Last night we heard that the District Priest was coming this morning to lead a communion service, something that doesn't happen very often since he has seven villages in his district. In addition to the longer service this morning, we also had a “closing” feast for the Christmas and New Year's season of festivity. So after church, the kids went and got the lelenga out from under the stones, and we cut it up to share with our neighbors at the feast.
It is perfectly acceptable to eat a little before you go to the feast, and even to keep some back for yourself is expected. The first time somebody told me this, all I could envision was taking a 9x13 casserole to a church potluck in the States. And the casserole had ¼ of its contents removed. We truly do live in a different culture!
The routine is familiar now, gather all of the food in one big place. Distribute it among the tables, wave the flies away, bless the food, and grab what you want as quickly as possible. Then we all eat while we listen to speeches. As a “big man”, Aaron was asked to give a speech, and we shared our mat with Janet and her adorable little girl, Lolikia.
We got home around 12:30 and began the packing process again. We did make time to observe our Sunday afternoon traditions of making pizza and playing games. All work and no play, you know. It's also important to us to observe the Sabbath and rest some, even among the chaos of packing.
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