Looking for a Saint in Beirut

A blogger wrote the other day that the Lebanese seem to adapt just about anything that comes from outside.  He wrote ‘Call me old-fashioned, but if there’s something I would like to keep “Lebanese,” it’s the day where we wear masks just for the fun of it. There’s no reason for us to copy other people’s holidays just because it has been shoved down our throats in movies, series, pop culture… to the point where it has officially been deemed cool by the masses.’

Another Lebanese blogger got his ass chewed when he suggested going to a Halloween celebration in Sweden, and was told that ‘ this is not a Swedish tradition, and that no Swedes celebrate it, that it's just an effect of American culture,’ which made him wonder about identity.

Well Lebanese of all walks of life, brace yourself, because the Dutch are about to infuse you with yet another non-Lebanese feast, and it involves a saint.

There aren’t that many Dutch in Lebanon, but of the Dutch that are in Lebanon, the majority seems to fit the following profile; they are women, and they have children. And for some reason or another, we (I fit the profile) try to pass our cultural traditions on to our children.

Now the Dutch do not have a whole lot of traditions that are obvious. We do have some (according to my hubbie an immense amount of) quirky habits,  but I wouldn’t really fit them under the chapter of traditions.

But one tradition that we do have is the celebration of Saint Nicolas, or Sinterklaas, as we call him in Dutch. Sinterklaas is the man on which the Americans based their Santa Claus, although I am not sure how come that guy moved from the 5th of December to the 25th.

Every year, there’s quite some planning involved in organizing this feast. This year, the ladies of the St. Nicolas Feast Committee had some difficulties getting all the required candy (pepernoten, chocolate letters and strooigoed) into Beirut. Who was traveling from Holland to Beirut, and had enough space in their luggage to slug some 25 kilos of candy along?

Well, that problem was tackled today.

But now is the next hurdle; Who will be our Saint Nicolas? We used to have a wonderful man, a cleric, who was quite a natural in the bishopric uniform  that Saint Nicolas is known to wear. Unfortunately, he retired quite some years ago, and since then the position of Saint Nicolas has been filled by a number of Dutch men, some better than others.

Saint Nicolas needs to be an older gentleman, dignified, preferably with some facial hair, but I remember one year we had a guy in his thirties. My son found Sinterklaas rather ‘odd' that year.

We’ve had a Saint that looked strangely similar to someone’s father (now why would that be?)

Some Saints are just not as composed and dignified as others. Saint Nicolas is known for his love for children, and bachelors just don’t do that well with fiercely crying babies on their lap.

And so the dilemma is the following; Who will be our Saint Nicolas this year? Who will come and visit all the Dutch children in Lebanon and give them their presents?
It needs to be a gentleman of an advanced age, preferably with facial hair, who can handle children, and who speaks Dutch.

So, is there anyone out there in Beirut who fits that description and is up for the job? Then please mail me. Before December the 5th please.