As I mentioned in another blog, last week was Chinese New Year. Let me set the stage. The MAF team gets together weekly for a meal and Bible study. We eat at a local restaurant and have been regular customers of a particular one which we call B-21. B-21 is the restaurant's street address. I don't even know its real name. Anyway, this restaurant is owned by a man of Chinese descent - as are many of the successful businesses here in Tarkan. But again - that is a story for a different time.
There is a troupe of "lion" dancers here in Tarakan who for a fee will put on their dance. Many businesses, individuals with large families or organizations will hire them to come to their place of business or home. The MAF bunch was particularly invited to join B-21's party. I will include a few pictures although video is really what it requires to get the full effect. The only "music" used for the troupe to dance to is drums and cymbals. They keep a beat and the "lion" matches his dance to the beat of the drums. When the dance was over, the troupe packed up their gear and headed off to do another performance. I pitied the poor guys inside the costume - they were sweating profusely - and I'm sure they still had many places to go yet. After the performance, Mr. B-21 invited us to join him and his family/friends for "soto". (Soto is an Indonesian chicken soup.) All the children were given 5,000 Rp notes - the equivalent of about 50 cents.
We went to another Chinese couple's house to pay our respects for the New Year. There I found out that I was born in the year of the Rooster. :o) Hmm.
I love the little boy, in the first picture, on the floor looking up into the Lion. He is obviously onto knowing that the lion is not real and that someone must be hiding inside. So cute! You need to post some pictures of you in the thick of these cultural events.
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