Top: Elizabeth and Anna Mei with the lanterns at the Big C shopping center. Middle: The unicorn enters Mr. Bo's house. Bottom: Sharing treats with Mr. Bo. Linh and Sally are at the far left.
Hello, all--
We have learned some things about Vietnamese culture this week. There are three major holidays: the New Year, a festival in May, and the Moon Festival in Septembter. Of the three, the Moon Festival is the one most geared for children. There are traditionally gifts, a special moon cake, lanterns and a lot of dancing in the streets--nightly neighborhood parades, of sorts, with large costumed animals. The costumes are reminiscent of the large dragon heads with a long piece of fabric for the body that people stand beneath. But, in Vietnam, the most common animal is the unicorn, which looks remarkably like the dragon costume, except they have put a horn on the top of the head. (Personally, I think that the costume is made in (or at least the design comes from) China, but the Vietnamese historically are not friendly with the Chinese, so they changed it a little.
Any way, back to the moon festival. There have been sales in all the stores and paper lanterns with children's cartoon characters displayed everywhere. Yesterday, after church, I took the girls to a fast food eatery at the Big C center. The restaurant gave lanterns to all the children, so the girls were happy to receive them! Later, Mr. Bo told us that he had arranged for one of the "unicorn dance troupes" to come to his house at 7pm so our girls could experience the Moon Festival. The girls were VERY excited and at 7, here they came. The dance group consisted of about 8 young adults. Five of them manned the unicorn--one on the head, and two partners of two that would switch off on the body--the hottest job. Then, there were two helpers who wore colorful masks and carried fans. I think their purpose was really to make sure no one in the crowd got out of hand with the unicorn. The group is accompanied by a drummer (the large drum resembled small timpani and he beat it with mallets). The unicorn went in a large circle of the courtyard, into Mr. Bo's living room and back out into the courtyard. Because the front of the house is mostly pane windows, visibility everywhere was good, which was appreciated by the large crowd from the neighborhood that gathered in the courtyard and at the gate. The drummer kept the rhythm going and the unicorn danced...and danced...and danced. Frequently, the three "unicorn head and body" dancers would somehow stack themselves so that the unicorn could stand upright. It was hot just being in the crowd watching--it had to be unbearable under that costume. After the dance, everyone left, but a processional continued down the street after another "unicorn" dancer. Mr. Bo invited us to stay for refreshments. His wife is away in Saigon with their daughter who is starting college there. Mr. Bo is like a lot of men who depend on their wives for the flair of entertaining, so he skipped the traditional moon cakes and served the girls' favorite treat: Oreo cookies! We enjoyed them with ice water. Duc and Linh came with their daughter Sally (who was terrified of the unicorn) and another English-speaking couple was there, so we were all able to communicate.
There was a stunning, white full-moon. It reminded me of the Chinese thought of the moon bringing us close to the ones we love, no matter how far away they happen to be, because the same moon shines on us all. Of course, that made me think of Jillian and Tony. It was a spectacular moon--a perfect ball of shimmering white silk. I hope you also can enjoy some moonlight. Moreover, I hope you will be moonlight to someone else--a reflector of the bright light of the Son!
Grace and peace.
