Our Very Own Holiday

Apparently someone important decided that everyone should visit our village (which does hold historical and cultural significance for our people) all on the same day. They declared it K-ville day and had a huge bash for, pretty much no reason at all. In W Africa it's a huge deal to get new clothes for big occasions and everyone likes to dress the whole family or a large group all in the same material. They also print special material for most holidays and EVERYONE tries to get some so that the whole city can match on the big day. So much for individuality (did I tell you that doesn't exist here?).

So sure enough they had some special K-ville Day material printed up and everyone kept making sure that me and Reaiah were going to get in on it, and, being the good Africans we are now, excitedly complied.

On the big day they had activities planned for the whole day, mostly a lot of dancing, speeches, and eating. That's what we do for big days here... So we all got dressed up, sat around in the school yard, walked/danced around in a circle, listened to someone talking about how K-ville got started, watched some more people dance, ate some excellent rice and sauce, then stayed up late waiting for the 'real' dancing to get started. But we were mostly worn out by then and I couldn't keep up with our cousin who was eager to dance herself into early the next morning.

This is just some pics from K-ville Day! Us and one of the chief's granddaughters. The women dancing in a large circle. Me and our sister and some of her (my) kids. Some kind of play/dance they did: these are men dressed up as witches (we think) as the singers sing 'Don't let the kids get fat so the witches won't eat them'. Not sure I can really explain that one, but that's life here...