'Tis the season....

[susaan]

..for family gatherings.

Post yours ?


1-Extended family and friends all eating to the tune of oud and drum-we cook a dish each,get all dressed up,catch up on news-.
Indonesian traditions state an open door means all welcome,invited or casual passers-by .

2.Sufi Sheykh Fattaah,author of our bands' lyrics, seated under painting featured on
Debu's 3rd album.
-Saleem,the Canon guy,plays flutes and percussion,too.
-.just heard we are recording 3 songs for EMI Asia.

3.Burhan wants to play Lutfiys' tablas...he also wants the cake in both hands.

4-Shadiyyah looking seriously glam !

5.Dila,my darling daughter,whose eye is my icon.

[Old Timer]

Great slice of a culture and traditions other than our own here in the states. Thanks for including us in your festivities susaan. Love that first overhead and of course the beautiful image of your daughter. (I agree those are wonderfully expressive eyes.)

[susaan]

Oh thank you !
-I was a bit unsure of how this would appear to y'all..our family is..
deep breath...American,African American,Japanese,Chinese,Indonesian,Malaysian,Bri tish...

[shootme]

Susaan, love the first shot, composition and perspective nice stuff. Looks like everyone was having a great time. Don't worry about the nationalities, I was born in India, raised in Australia of Swiss parents and now living in Belgium, my son born in Singapore and my wife is Swiss.

[JamesV]

I also love to first one.

That is something different about the open door, invited or passers-by. Nice to see different cultures and the love for one another. Unlike the states, some areas, people look down at others because they are different.

James

[Wild Wassa]

Susaan, I'd like to say, all the best to you and yours, but it might take you several hours to get around to everybody to tell them.

Any way Mate, great shots. Awesome photos.

Warren.

[susaan]

Shootme,thanks! We love our fertile family diversity,makes for pretty children and interesting musical cross-pollination.

JamesV, that is what makes me love this country,its people and customs are warm and welcoming.

Warrren, thanks for the inspirations-at the speed my internet goes,right now,it would take well into the next year to greet and thank everyone on here-have a good one.

Thanks to all for comments,critiques,advice and patience in my first year here.

Thanks to Photo-John and all the mods for keeping this a great site.




To all a Merry Christmas,and to all,good night !

[megan]

What a gathering! Thanks for sharing!

[megan]

Naaah... in my apartment building alone there are Greek, Spanish, Indian, American, African American... my neighborhood used to be Irish but is now is a mix with pockets of Greek, Italian, Albanian, Croatian, Egyptian, Spanish, African American, Mexican, Colombian, Brazilian, and... American mutts like me.

[dana m.]

Thanks so much for directing me here Susaan. Now that I know so much more about your wonderful and diverse family, these pictures mean more. Will write in next day or so.
dana

[Jimmy B]

Wonderful shots! It is nice to see the different cultures on this forum. I hope every one has a good holiday season!
Jimmy

[susaan]

Looking over the photos,I realize how different we must look to all the North Americanos ..

-actually,our everyday lives resemble more a musical hippy settlement of the late sixties-
maybe 80 per cent born in the USA,with the younger generation tending to marry Indonesian partners,as they grew up here.
(Founding members were in San F. around that time,a bunch of preachers' kids,a few had served in Korea and U.S.coastguard services,before setting off around the world.)

-Our children tend to football,rather than baseball, the teenagers picked up a lot of Spanish from our New Mexico cowboy days and stay on Santo Domingo,as well as an appreciation of merengue and flamenco music-we home school,so subjects like
Wolof (spoken in Senegal) classes can crop up alongside computing and of course,music studies,teachers vary from certified to certifiable - (me,teaching Creole based on my scanty French !)

Thanks for looking and commenting,all !

[Loupey]

Looks like terrific food with terrific people having a terrific time!

Wish I could have been there. Thanks for posting!

[susaan]

Thanks,Loupey,
-and you would have been most welcome !
-its getting rather busy again,so dinner @ our place is often a fast,not a feast,or a quick trip to the local satay stand....still looking forward to hooking up with forum members when we travel to Europe,but recording and shows keep us near home right now..

-A year ago,would have invited all to drop by,and I'd show you some off-the-guidebook
scenes...now,never sure where we will be,even the for next few days.

Smiles from Indo !
( Saleem shooting,Aliyylah smiling )

Zak has my eyes,talkative tendency,tripod ..and socks.
-our latest addition to the team.

[Lori11]

What beautiful memories you must make! Thank you for sharing your holiday festivities! Have a wonderful happy and safe holiday season!