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.
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:-)
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!
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz