Thanksgiving

Dan and I went to my Aunt Kap and Uncle Jon's for Thanksgiving this year. The weather here in Massachusetts has grown colder and most of the leaves have fallen from the trees.

My cousin Zack flew in from Michigan where he is going to college so he could spend the holiday with the family.


And my cousin Jake, along with his girlfriend, are currently living with my aunt and uncle while he applies for grad school and prepare for the next step.

We played with the dogs outside for a while but poor Rufus has been in poor spirits ever since he had all his hair shaved off.

The air was brisk so Uncle Jon decided it was the perfect weather for a classy little trash fire.


Aunt Kap used the opportunity to burn off some items lying about.

Apparently men need to kick and poke flaming things.

How I spend my Saturday nights...

I was lucky enough to go to another Vodou ceremony this past Saturday. Here are a few pics. Enjoy!

Altar decorated for Gede (spirits of the dead). I know the blocks over people's eyes look silly but they help hide their identities.


Veve for Ogou (Firey war-like spirit)

Altar in the back for Gede



By the way, I do have better photographs but again I'm not posting any that clearly show participants' faces. As always ask before using any pictures from this site!

Gede Ceremony

Through Mignon's amazing contacts we were able to attend a Vodou ceremony last night. My head is still pounding from the cigarette smoke, the drums we sat next to, and the Haitian rum. But I thought I'd post a few pictures from the ceremony. I'm so excited to be doing fieldwork again!




Note: Out of respect for the people at the ceremony and the fact that this is a public blog, I purposely picked pictures that do not clearly show anyone's face. As always, please ask permission before using any picture from this site. Thanks!

BPL

I had to take a trip to the Boston Public Library in order to get a book the BU library didn't have. I knew it was a famous tourist spot but I didn't realize how beautiful it was inside. The current building was constructed in 1895 and was inspired by a number of famous Renaissance palaces and libraries.


The main staircase has beautiful marble lions and faux windows painted on the walls between the marble arches.


Murals and elaborate decorations make the library look more like a cathedral than a public building.



The library is on Copley Square and shares the space with a number of other beautiful buildings. Probably the most infamous is the Hancock Building. Plagued with numerous construction problems that delayed the opening from 1971 to 1976, once finally inside the occupants of the upper levels were dismayed to discover that when it was windy the building swayed so much they got motion sick and a $3 million dollar damper had to be added. But worse was that if winds got above 45 miles per hour police had to evacuate the surrounding streets because the glass panes would start falling. Considering it is the tallest building in Boston you can imagine the damage that caused. It cost between $5 and $7 million to fix the windows.

But it is pretty, no?

Yay!!!!

Today has been a great day! We found out that Dan passed the Massachusetts Bar Exam! Unfortunately he the poor boy caught a cold and has spent the past few days lying on the couch snotting into tissues, but we'll celebrate proper once he gets over the sickness.

I also went to a Haitian folklore dance class today that was amazing. It was a special celebration for Gede so we all wore black, purple, and/or white and danced for an hour and a half straight. I am exhausted, but the dancing was a lot of fun. Afterwards Mignon and I went to talk to the instructor who is an incredibly sweet guy from Haiti. He was very welcoming and encouraging despite the fact I have no sense of rhythm. But even more exciting than putting up with my two left feet is that he is a Houngan (Vodou priest) and he invited us to a ceremony in a couple of weeks. We also met the manbo (priestess) who will be hosting the ceremony. Both of them were so kind and said they'd do an interview someday. I'm really excited to go to a ceremony in Boston!