Halloween
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| Carved green papaya |
I did a Halloween day at school with classes 2-6. None of the students (or teachers) had heard of Halloween before. It does sound pretty odd when you explain it: "Kids go to houses dressed up in costumes asking for candy". The students played a Halloween game, made masks out of paper plates, and trick-or-treated in the classrooms. They all had a good time and so did I!
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| Some students with their masks |
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday- it is all about good food and thinking about what you are thankful for, with no stress to go along with it (maybe that will change in the future if I ever have to cook a turkey). The weekend after the actual Thanksgiving date, a fellow volunteer came to visit and we made tacos, mashed kumala, corn, and fudge. Some of my host family and teachers from the school with their children came to my house and we had a feast! They brought lap lap and a chicken- never did I think that I would have a taco and lap lap on my plate at the same time! Everyone went around and said what they were thankful for before we ate. Everyone seemed to really have a good time, and suggested that we should have a community wide Thanksgiving next year.
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| Everyone enjoying Thanksgiving kakae |
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| Our Thanksgiving feast! |
Christmas 2016 definitely didn't feel like Christmas- I didn't exchange presents with anyone, there were few decorations, no Christmas parties, very little talk of Christmas leading up to it, and it was hot. On Christmas day, the whole village went to church and then had a Christmas breakfast together. After, I just hung out with a friend and ate lap lap with a family in the evening. It felt like a holiday, but it just didn't really feel like Christmas.
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| Christmas breakfast |
New Year's Eve
On New Year's Eve I boated to West Ambae to celebrate with a friend. We went to a celebration in the afternoon at her host parent's village, drank kava, and struggled to stay up until midnight. It was fun to celebrate in a new place!
