This week (or rather over the last couple of weeks) I have been mostly celebrating. With somewhere upwards of 45 different nationalities amongst the small population of the Falkland Islands, it’s quite possible to find yourself attending a variety of events that ordinarily wouldn’t feature much at home, or to find yourself attending bigger versions of events that you might celebrate on your own at home.
The celebratory season kicked off a week ago last Friday with Burns Night at the town hall. This was by far the biggest Burns Night I have ever attended and reflected the large level of Scottish heritage in the Islands. We had the traditional address to the Haggis, that wee and timorous beastie, toasted, of course, with whiskey. After what was some excellent haggis, there followed the address to the lasses, and the address to the laddies. These included the imparting of much information about Burns that I didn’t know before, in particular about his feminist credentials in calling for rights for women. I may have to read some more about Burns before the next Burns night rolls around.
Equally educational in a different way was the ceilidh that followed. The last time I danced a ceilidh was around 7 years ago at my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding. I had some distant memories from then of such moves as “stripping the willow”, and hoped that we would have a good caller for this effort. Fortunately there were many others in the hall as generally ignorant as us and all copying the couple or set in front, hoping desperately that they knew what they were doing. The Gay Gordons passed off without too much bumping into people, but reeling proved more amusing as various people dosi-do’d to the wrong side or found themselves facing the wrong way. There were quite a few people saying quite audibly “now form a star in the middle” etc etc. Much fun was had though and I don’t think we left any bruises on anyone else’s feet, or at least no-one complained to us if we did.
Burns night was followed by Australia Day. That’s not one I’ve celebrated before, but never let the novelty of a celebration stand in the way of a good barbecue. The children were entertained with a mix of lego, candyfloss, cricket and rugby. It’s the first time I’ve seen a 4-stump wicket but they seemed to manage ok. More importantly, it left the adults free to chat, sample Aussie rum and beer, and generally relax. Nothing more complicated than free flowing conversation was required of us, which was somewhat of a relief after the complexities of following the dancing the previous night, so also definitely up for a celebration of Australia Day next year as well.
The celebrations have not ended there as we’re into birthday party season in the family with Alexander and Ptolemy’s birthdays following in quick succession. This week it was Alexander’s birthday. Cake was duly produced to match his request.
We managed to escape the birthday party this year in favour of a fishing trip. Richard and Alexander duly went fishing (with one friend of Alexander’s and his family, and a friend of ours to teach Richard and Alexander how to do it). The trip was remarkably successful and we now have 3 fish in the freezer plus the one below which I had to work out how to fillet and cook. Whilst it was tasty, let’s just say, I’m not planning on taking on the MasterChef skills test any time soon….
Onwards to Ptolemy’s party at the end of this week and hopefully the end of extensive cake making for another year.
Five penguins and us 