A Different Christmas 2008 - En annerledes jul

All over the world, Christmas is Christmas, but sometimes the little detail makes the difference. Here are some shots of a different Christmas in Maghdouche.
På norsk
Over hele verden er jul- jul, men noen ganger er det "den lille forskjellen" som gjør det annerledes.
Her kommer noen fotoer fra Maghdouche jul


A dry branch can be a perfect christmas tree
En tørr grein kan bli et perfekt juletre.....


and every plant in the house !
og alle planter i huset !


Chickpeas, lentils and wheat planted in small trays to be used as christmas ornaments for the nativity scenes.
kikerter, linser og hvetekorn lagt på papirservietter og vannet i små skåler blir brukt som juledekorasjon i julekrybben. En spire til nytt liv......


Marwan and Georgette preparing the nativity scene in the local church.
Marwan og Georgette forbereder julekrybben i kirken i Maghdouche.


Uuuuh, anything is missing ? No, Jesus will be added at midnight.
ÅÅÅÅÅÅ, mangler det noe, neida, Jesus settes i julekrybben ved midnatt i midnattsmessen.


Which nativity scene is the best in the village? yours for sure !
Hvilken julekrybbe var den beste i landsbyen, din selvfølgelig!!!!


Christmas rolls "buches de Noel" before decoration.
Julekaker er også tradisjon og i Libanon er det RULLEKAKE også kjent som "Swiss roll". Og her er den før dekoreringen.


Christmas rolls after decoration.
Og slik ble den etter dekoreringen


Santas getting ready.
Julenissen gjør seg klar

Ryan's first Christmas !
Ryans første jul


A little prayer and a little hymn in front of the nativity scene before the Christmas dinner.
En liten bønn og en liten salme foran julekrybben før julemiddagen.

Norwegian Cultural Salon involving Maghdouche

It was short after our arrival to Norway that we heard about the Cultural Salon "kultursalongen" taken place in Hernes, Elverum , the 7th. of February 2009, at 18:30.

Among various cultural activities, Trond Einar is invited to inform about our art project "Dignity" and the status of the project after our last visit to Maghdouche, Lebanon.

For more information about the Salon and the program , check the link:
http://www.kultursalongen.com/21847822

We hope to see you there...

Until the Next Time, Maghdouche !

So quick !!! 6 week stay in Maghdouche is over and we are back to cold Norway.

6 weeks of excitment, joy and satisfaction... and a lot of hard work. We are back and our hearts are full with wonderful experiences that we will be slowly sharing on this blog to give you a little taste of the warm hospitality that we got and the big interest with which Maghdouche people received us.

Our Maghdouche friends, we thank you for all your efforts, time and energy that you put, to keep on our crazy rythm in order to get things organised and accomplished within a deadline.

We will be missing you all !

Christmas Concert in Maghdouche

Sunday, the 21st. of December at 6:00 in the evening, the bells of Maghdouche church will be ringing loud. The reason is the Christmas concert that became a tradition in the yearly preparation for Maghdouche Christmas.

Arround 40 young people from Maghdouche and its surrounding villages, who form the Savior's Choir, will be singing traditional oriental as well as modern Christmas songs, in arabic, french and english.

By curiosity, we entered the church last December, but with peace and deep Christmas spirit, we left. To listen to these young voices was such a wonderful experience.

Spindle all the way !

This instrument might be strange and unusual for most of the Lebanese young generation nowadays. Silly enough, this was used in almost every house in Lebanon, not long time ago in the Lebanese history.

The spindle called "Maghzal" in arabic, is a simple instrument that was used to spin wool, cotton or silk. My uncle in Maghdouche recalls helping his mother spinning when he was a child.

I was introduced to the spindle here in Norway and I have to admit that when I tried it, I found it very fascinating. To see a mass of wool transforming into a long thread in front of my eyes and with my own hands is quite a satisfying experience that I would like to share with my fellows in Maghdouche.

We will bring one spindle with us when we come to Maghdouche. It should be easy to make and easy to use.

Østlendingen

"Dignity", our project in Maghdouche-Lebanon got a full page in the newspaper today. Nils Henning Vespestad, a dynamic journalist from "Østlendingen" newspaper is following our project with big enthousiam. We thank him for keeping our norwegian friends up to date with our activities and plans for the future.

We also thank the norwegian people for all their kindness towards the project. Their support means a lot for us.

We Need You !

Do you live in Maghdouche?
Do you do any kind of handcraft?
Do you crochet or knit?
Do you sew by hands or are you able to use a sewing machine?
Do you still remember from your childhood how to stitch on a canvas (petit point) or cross-stitch (point de croix) ?
If you do, then we need your skills.

Take contact with Georgette Hayek in Maghdouche and let us know who you are so that we can fix a meeting with you during our stay in Lebanon.
It could be nice to work together with you ...

Course #2 - Patchwork and Quilting - Kurs i lappeteknikk

Recycling has a big part in our "Dignity" project. We wish we were able to recycle anything and everything, but at the beginning we start with textiles, on the hope of being able to spread our activities in the future: " Dream big but start small !"

Gjenvinning er en stor del av vårt "Dignity"prosjekt. Vi skulle ønske at vi kunne resirkulere alt, men til å begynne med velger vi tekstil, og vi håper å kunne utvikle dette videre. "Drøm stort, men start i det små"

In this direction, we announce our second course.

Course Title: "Patchwork for Beginners..."
Participants Age: -----Over 15 years------
Pre-requirements: Colour Theory Course

Date: January 2009 (date and time will be decided during the colour theory course)

For registration , contact Georgette Hayek - Maghdouche
For more information about the course, send us an email.

Fingers crossed ! Kryss fingrene!

"Dignity" is on the way. From being an abstract idea to become a concrete reality, there is a long, very long way and it requires a lot of work and a lot of patience.

Finally, a small group of enthousiastic Maghdouche people was established in order to follow the project while we are in Norway.

"Dignity" er på vei. Fra å være en abstrakt ide til å bli en konkret realitet, det er en lang vei å gå og det krever mye arbeid og masse tolmodighet.

Omsider, en liten gruppe av entusiastiske mennesker fra Maghdouche er etablert og følger prosjektet mens vi er i Norge

The group had its first meeting last week. All the members filled and signed the application that formalizes our project which was delivered to the Lebanese authorities.

We keep our fingers crossed so that we get a positive answer as soon as possible.

Gruppen hadde sitt første møte sist uke. Alle medlemmene underskrev søknaden som formaliserer vårt prosjekt. Søknaden er levert til de Libanesiske myndigheter. Vi krysser fingrene at vi vil få et positivt svar så raskt som mulig.

As an act of appreciation for the Norwegian people, for their moral and economical support that our "Dignity" project got and is still getting, the group sent us this photo-card : " Dignity is on the way... thank you Norway !

In return, and on behalf of all the Norwegians that participated one way or another in making "Dignity" see the light, we thank back the group for all the efforts made and yet to come.

Som en måte å sette pris på nordmenn, for moralsk og økonomisk støtte til vårt Dignity prosjekt lagde gruppen denne plakaten : Dignity kommer - takk til Norge.

Som gjengjeld vil vi si på vegne av venner og bekjente, tusen takk til gruppen for all jobbing så langt og for arbeidet som kommer.

The Olive Season

Olive-picking season starts in October and continues until November. People of Maghdouche wake up early and head to their olive groves around the village to gather the fruits.

I remember from my childhood that climbing the ladder was restricted to adults, while us children, we were hitting the branches with a stick or picking from the ground, the "bad" olives which would be used for soap making.

Back home, after a long working day, leaves and bad fruits should be picked out while the fresh green fruits are divided into two parts: one part is to be consumed during the year as part of the "mouneh" or eaten fresh mixed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt (yummm !).

The other part is packed and sent to one of the local mills to be pressed and used as oil.

Olive oil plays a main role in the daily life of Maghdouche and lebanese people. Besides being a main ingredient in the Lebanese cuisine, it is still used as an alternative remedy for different medical conditions.

Photos by: Hanaa K.