Party season

Well, I may have had to miss out on the celebrations for my parents' golden wedding anniversary in Bray on Saturday night (although I did get up at 5 am to interrupt the party with a phone call) but that doesn't mean that I got through the weekend without a party as First Communion season continues unabated here ! I weaselled out of one on Friday afternoon after work but one of the first friends I met in the hospital, Kristo, invited mycolleague Peter and me to his kampung (village) on Sunday for his nephew's Sambut Baru celebration. This was a little quieter than the Maumere parties mainly due to the remote location, the family live about 30 minutes drive from Maumere but on a hilltop in a well scattered village and, as usual, with only close family living nearby. Apart from the local family members and Kristo, there were 5 guests from the hospital, one of whom had to leave almost as soon as we arrived as he is a nurse in the operating theatre and was called in for an emergency Caesarean Section (of which there seem to be a lot here, incidentally).

Thankfully, this family had not set up the enormous bank of loudspeakers which most Indonesians feel is an essential part of a good party so we had a very pleasant and peaceful day sitting around with the family in their home. Shortly after I arrived, I was invited to witness the formal ceremony which was another example of how Flores mixes and matches traditional animist ceremonies with Christianity. This ceremony preceded the meal and involved the laying out of most of the dishes that were to be served on the floor in front of the family while one of the family members makes a small offering of rice and meat to the ancestors before the meal is served. After the ceremony, a small dish is passed around for everyone to take a small taste from, very similar to the serving of communion.

After this ceremony, we all got up and moved out of the way while the food was reassembled and laid out in a buffet. Guests are always invited up first which is a little daunting the first time around but at least now I know what to do !

After eating (men in one room, women in another of course), the obligatory bottle of moke (locally produced arak drunk neat in shots) was produced along with the customary single glass which is passed from one person to another, being refilled each time by the "bandar".

Here's the young man who was the centre of attention :  

And here's the newest member of the family,just three months old (he's the one on the left) :

 

One of the highlights of any visit to a family in the villages is when the camera is produced - naturally enough, digital cameras are a real rarity here (this family doesn't have electricity) so it's a real novelty to see themselves on the little LCD screen on my camera after taking pictures. This week I am going to print a few of these pictures and give them to Kristo to bring back home the next time he visits his village. I imagine that the mother of the baby in the last shot probably does not have one photo of her baby yet, imagine how many photographs the mother of a three month old baby at home would have already !       

PS Do you like the wallpaper ?