When Slavery Feels Better

I’ve been reading through the Old Testament. I’ve read about how God miraculously rescued His people from slavery in Egypt. They had no more left Egypt before they were complaining that God had brought them out of Egypt to let them die in the wilderness (Ex 14:11-12). This was either the first or second day of their journey and they were already doubting God. They lamented yet again in chapters 16 & 17 that God had brought them to the wilderness to die. God had been faithfully providing for and protecting them and they quickly forgot. Their circumstances looked bleak. Instead of trusting in God, they railed on him for being a meany. 

While I was still meditating on this, I read John 9 where God heals the man born blind. In the story, the blind man is healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were ticked. They asked him multiple times how he had gained sight and then asked his parents. His parents were too cowardly to answer because they feared they would be kicked out of the synagogue. After the healed man answered for the third or fourth time, they kicked him out of the synagogue. I thought about this and even though he was kicked out of the synagogue, I doubt he batted an eye at the loss. What he had gained was far better. He could see! Not once in his life had he had this privilege. Jesus had healed him and he was forever changed for the better. He had a loss but the gain he had in light of the loss was far better. His attitude wasn’t, “Thanks Jesus but you cost me all my friends.” I imagine he was thrilled and told many people about this good news. 

As I have continued my reading of Exodus, I came across chapter 32 where Moses was taking a while to come back down from the mountain. The people grew impatient and got Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship instead. They made an offer and claimed the calf was the one who had brought them out of Egypt. I think this was less than 3 months since they had been miraculously brought out of Egypt. Later, to show the idols’ weakness, Moses ground it up and made them drink their god.

I’ve been thinking about these stories and marveling. Israel couldn’t imagine the glory that awaited them. They wished to go back to be slaves because it felt like a greater life than the one God had mapped out for them. Then in spite of all the miracles he performed for them and ways he had protected them, within 3 months they began to worship a golden image that was so weak they later drank it. Contrasting them, was a man who suffered loss but I think he saw it as an exchange for glory. 

This of course causes me to examine my own life. I’ve felt myself lately feeling blah about life. I’ve been a little discouraged about the way these past few months have turned out. I wonder sometimes if I gave up America, time with my family, competency in my work, etc. for this? It’s been a hard season and sometimes I want a change. I’m like Israel and think that my meany God has brought me here to make my life miserable. When I step back with eyes of truth, I know I’m believing lies. I know that like the blind man, I will gain much treasure if I continue to faithfully pursue the Father and walk in obedience to Him. I have also observed how my heart has slowly drifted toward idolatry. Sure I’m not making a golden calf, but I am saying my life would be better if I had God and ______. Is not my idol just as weak? Will it not crumble into a thousand pieces if I try to put the weight of God’s worth on it? May my faith be long-lasting and may I press in to the only Trustworthy one when the road gets narrow and hard. He is my treasure. He will provide my needs. He will give me Himself. I need no other. 

Time Away Part 2

In my last post, I wrote about traveling to a nearby country. My travel friend and I had spent the night in an airport and on a plane. So when I got back to her place at 7:30am, I crashed until about 2pm. I spent the rest of the day reading. It was glorious. With my weird night traveling, I lost a day and was sadly awakened to the fact that I had only 1 day left of rest before I would return to my city. 

I used that day to go watch a movie in English. I picked out the new Captain America movie. I was surprised at the high price of the movie tickets and even more surprised when I realized I had bought tickets for a 4D movie. It was my first movie in 4D. I liked most of the effects but could have lived without the constant seat movement!

After that I wandered the mall looking at all the stores my city is not lucky enough to have. I bought a few import items at a store. I also roamed around a giant bookstore for a while. Before heading out, I stopped by Krispy Kreme and bought some donuts. A dozen of them cost me almost $20 but I didn’t care. Those sweet homey treats were worth it! 

I woke on my last morning and made the almost 3 hour, metro and shuttle route back to the airport. As I was heading to get on the final metro leg, I was surprised by some beautiful and calming stringed instruments playing. I rounded a corner and saw two guys playing in the metro. It blessed my heart. Lami liked seeing the pretty water but we were sure glad to be heading back to a place that was easier to navigate. 

I arrived to the airport with plenty of time to spare so I sat down for a nice McDonald’s breakfast. Sure the ham was fake but the combination of the Egg McMuffin and the hashbrown was a nice way to end my time away. 

Time Away Part 1

I had been really busy and was borderline burnt out. I was having a harder time dealing with my host culture. This all made me realize that it was time for a break. I had been thinking for a month or so that I’d like to leave the country, I’d like to have a travel buddy, and I’d like to go during a specific time frame. Then randomly a friend called me up and asked if I’d like to travel with her to another country to visit our friend, and did I want to go on the week that I had picked out? It seemed perfect except for the fact that the country was a place that I had little desire to visit. 

I wanted to get away from this culture and religion for a week. I wanted to be able to eat pork and wear shorts if I wanted. Instead this place was more strict than the one I was leaving. I had to wear shirts that covered my elbows and bum. I had to make sure my ankles and collar bone were also covered. So I was going to a place where I needed to wear more clothes and the climate was hotter. I almost didn’t go but the thought of getting to spend time with 2 ladies who speak my same language and believe the same things I do won and I agreed to go. 

I was lucky enough to get flights in and out of my city. The catch is that my international flight was at the other airport and it meant taking a shuttle and 3 metros to get there. The trek took 2.5 hours. It’s experiences like that that make me love my city. I can pretty much walk or ride anywhere in about half an hour. My friend and I had a nice treat of Subway before getting on our international flight. Sadly my sandwich had a pork substitute but it was still good. 

Lami loves flying!

As we were going through passport control, the guy working was from the small city where I live. I think it endeared me to him that I lived in his city. It endears me that they are endeared. As we waited, we found some airport massage chairs and had a nice, cheap massage. I think I have mentioned these before but I love, love, love them. I can get a 3 minute massage for about $0.30. 

We made it to the other country easily and met up with our friend. We arrived on her birthday but she was the one who had made me a cake for my birthday. It was so sweet.

Awesome Strawberry Cake

We arrived late and after some cake and chatting, we crashed. The next morning we got out to visit a friend of hers. Even though the country is near to mine and the cultures are similar, there are still differences. For one thing, buildings are shorter and more spread out than where I live. Most people live in 2-3 story row-like homes there whereas my country has taller apartment buildings. Since this was a place that is currently developing, there are problems. One is that the electricity is hit and miss. My friend marveled that we had had so much consistent electricity. She estimated that we had about 15 hours a day of electricity, the most she usually sees. Since it was between the cold and really hot seasons, people weren’t using as much electricity and thus we had such an abundance. I’m thankful that it’s a rare day that I do not have electricity where I live. 

I also noticed that at least 90% of vehicles are white and taxis are a cream color. The reason for this is that temperatures get up well over 100° in the summer time. The white cars help to make entering the car a little more bearable in the summer. 

So many white cars

Cream taxi

Another thing I learned about this country is that there are very few banks. Most people’s assets are in homes, cars, and gold. People do have cash but since there aren’t banks, they generally keep giant wads of cash in their wallets. If a person needs a loan, they usually seek out a friend or a family member from which to borrow the money. 

I also learned that the economy there was struggling. It’s an oil country and since oil prices are down, the economy is down. In addition to that, they’re trying to fight a war which is costly. I think my friend said about 60% of the people work for the government and the government doesn’t have money so they aren’t getting paid. 

We went with my friend to her friend’s salon. They chatted for a while and afterwards, the beautician threaded my friend’s eyebrows. After a while, she invited us up for some local versions of dishes I eat in my host country. I enjoyed the food quite well. 

After that, my friend had language class so my travel buddy and I hung out with her roommate. Her roommate wanted us to dress in the local clothes so we did. The roommate is quite a bit taller than me so the clothes make me look really short.

After playing dress up and after my friend’s language class, we took a nice, short, afternoon nap. We awoke and got ready to go out to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Her friends took all of us to a traditional restaurant. It was decorated in the style of old traditional homes. The food was good and the decor was neat but there was one thing I did not like. There was a bird roaming around on the floor freely. We all know my feelings on flying critters freely roaming around human spaces. 

You can see a bit of the Iranian decor

Some of the food

After we finished our meal, this fun corner became
available so we sat here and drank tea.

After a day of being submerged in my friend’s culture, we had an American day. We ate hamburgers, had milkshakes, talked in English, visited an import store and watched a movie on Netflix. It was a nice day. 

In my friend’s home, her only toilet was a squatty. I’ve used squatties a lot in my last year and a half but they’re not my favorite. Having only a squatty as an option was also not my favorite. As much as I have used them, I still have regular accidents. After too many accidents to count, I did some research on how to avoid the accidents. One is supposed to squat so that the feet are flat giving a good, low squat. My body doesn’t bend that way. If I squat so that my feet are flat, I’m sitting on my bottom. I’ve read that if I had grown up using squatties, I would be able to squat appropriately. Since I can’t do this, it means there are accidents. I did work on my technique and managed to limit the number of accidents. 

One day we did some sightseeing. We went to the city center. Some claim that it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. I didn’t find any sources that verify this claim but nonetheless, it’s an old city and lots of people have lived here. We walked up to the top to look over the city. There was a textile museum that we visited while up top.

Fountain in the city center

Old city wall

Overlooking city center

I loved the eave on this!

Doorway into the textile museum

Some old rugs

On my last night in the town, we had some Chinese food together. It was yummy. It was good to be with girlfriends and talk single girl talk. We also spent a lot of time encouraging one another and praying for one another. We spent time reading and discussing the Word together. All in all, the week was good for my soul. 

As we were leaving, we had to go through lots of security. The city I visited was pretty stable but surrounding areas were not. I have never been patted down so many times in my life. I was thankful for the pat downs though because it meant that they were being thorough and wanted to keep everyone safe. I returned to my country and was met with a smiling passport control guy who was again intrigued that I live where I do. 

Culturally Dealing with Death

My neighbor’s mom passed away recently. I wanted to show her I was thinking of her so I asked both my other neighbor, Violet, and my language helper about how to do this in a culturally appropriate way. Violet said that usually the grieving ones have visitors for up to a week. She said neighbors usually take food to help feed the guests but since I’m a foreigner, no one would expect me to do that. She said I could stop by when I didn’t see a bunch of shoes outside the door, meaning she didn’t already have a house full of visitors. My language helper was a little more detailed. She told me to take some soup just before dinner time. She said I should not wear makeup or light colors and to make sure not to laugh. 

I made the soup and took it before meal time began. My neighbor was grateful that I had learned their culture in order to love on her. She insisted I stay and eat with her family. There were about 16 family members there. I declined more than the usual 3 times to indicate indirectly that I did not want to stay. She and her relatives insisted I stay. I tried again 3-4 more times but they were insistent I eat with them. I think that as Americans we are more private grievers. I doubt that most Americans would ask a foreigner to stay and join them for a meal as they grieve. As I waited for the meal to begin, I noticed that the men sat on one side of the room and the women on the other. When we sat down to eat, everyone was mixed but the women were doing the serving. My neighbor looked worn out but the men were still being a little rude that the food was coming out slower than they would like. After the meal, a few relatives began to leave so I decided I was also free to go. I did but not before they returned my soup pot clean and filled with some food. So much for helping ease their food burdens. 

I returned one night to just check in on my neighbor since she’s living all alone now. We sat in the dark on her balcony. She mentioned several times, with tears in her eyes, that she was just so sad and now all alone. I told her she wasn’t entirely alone because I lived just above her and she was welcome over anytime. 

She also told me that she was utterly exhausted. She said she had been having visitors nonstop for two weeks straight. Typically guests go to the deceased person’s residence to pay their condolences. I told her that we usually go to a funeral home and host guests for 2-3 days. She estimated that she had had as many as 70 guests in one day and that around 500 total would visit to pay condolences. No wonder she is so exhausted. I really want to up the frequency of my visits with her to be available to love on her, serve her, listen to her grief. 

A Week in the Life Episode 8

Having visitors over for tea or meals is what people do here. Since I'm a single, I tend to be the guest more often than the host. It works out nicely for me because hosting is a lot of work and when I visit, I get to eat really good food that I didn't have to make. I feel like most Americans think I'm over here having to suffer through weird foods. I’m not. The local cuisine is delicious. 

I try to host when I can so I can get better at it. I decided to invite Hannah and her mom. They had invited me before and have been really sweet to me. I invited them to breakfast since it's the easier of the meals to host and thought it would work good with all of our free time. I want you to imagine the two most energetic and chattiest women you know and you'll have a good idea if these two. They made sure to bring me a gift as the host. They picked some lilac, brought me a pair of woolen socks her mom had knitted, and brought some herbs to eat with out breakfast. They only stayed a little over an hour which surprised me but I learned they had to go pick up her younger siblings from school to feed them lunch. It was a pleasant morning. 

One day I left my house on foot to do some errands and see if I could find someone to practice speaking with. By the end of the day I realized I had walked a lot. I used a mapping site to see just how far I had walked. I was guessing I had walked about 3-4 miles. I was shocked to see that it was over 6 miles! Yes, folks, I accidentally walked a 10K and have no t-shirt to show for it. I've been trying to keep up with how much I walk here. I average about 2 miles a day but there are definitely some 3 and 4 miles days. 

I had not visited with CFS in a while so I finally made it by to see her one evening. I learned from Zucchini that her birthday was the following day and I should come by to surprise her. I arrived at the specified time and Zucchini informed me the cake wouldn't arrive for another 3 hours. She wondered if I could just hang out at the furniture store until the cake came. My schedule had been packed but luckily that day did in fact allow me to hang out for the 3 hours. I wondered how on earth I would pass the time. They had a lull in customers and Zucchini and I began to talk. I was asking her about appropriate attire and behavior for the upcoming village engagement party. Discussions of tradition led to discussions of our respective religions. I began to explain about the Trinity and how Jesus is God's son. She asked two questions that I had never really considered and that I had always taken for granted. She asked why we use Father for God and when did it start. I told her we use it because Jesus did but I couldn't remember if there were instances in the Old Testament. The other question she asked was what the Holy Spirit is. I was stumped as to how to answer. How do you explain the Holy Spirit to someone who has no concept or prior knowledge of the Trinity. Where does one even begin? At this point customers began flowing in and our conversation ended. I later asked a local believer how she would have answered and she said you can't explain the Holy Spirit without covering other ground first. I'm curious how my readers would have answered that question. If you have an answer, please comment below. 

A few days later, CFS called and asked if I could be at the furniture store in fifteen minutes so I could eat dinner with her and Zucchini. It had been a while since she had invited me so I did what I could to rush over. I had planned on staying in for the night so I switched out of my pajamas and huffed my way to the store. Several other coworkers were standing around waiting. I thought this was odd. It turns out it was a big work dinner at her house for all her coworkers. There were 30-40 folks there and I was a little overwhelmed. Because there were so many of us, we ate on the floor. She spread out tablecloths and then asked me to pass out silverware and napkins. I didn't know if I was supposed to put them on the floor or actually hand them out. She had left the room so I awkwardly asked everyone. They looked at me strange and I explained I was not accustomed to eating on the floor. Finally they laughed and one guy grabbed the things from my hand and showed me what to do. It was so hard to eat on the floor. I was trying to sit on my knees to make room for the crowd but tried to keep my feet from going to sleep. I was also worried that I was exposing my backside too much. I noticed that most people sat with one knee under them and the other standing upright. I tried that position but it also felt awkward. In the end I tucked both knees under me and sat to the side. Aaahhh. Every day is an adventure. 

A common problem here is that locals are in up to their eyeballs in debt. They pay for everything with loans or in installments. When I'm buying a shirt that costs about $5 I am always asked if I want the cheaper one time payment or the more expensive five installment option. The thought of saving up money to pay for something is rare. Asking someone to save $1000 seems as impossible as saving up $1,000,000. They could never save that much and they never imagine the day when they won't have debt. I see a parallel with sin. The common belief is that you must do more good than bad to go to Heaven. You work and work to pay off your sin debts. I think many are hopeless because they are indebted to sin. They can never get out from under the weight. Unlike finances, on their own, it is impossible to clear their sin debt. 

One day in class we were talking about how we had avoided a bad event like an earthquake or something. My teacher pulled his ear, let out a whistle, and then knocked on the desk. I asked if this was similar to our "knock on wood" gesture. It was. He said it was not only to keep bad luck away but also to keep away devils. Interesting twist. 

In keeping with my FATE conversations, I talked with an exchange student from Syria. She came to this country to flee the war and believes the war is fate. She hopes it will end. Half of her family still live in Syria. She misses them badly and wishes things would return to normal. She says life continues but it's not normal life. Things have changed. Every place is affected by the war. 

On another day I learned that my house helper's son had ran away with a girl and defiled her. This left him with the options to either go to jail or else marry her. Now my house helper is scrambling to find enough money to meet all of the wedding requirements. The terms are up to the girl's family and since they are well off they are expecting lots of gold as a dowry, furniture provided, and a nice wedding salon. Apparently this kind of thing or else one of the engaged running away with someone else happens a lot. Some folks still do arranged marriages or else the parents are heavily involved in decision making. People are often not allowed to marry who they would like. I won't say that our system is much better. We may not elope often or run away from weddings; instead, we just shack up with as many people as we'd like. We love when someone seems valuable enough to love and then when the value ends or someone more valuable comes along, we move on. Love is a choice and when loving someone is hard, we are out. 

I visited Grandma F one day. She commented that I looked skinnier than the last time she had seen me. Well that was a nice compliment. She went on to say that if I'd like to give some more kilos away, she knew of a clinic I can go to to help me. That's more like the locals I know. Weight gain/loss, income, rent, all these are open for discussion among locals. She did go on to say that my language had improved. I agreed with this since we were both understanding one another more than ever before. I could understand her village accent and she could understand my foreign one. 

My art class ended. Our final week consisted of an getting things ready for our art show and a written test. You heard that right, a test. A written test. In my second language. I had to laugh when I saw it. I wrote stuff down but didn't give much effort because I didn’t see the point. To the locals it was a big deal. If you don’t do the test you don’t get a certificate and certificates are a BIG deal. I learned that having lots of certificates can help certain people gain better jobs. For example, a teacher may be having a hard time finding a job but if the person can show they have a math and an art certificate then they are more valuable to the school. They have more skills. 

I talked with a lady one day. The subject of Jesus came up in our conversation. I asked what she knew about him and she said she had seen him in a dream on two occasions. I bring this up because dreams mean a lot more here than they do in the west. This is yet another interesting facet of this culture. 

Engagement Party in the Village

Kadie invited me to an engagement party in her village. I’ve been wanting to see one for a while since villages tend to have traditions that differ from city versions. The night before the engagement party I had a hard time trying to decide what to wear. I had asked a friend of mine earlier in the week and she said to wear either a non-showy dress (i.e. not a prom dress) or else some dress pants. I knew we were going to be outside and figured I would be there until evening. I am always cold so I was trying to figure out how to dress modestly yet in layers so I could add or take off layers as I needed. I also know that locals tend to dress much nicer than I do so I didn’t want to under-do it. At last I decided I’d stick out like a sore thumb no matter what so I decided on a black dress with gray leggings, a black sweater, a somewhat fancy necklace, scarf, and a jean jacket. This had layers and I hoped would be a mix between comfort and style. When I finally met up with Kadie, I saw that she was wearing black jeans, printed keds-like tennis shoes, and a nice blouse. She commented that I looked stylish and that was my second indicator that perhaps I had overdone it. I remembered back to when my American friend told me she wears her old clothes when she goes to the village. Luckily, Kadie changed into some nicer shoes before we left. My third indication that I was overdressed was when her cousin who drove us was wearing a wind-suit. I don’t think he ended up staying but I didn’t know that at the time. 

Kadie and I

I had seen a couple other villages so I had an idea in mind of what hers would be like. She explained that there was one village but each village had different neighborhoods. If a village is big enough to have neighborhoods, I thought it might be a pretty good size. As we exited the city, the elevation grew and I could see the tall compacted buildings fade in the distance as we entered the land of greenery. Honestly the drive reminded me of Tennessee and I missed it. Living in America I never felt particularly partial to my state but since coming here, I cherish my roots more than I ever could have had I stayed. The drive was good for my soul. 

 Look at that green glory!

I knew we were approaching the village because I saw the sign with her neighborhood on it. I learned that her last name came from her village neighborhood’s name. We approached the first neighborhood and I saw three houses surrounded by lots of greenery. The second one we came to was her neighborhood. There were three houses and a small village mosque. We stopped so I could see the home where they stay when they visit the village. Most of her family lives in the city and only visit the village on special occasions. The house nearest theirs has three families living inside. I assume they keep up with the sheep, cows, and chickens. 

I went into their home. There was a wooden gate/door that led underneath the house. The floor consisted of packed down mud with some old tile pieces on top. There were some creaky stairs that were more vertical than horizontal like a ships ladder style. The upper floor was old and sparsely furnished but definitely nicer than the lower level. I believe the place had a squatty potty but they joked with me that in the village, you can have your pick of toilet in nature. Outside the upper floor was a giant concrete slab with no guard rails. That’s where they eat when a big group comes. 

 Sheep grazing in the front yard

 Some cows in front on the house where
the families stay.

We only stayed there a few minutes and then moved on to the neighborhood where the wedding was. It took at least 10 minutes by car to get there. I began to understand that the village was spread out and even though each neighborhood had 3-4 houses, it was helpful to delineate which was which. At the engagement party site, there were white plastic chairs on each side of the dirt road. Men were all on one side and women were on the other. 

 Overlooking the neighborhood where the party was held.

We were early. It was quite windy there and I was cold. I was glad I had my jean jacket. We went into one of the two houses and chatted with the women inside. I began to observe what people were wearing. I estimate that at least 75% of the women were covered. Many wore long tunics that came down to their knees and either a long skirt or else dress pants underneath. Others were wearing village pants with a village type shirt. I saw some men and children in blue jeans and a t-shirt. I saw one girl wearing a skirt above her knees and a sleeveless top. I rarely see that in my city so I was surprised to see it in the village. 

While we were chatting we heard a drum that indicated it was about to start. We went out onto the balcony type concrete slab to see better. We waited a few minutes and then the drumming started again. After a few minutes the drummer rounded the corner along with a line of people. Women were carrying trays of sweets on top of their heads. I saw a girl in a fancy blue dressed and wondered if she was the bride. Kadie said she was part of the groom’s family. The soon-to-be-bride had not yet come. 

 Carrying trays into one of the village homes as part
of the procession.

After that we walked around to see the landscape. We took some pictures together and finally found a shady spot to sit and chat. I assumed the bride was coming later. I eventually asked about it and they said she had probably came already. What?!?! They were on the bride’s side of the family and for some reason didn’t find it necessary to watch her come. We went back and they had started serving food. Some tables had been put out and people had filled them. There wasn’t a place for us to eat. We had to wait until a place cleared out. We went into the house and congratulated the soon-to-be bride and groom. 

While we waited I asked Kadie about how much food was needed to feed that many people. I estimate there were 300-400 people there. My mind was blown. I’m in a village with 4 neighborhoods and a max total of 13 houses and 300-400 people were here. Where did they all come from. They were all related though. I said providing that much food must be difficult. She said they hire cooks to come in to feed people. She said most people don’t live there so without having restaurants or else personal kitchens, the only way to make sure people are fed is to provide food. They do it three times during the course of the getting married festivities. Once for the engagement party, once for the actual wedding and the third is either for the promise ceremony or else the henna party. She said in her village engagement parties are usually during the day from noon until about 5pm and weddings are in the evening and sometimes last 2-3 days. I asked if she would have something that big for her wedding. She said she would because this is how they do weddings. It seems like a big hassle to me. As we watched the cooks barely wash the silverware, Kadie told me they have a wedding bag they take places. It has their own forks and spoons so they don’t have to use ones that people have just used and had been barely cleaned. A table space finally opened up and we ate. 

While we were eating the dancing started. We moved our chairs out to the yard for a better view. The fellas started off the dancing. Two to three guys would dance in a circle together. They would finish and then 2-3 more would do essentially the same dance. This continued for a while. Then there was a break in the dancing for some official business. I didn’t understand all of what happened but I think the future bride and groom, with the blessing of their parents, agreed to marry one another. I think something was signed and a prayer prayed. After that. People lined up to pin gold and cash onto pendants they were wearing. Some people put bracelets on their arms or necklaces made of a red cord and gold medallion type pieces. I noticed that some of the sisters of the couple were also wearing gold. I wasn’t sure if it was from their own weddings/engagement parties or if they also received gifts at this thing. Having so many guests there, the pinning took a while. 

 Gold/cash pinning

After that the dancing started back up again. There was some variety. Sometimes it was just the bride and groom, sometimes them and their families, sometimes friends joined in. Sometimes it was the groom’s male relatives. While the dancing happened, onlookers would take an American dollar bill and wave it over the heads of some or all of the dancers and then put it in a duffel bag. Apparently this indicated that the dancer was doing a good job. If a kid was dancing, sometimes the observer would wave the bill over the kid’s head and then shove it in his pocket. Kadie and I danced in one of the last dances. Her dad came out and waved the bill over my head and then shoved it in my jacket pocket. Apparently I was doing a good job. It did feel weird for a man to put money in my pocket while I was dancing. 

In addition to the dollar bill waving, the locals would pull out a pistol and fire it in the air while folks were dancing. This happened probably at least 15 times while I was there. Kadie seemed irritated by it and didn’t have an answer as to why people fired guns. In her opinion this tradition was not necessary. I have heard that it’s actually illegal to do this because so many people have been injured or killed from the bullet ricocheting off of something. 

At this point people began to leave. Since the dancing took place on the dusty road, from time to time a car would part the crowd of dancers. The dancers managed to either keep on dancing or else only missed a step or two for the parting car. We left soon after this as well. I got home about 6pm and crashed. Observing so much newness was exhausting!