229 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
229 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
### ###
|
|
### ###
|
|
### #### ### ### ### ####
|
|
### ### ##### ### ###
|
|
### ### ### ### ###
|
|
### ### ##### ### ###
|
|
########## ### ### ##########
|
|
### ###
|
|
### ###
|
|
|
|
Underground eXperts United
|
|
|
|
Presents...
|
|
|
|
####### ## ## ####### # # ####### ####### ####
|
|
## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ##
|
|
#### ## ## #### # # ####### ####### ##
|
|
## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ##
|
|
## ## ####### ####### # # ####### ####### ######
|
|
|
|
[ The Spirit of Wigilia ] [ By Simon Moleke-Njie ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
____________________________________________________________________
|
|
____________________________________________________________________
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE SPIRIT OF WIGILIA
|
|
|
|
by Simon Mol
|
|
|
|
|
|
In my Fatherland of Cameroon, the countdown to Christmas is not different
|
|
from that of other parts of the Christian world and Poland; cleaning,
|
|
decorating, renovating and frantic last-minute shopping are done with such
|
|
vigour as inspired by December alone.
|
|
|
|
Shopping however harbours a slight difference; at this period no gift is
|
|
valued more than a piece of new dress, thereby elevating fashion to a major
|
|
spectacle. A child has no greater pleasure than to show his/her new dress to
|
|
mates. Women have no better subject of discussion than 'clothing', with such
|
|
passion that competition and comparison determine a family's state of
|
|
harmony.
|
|
|
|
Man, who by African traditional and religious rights is the family head,
|
|
comes under a severe trial as his pride is put to test. His victory is to
|
|
see his family elegantly dressed on Christmas day as they go about visiting
|
|
others... then he can beat his chest and boast to his friends. This is the
|
|
only compromise that guarantees peace. The consequences of failure to meet
|
|
this end might come with such irreparable damages as divorce in extreme
|
|
cases. This is no joke.
|
|
|
|
On Christmas day proper, each family prepares sizeable quantities of food as
|
|
friends and neighbours from far and near, come without warning or
|
|
invitation. They must be fed and given to drink in the spirit of Christmas.
|
|
Pagans too are fully involved in the 'free for all' Christmas party thereby
|
|
making Christ's birthday a veritable period of reconciliation and spiritual
|
|
reunion.
|
|
|
|
It is a norm for guests to come with stems of flowers, which they hang
|
|
outside the door frame; this is often the only present they bring along, yet
|
|
they come to take from the host... and the number of stems on a door frame
|
|
determines the number of visitors a family had during Christmas day. It is
|
|
not a problem with anybody as when the host goes visiting too, nothing more
|
|
is expected of him/her than a stem of flower.
|
|
|
|
Poor me! When I had a phone call from a Polish gentleman Mr. Pavelski
|
|
inviting me to spend 'Wigilia' with his family on Christmas eve, I thought I
|
|
was in Africa and went without any present... worst of all, without even a
|
|
stem of flower! I was completely blind to 'The spirit of Wigilia' that
|
|
reigns in Poland!
|
|
|
|
I had never known my host before. I had been told by an intermediary that he
|
|
had read about me in the papers and wanted to meet me. It was a surprise
|
|
invitation for me, and I was hoping that the climax of the surprise would be
|
|
to meet him and his family... Poor me! Little did I know that there was more
|
|
in store for me!
|
|
|
|
A friend of his drove me to his flat, which is situated a few kilometres
|
|
from the centre of Warsaw. On our way we both drank in the splendour of
|
|
crystal whiteness brought by the snow, which was late in coming. "I pray
|
|
that it would snow during Christmas!", the receptionist at the Warsaw 'House
|
|
of Literature' (Dom Literatury) had pleaded to me a week earlier as I made
|
|
for the office of Polish PEN. She had pleaded with such passion as if I
|
|
could do anything about the snow draught. She wasn't the only one with such
|
|
prayers as Christmas was fast approaching with no sign of snow. Everyone
|
|
prayed for Father Christmas as it appeared that he was in for a touch time!
|
|
Then a few days to the D-day, the suspense reached a happy climax as
|
|
Varsovians got up one morning to find everywhere covered with the 'breath of
|
|
Angels'.
|
|
|
|
As we drove to Mr. Pavelski's, we were talking about it... we were still
|
|
talking about it as we climbed his stairs to be welcomed by him with a broad
|
|
smile on his face as he opened the door.
|
|
|
|
We shook hands as if we had known each other all our lives. I was introduced
|
|
to his family; his mother, very motherly and caring, his charming wife who
|
|
wore a smile all evening thereby easing the tension of first-meeting
|
|
embarrassment with such flare as possessed by a dutiful wife alone, and his
|
|
beautiful five-year old daughter Zofia who carried a long chestnut hair. She
|
|
was at the centre of attraction all evening. My experience of the day was
|
|
the fact that all barriers erected by 'a first-time meeting embarrassment'
|
|
melted under the warmth of real family harmony. Immediately after, I found
|
|
myself with Zofia at a corner talking like long-time friends. She brought
|
|
her magic toy TV and started sketching maps of country after country. She
|
|
harboured a passion for the US and Australia that came up frequently than
|
|
any other country.
|
|
|
|
Her parents were busy putting final touches to the evening's event, which
|
|
was to be crowned with the arrival of two august guests; a couple from
|
|
Geneva. Their arrival was to be the climax of the 'Wigilia'. Two giant
|
|
Christmas trees stood in the dinning room, one was decorated in blue lights
|
|
and the other in red. Their peripheries were littered with packages of
|
|
beautifully wrapped presents. Between them were four logs of pine with ten
|
|
candles stuck on them - five were black coloured with gold particles, three
|
|
were in little cups, a green one was in the middle and 'a father Christmas-
|
|
shaped' one stood by.
|
|
|
|
As the host's wife set them alight, little Zofia in a state of blissful
|
|
excitement blew them all out amid shots of laughter. With motherly patience
|
|
her mother re-lighted them. Zofia repeated her blowing-out act with laughter
|
|
and jumps. She insisted that it was her birthday. Grandma told her it wasn't
|
|
hers but that of the baby Jesus. She said no way. After a heated debate with
|
|
her father, they came to a compromise before she would let go.
|
|
|
|
We were joined by another friend. Everything was in place; the table was
|
|
set, our hosts had dressed up, it was time for the show to begin, still...
|
|
the august guests were yet to come. They were already a little behind
|
|
schedule and suspense was mounting. We all stood up anxiously... waiting,
|
|
some stood by the door, hoping for the bell to ring to signal their arrival,
|
|
still nothing.
|
|
|
|
Suspense soon reached the pitch of a patience-consuming crescendo with Zofia
|
|
shouting "where are the guests! where are the guests!" It was almost ten
|
|
minutes to the top of the hour. A consensus was reached to wait till the top
|
|
of the hour and if they didn't show up, (which would mean that they probably
|
|
wouldn't at all), then the Wigilia would be set on course
|
|
|
|
If it had been this way things would have boiled down to an anticlimax and
|
|
probably, an emotional tragedy. I wonder how we would have felt and what
|
|
kind of air would have reigned for the rest of the evening. Certainly the
|
|
'Spirit of Wigilia' would have been absent. It was seven minutes to the
|
|
dead-line, everyone was pacing up and down restlessly as minutes died down
|
|
to seconds...
|
|
|
|
Then at exactly five minutes to the dead-line, grandma who was standing by
|
|
the window, pulled back the blind and started with a shout: "look everybody!
|
|
There they are!" She had smelled them metres away! Everyone heaved a sigh of
|
|
relief and ran to the door.
|
|
|
|
A charming lady walked in, bringing with her a tide of smile and happiness
|
|
as well as her husband - a charismatic gentleman whose hair was as white as
|
|
Father Christmas. She is Polish, her husband is Swiss. They were with a
|
|
beautiful maiden.
|
|
|
|
Without any waste of time, we crowded on the table after the initial
|
|
introductions and the feast started. Wine went round, grandma had a special
|
|
announcement for each of her repast before it was served. I learnt that
|
|
during 'Wigilia' meat isn't eaten... a sharp contrast with the norm in my
|
|
native land where everyone, especially children, would be seen clutching,
|
|
biting and tearing lumps of meat.
|
|
|
|
As the evening progressed I perceived the Swiss gentleman. It dawned on me
|
|
that he was very fond of kids from what transpired between him and little
|
|
Zofia. He maintained an authoritative silence that attracted admiration -
|
|
talking only when necessary. At one point we exchanged view points on global
|
|
politics with myself at the listening end as I saw that he was schooled to
|
|
the rhythm of global politics. He has a glamorous disposition, with a body
|
|
language quite identical to that of the famous American comedian - Bill
|
|
Cosby, which he used to entertain little Zofia and everyone enjoyed it.
|
|
|
|
We were entertained to a variety of fish dishes, deliciously and Polishly
|
|
prepared... a mistake on the part of my hosts as they didn't know that I
|
|
harbour a passion for fish. I was particularly merciless with the bones,
|
|
which I crushed to minute particles, as back home we believe that in them
|
|
lies the real flavour. Little Zofia went round offering from her 'Baby
|
|
Christmas basket' a rare, tasteful fruit from Vietnam.
|
|
|
|
Then came the climax of the evening... the distribution of presents. I was
|
|
restless all the while, as I hadn't brought anything to put under the
|
|
Christmas tree. Our host proceeded with calling of names, which were written
|
|
and stuck on each packet. Each call was greeted by shouts of gratitude from
|
|
happy recipients. Heart beats accelerated as recipients unwrapped their
|
|
gifts to see their presents. By the time the show ran out 'Simon' had been
|
|
repeated five times and I left with a bag full of presents! I was enraptured
|
|
by the generosity of my hosts; I returned with a diary for the coming year,
|
|
a silver pen of high scholarly standard encased in a magnificent blue box
|
|
and worthy of signing a peace and reconciliation treaty, a poetry pamphlet
|
|
of Polish poet Czesaw Miosz, a CD of Polish Christmas carols, a key holder
|
|
and an umbrella.
|
|
|
|
The joy generated by the session of gift-distribution opened the final phase
|
|
of the evening - charting and chanting with plenty of fine wine; there was
|
|
plenty of tasteful soup, wine and vodka. There was singing too, and I was
|
|
taught a popular Polish Christmas hymn, 'Lulaje'. My host wrote the lyrics
|
|
in my new diary and I had no problem singing with everyone else. Zofia's
|
|
voice rose in thunderous frequency. In the height of the feast the host
|
|
brought out a twenty-centimetre long bottle, written on it was: 'wedding
|
|
wine of Jerusalem', "I have kept this for three years!" he announced. It was
|
|
passed around. The red coloured stuff apparently severed the last chord of
|
|
cross-cultural barriers as I was asked to sing a carol in my mother tongue.
|
|
|
|
After a few sips of 'wedding wine of Jerusalem', there wasn't a better
|
|
time to sing 'Di ma longo Jerusalem', (we are singing Jerusalem). It took
|
|
next to nothing for guests and hosts to memories the lyrics and join me in
|
|
singing. This was how 'Wigilia' presented a unique opportunity for
|
|
cross-cultural exchange.
|
|
|
|
It was early morning - past midnight and the baby Jesus had already been
|
|
born. As we made to leave each guest was presented with a long, dried stem
|
|
of rose coated with gold. I made for the snow covered street asking myself
|
|
what I had done to deserve such an experience. It stood still in these
|
|
words...
|
|
|
|
I ... the fourth unwise pilgrim
|
|
behind the three wise men
|
|
that followed the star to Bethlehem
|
|
hereby confess my presence;
|
|
... I went with nothing.
|
|
But, returned with a pen,
|
|
and paper to write this for you.
|
|
|
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
uXu #591 Underground eXperts United 2001 uXu #591
|
|
Send your submissions to: submission@uxu.org
|
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|