Notes from Cottonwood

The St. Tomas parish took a bus to Iyık Janyl for the Feast of St. Janyl (24 August), with the pilgrims. It took the whole day to get there, in a bus with no air conditioning and forty people singing. The Church of St. Janyl is on a hill. The line to touch the doors went down the whole hill, and an old Iradi woman beside me kept pressing a handful of candy into Lily's hand.

Inside it's nothing like our churches. A dome, no pews, no statues, and a screen made of carved walnut in front of the altar. The chant was strange and beautiful and I understood none of it. I stood in the back with my eyes shut. I think that's how it is meant to be listened to.

The hill at the end of the day.

We found the Catholic church. St. Tomas is in town, built in 1996 with American money, and it looks like a church back home: pews, a spire, statues. The surprise: half the people in the pews are Iradis, and they sing in three languages. The homily was in English and Iradi both and Father Daniel apologised that he'd mixed them up. Nobody minded.

After Mass an old lady took Lily's face in both hands and said something to her for a full minute. I asked what, and a man next to me said: "She says your daughter has a good forehead." I think that's a compliment.

St. Tomas after Mass.