Que Sera Sera: St Martin Festival

So the story goes something like that ...

There was a man named Martin, who was a knight in Roman times. He was riding a horse when he came upon a beggar by the side of the road. The beggar was freezing from the cold, so Martin cut his cloak into half and shared it with the beggar. That day is celebrated as St. Martin's Day. Traditionally, in many parts of Germany, Austria, Belgium and Netherlands, the kids parade in home made lanterns and sing traditional songs. After the parade, the kids get a weckmann (a sweet bread in a shape of a man, with raisins for his eyes).

So here in Dubai, Sera together with some of her German and not so German friends celebrated St Martin's Day at Safa Park. A week before the festival, we had a major lantern making operation with some mothers from school. The moms were busy making the lanterns with very little help from the kids, but it was good fun nevertheless.

We met at the park for a picnic before the lantern parade. It was an almost perfect setting, with the sun setting and we were perched on the hilly parts of the park, so we had a nice view of the surroundings. Families were lounging lazily on the grass, while the kids were running and playing. The time for the parade finally came. Everyone gathered around for some singing, errrr ... German songs. Sera tried to follow, along with Oma. Johan was watching over Yasmin who was going around poking at lanterns, much to the horror of many parents. Hmm, that girl is uncontrollable! And I was just enjoying the moment. Soon after, the many Germans and non-Germans paraded the park with the lit lanterns ... quite a pretty sight indeed. Sera was very eager at the beginning but after a while, even she got tired. Yasmin didn't want to walk at all, I reckon she was a bit overwhelmed by all the people towering over her.

So that was one of many cultural immersion activities, courtesy of Sera's school ... or maybe just the fact that we're living here in Dubai.