Festival

   One of the things C and I enjoyed every July for several years was the Mideast festival sponsored by a nearby church.  There would be music, demonstrations of ethnic dances, and of course food. There was a market where clothing, jewelry and other small items were sold. They also had a bake sale with flat bread, Faranee bread (not sure why but I like it a lot), all kinds of pastries and homemade jams and jellies.

   There was also information about the Antiochian Orthodox church that hosts the festival. They held tour of the sanctuary where they hold their worship services. Someone would explain the worship practices they have and the reasons why they do things that way. 

   Then Covid hit. The festival was no longer held although for the last two years they would have an online bake sale and would sell food for people to pick up and eat at home. C and I missed it, especially the food. It wouldn't be the same eating it in our home.

   A couple weeks ago when we were driving around we saw familiar signs up in the neighborhood. Could it be?

  Turns out the answer was yes. The church was going to have the festival complete with all the things they usually have including the camel rides. (I've never done that.)

   Happily, I had the weekend off so we were able to go. We got there at noon on Saturday. Not many people were there yet. We didn't have to wait long for our food. They didn't have the big sampler platter that they used to have nor did they have the spinach pie. They had my favourite, the falafel in flatbread and I was happy. Just as we finished eating, the dancers started to perform. This year they had some younger children who did a nice job. Then the older kids did two dances.

   Once those were over I went inside to the bake sale. I knew I wanted some Faranee bread, flatbread and baklava. Sometimes there are interesting flavours of jam. I didn't find any jam that I wanted but I was happy to see plenty of the other three items.

   I passed by the market where the other items were sold. They had some colourful skirts and caftans that I would have liked. I walked by them because it felt wrong to buy and wear those things. It isn't my culture no matter how pretty and comfortable they looked. 

   I wanted to go into the sanctuary. It smelled of incense. I liked looking at the walls where there were icons of various saints with small votive holders suspended on thin chains in front of them. I looked at the names of the saints. About half of them were women, something I didn't notice before. It made me happy.

  C and I split a baklava ice cream sundae. I got some hummus to go. I really like their hummus. Then it was time to go home. The parking lot was crowded. People were driving around looking for open spots to park. C pulled out and we headed home.

   We had a good time. It was good to be able to attend the festival again.