Christmas Carols

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

There are lights in the palm trees and a big tree in the chapel. There is a nativity scene set up on the campus and stars hanging from houses. And to top it all off, the Christmas carol services have begun.

This weekend was the first round of carol services. I attended (and performed in) three of them over the past three days. I sang a few familiar songs in English, and I sang a few more not-so-familiar songs in that not-so-familiar language of Malayalam. They were all equally beautiful. I listened to choirs and even had the opportunity to accompany one on my clarinet. It made for a festive – if fatiguing – weekend.

Carol services are extremely popular here in Kerala. In churches and assembly halls decorated with flowers, stars, and even balloons, all types of organizations get together to sing their praises to the sweet baby that we are expecting to arrive later this month. And although I’ve heard the same songs over and over again now (and can’t understand half of them), I just can’t get enough.

Fortunately, there are countless carol services still to come; unfortunately, there are only two weeks left to fit them all in!!!