Diplomatic Incident

Flores, being a Catholic Island, offers a number of opportunities to go to Mass outside the usual Sunday services and Holy days of Obligation and the two months of Mary, May and October, are no exception. These months involve each neighbourhood creating a timetable as the statue of Mary is passed from one house to the next with each respective house hosting a prayer service throughout the month. Last month these activities culminated in a four day celebration of Mary hosted at our next door neighbour's house ending with a Mass for the local community. The festivities seemed to include playing very loud, not always religious, music all night long and the the local youth getting drunk, but as it was all in honour of Mary no one seemed to mind not being able to get much sleep. As an aside, it was the first time I have heard hymn karaoke, an event that will hopefully forever remain localised to Flores. Having laid in bed listening to endless drunk people singing Ave Ave Ave Maria very badly, rather than never wanting to hear it again, I find it constantly in my mind and catch myself singing it throughout the day.

Attendance at this Mass was an important sign of commitment to the neighbourhood and so I was glad to see our new neighbours, the husband and wife from Cuso, were in attendance. (Cuso is a Canadian version of VSO, so they are volunteers as well) I was a little surprised, however, to see the wife joining the line for Communion as I was sure her husband had mentioned that she wasn't Catholic. Everyone was taking this opportunity to get a good look at her as she stood in line, which is quite normal here, but I was conscious that she was still a little uncomfortable with the sensation of being watched. I myself, having gone native, joined in with the crowd and watched her as neared the priest. She was handed the Host, but it would appear that instead of putting it in her mouth, she kept it in her hand. I was aware of the fact that as she made her way back to her seat the entire congregation were staring at her, and not just the normal staring at westerners but jaw dropping, mouths agape, eyes bulging out of their heads kind of staring. It was as if for a few minutes in that particular spot the world stood still as we watched, waited and stared. My heart went out to her and I couldn't imagine how she must be feeling with this kind of attention. But I also had to wonder along with other people, what on earth was she planing on doing with it, if not eat it. People were tapping me and pointing to her, all you could hear were whisperings of belum (not yet) throughout the rows as the tension mounted. I thought about how I could creep round four rows and help her without it being too obvious. And then as suddenly as it had started relief rippled through each row as word came in the form of sudah(already) meaning that she had just eaten it and the crisis was over. The staring faces were replaced by happy smiles and sighs of relief and the Mass continued as if nothing had happened.

It is some weeks later and she is still having flashbacks and is a little mortified by it all, although she has avoided attending Mass in that time. The urge to integrate is understandable but in some cases it is better to be satisfied with simply observing.

As an aside, the picture of the innovative flower vase, below, shows what happens after Dom has eaten his Spicy Curry flavour Pot Noodle (brought out by Kate and Richard, believe it or not). It was seen as an ideal alter decoration for the Mass!