Expecting the unexpected

When you live in Africa you have to be ready for anything! Sometimes that means being ready for the snake that's curled up on your front steps, or the waterbed springing a leak, but other times it means a party that breaks out when you least expect it! All three of these things have happened to me in the last week. Fortunately the snake was scared of me too, so he slithered away so quickly he seemed to barely touch the ground. I woke up this morning when I rolled into the puddle of water made by my leaking waterbed. Ahh...refreshing...well, not really. The best part of the week though was the party that broke out when I went to visit one of our literacy classes.


The literacy class season is winding down, so Amadou, Gibril and I were visiting classes this week helping them with the dying part of the tie and dye they've been learning. One class was very excited about their projects and ladies were breaking out in dance when they saw their finished products. That was fun, but as the work was wrapping up they got serious about their celebrating. The empy jugs and bowls were brought out and the drumming began. They sang many songs and praised Amadou, Gibril and I in the songs. All the women were clapping along and a few at a time would jump into the middle of the circle of clapping women to dance. As some stepped out and others stepped in. Some carried their tie and dye material and waved it around as they danced. After a while of dancing, they called me to come and dance...I refused telling them that I can't dance (which is not a lie--you have to see their dancing to understand!). So they continued singing and clapping and dancing until they decided that it was time for their guests to eat lunch. We were led into a small room where they had two kinds of rice dishes for us and juice to drink after we ate. They had fed us breakfast when we got there, served attaya and milk while the dying was going on and now they were giving us lunch. This group of ladies really knows how to show African hospitality! This is not the first time this has happened and probably won't be the last. Africans are very hospitable and LOVE to party. Days like this are just one reason why I love living in Africa.