Happy 2015 to you all! The Christmas season is often known
as a very busy time, so as expected my calendar was packed for the month of
December and the beginning of January! So, my apologies for the lack of
blogging, but I have returned! I will just give you all a quick update on how I
spent my Christmas holiday.
A small part of me was worried going into this Christmas
season to be celebrating away from home, but my community and family here made
the whole thing go smooth. Also, because there were so many celebrations,
events and preparations, Christmas happened in a whirlwind.
The biggest Christmas celebration that I took part in was on
Christmas Eve at the church I attend at Masombahoaka. We had an evening
service, followed by a combination concert of Scouts (similar to Boy or Girl
Scouts in the states but more closely associated to the church), Solofin’Davida
(the choir I sing with), and English Club (that I teach with a group of
Malagasy friends). Being active in two
of these groups made for a busy evening. Myself and my friend Marcella (who
also sings in choir and teaches English Club) spent the evening running back
and forth between singing with choir, changing clothes for the next choir song,
and helping English club to perform (her conducting and me running the music).
English Club sang 4 songs (Lord I Lift Your Name on High, Above All, Joy to the
World, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas) and performed a mime of the Christmas
story. It was amazing to see them singing together and see how they have grown
and learned so much since English Club started in September. I sang and danced
with more songs than I can count with choir, and even had some of them
memorized in Malagasy (even though I don’t understand what they mean….).By the
time the service was finished around 11:00pm, I was definitely ready to sleep,
but I was so grateful for this time with my community. I am so thankful for the
groups here at Masombahoaka that have invited me into their smaller
communities.
On Christmas Day, there was a church service in the morning
and then lunch with my family here. It was a lovely day to relax some after the
busy-ness of preparing for Christmas. In the evening I prepared to head to
Antananarivo with my host sisters, Nomena and Aina. In Antananarivo, we spent time
with their other sister and her family and picked up my parents from the
airport when they arrived. I was lucky to have my parents arrive in Madagascar
for almost two weeks to visit and meet my community here (more on that later).
Here are some pictures from Christmas:
The English Club singing Lord I Lift Your Name on High
The choir performing
The choir again
My friend Marcella dances and sings with the choir.
Christmas Dinner! Rice was in the big blue pot and the loaka (side dish, for this meal it was chicken) wasn’t quite on the table yet. You can see, we started the meal with a pasta salad, a salad like this, or something more like a potato salad, is very common for the beginning of a holiday meal.
I hope you all are having a spectacular January!
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