Working Hard

Remember the mud oven thing that my friend makes and sells for making coffee? (see link if you don't remember) http://heathernafrica.blogspot.com/2007/11/coffee.html

I made one!!!!

While I was at my friend's house she kept having to leave me alone while all these women came one after another to buy her ovens. After an hour she had sold about 6 so I suggested that we make more instead of just sitting there wasting time. She kept thanking me for helping her with her work and I kept trying to explain that I was really just playing in the mud and she was doing all the work but she didn't believe me.

All of the neighbors who came over to visit were so worried about me. They kept saying 'what about your pants?!?, What about your clothes?!?!' I kept telling them 'They're just clothes, I can wash them.' Eventually the other ladies who were sitting around watching us started answering for me and saying 'she can wash them' and then just giggling, it was lots of fun! But they just could not believe that this white girl was getting mud on her hands. And being pretty inexperienced at playing in the mud, I ended up with mud all over me, not just on my hands!!!

Of course my friend squatted like this the entire time. I squatted about 2 minutes, then had a seat in the dirt which is just absolutely something you never do...oops, blame it on not knowing the culture (even though I did) or on being the crazy white girl, whatever you want!!

PTL that my friends are sweet sweet women who offer me so much cultural grace it's ridiculous. I've heard that other foreigners here have not been afforded this grace, but don't worry, my friends didn't march through the street waving swords b/c I made a cultural mistake by sitting on the ground...even though I did do it intentionally!