It is always hard being away from your family and friends on special occasions like Christmas. However, we always try to make the best out of every opportunity and this year was extraordinary.
We decided to stay in Likiep longer than planned for two reasons. One: our friends on Totem were coming from Majuro and they were bringing us a small bit of food (eggs, milk, some produce) and a few parcels. This might not seem like a big deal to you because you can run down to the local store. However, Matt and I have been away from “stores” for 2 months and have not had fresh produce, milk, or eggs in almost 2.5 months. So we are super excited about our pending delivery (and seeing our friends!).
Two: we’ve met several super cool locals and really wanted to celebrate the holiday with them.
Christmas Cookie Extravaganza
My grandmother had a tradition of bringing the family together for cookie baking day. I loved it! Not only because I love to bake but also because it just brings such joy. So, I have tried to continue this tradition every year. I would invite my friends over to help me decorate (as this is truly my least favorite part of cookie baking day). We always had so much fun, usually with wine and always with great company and tasty cookies.
It is a little harder to host cookie baking day on the boat, but I’ve been able to continue the tradition. This was the first year that I had no friends around to invite over so I was “stuck” doing all of the decorating myself. So forgive the sugar cookie designs.
It took me 3.5 days to bake 200 Gingerbread cookies, 150 Sugar Cookies, 100 White Mice (or Mexican Wedding Cookies), 2 batches of toffee, and 100 chocolate brownie peppermint bark cookies.
I then assembled 7 Christmas boxes and filled them with a variety of cookies. It was so fun sharing them with the locals!
Decorating the Boat
We have such a small space but I always add some Christmas cheer.
Christmas Church Services
My friends on Totem (Jamie and Behan) attended church with me at the Holy Rosary Catholic church. RMI flew in a priest from Majuro (who is actually Fijian) to provide the services. Fr. Maurice is lovely and reminded us how much we missed the Fijians!
Most of the service was in Marshallese, but a small portion was in English. It was so nice to see everyone dressed up, most in green and red clothing. We recognized a few of the songs (the melody) and were able to sing along in an English version which warmed my heart.
After services we all gathered for a Christmas photo.
The chapel was decorated with love and presented a beautiful setting for the service. I just love the giant clam shell for the Holy water.
They had the most beautiful nativity set on display.
The Christmas Feast
Several days of preparation, 6 kitchens, and every family were involved in preparing for the Christmas Feast held at the community center. We (Totem: Jamie and Behan and Queen Jane: Kate and Jordan) showed up and were met with smiles. They placed beautiful floral leighs around our necks and escorted us to the guest table of honor at the front of the hall. We sat amongst the priest, the senator, the head of the Cappelle and deBrum families and other special honored guests. It was very unexpected and a complete honor.
The program included speeches from Paul, the acting mayor Paul, Junior (PJ deBrum) the head of the deBrum Family, head of the Cappelle family, the senator, and several others. Fr, Maurice gave a welcome and closing prayer. And in between, they gifted each child with a present, sang many songs and performed many dances to entertain the village.
The very large feast was served on handwoven baskets and included chicken, ham, hot dog, breadfruit, potato salad, rice, cookies, brownie, coconut water and juice. They served the guests at the tables first, then everyone else stood in line to get their plates. Pretty amazing that they were able to feed 140 adults plus all of the children!
Present Time
The Christmas presents were piled high. One for every child. Each child was called up to receive their gift and then everyone celebrated their blessing. The deBrum family gifted us a beautifully woven crown, a necklace adorned with shells, fresh coconut oil, and some coconut “hooch”.
A few of the children came up dancing and earned a very large round of applause! It was really amazing and heart warming to see the pure joy of the other kids celebrating their friends as they received their presents.
What a truly a magical Christmas holiday. It was a huge privilege to be honored and loved by all of the locals on Likeip. What a blessing.
This blog post was inserted , out of order, to coincide with the holidays. I am sure you understand. Our blog posts will resume in the new year in the order we explored. In our last post we explore that absolutely amazing treasures in the sea in Enemonit.