Burns Night!
I swear, in another life I was
Scottish. Die-hard Scottish. Friday night was Burns Supper in Nîmes, with about
15 of the assistants & another 40 or so people (mostly over the age of 60).
Expats, interested French, kilted women & men…the moment we walked in it
promised to be an interesting night.
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| tartan that sarah's mom gave me as a parting gift :) |
History: Celebrating the life of
Scottish poet Robert Burns, Burns supper is generally at the end of January to
coincide with his birthday on the 25th. Takes place both in Scotland
& wherever there are Scottish expats or clubs. Generally there are recited
poems, bagpipes, speeches, & haggis.
One of his poems:
A Red, Red Rose
“O
my Luve's like a red, red rose
That’s
newly sprung in June;
O
my Luve's like the melodie
That’s
sweetly play'd in tune.
As
fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So
deep in luve am I:
And
I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till
a’ the seas gang dry….”
Continuing on – first there were
speeches, followed by a ceremony. Words do not do justice…bagpipes played while
the log of haggis was brought out (by a man in a kilt, of course) & set
down for all to see. After a lengthy poem about (I think) haggis, the man broke
open the log in the middle and everyone cheered as the bagpipes started up
again. Then came dinner, which was decent…definitely not even close to the food
I had at the Philliben residence while in Scotland! Soup, potatoes & haggis
& parsnips, dessert. But the best part of the night, the dancing! I’ve got
no clue what these dances were called, but they were group/couple dances that I
guess are similar to barn dances? That’s just what someone said, haha. Everyone
had a blast trying to figure out the dances in a mix of English & French…our
younger group was probably the worst but certainly the entertainment in the
group. Lots of laughter, skipping, and a lovely old man that said it was
destiny when I ended up dancing with him the 3rd time in a huge
circle group dance! Here are some quality photos of the night :)
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| SO COLD - anna & i waiting for the shuttle |
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| pre-group dance - girls on one side & guys on the other! |
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| nice |
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| getting goofy |
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| note the kilts....and strange flaming red hair |
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| if i wasn't american...i'd choose to be scottish |
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| sooo lucky to have such a great friend here! |
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