… is singing loud for all to hear.
Following
the wise words of my alter-ego, Buddy the Elf (yes, I am officially adding him
to the list of alternate personalities - , right alongside Gordy Silverstein
and Baby Dewey), I have spent the first few days of my break immersed in
friendship, food, and music. Quick side
note while I mentioned elves… I am proud to say that the Christmas elf
tradition was kept alive this year by Kaela Ward as she dressed as Tinsel the
elf to spread holiday cheer to some happy little first graders. Also, it was simply amazing to be able to
talk with a few of my best friends from
high school as they continued the annual Christmas party tradition… it made my
weekend.
Now,
back to Yap – as I was saying, the past few days have been chock full of
holiday merriment. On Monday night, we
had our “Lessons in Carols” program that we have been preparing for over a
month. The choir was breath taking. They all put in such an unbelievable amount
of work and it really came together so beautifully in the end. The energy, the adrenaline, the excitement
was just flowing through all of us and they absolutely nailed it. It was a perfect way to spread some holiday
cheer on Yap and to get into the Christmas mood.
On
Tuesday, we had a fun dress down day at school that consisted of volleyball/
basketball, The Santa Claus, and mass.
It was a nice relaxing day to start off the Christmas break.
Thursday
night, our neighbor – Mary – who I now call “Nina” because she is my Yapese
mother – told me that Thafarad would be performing in the St. Mary’s Elementary
School Christmas show. We went together
and sat on the floor of the improvised auditorium packed in among hundreds of
eager families. Thafarad’s first grade
class sang first and he was adorable.
Afterwards, I went to pick him up from his classroom to bring him back
to sit with Mary and I for the rest of the show. He spent the show on my lap and singing
around me. It was an amazing night. A bunch of my students were there and after
asked me who that little boy was. I
simply told them that he was my little brother and said “Can’t you see the
family resemblance?” I chitchatted with
a lot of my local friends who went to the show and it turned out to be an all-around
amazing evening.
Today,
we had our second concert performance at St. Mary’s Church and the singing was
even more incredible. They almost had me
in tears as they sand “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman” and “O Holy Night.” I am so proud of them, and I let them know
just how much happiness they have brought me during this holiday season. I talked about how difficult it is to be away
from home during this time of year, but I was so blessed to have all of them to
make my Christmas so special. Each and
every day I keep falling more and more in love with this island, with this
culture, with these people.
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