Gullah Night

On Thursday we went to Chris' school for its annual Gullah Night. This night celebrates and displays the culture of the Gullah people, also called Geechee. According to my reading, Gullah is the only "true" creole language and preserves some of the features of African languages brought here by slaves as far back as the 1700s.

There are so many interesting things about this culture. The history and preservation of the language is really intriguing to me. Surprise, surprise, the English teacher is fascinated by linguistics... :) Here's a link to some basic information on the topic: http://www.ultimategullah.com/culture.html

The students at Alston Middle School put on wonderful displays of music. There were three areas in the school set up for different types of music. My favorite was in the Media Center where a teacher and her class played different types of drums and maracas.
Of course, there can't be an event without food (especially fried food), we just wouldn't be in the South without it. Ha ha. There were different kinds of rice, fried chicken and fish, gumbo, cornbread, collard greens and I'm sure a few things I'm forgetting...

My favorite part of the whole night, except for seeing Chris' students flocking to him, was talking with the women who carry on the tradition of making sweet grass baskets. I have admired these baskets since the first time I saw one in Charleston. They are so beautiful. In a way, they remind me of fine hand-knitted sweaters, elaborate yet simple, uniform and perfect. If these baskets weren't so darn expensive, I'd probably start a collection! The pictures don't do them justice!