A Few of our Favorite Things : Holiday Folk Fair, International

These Czech pastries shine like jewels!

For me, The Holiday Folk Fair in Milwaukee, WI, is what being an American is all about. The coming-together of so many different cultures, traditions, foods, languages, dances, music ... It IS The Global Village.

It never fails, when I'm in The ALL Nations Theater watching a group of dance performances, the tears start to well up in my eyes--amid all those bright colors, happy music, and bright smiles. It gets to me--every culture has a way (many ways) to celebrate. None of them are right or wrong, and we gather to celebrate the diversity of it ALL.

In one performance, you can see a dance from Serbia, and the next might be from Croatia. Here they are dancing on the same stage--peacefully represented. It breaks my heart to see know what has happened in the Old Country for some of these cultures. At least here (Milwaukee, WI), there is no war.

They also have a Naturalization Ceremony to recognize today's immigrants who are becoming citizens. This is an incredibly MOVING ceremony.

So when Congress fights over immigration laws, I would remind them : We were ALL (or our ancestors were) immigrants here at some point in history. It just depends on how far back in time you go. Even the Native Americans came from somewhere else if you go far enough back in time ... I truly believe the next civil rights movement in the US will be about Immigrant Rights.

I first went to this magical event in high school about 25 years ago. The language clubs always organized a trip (It was a 5-hour bus ride one-way from Antigo) to Milwaukee for this event.

It's always a weekend filled with color, dancing, folk costumes, merchandise and cuisine from all over the world. I love it! Where else but Finland can you get the wonderful hand knit mittens, or gorgeous hand-made wooden boxes from Poland?

People-watching at the Folk Fair :

Lithuanian (or Latvian?) folk dance costume. I believe the fabric is woven linen. They also wear a lovely crown-like headpiece (not pictured).

Pomoranean Dancers heading back to the stage for another performance. These have always been some of my favorite costumes! I love the red!

The other great thing about the Folk Fair is that you don't need to be some rail-thin person to dance. Normal people dance these dances and wear the costumes. The Folk ARE regular people!

The Global Village

It amazes me that I know people or people who know people near the places of recent disasters in the news.
* Earthquake in Peru
* Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis
* Events in N. Iraq

I know people in these places. If I don't know them personally, I know people who know people there and are concerned. I, too, worry that they are okay, or lived through these catastrophic events. So you can sort of "see" how people's thoughts encircle the world and bind it together ...

I knew Sinden was in Madison at the time of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, so I wasn't too worried about her life and limb. What I didn't know was that the bridge that collapsed was very near her condo. She's on that ramp every day she's in her car ... Sheesh!

I emailed Diane to make sure she was okay, too. With a toddler now, she needs to stick around to see that child grow and mature. Thankfully, she (and her family) was all right. She even helped with the recovery effort at her hospital.

Kevin's wife Elena is from Peru. I hope that her loved ones are okay after the earthquake this week.

One of my volunteers is a Khurdish woman from Northern Iraq. She is a Muslim woman volunteering in a Catholic Hospital (Doesn't that make you think!). She is very kind, gentle, wants to do a good job with her volunteer tasks. She is a good worker, and we want her to come back safe and sound. Her family had to leave her homeland about 10 years ago, as she says, "Because Saddam was so crazy." This summer, she went back (at great expense) to visit her mother and family. She assured me that things were quiet and peaceful in Northern Iraq. Before she left, I had given her 2 pieces of Turquoise which is supposed to protect travelers (my version of a St. Christopher's medal). I sincerely hope that she and her family are all right. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to see your homeland in such turmoil--with family and friends still there in the thick of it. Those are the ties that bind--Her family is still there : A mother longing to see her daughter again, and her growing grandchildren.

On the other hand, when disasters strike--as with Hurricane Katrina, I thought (with the distance of an optimist), "Wow, here's a community that has a tremendous opportunity to come together and rebuild." With the Global Village, there was a great outpouring of aid and help from regular people. This was too big a job for government to handle. People from my workplace went down to help care for people displaced. My "church" sent a crew down to help clean-up and rebuild. Granted, I know there's still a lot of work to do in New Orleans ... the scale of this man-made disaster cannot be recovered overnight. I hope better planning goes into the reconstruction and city planning.