Our Day of Thanks

My first African Thanksgiving was wonderful and felt almost like I was in America with the great food, fellowship, and two young kids to play with. My family back home was missed very much especially when I realized that I wouldn’t get to eat any of my Mom’s coconut crème pie and the most wonderful congealed salad in the world! I really don’t know how I am going to live without Mom’s congealed salad these next two years but I’ll try to manage. (That’s for you Kendall!)



We played some games outside with the kids and even had a little game of baseball. The young boy had a dvd of a Chelsea vs. Arsenal game so I was so excited to see a soccer match and excited that somebody else around here loves soccer as much as I do. I got to wear my new Thanksgiving outfit that I picked up from the tailors that Tuesday and wore my matching earrings that I made. Pictures are below and yes I made tire earrings to match my tire fabric. Another great thing about Africa….creativity and ingenuity are endless! Enjoy the pictures and I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with an abundance of blessings.



Our wonderful pie complete with pumpkin and leaf detail

Baseball....just not my sport.  At least I got tagged out instead of striking out!



watching soccer :)



The Tires



Tie-Dye Time

So at times when applying for my current work overseas I often thought how useless my major would be. Even though West Africa is filled with textiles, I didn’t know how dominate it would be in my current country. Compared to the other West African countries it does not offer a lot of textiles within the country. None the less, the Father has allowed me to use my love for textiles in creating relationships here. One of the first Hausa words I learned was “saka” which means “to weave.” The second textile word I learned was “rini” or “to dye”.



my fabric of pink and gray





This came in handy when I met a lady, ‘M’, during my language study stay that dyes fabric. She was nice enough to let me watch her dye my fabric and I wrote down the Hausa names of the materials she used. It was extraordinary to see her and her friend work, using basic everyday items to complete this task. They didn’t have any string to tie the fabric once folding so she cut a piece of old bike tire inner tube with a razor blade. In America I would have probably run all the way to A.C. Moore or Michaels if I didn’t have the “proper” materials to tie my fabric with. My fabric turned out beautiful and I will get it back from the tailor’s, embroidered and everything next week.


From this dyeing excursion I have visited ‘M’ several times. She has helped me practice my Hausa and has been very patient with me. I let her borrow and look through my textile dyeing and embroidery book last week. I also brought my laptop over to her house to show pictures of my textile work from college. She enjoyed them and asked me to teach her to weave. Oh I would love to if only I had a loom and materials with me. However, I told her I would bring my weaving book next week so she could see the basic workings of the loom and how to draft weave patterns. Actually translated into Hausa I said, “I will come next week, weaving book, you look.” Haha, baby steps right!


I ended up asking my language teacher if they sale looms in the capital city. He said they did but that he didn’t know how expensive they were. I have to go into the capital mid-January to get my residence card so I have decided to scout out the town for a loom. That way I can practice my weaving here, teach ‘M’ the craft, and then leave the loom with her after my two year term is up. I like this plan a lot so hopefully the capital will sale looms and they won’t be too expensive!



my narrow-strip woven blanket for the cooler months :)

 

Beautiful People

Many of you probably thought I have fallen off the face of the earth, but the truth is, I am just trapped in the desert! It is a grand entrapment though and the monochromatic landscape has consistently grown on me. As an aesthetic person I have come to find joy in the people around me. The Fulani women are some of the most gorgeous people. They walk tall and graceful even with large bowls a top their heads. They constantly amaze me with how much they carry. I feel so inadequate here at times! These women wear bright colored clothing of numerous patterns and intricate lace detail. My favorite outfits are those with lime green lace that accent their ebony skin so well. Their jewelry is bold, large bead work. What a wonderful masterpiece they are and praise that I get to work with them these next two years!



On another note, I have recently had the opportunity to watch a Human Planet episode. One of my friends in training told me that there was one specifically on deserts. I downloaded it off iTunes in the States and watched it the other night for the first time. It is called Deserts: Life in the Furnace and I would encourage you to watch it. It highlighted a few people groups in my current country. One of the people groups is the Wodaabi. They are actually a small sub-group of the Fulani. The show highlights a dance that the men dress up for in elaborate make-up and feathers. The dance is called the Yaake and they dance to impress marriageable women. It is captivating but further exemplifies the lostness in this area.

Textile Talk:

One of the last nights in the capital city, I was blessed to stumble upon a Batik store. Therefore I purchased my first, and as of now only, African artwork. It shapes the outline of my country and is filled with the different people groups that make up my country. It is beautiful work and I look forward to purchasing more for friends and family. By the time that I go back to the capital city I hope I speak enough Hausa to ask if he can make a batik of someone weaving. Oh, this would make me so happy!

What in the world is batik???- Well I am glad you asked! Now here I can share a bit of knowledge that N.C. State College of Textiles gave me. The original process of batik involves waxing cotton or rayon fabrics in patterns. The wax is often applied with carefully handcrafted metal devices dipped in hot wax and printed onto the fabric hundreds of times. Sometimes the wax is applied with a tjanting tool which has a tiny well that delivers wax to the fabric. After the wax hardens, the fabric is dyed in large vats, rewaxed, and dyed again in a different color. Wherever the wax is applied, the color is resisted so the fabric stays the original or previously dyed color. The wax is removed by boiling the fabric or by ironing out most of the wax. Those of you who crave projects; you should research more and design your own batik!