to do big things that will save the world, but little things that will save each other.

As I finish up this news letter in our little Airbnb in Bethlehem,  I can hear the bells of the Church of Nativity ring in Christmas. We have had a most extraordinary Christmas eve, first enjoying a delightful home cooked meal prepared by our Palestinian hosts and then walking around Manger Square and Shepherds field, soaking up a kind of Christmas spirit we have never had before. In the square was a large group of Indians singing carols in Malayalam and they had the crowds singing with them and clapping. So far from home and yet, here they were bringing home closer to us.

We wish you all a wonderful 2020. We are thankful for your friendship and love in seen and unseen ways that gave us purpose and made us feel alive. We hope to see many of you in 2020. Come visit... 

Much love

Sanchita, Gerard, Arhantika, Ryeika, Neeira and Liraya