Tis the season to...whatever!

So we're starting the final month of the year. I am beyond glad to see 2005 go, I'm almost dizzy with relief. If only 2006 could be better...

I was discussing this with my mother last night and I realized two things:

1) I can't remember the last Dec when I was actually looking forward to a new year. I don't think it was 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 nor 2004. Maybe 1999, because of the millenium hype? Though I might have been distracted by the bog anxiety.

2) I'm so glad I don't have children!!!! Between the fact that our exchange rate is stagnating at 43,50 gourdes for a dollar, which means every time I get to the cash register at the supermarket, I fear imminent myocardial infarction, and the fact that all those shootings, murders, kidnappings, mutilations and rapes have left me so rung out, I can't even listen to a jingle or a hymn without sneering, I just want this nightmarish year to be OVER.

So if I had kids, I'd have to go through all the Santa, carolls, tree trimming ritual. And to do that I'd have to be drunk for 40 days (including the first week of the New Year, of course, since school children here don't go back until after Epiphany).

Alas, 2006 isn't going to be much better. How do I know this? Simple. The government has announced that elections will be held January 8th, and inauguration February 24th at the latest. That's, respectively, the first non-holliday Sunday of the year and the Friday before Carnival.

Oh, Joy!

In other news, I'm decided to do a blogging blitz for Advent. So between today and Christmas Eve, I'm challenging myself to post something every day! (don't hold your breath). I'm also "improving" on my blog content, as you can tell from the side bar's growth, to your right. Suggestions are welcomed.

And, before I go, a word about today, World Aids Day. While the UNICEF's statistics, for example, can be staggering, there is some good news available. Starting with the fact that initiatives like PIH/Fonkoze in the fight against AIDS has won a prestigious prize, to the real deal : research in Haiti shows antiretroviral drugs work even on us!

So maybe some things, like human life, are really worth fighting for, even when it all seems relative.