Onam

Today a few of us attended the Onam festival, the National Festival of Kerala. It is the Hindu festival that celebrates the return of the Great King Maveli. You can find out more about it at http://www.onamfestival.org/


In Kerala, the celebration lasts for 10 days, but here in Doha they do an abbreviated version, spending one day in games, music and dancing, and eating the traditional feast. We arrived not long before dinner (of course we had to get there in time to eat!), just in time to see the parade of King Maveli and Vashtu, with a troupe of drummers, lions, and young ladies holding baskets of flower petals. Some of the spectators danced along with the lions, the music was deafening loud, the room was hot like a sauna, but the disco balls twirled cheerfully from the ceiling, and people laughed and chatted in keeping with the occasion.


I noticed that there was some activity outside, so stepped out into the blinding sun for a breath of "fresh" air (as fresh as it can be in 40 temperatures!) and to see what was going on. Men were setting up to have a tug of war. It was very serious business as they would not start until they were guaranteed that the rope had been properly centered. Young women stood around in their vividly colored saris and salwar kameez waiting for the action to start.


The meal, called Onasadya, was served on banana leaf and consisted of rice (of course), vegetable curries, a cabbage dish and a variety of pickles. I was actually hoping that I would miss the meal because the only utensils available were my own fingers, and I wasn't sure that I could handle eating with my hands. But I decided to dive in like everyone else. It was an absolutely delicious meal, hands or not, and I'm glad that I gave it a try. Sheila Chick would have been proud!

Back to Work

Summer flew by in a flash, but what a beautiful flash it was! Very eventful for Dave and I as we became grandparents for the first time. Precious little Anna was born right on time, July 21, just 6 pounds, 2 ounces, but growing fast. Paul and Jenn are proving to be calm and patient parents as they learn to cope with dealing with a newborn. Anna has been growing quickly--trying to catch up to her hands and feet.


We spent quite a lot of time in Ontario visiting with Cait and Jorge, and with Paul and Jenn, who live in Kingston now. But we also had time to visit with family and friends and do some "Hawkshaw" research at the N.B. archives. The Spa weekend went off as usual. We actually had warm and sunny weather this year. I think that this was our 16th Spa weekend.


Dave was also busy this summer supervising the clearing and preparation of our building lot on the Tobique River. We may start to build next summer so the land had to be cleared of alders and bulldozed. Then Dave and his friend Bob seeded with grass and wild flower seed, and planted some pine and a few hardwoods that Dave had been able to dig up around our Carlingford place.

So now I'm back in Doha. Dave arrives at the end of October, just in time to escape the winter winds. I felt a bit out of place when I first got back. Kim is not here this year and it made the place seem oddly empty. But I'm getting back into the swing of things at work. I've got some really good students in both of my courses this fall, and I love to teach just as much as ever. Tam is back again, thank goodness for me. Thursday night suppers are back on track.(I think we'll have home made pizza next week) I've even been invited to Tam's for supper a couple of times.
Choir and Band rehearsals have started up again with new directors this year. It is shaping up to be a busy but fun year.