April 23rd is Shakespeare Day—an international holiday to celebrate the greatness of the bard and his legacy. The English schools on our island have made a tradition of celebrating William despite the fact that most teachers and students cannot comprehend his English. And so this past Wednesday (the 28th—for some reason they weren’t able to celebrate on the actual day) the English schools came together to celebrate this literary giant.
I (Tom) walked into the courtyard full of students, saw the drama teams milling about behind a sheet, and saw them struggling to hang an American flag (they didn’t have a Union Jack, but a U.S. flag is close enough right?) I knew this was going to be good.
The day began with Mr. America (the director of one of the English schools) getting up to give a speech. It was a speech that reached for greatness. As he punched his fist into the air he explained to us in his best English, “Shakespeare is synonym for literature, synonym for science, synonym for economics, synonym for philosophy, synonym for agriculture...because Shakespeare is the father, the mother, the owner of English.” The students roared with glee at every punch. Then Mr. America moved onto his favorite subject—English itself.
“English is the air; English is the land; English is the water. It is the passport to international. It is the door to all things!” Mr. America is passionate about English.
When he finally ceded the stage, our British teammates Jonny and Amy took the stage— a real Englishman and Englishwoman—sharing about one of their nation’s greatest treasures. They gave a quiz on the life of Shakespeare and Jonny even read a love sonnet. (I’m sure every woman there would have swooned if they could only have understood what he was saying.) But the pièce de résistance was their adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. I had the honor to narrate as Jonny and Amy performed their hearts out to the wild applause of the audience. They battled with swords (butter knives) and drank poison. When Jonny (Romeo) in a fit of passion drank poison and threw himself in the dirt dead, it brought the house down. They cheered and cheered, caught up in the drama. It was clear proof that Shakespeare can still draw a crowd!
I had to leave shortly after, which meant I missed the drama about elephantitis, Celine Deon song performances, and poems dedicated to mother and country, but I hear that it all went well. Old William said, “All that glisters is not gold.” I think that the same could be said of the celebration.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are adjusting back to life on the island and forming new routines pretty well. We don’t have it down pat yet, but things are going okay. Peter is one month old today and is doing very well. He’s gained over 2lbs since he was born!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
There are many exciting things going on around the island. We are very excited that Amy is going to meet with a group of people to talk about what really matters. These people approached her with the request to meet weekly! We’ve also had five different people who have requested and are reading our favorite Book! We have some concerns about Megan’s incision from the caesarean. Pray that it would continue to heal. Our teammates Chris and Beka and family are on holiday. Pray that they would have a relaxing time and that our team would function smoothly while they are away. Finally, our friend Ankili who went abroad to study has been very sick and wants to come back to the island. His family is collecting money to buy him a ticket home. The whole situation is quite sad. Pray that some good may come of it.
The day began with Mr. America (the director of one of the English schools) getting up to give a speech. It was a speech that reached for greatness. As he punched his fist into the air he explained to us in his best English, “Shakespeare is synonym for literature, synonym for science, synonym for economics, synonym for philosophy, synonym for agriculture...because Shakespeare is the father, the mother, the owner of English.” The students roared with glee at every punch. Then Mr. America moved onto his favorite subject—English itself.
“English is the air; English is the land; English is the water. It is the passport to international. It is the door to all things!” Mr. America is passionate about English.
When he finally ceded the stage, our British teammates Jonny and Amy took the stage— a real Englishman and Englishwoman—sharing about one of their nation’s greatest treasures. They gave a quiz on the life of Shakespeare and Jonny even read a love sonnet. (I’m sure every woman there would have swooned if they could only have understood what he was saying.) But the pièce de résistance was their adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. I had the honor to narrate as Jonny and Amy performed their hearts out to the wild applause of the audience. They battled with swords (butter knives) and drank poison. When Jonny (Romeo) in a fit of passion drank poison and threw himself in the dirt dead, it brought the house down. They cheered and cheered, caught up in the drama. It was clear proof that Shakespeare can still draw a crowd!
I had to leave shortly after, which meant I missed the drama about elephantitis, Celine Deon song performances, and poems dedicated to mother and country, but I hear that it all went well. Old William said, “All that glisters is not gold.” I think that the same could be said of the celebration.
We are adjusting back to life on the island and forming new routines pretty well. We don’t have it down pat yet, but things are going okay. Peter is one month old today and is doing very well. He’s gained over 2lbs since he was born!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
There are many exciting things going on around the island. We are very excited that Amy is going to meet with a group of people to talk about what really matters. These people approached her with the request to meet weekly! We’ve also had five different people who have requested and are reading our favorite Book! We have some concerns about Megan’s incision from the caesarean. Pray that it would continue to heal. Our teammates Chris and Beka and family are on holiday. Pray that they would have a relaxing time and that our team would function smoothly while they are away. Finally, our friend Ankili who went abroad to study has been very sick and wants to come back to the island. His family is collecting money to buy him a ticket home. The whole situation is quite sad. Pray that some good may come of it.
