On Sunday, Marie had her Christmas play at church. It. Was. Awesome. After living here for so long, there are few
things that make me stop and say, “Wow! That’s different.” I’ve gotten used to a lot of things. However. This is my first Christmas in Sierra
Leone! This was my first Christmas play in Sierra Leone.
The director of the play was so sweet and wanted to make
sure that Marie had a part so that she could mingle with the other kids and
make some friends. Thus, she became
“Innkeeper #1.” We were a little nervous
about it because her lines were in Krio and she while she is improving, her
Krio sounds…..well, like my Krio. We
practiced her lines at home though (all 3 of them) and during the first
practice, when she NAILED her lines, everyone erupted into cheering and
started dancing around. So sweet. J
Practices were a bit of a challenge because “4 O’clock”
doesn’t really mean “4 O’clock” as much as it means “sometime in the
evening.” Half of the practices we ended
up leaving because none of the other kids showed up. The assistant director explained that you
have to go house to house to collect them, otherwise they will just be “playing
too much.”
My biggest shock came during the dress rehearsal. They went through the entire play but instead
of ending in the traditional way, they decided to go out with a bang with the
ending scene being when King Herod
ordered all children under 2 to be murdered. They had 4 older girls with young children in
their laps. The soldiers burst onto the
scene and ripped the young children from their laps, laid them on the ground
and slit their throats. The mothers
started wailing. End Play. Gives you that feel good Christmas feeling doesn't it?
I couldn’t believe what I was watching and Marie, who was
sitting on my lap, turned around and asked why my mouth was open like
that. Fortunately a discussion ensued
and they decided that maybe they should cut it short because it was horrifying
(my contribution) it was too long and the kids would get dirty if they laid on
the ground while their throats were being cut (the assistant director’s
contribution).
My favorite part was the awesome 3 person donkey they made.
It was hilarious! “Mary” was an average
sized girl but was tall and the rear 1/3 of the donkey (where she was sitting)
yelled during every practice that “she’s big! She’s big!” Just what every teenage girl wants to
hear.
While there were some differences, I was chuckling to myself
on performance day when I saw all the phones come out to record the performance
and all the proud parents getting up from their seats to get the perfect
shot. Some things are the same in every
culture. Merry Christmas!
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