31 December 2006

A year ago - Il y a un an

It is amazing how times flies. A year ago at this time of the year we were in French Guiana/Surinam. We were living in French Guiana but were in Surinam for new year's eve. It was the second time we had the opportunity to go to Surinam together and we had a great time.

There was one thing that I wanted John to experience in Surinam (apart from the amazing food!) and that was the New Year’s eve, which is a very big thing over there.

On the day of the 31st, everybody gathers downtown to look and listen (and enjoy?!) the traditional firecrackers. It definitely comes from the Chinese culture that is part of Surinam.

C’est incroyable comment le temps passe vite. Il y a un an, à cette période de l’année nous étions en Guyane française/Surinam. Nous habitions en Guyane mais nous avons passé le nouvel an au Surinam. C’était notre seconde visite ensemble au Surinam et c’était vraiment cool !

S’il y avait bien une chose que je voulais que John vive comme expérience au Surinam (en plus de la nourriture) c’était la veille du nouvel an qui est vraiment un grand évènement là-bas.

Le 31 décembre après-midi, tout le monde se retrouve en ville pour regarder et écouter les pétards traditionnels. Y’a pas de doute que ça, ça vient de la culture chinoise qui fait partie du Surinam.




Roll it out! and let the party begin! Que la fête commence!

Follow the leader!





Bing bang bong

Pirates of the Caribbean with orange ear plugs -

Les pirates des Caraibes avec des bouches oreilles

Why would you want to leave your car on the street on that day?

Pourquoi est ce que quelqu'un laisserait sa voiture dans la rue ce jour-là?

After the big celebration downtown, people go home and have their own celebration (in a much smaller scale!) in the evening.

Après la grande célébration en ville, tout le monde rentre chez-soi et attend le soir pour célébrer le nouvel an

Fireworks before -Feux d'artifice

And After - et après



PS: The Bahá’ì new year is on March 21st - Le nouvel an Bahá’ì c'est le 21 mars :-)...to be continued - à suivre.

25 December 2006

Festival of all Festivals

There is a good article in the Jpost about the festival that is happening at the moment in Haifa. In the Wadi Nismas actually, one of the areas of Haifa. This event which is basically to celebrate Christmas, the end of Ramadan and Hanukkah, (read the JPost artcile to find out why) is VERY popular and is on until the end of December.


Vendeur d'olives (en t-shirt au mois de decembre!)

Tea, Coffee, anyone?

The crowd

The crowd 2

Sticky peanuts?

Some malabi


Fresh pomegranate juice

It's citrus time

The crowd again :-)

Follow me!

I hear it is Christmas...