1) The cultural mishap.
We have a relative visiting the house right now who is doing political campaigning to run for a parliamentary seat. He is always meeting with important men on the front porch talking about politics. So this morning I needed to go outside to ask my host sister a question and I had to go through their little meeting to get to her. I didn't want to disturb them so I quickly went through, looking at the ground. When I got through I realized they were yelling at me! "Why didn't you greet us? You should always greet people!" So I proceeded to try to greet all of them. So much for not interrupting their meeting. West Africa Wins Again.
2) The normal chore.
Today is Saturday which is clothes washing day. I'm continuing to get better at handwashing though my host sister always takes pity on me and helps. This morning the water was actually working and so we went to get water from the pipe, but it was brown. Not good for washing clothes. And then when we finished washing, the clotheslines already had clothes on them so there wasn't enough room for everything. And then it rained in the middle of the day and all the clothes got wet again. And now they are inside and are still very wet. And I have nowhere to hang them up. So much for dry clothes. Even my sheets and pillowcase are wet. West Africa Wins Again.
3) Africa time.
I was supposed to meet with my drum teacher at 11 today to make up for a missed lesson (because people don't go anywhere or do anything when it is raining here). However, it was 12 and he still wasn't here. I had given up hope and eaten lunch and was ready to go on with my day. And then he showed up at 12:15. I told him I figured he wasn't coming and all he did was remind me that we work on Africa time. West Africa Wins Again.
4) The shower.
I never have luck with showering here. I know I am lucky to even have a shower instead of just a bucket bath, but I don't think people who wash their hair regularly were ever meant to rely on bucket baths. I sure don't know how to clean mine with just a bucket of water. Anyway, the water seems to enjoy not coming through the pipes quite often. So whenever this happens, I just shrug it off and decide to wait to shower the next day. Sometimes this happens for too many days. Today I was definitely due for a shower. I got in, quickly realizing that my shower was soaking wet and hanging on the clothesline outside. Great. And then, while I was trying to wash shampoo out of my hair, the water decided to turn
off. With my hair not even remotely clean and no towel, it was a really successful shower. And I couldn't even get a brush through my hair afterwards. I'm hoping the water comes back on before church tomorrow... West Africa Wins Again.
Don't worry, even though West Africa tried to bother me today, I still managed to have a great day. Probably because I'm learning to find joy in smaller things now. Doesn't necessarily make for good stories, but does make for better days!
Don't worry, I've never been able to get a brush through my hair anyways. Brushing hair is highly overrated. ;)
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