The Mummers

I can not possibly choose one culture to emerge myself in, being interested in so many,  My only out of country experience was the summer that I spent in Italy.  I came to love the Italian culture while I was there.  The architecture, music, art, and the history.  I was a unique experience and special experience for me, but the one experience that I had over there that really stands out as a high point in the trip was when I got the chance to meet a traveling group of minstrels called Mummers who had been traveling over Europe.  I have always been intrigued by the mummers since my freshman year of high school when I had to do a report on a specific ritual.  My father suggested that I do my report on the "Mummers Play"; a huge mummers performance and celebration that traditionally takes place once a year in the winter.  The play centers around the theme of death and rebirth so it happens as the old year ends and the new year begins.

The mummers that I meet were telling through song and dance the story of "The Saint and the Dragon".  After that performance, I spoke to the performers and had the privilege to share a lunch with them.  We spoke about what it is like to be a traveling european mummer in modern society.  It turns out that t is very different than any american mummers.  The mummers play in America is somewhat of a seasonal novelty.  However, for these people, it is a life style.  The travel together in order to share stories to the world.

So when I look back on that experience, I guess I would say that if i needed to choose a culture to totally immerse myself in, I would choose to be a mummer.  Why?  Because I would travel europe with a close group of people, who are very much like a family to each other, and spread some really old fascinating stories, plus I would get to learn more about old england as well as some "pagan" myths, as the church calls them.  It would be a chance to get some hands on research of these people that I first started researching my freshman year in highschool.