Concert - Sainte Anne

A few days after I arrived in Guadeloupe for the second time, a Polish friend asked me whether I was interested in singing a Polish carrol at a Christmas concert at the church of Ste-Anne. The concert was to take place on December 26, and involved the participation of a diversified orchestra, conducted by yet another Polish. Seems like the Polish immigrants in Guadeloupe all love music:-)

At first I only listened to the rehearsals. The orchestra was a fantastic combo of experienced classical musicians (I was particularly impressed with the performance of a middle-aged violin player), less experienced youth, and a few young Gwo-Ka drummers. An eclectic yet truly interesting idea!

I was thirilled to join the Christmas concert, which turned out to be an unforgettable event. In the repertoire - Vivaldi's "Gloria," a numer of works by Brahms, Mozart, Bach, and a few Christmas carrols, including two from Guadeloupe ("Joseph, mon cher fidèle" et "Michaud veillait"), one from England ("What Child Is This?"), and our Polish traditional "Lulajże Jezuniu."

"Joseph, mon cher fidèle"
Marie :
Joseph, mon cher fidèle,
Cherchons un logement,
Le temps presse et m'appelle
A mon accouchement.
Je sens le fruit de vie,
Ce cher enfant des cieux,
Qui d'une sainte vie,
Va paraître à nos yeux.
Joseph :
Dans ce triste équipage,
Marie allons chercher,
Par tout le voisinage,
Un endroit pour loger.
Ouvrez, voisin la porte,
Ayez compassion
D'une vierge qui porte
Votre Rédemption.

"Lulajże Jezuniu"
Lulajże Jezuniu, moja Perełko,
Lulaj ulubione me Pieścidełko.
Lulajże Jezuniu, lulajże lulaj!
A Ty Go, Matulu, w płaczu utulaj.

Zamknijże znużone płaczem powieczki,
Utulże zemdlone łkaniem usteczki.
Lulajże Jezuniu, lulajże lulaj!
A Ty Go, Matulu, w płaczu utulaj.

With other singers:
With my wonderful audience after the concert:

Noël à la guadeloupéenne

The Polish Christmas tradition, which I was brought up in, is very rich and elaborate. Leaving for the Watson year, I had this one particular fear that being away from home on December 24, for the very first time in my life, might turn out challenging. Being too nostalgic might spoil moments spent in wonderful places. But the charm of Christmas in Guadeloupe enchanted me even long before Christmas Eve! Not that I did not miss our traditional Polish Christmas tree and carols - but this year I was overwhelmed with the tradition of "somewhere else."
At first, the colorful Christmas lights that would be seen from the house I was living in...
(the first thing I spotted in Gosier, returning after two months)The chants de Noël performed by pupils of a local primary school. It was the first time that I heard, later so often repeated, "Allez, mon voisin, allez"...

A Christmas sale. Various decorations - handmade by the children.

Chanté Nwel. A fantastic local tradition, when beginning a few weeks before Christmas people invite groups of friends to share a hearty meal (roast pig being the key entrée and rhum, of course, being the drink of the night) and to sing some Christmas carols. Upon becoming part of the joyful crowd I would usually receive a selection of the songs. The host, together with the band, would initiate the carols until the guests joined. I was astonished how many songs, and how fast, people would recognize, and how enthusiastically they sang! Even not knowing them at first, I felt sort of guilty not joining in. After a few outings of the kind, I could not stand sitting quiet any more!

At the Christmas table. Served - punch coco or coke as an aperitif, boudin créole, and sort of chicken colombo (not a great cook, I would simply compare it to delicious chicken goulash in curry sauce - my apologies to all kitchen poets who might feel offended), which actually became a spontaneous variation of a Christmas meal after Paul ate a big part of it... for breakfast! :-)

Ah, before the meal I remembered to share some Polish opłatek (dzięki, Babciu!) with my Guadeloupean family, wishing them lots of love and happiness!

Before I left to Church, we exchanged gifts with our neighbor, Chantal, and her daughter, Océane. But the true gift-feast was yet to come...

The rehearsals for the Christmas service began long before Christmas Eve. When I arrived in Guadeloupe in December, by word of mouth I heard about weekly gatherings at the Eglise St-Louis. The Friday I walked in and asked the "choir master," Gérmanie, whether I could still participate, was a last-minute call. Nonetheless, she immediately assigned me a sit, and made sure that there would be a folder for me for the next rehearsal. I was yet to learn that each choir female member was to be wearing a skirt of the same model, which I was expected to take care of. With a little help of my friends, I thus purchased some of the precious material - for the skirt and for a scarf, and had the two made by a local tailor. The final result was quite nice indeed;-)

That night the choir sang many-many religious chants, both in French and in Creole.

I can recall the joyous melody of the song "Je voudrais marcher aux côtés de mon Seigneur, sur le chemin qui mène à Dieu, rien ne pourra m'empecher... J'irai jusqu'au bout!," as well as the nostalgic tune of the chant "Bondye an syel a-w [...] fè nou konnet ou, pou nou pè di se-w ki tou..."

Les choristes!

And the Christmas gifts. All would have been perfect if not for this small detail that - in Guadeloupe (in France, generally, I hear) children unwrap les cadeaux on December 25, as early as they can. At my host family's at first it meant 5am! Paul and Marie woke us up yelling that there are gifts under the Christmas tree and that we should hurry. We begged for one more our of sleep, which was ultimately granted. However, the second wake-up call (yes, at 6am) was equally painful. As much as I love gifts, I had no energy to see whether the family liked my symbolic selection. Worse even, I could not even smile unwrapping my own surprises:-)

My input that day - I think that starting next year, as it is celebrated at my home, the family will open the gifts on Christmas Eve...

Only after a few more hours of sleep I could finally enjoy the received lot.

Merci ma Gwada-famille!

Gwada, I'm back!

December 11, 2008.
After two months I am de retour in Guadeloupe!
It was such a fantastic feeling - landing at the Raizet airport and recognizing the place that only five months before was an unfamiliar spot on the globe. Then - returning to the house that within three summer months became my home away from home. Saying hi to old friends. Playing a joke on Paul and Marie, who until the moment when they spotted me behind the dresser, had actually been looking for a new rabbit - la copine de Merempah (a girlfriend for the rabbit that can be seen behind us)!...
Guadeloupe did not change much within these two months. Maybe some new billboards. New promotions in the shopping malls. Ah, of course - the beautiful Christmas decorations, especially in the Parc du Calvaire! After Christmas carols à la seychelloise, now seeing another facet of the tropical Christmas spirit yet increased my excitement. Wow, Christmas in Guadeloupe! Awesome. But it's not only about the beautiful landscapes of the French West Indies. In the weeks to come I am to continue exploring the amazing oral traditions of the island...
Yet, for now a few touristy shots - "Gwada in December":

The volcano - La Soufrière (no clouds! unusual):

The Datcha Beach in Gosier:

Mon'n pase en bon letan Sesel

Mersi bokou pour lakey ek ospitalite. Mon'n pase en bon letan Sesel gras a ou, akoz zot ti parey en dezyem famiy ek lakou pour mwen. Mon pou mank zot bokou.
Meyer zanmi,
Magda.

Merci beaucoup pour l'accueil et l'ospitalité. Grace à vous j'ai passé un bon moment aux Seychelles. Vous êtes devenus ma deuxième famille. Vous allez me manquer.
Magda

Thank you so much for your hospitality. Thanks to you I had a great time in the Seychelles, because you became my family away from home. I will miss you a lot.
Yours,
Magda

Arte

At the end of my stay in the coutry I realize that not mentioning the Seychellois art would be an omission. I am very much impressed by the local crafts, as well as other visual and "musical" arts. The artists use local materials to create masterpieces. For example, the figurines below ("Rolling Stones") are made of the coral reef. Also, to manufacture musical instruments artisans use natural products such as a gourd of a calabash tree (see the 4th photo - the bow-like instrument with a wooden "bowl" that the artist is playing) or animal skin (see - Motya, my earlier blog entry). Egbert Marday, the sculptor/painter photographed under the red umbrella, uses metal waste to sculpt modern symbolic forms.
I am very much impressed with the use of light and color in the Seychellois paintings. Michael Adams (http://www.michaeladams.info/), of British origin, is a world-reknown artist. Recognized by the British queen, Mr. Adams for over 30 years has been living and painting in the Seychelles. When I first saw him at work I immediately thought of the workshop of Monet. Also the luminosity of his paintings has to do with the impressionism.

Michael Adams' workshop:

Those who arrive in the country willing to learn about the traditional music are immediately directed to Mr. Patrick Prosper, lecturer at the Music Conservatory in Mont Fleuri, Vicoria, and a true music aficionado. Below - Mr. Prosper playing the traditional bom, together with his students at the Conservatory.

In Mr. Prosper's office.

Among the instruments, a bom - mentioned earlier, a tambour maloya from Reunion, and a zez (like a big comb).

A guitar ensemble at the Music Conservatory, which I joined in the last weeks of my stay in the country, after I heard them play during a traditional music performance.

Egbert Marday and his work. Egbert is the author of many sculptures and a fountain that decorate the streets of Victoria. He also helped to equip the Natural History Museum with several sculptures, and is the author of the carvings on the Cathedral gate.

Basket manufacture is a widespread crafts tradition. Here, as presented at a crafts display at the Alliance Française in Victoria.

I fell under the charm of the paintings of Colbert Nourrice when I saw two of his works in a small gallery in Victoria. I had already met the artist before. Colbert's art is graphic and colorful. Very energetic, I'd say.

Here, the artist in his studio/gallery in Au Cap.

Les bêtes sauvages

Je ne peux pas m’empêcher de publier un petit post au sujet de tout sort des bêtes que j’ai rencontrées aux Seychelles. A ne pas manquer !

I can’t help posting a few shots of all sorts of « bêtes » which I came across while in the Seychelles. Not to be missed !

Nie mogę się powstrzymać, by nie zamieścić tu kilku fotek różnorakich stworzonek, które pałętają się po Seszelach...

Spider

Caterpillars

Dragon-fly

Lizard

Cockroach

Chameleon

La cuisine seychelloise

A la base de la cuisine des Seychelles – les poissons, le riz, les fruits et les legumes. Tant que j’ai habité chez une famille locale, j’ai eu pas mal d’opportunités à approfondir mes connaissances gastronomiquesJ. Déjà, le jardin était une ouverture au monde des noix de coco, christophines (photo ci-dessous), fruits de cacao, bananes, etc.
Aux environs de là où j’habitais – les brousses aux fraises-pays et les arbres-jackfruit. Les proches de ma famille d’accueil leur fournissaient du poisson, qu’ils préparaient avec beaucoup d’attention. Au marché Bazar-Labrin on m’a aussi fait goûter aux particularités telles que le baka (“jungle juice” ou liqueur fait maison), les bananes frites et le satini requin – dont la recette ci-dessous.

Fish, rice, fruit, and veggies are at the heart of the Seselwa cuisine. Staying with a local family, I had many opportunities to deepen my culinary knowledge:-). Already the garden was the gate to the kingdom of coconuts, christophines (photo below), cocoa fruits, bananas, etc.

In the area – wild strawberry plants and jackfruit trees. The relatives of my host family often brought some fish, which was later prepared with special care. At the market-place Bazar-Labrin I was also introduced to such particularities like baka (“jungle juice” or home-made liquor), banana chips, and shark chutney – the recipe of which - below.

Satini requin / Shark chutney:
1) Boil the shark meat for about 30 mins.

2) Pour out the water and leave the meat to cool down.

3) Clean the meat, remove the skin.

4) Cut the meat into small pieces.

5) Squeeze with a piece of cloth and remove the excess water.

6) Possibly add some mango or "fruit citère" (cut into small pieces, and having removed the excess water).

7) Add sliced onion.

8) Add herbs and spices: thyme, parsley, salt, pepper, chilli (but no garlic or ginger)

9) Heat the wok with some oil.

10) Cook until the fruit and onion become "glossy."

11) Serve with rice, breadfruit, manyok, or boiled bananas.

Christophine

Moutya

Similar to the Guadeloupean Gwo Ka, Moutya is a music genre and a dance that emerged in the slavery times. However, it is typical to Indian Ocean, and particularly to the Seychellois region, only. Performed on the traditional tambour moutya (moutya drum), originally the music was for the slaves the only opportunity of free expression. Traditionally the tambour, made of goat skin, is heated over fire, right before performance. Nowadays Moutya dancing usually takes place by the beach. The crowd gathers around the drum players, dancers, and singers. A pity that such performances are truly rare in the Seychelles. They are usually done at the hotels and during major festivals (e.g. Festival Kreol).
To me Guadeloupean Gwo Ka drumming seems more spontaneous, and more rooted even in the contemporary culture...

Tambour Moutya under music scores:



Moutya in Praslin:

Mahé, Silhouette, Praslin, La Digue

During my 2-month stay in the Seychelles I had the chance to visit 4 out of the country's 155 islands. Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue are the biggest and most populated of the Inner Islands. Although less populated, Silhouette is yet another significant island - famous for its unpolluted nature, tortoises, and a hilly landscape. Victoria, the country's capital, is located on Mahé, the biggest island.
Below I'm posting some photos from the four islands.


MAHE
1. Beau Vallon Bay

2. Victoria market

3. Victoria, botanical garden

4. Port Launay

5. Victoria, Kenwyn House (nowadays - gallery)

SILHOUETTE

A typical fishermen's "net" (the fish swim in but cannot find the way out:-):

PRASLIN

1. Anse Lazio - famous for its unforgettable granitic landscape

2. Anse Volbert

3. Anse Lazio

4. Valée de Mai, where one can admire the legendary cocos de mer. The female and male trees have very suggestive parts@. The story goes that at night the two meet...

I am not sure what happens then, but the legend and the shapes (!) have been particular enough to intrigue thousands of tourists who visit the Valée, and who usually leave the Seychelles with a small coco-de-mer gadget, if not with a real nut (yet those, if original, are extremely expensive).

LA DIGUE

1. A palm forest on the way to Anse Source d'Argent. Can be truly scary during a stormy weather. Coconuts dropping like bombs!

2. La Digue - School