We had two big Thanksgiving parties this week (25 & 26) for our French friends to experience one of the great American holidays. There were 7 Americans and over 20 French people at each celebration, plus a few children. We covered the tables with Thanksgiving decorations, read the history of Thanksgiving, took turns sharing what we are most thankful for and of course ate many traditional Thanksgiving dishes including turkey and dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, devilled eggs, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and more! (We put index cards by all the dishes with French translations.) For many of our friends, this was the first time they had ever celebrated Thanksgiving. They really enjoyed learning about our traditions and trying new food. Also, it was a great opportunity for my friends to meet each other and hear about all the ways God has blessed us and why we are so thankful to him. I can't thank the folks back home who helped supply the food and decorations enough. (Not everything needed was available in France.) Thank you!!!
Here's some Thanksgiving pics, but I forgot my camera and had to use my phone so the quality isn't great:
Boeuf au parc!
Yes, that does say "Beef in the park," but the French word boeuf is also a slang term for "jam session". I made a good friend a few months ago who started inviting me to boeufs around the city. These meetings began this summer with a small group of friends who would hang out with there instruments and maybe some food and somebody said let's do this again next week and so more people showed up with more food and more instruments and it just kept going all summer and into the fall, spreading only by word of mouth. The boeuf usually happens once every two or three weeks. It's in a different place around the city every time, everyone is welcome, the food is vegetarian, and donations are excepted to help with food, but everything is free. Most people who come don't even play music, but it is a great place to hang out and meet new people. And for me, a great place to practice French as well. What a great way to encourage art and community!
I've been to three boeufs so far. The first one was late at night out at the old port and around midnight was crashed by the Velorution, another fun social event in Marseille! Velorution is a mix of the words "revolution" and "velo" the French word for bicycle. It happens once a month and may have as many as 100 cyclist who take a different route through the city each time. This particular night, they ended at our boeuf. The parade of bicycle parade was very festive with music, banners, and velos of all shapes and sizes. The last beouf I went to was is a park behind the famous Palais Longchamp. Here's a few photos:
Some other things I've been doing here in Marseille concerning music are helping French songwriters double check their English lyrics, going to concerts, checking out local pratice and recording studios, and taking guitar lessons. This week, I had my first jazz manouche lesson or gypsy jazz. I met a great player awhile back and he is giving me lessons in exchange for help with his English pronounciation when singing (he loves singing Frank Sinatra). I've been to some amazing concerts, but most recently I saw an Egyptian lutist and composer named Rabih Abou-Khalil with his band, a drummer, an accordianist, and a soprano saxophonist/bassist. Check it out:
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