So after yesterdays I promised a Merry Christmas story. Since I am already far behind and it's time to get to Mexico not only on the map but also with the posts here, bare with me on my loose format.

I spend 4 relaxing days over Christmas in the cozy home of Renadé and Layla which made for some great memories. Thanks for having me!

After Santa [well, a Walmart pharmacist with a Santa Claus hat] gave me my Covid booster shot on Christmas Eve I was unfortunately not fully on top of things for a few days. I haven't had strong side effects but felt pretty tired for three days.

Still, thinking back to the hustle of getting my shot in Germany it's quite a mind boggle that the whole procedure took no more than 20 minutes from asking for a shot to me walking out of the store. And this includes 10 minutes of figuring out whether they are even allowed to give me the shot as a non-American.

Some other great memories include a great informal Christmas Eve dinner sitting around the kitchen counter with Renadé, Layla, old school friend Ron and neighbor Clinton.

We also go to the midnight mess. Not so much my thing but I actually enjoy the Spanish Christmas songs [Arizona was once part of Mexico] which gets me excited about the next chapter of my journey. An odd observation: When the priest [or whatever title these guys have] walks in, a man from Nigeria, I realize that I can hardly remember having seen any people of color throughout my whole travels through the US. Leaves me a bit puzzled...

After 5 month on the road it's also time to admit, that a hair cut is not the worst of all ideas. I get that and feel ready to hit the road by the 28th December again.