Well, the day was certainly an exciting one. One would have thought that we were in Slovakia once we arrived at the PNC Bank Arts center in Holmdel, because most of the people walking around were speaking Slovak, including little children! Who would have thought that so many Slovaks would be living in the New Jersey area?
We began the day by attending mass, which was completely in Slovak. The Bishop of Kosice was the presider, giving no less than a half hour sermon in Slovak, and I felt better about myself when the lady sitting next to me began nodding off about 20 minutes into the sermon. I must admit, though, that the exuberance exhibited by Slovaks gathered for this celebration was infectious. I'll bet that the voices in Slovak song could be heard throughout the hills of New Jersey. The Mass itself, last on hour 45 minutes, extended by yet another speech by the visiting Bishop, once again, entirely in Slovak. There was quite a bit of smiling and chuckling among the crowd, so I can only presume that Fr. Bober was entertaining in his speech. No one was in a rush to leave the tent, despite the length of time.
One of the highlights of the day was the presence of the Slovak President at the festival. He was surrounded by several body guards, yet he took the time to walk around the tent where many people sat during the opening ceremonies. Marty snapped a great photo of him, which I will post some time in the future.
We ate Slovak food and watched some very entertaining Slovak singers and dancers. The weather was comfortable and cool, and we were fortunate that there was no rain, since the event is held outdoors.
We decided to spend the evening at the B&B, relaxing, and finishing last evening's scrumptious cake that we had brought home from the play house. All in all, it was surely a super Slovak Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment