We met at the Entiat Fire Station, arranged by Chris M, for our December gathering. Our read for the month, "Daughter of Moloka'i", started and somewhat ended in Hawaii so our pot luck had a definite Hawaiian/Japanese "flavor". We enjoyed quite an array of tastes. Esther brought some home made tofu and Mary researched a typical Manzanar dinner dish for us to share. We also had Yakasobi, pineapple and sushi. Different and very tasty! Judy B brought an example of a Japanese quilted Washi paper lidded box.
"Daughter of Moloka'i" focuses on Ruth, the daughter of Rachel, who had Hansen's disease. Rachel had to give Ruth up for adoption at birth to protect her from contracting Hansen's. Throughout her life, Ruth wondered about her past and why she was sent to an orphanage. Unknowingly, Ruth's life bore similarities to Rachel's life as Ruth and her family were sent to Manzanar internment camp during WWII. We discussed this similarity and somewhat decided that Rachel's "imprisonment" on Moloka'i was worse than Ruth's imprisonment at Manzanar as Rachel thought she would live her entire life on Moloka'i.
This was our annual Christmas gift book wrapping event as well as the last chance to contribute to our Christmas jar for 2022.
Esther will host our next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 18, 2023. See you then. Aloha!
