One of the traditions I enjoyed most here on Kosrae, was the Christmas marching. People from different parts of the island worked on original songs, to which they 'marched', and they made colorful mumus and shirts for the people in their group. Even though I had only been on the island for one day, I was included in the festivities. I was a little nervous at first, but I was given a piece of paper with the words to the songs, and I did attend one practice... sure! I could do this!!!
Christmas marching is an all day affair. Christina and I headed to the church early so we could see everyone. The day started out with a performance by the young school children.
They were sooo cute ~ especially this little ham!
When they were done, they made their way down the aisle and outside....
....where the next group was waiting to enter. We are talking non-stop here!
This is the group of older men and women. The tradition is that the women carry poles with decorations on top, and the men carry wheels with stars in them. Each group is colorful and proud.
Each group made up extravagant marching patterns ~ kind of like marching bands ~
If you look closely, you can see Aliksa's dad~
Just about everyone was in the church for the marching ~ it was a family affair: young, old, and in between! I am pretty sure that this woman was the oldest member of the congregation:
And soon, it was time for our group. We had lovely purple mumus and white wreaths with hot pink sequins! The blur in this picture is from the gifts that are being thrown out to the audience! That's right ~ not only are we singing original songs, and marching in intricate patterns; each group also tossed gifts like snacks, candy, T-shirts, plastic bowls, toilet paper, hand towels..... you name it! They audience really loved this part!!!!
There we are! (Yes, I am looking at my cheat sheet ~ didn't quite get the Kosraean words memorized.....)
Success!!! Notice the new wreaths and necklaces? Yes, we were given all of those as gifts because we were so amazing!!!
And the groups just kept coming....
But everyone stayed because you never knew what you might catch!
Half-way done ~ I am looking a bit sweaty.... it is humid on Kosrae, and being in the church was even hotter. (Notice even more island 'bling'????)
Luckily, we were treated to an amazing lunch ~ it was gorgeous outside, but it was nice to have the tents to protect us from the sun. I was still getting used to the heat/humidity!
And the groups kept coming....
Christina enjoying her new 'bling' and just generally being part of this wonderful community!
And the groups kept coming....
And the catching of gifts became more perilous. See this innocent-looking, VERY old woman there.... Yeah, she was next to me and got a little upset that I caught some tasty snacks so she sidled right up against me so as to block my attempts at getting any more gifts!! This is serious business!!!
And the groups kept coming.....
There is Leah, marching with her group of young people ~
This little girl had the right idea ~ bring a bag for your loot!!!
Here is the older woman (the nice one!) coming back to her seat after giving one of her many island necklaces to a young boy who was ringing the bell to keep cadence for his group. She was much beloved by all ~
I forgot to mention, that in between each group, the congregation went up to donate money (later to be used by the church). Christina and I gave a couple of times ~
And here we are: still smiling after a 10 hour day of Christmas marching! Exhausted, but happy we stayed the whole day!
After our 10 hour Christmas Marching Extravaganza, Christina and I headed back to the hotel room where we collapsed in exhaustion!!! What a day!!
As amazing as the actual Christmas marching was ~ that was not the end of the surprises.... Christina and I turned on the TV one night only to find..... OURSELVES!!!! Apparently the entire day of marching was filmed and played, and replayed on Kosraean TV!!
Doesn't our group look amazing!?!
And here we come: TV stars on Kosrae!
Merry, merry, merry Christmas from Kosrae!
They were sooo cute ~ especially this little ham!
When they were done, they made their way down the aisle and outside....
....where the next group was waiting to enter. We are talking non-stop here!
This is the group of older men and women. The tradition is that the women carry poles with decorations on top, and the men carry wheels with stars in them. Each group is colorful and proud.
Each group made up extravagant marching patterns ~ kind of like marching bands ~
Just about everyone was in the church for the marching ~ it was a family affair: young, old, and in between! I am pretty sure that this woman was the oldest member of the congregation:
And soon, it was time for our group. We had lovely purple mumus and white wreaths with hot pink sequins! The blur in this picture is from the gifts that are being thrown out to the audience! That's right ~ not only are we singing original songs, and marching in intricate patterns; each group also tossed gifts like snacks, candy, T-shirts, plastic bowls, toilet paper, hand towels..... you name it! They audience really loved this part!!!!
There we are! (Yes, I am looking at my cheat sheet ~ didn't quite get the Kosraean words memorized.....)
Success!!! Notice the new wreaths and necklaces? Yes, we were given all of those as gifts because we were so amazing!!!
And the groups just kept coming....
But everyone stayed because you never knew what you might catch!
Half-way done ~ I am looking a bit sweaty.... it is humid on Kosrae, and being in the church was even hotter. (Notice even more island 'bling'????)
Luckily, we were treated to an amazing lunch ~ it was gorgeous outside, but it was nice to have the tents to protect us from the sun. I was still getting used to the heat/humidity!
And the groups kept coming....
Christina enjoying her new 'bling' and just generally being part of this wonderful community!
And the groups kept coming....
And the catching of gifts became more perilous. See this innocent-looking, VERY old woman there.... Yeah, she was next to me and got a little upset that I caught some tasty snacks so she sidled right up against me so as to block my attempts at getting any more gifts!! This is serious business!!!
And the groups kept coming.....
There is Leah, marching with her group of young people ~
This little girl had the right idea ~ bring a bag for your loot!!!
Here is the older woman (the nice one!) coming back to her seat after giving one of her many island necklaces to a young boy who was ringing the bell to keep cadence for his group. She was much beloved by all ~
I forgot to mention, that in between each group, the congregation went up to donate money (later to be used by the church). Christina and I gave a couple of times ~
And here we are: still smiling after a 10 hour day of Christmas marching! Exhausted, but happy we stayed the whole day!
After our 10 hour Christmas Marching Extravaganza, Christina and I headed back to the hotel room where we collapsed in exhaustion!!! What a day!!
As amazing as the actual Christmas marching was ~ that was not the end of the surprises.... Christina and I turned on the TV one night only to find..... OURSELVES!!!! Apparently the entire day of marching was filmed and played, and replayed on Kosraean TV!!
Doesn't our group look amazing!?!
And here we come: TV stars on Kosrae!
Merry, merry, merry Christmas from Kosrae!
1 comment:
Haha! "Yes, we were given all of those as gifts because we were so amazing!!!" It is true. We were naturals at it. :)
This was such a spectacular day and I am so glad that I got to share it with you.
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