A Huge Taste of Culture

“Culture: The culture of a group of people means how they live; what language they speak; the clothes they wear; what food they eat and how they prepare it; what types of celebrations and traditions they have and even what types of games they play.” – Monchy Students

Dressed in special plaid patterned clothes made especially for today’s Creole festivities, the students flood into the schoolyard. Vibrant reds, yellows, oranges and greens are everywhere you look and happiness is in the air. The teachers and students at Monchy Primary School sure know how to celebrate every aspect of their culture and I was not about to sit around and be a spectator! From the moment I arrived at school on Friday morning, I was running around trying to experience everything. Right at 8am, I had a knife in my hand and was cutting the huge loaves of bread and cakes that numerous parents had baked for the day. The whole morning was a big “bake sale” of local foods such as coconut cake, golden apple juice, lime juice, fish cakes, coconut tablets/sugar cake, bakes/floats and pami. Of course I had to sample everything, but my favorite treat was the cocoa tea. Unlike the Swiss Miss powder I’m used to at home, this is made from locally grown, hand-grated cocoa stalks and is absolutely delicious! It was funny hearing them talk about how they love drinking it on “cool nights;” nights where we first might result to putting on a long-sleeve shirt.

Soon after that, I was given an even bigger knife and was taken out behind the kitchen to “prepare the meat.” Using the two-foot cutlass, I had to take each slice of the lamb’s neck and chop the bone in the center so that we could cut the meat into smaller pieces. It took a few tries to get my aim just right, but soon I was a pro and could hack straight through the bone with one try. Then we had to go back inside and trim the fat from each piece. This was a long and tedious process, but it was fun working in the kitchen and getting to know the other teachers.

Fortunately, while the meat was cooking, I was able to sneak out and spend some time with the students who were busy singing, dancing and playing games. I kicked off my “slippers” and played jump rope with the girls, and then they taught me a different variation called “Chinese skip” which involves jumping from rope to rope to see who can jump the highest. I sure was tired and sweaty after that, but the children were relentless. Next they taught me some hand slapping games which brought me right back to the playground in grammar school playing “Miss Mary Mack.” Of course, they had different words, but the gist was the same so I caught on quickly and I think I surprised a lot of the students. All those games we played just to fill the time at recess finally came in handy!

Throughout the day, the air was filled with cultural music which includes a lot of drums and rhythmic beating. No matter how much you try, it’s almost impossible to keep from moving along with the beat. I had so much fun watching the students dance around with each other and have a good time. They learn the dance moves as soon as they can walk, and watching the little Grade 1 students dance was so adorable! Much to the students’ amusement, I gave it a shot and was having too much fun to care about how ridiculous I looked.

Unfortunately, lunch was served later than planned, so the students did not get a chance to present the dances and skits that had prepared earlier in the week. I was looking forward to seeing them, but I’m sure I will be engrossed in the culture once again on Sunday when the real celebration begins! By time 3pm rolled around, I was extremely exhausted and worn out. It had been so much fun to see the students outside of the classroom and learn so much about them. And I probably took about one hundred pictures because the students love to be on camera!