Happy 4th of July, Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving!

Fireworks + visiting friends and family + eating all day = the biggest holiday of the year.  It is difficult to understand the celebrations we witnessed yesterday if we used our own cultural lenses, but that is why we are spending our time learning language AND culture.  This year we stayed in town and started our day like normal; early morning exercise and studying before the boys woke up.  I spent extra time outside this morning to capture a few pictures of the atmosphere on this holiday.  A special gathering began at 6:30am at all the local places of worship.  Very similar to special holidays in the States, attendance is at its peak, therefore everyone gathers outside.  Our complex became a parking lot, as did many roads.  It was such an interesting sight to see.  I, Erin, saw at least 3 different parents bring bouncy seats for their babies who were in tow. 

The four lane road at the end of our street became a parking lot in at least two lanes.

Women and children gather in the back half, while men gather in the front of a large parking lot the street from our complex.

complete with balloon sellers!

women in the usual dress for their place of gathering

people spilled out into the street to attend

men up in the front wearing traditional black or brown hats

visiting our friend's aunt's house

Our neighbors brought us traditional holiday food shortly after 8am.  Then at 9am we went to our host family’s house to eat with them.  After a couple hours we returned home to be picked up by friends to visit their house.  Prior to leaving we were invited in to our neighbors’ house, the ones who brought us food earlier, and were served a jello dessert and glasses of coke.  Shortly there after we left with our friends.  Our friends, actually their 18 year old son, 15 year old daughter, and 12 year son first drove us to their aunt’s house to visit and eat…again.  When we arrived at our friends house we were served another meal.  Then we enjoyed some relaxed time visiting.  We arrived home in the middle of the afternoon and were visited by another friend, this time I served them food and I just drank water.  So from 9am to 4pm we visited four homes, ate three meals, and drank lots of pop.

traditional cookies on the table, accompanied by glasses of coke

relaxing at a friend's house

The boys did very well visiting many new people who wanted to take their pictures.  It helped that they were constantly offered cookies and pop.  We went to bed, both the night before and night of, watching fireworks from our bedroom windows. 

 

food from our neighbors, from middle bottom going clockwise: bundled rice, beef, chicken with curry, and vegetables with coconut milk. 

 

Caedmon's 5th Birthday

Caedmon's birthday is in August, but it may as well be the same week as Christmas as tomorrow is the biggest holiday of the year here.  For the second time since moving here I, Erin, had to decide how we would celebrate.  We aim to make birthdays a big deal, hoping as we celebrate the boys’ births (and each additional year we are given) our celebrations at Christmas will make sense to them.  So, as Caedmon’s birthday fell before the end of the fasting month, again this year, we had a little party at the ‘break-the-fast’ time.  Most people travel to their parents’ or grandparents’ home for the Holiday so waiting until the weekend didn’t seem practical. 


The morning began with cinnamon rolls and presents.  Then we all visited an in door amusement park, which is actually pretty well done and quite quiet on a week day morning.  Caedmon had been waiting for this event since last year as he was aiming to be tall enough for a specific ride.  He was tall enough, exactly the 110cm needed.  For the evening, we invited a few neighbors, a friend’s family, and our host parent’s grandchildren to a small party.  We started at 5:30 with some games.  Caedmon’s favorite was ‘pin-the-coconut-on-the-palm-tree’.  Games are not common at birthday parties, unless it takes place at McDonalds, so most of the kids were too shy (or maybe too confused as I gave instructions in the local language) to play.  Everyone was a little more willing to take part in hitting the piñata, which the boys and I made earlier in the week.  We then all ‘broke-the-fast’ together with ‘ice fruit’ (literally translated), some traditional treats, which John bought, and birthday cake-in-a-cone.  Shortly after our guests left, with the exception of some neighbor kids who played with John until after Caedmon and Whitman where in bed.  The party was short and sweet, and hopefully enjoyable to all.  Aside from the games not being usual at birthday parties, presents are also handled very differently as they are not opened in front of the guests.  Caedmon had to wait until after all the guests left, which is very difficult for a five year old; after eating cake he kept wandering inside to look at his presents. 



encouraging kids to participate in a few games set up in our garage

Caedmon's turn hitting the piñata

 

after many light little hits, the piñata fell off the rope and was finally torn open and emptied by John

 

neighbor girls eating 'ice fruit' and birthday cake-in-a-cone

our host parents' grandsons, all our guests where girls until they arrived

 

Learning how to make local food here has been a treat.  Here is the recipe for the ‘ice fruit,' there are many versions, but this one is my favorite so far. 

Ice Fruit

½ honey dew melon (slightly unripe/crunchy)

3-4 cups young coconut meat
2 packages of agar-agar (or unflavored gelatin)
 ¼ - 1/3 cup melon syrup (similar to the syrups used for Italian sodas or coffee drinks)
1-2 cups water

       1)      Shred the melon and set aside.  Prepare the agar-agar according to the package.  Basically like making unflavored and only slightly sweetened jello. 

2)      Once the agar-agar/jello is set, cut into small chunks, ~¼ inch cubes.  To simplify this process I poured the liquid into a big cookie sheet to set up very thin.  

3)      Combine all ingredients.  Add additional syrup and water until desired sweetness and consistency.

4)      Ice is usually added instead of water, but I prepared ahead of time and kept them in the fridge until we were ready.

Enjoy! 

Fasting for a Month

     The beginning of July a month of fasting observed by the majority of locals here.  This practice  is taught by their belief system.  It is a testimony to their faith, regarded as beneficial for health, and helps one to better identify with those in need.  This month is also a time of spiritual renewal.  Increased focus is given to their regular daily practices, along with the addition of nightly addresses at their place of gathering. 

     In general life carries on as normal, though the overall pace of life seems to slow down.  People are less likely to do much during this time, so the neighbor kids aren’t outside as much and friends are less available for get togethers during the day. 

The majority of our friends and neighbors will wake up before dawn, around 4 am to eat as the fast for each day begins at sun-up.  Every morning, sometimes as early as 2:30am, our complex security guard walks around banging on a symbol, a bell, or even sometimes on our gate, the whole time yelling, ‘breakfast.’  Our friends and neighbors then abstain from food and drink until sunset, usually about 6:15pm (the official time is printed in the paper daily as it changes from day to day).  Typically the fast is broken with a very sweet fruit soup, like a liquid version of fruit salad.  Then a large meal is eaten. 

     Many allowances are given to those fasting.  Some absence from school is excused for kids partaking in the fast (yes school is in session, actually the new school year began about the same time).  There are also exceptions for certain people, such as children, women who are pregnant or menstruating, and the sick.  Many offices and stores shorten their business hours.  Our internet has been out for a whole week.  In the past problems seem to be resolved within a day of our reporting them,  this time it took a week of daily calling and three office visits. 

     Many small restaurants or food stalls are closed during the day, opening in the evening for the ‘break the fast.’  A visible sign of the current fast at larger restaurants are the curtains that are put up to keep customers from public view.  I, Erin, am still unsure if this is to protect the customers from awkwardness or those passing by from temptation. 
     Though there is a slower pace during the day, most places are extremely more busy at the ‘break fast’ time.  We tried to eat at Pizza Hut last week with a friend from out of town.  We arrived maybe 5:45p and there weren’t any available tables.  We were even denied when we asked to order take away.  Then we went home and tried to order delivery, the delivery line wouldn’t even answer the phone. 

The next day we ordered pizza to be delivered, an hour prior to the ‘break fast’ this time.  I am capable enough in language to be able to order at a restaurant, go shopping, and give directions.  Over the phone has always been more difficult for me to truly hear and understand.  Never the less I still use the phone.  So I ordered pizza.  Compounding the difficulty of hearing the person on the other line was the use of English throughout the conversation.  I have the hardest time understanding people that try to use English as I’m listening for local language words I already know, then on top of that the English words are spoken with a very thick accent.  After at least 10 minutes on the phone, I just consented to the order that was repeated back to me.  I thought we were going to get two large stuffed crust pizzas with some combination of pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, and sausage.  Well, we received two large stuffed crusted pizzas, each with pepperoni, mushrooms and sausage.  One also had green peppers.  The additional topping we (especially me since I did the ordering) were not expecting were potatoes.  Then the most disappointing aspect was the use of Thousand Island dressing instead of tomato sauce.  I have seen the menu and the unusual toppings that are offered (including corn, potatoes, and tuna fish), but the sauce was a new one.  We ate the pizza, but with some disappointment.  Next time I’ll let John order ;)

More Pictures

Here are more pictures from our trip north with John's parents.  Again just amazing the difference in cultures in one province as much of what follows is not found in the area of our city.  Enjoy!

A traditional dish actually from our city.  A delicious soup, though usually made with all sorts of organs (heart, lung, liver, and brain) and eaten with creatively wrapped rice. 

the boys at a lunch stop

 

Fruit and vegie stand along the side of the road, common sight in our city too.  Large quantities of snake fruit is wrapped in banana leaves.  Green beans and tomatoes in containers in the first row. Shallots, beans, potatoes, and garlic on the middle level.  More shallots and cabbage on the upper level, and bananas hanging in the back. 

Caedmon made a friend.  We invited a friend, his wife and 2 of his kids along to be our guides.

A site for traditional funerals.  Specifically for larger scale events usually held by the wealthy.

Different view of the same sight.  This area is know for the traditional house said to be shaped like buffalo horns.  The houses are used for storage and are a status symbol. 

 

More traditional houses amidst rice fields. 

Along with unique funeral events, the people have unique burial traditions.  The dead are buried in natural caves, tombs carved out from large rocks, or more modern-made above ground tombs, all methods are still used today, and seem to be dependent on the families individual traditions.  This is a cave we visited and where able to walk into at least 50 feet.  It is still being used as a tomb. 

Tombs carved into a large rock with a modern tomb in the upper right corner. 

Many years ago, babies that died under 1 year of age where entombed in carved-out-sections of trees.

Powdered turmeric drying in the sun. 

Much time together in the car.

Buffalo hides being dried in the sun. 

 

With our friend, at the top of a large hill, over looking the valley. 

Traditional house in the north. 

A lunch stop, selling many locally made snack foods(packages on the table). 

Humbling

Three days ago we decided to throw away our volleyball.  The leather strips that cover the outside had begun to peal away, one with a little help from some two year old fingers.  We have now put the volleyball in a wastebasket, inside, three different times.  We have a wonderful lady who comes daily to help with some household cleaning.  Everyday she empties the garbage.  And for the past two days she has taken the volleyball out and set it on the floor beside the wastebasket.  We tried a third time today.  Finally, she approached me, Erin, to ask if I wanted the ball thrown out.  I said I did.  She hesitated, then asked if she could take it home as she has kids who enjoy playing ball.  I felt so humbled.  Here was an item slightly worn, that we had deemed not good enough for our household, yet it was deemed by another worthy for her household.  This was just another example of the wealthy consumer culture we come from and have so ingrained in us.  Wow, eye opening for sure!

More with the Grandparents

Jack and Melinda returned to the states the last week of June, but we had such a wonderful time with them here, I, Erin, wanted to post more of the things here that we were able to share with them!  Many of our friends were eager to meet our family; we therefore had people over all most everyday.  We managed to continue studying, because of the constant playmates grandparents are, and even take a trip outside the city, into some mountains.  Even after a year living here I, Erin, am still amazed at the significantly different cultures there are, just on this one island. 

This is a picture from our trip to another island where we met up with Jack and Melinda.  Check out the chain restaurant complete with its own alter for daily offerings (yellow shelf to the left of the logo). 

We hosted a birthday party for a friend, blue shirt on left.  He and his friends did all the cooking and cleaning!

We went out to lunch with this family.  John has spent multiple Sundays with the eldest son, middle back, speaking English.  He is a 15 year, who just graduated high school and desires to study in the states. 

This is a well known port, and tourist attraction apparently.  Our neighbors will go at 4 or 5am to buy shrimp.  We decided to forego going that early and this is about all we saw.

A favorite local meal of mine that we had to share with Jack and Melinda, we ate out, I have no idea how to make it.  Grilled rice and chicken, with very spicy salsa.  There are more ways to wrap and cook rice here than I ever imagined. 

We were blessed with a ‘date night,’ so we took the motorcycle, which was our first motorcycle ride together.



The motorcycle was running very poorly as we set out on our ‘date-night,’ so we stopped at a road side tire repair stand/gas station.  Usually the wooden rack off to the left is full of bottles of gas.  They were all empty when we arrived, but not to worry, they had gas.  The little boy just had to siphon it out of their motorcycle. 

A traditional cake we enjoyed while visiting our host family.  Made from bananas, coconut milk, nuts, sugar and maybe eggs.  Wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. 

 

the inside



Funeral event site in the mountain area we visited with Jack and Melinda. 



This mountain area is know for their funeral events.  People save, probably their whole life time, for money to buy a buffalo.  They may cost anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000.  The buffalo are killed on the day of the event, cooked and eaten by all the attendees. 



The deceased is placed in a coffin for burial only after all family members and friends have come to pay their respects, this could take months.  (Where exactly they keep the body I still have yet to learn) During the funeral event the coffin is put on display along with a statue made to look like the deceased and a photo.  We were able to witness this event taking place, nothing private about this service.  The deceased's coffin will later be placed in a cave.
In our city, the two major ethnic groups require their dead to be buried, under ground, within 24 hours.   There usually is a funeral event at the family's house, but the deceased's body is no longer there.  A meal is served, but it does not include buffalo.  The locals here usually save their money to pay a dowry or bride price rather than buy a buffalo.  Such significant differences within one province!







 

Unexpected beach stay

Last night we arrived home from the adventure of a life time.  Sunday we rented a car and left at 4am to visit friends on another Island.  Last year we met a group of university students from a nearby island, all studying here in our city.  They are currently all on summer break.  We have been invited many times to visit them and finally saw an opportunity to do so.  So, early Sunday morning we picked up two of them and one of their moms and drove 3 ½ hours to the ferry port at a famous beach town; last year this same drive took us almost 6 hours.  Upon arriving at 7:30am we learned the first ferry had just left.  So we waited 4 hours for its return.  Since we arrived so early we were the third car in line to board.  Unfortunately all trucks and busses have priority, so the second ferry at 11am quickly filled with trucks and busses leaving room for only two cars.  Though this was quite frustrating there was one more ferry that evening.  Our ticket and number in line was still good for the next ferry so we went to the beach.  The day was cloudy and quite drizzly, so we  mostly sat under cover.  The boys did play some in the sand!  After grabbing a bite to eat we went back down to the port to line up.  After waiting an hour, one bus boarded the ferry, then all traffic was stopped.  We shortly learned the ferry was cancelled because of bad weather.  It was to leave the next morning at 4am.  We headed back to the main drive and quickly found lodging.  One of our companions received a phone call from a family member working on the ferry, informing us, only the vehicles which were currently lined up at the port would be allowed on in the morning.  We decided to forgo a night of sleep in the car, especially with Caedmon and Whitman, making 7 of us in total.  This also meant skipping the early morning ferry.  No big deal we thought, there will be others!



Cars and motorcycles lined up and waiting for the ferry.

Trucks lined up for the ferry.  Only the one on the far right was in use.

Flexible boys, making good use of e-books, apps, and movies!

Two of our friends, accompanying us to their home!

 The next morning, Monday, before we even left for the port we found out the rest of the ferries were cancelled for the day because of bad weather.  Better weather was expect early morning Tuesday, so we agree to stay another night at the beach.  We found another place to stay closer to the port and just hung out.  Normally an unexpected stay at the beach would be wonderful, but the weather was so windy, cloudy, and rainy we mostly stayed in.  Whitman and John ventured down to the beach.  They briefly touched the water, went for a walk, then came back with Whitman’s lower lip quivering. 


Tuesday morning we headed to the port at 4am.  After a couple hours we learned, from our friend’s mom, currently on the island we desired to reach, all ferries were cancelled until July 6^th.  This whole time there were absolutely no port employees around to gain further information.  A little later we saw a posted note announcing all ferries were cancelled until the 4^th of July, or until the weather improved. 

Our breakfast stop after leaving the port for home.

Regardless of the restaurant, the options were: rice, chicken, fish, shrimp - fried or grilled.

By 9am we were on the road, heading home.  It was a trying trip, but we were able to continue building relationships with our friends and practice a lot of language.  We took a different route home, taking us through a mountain area, which made for a great outing at a tea garden.  It was not at all like we planned, but we couldn’t have imagined a more fixed ‘closed door,’ and through it all we were provided with patience, flexibility and attitudes we needed to endure. 

Next time we'll fly!

The Tea Garden

Tea Garden



Cassowary bird at a small zoo at the Tea Garden

our friend's mom, hoping to return home AND return to work

Very small zoo, but the setting among the garden was beautiful!

It was quite cool; Whitman's pj's were the only long sleeves and pants we brought