This week, since school is out, I'm spending time with the Johnson kids. It's a fun, rambunctious crew!
Next week, the real work will start. It's like I'm getting a pre-work vacation.
In other news, I'm having two dresses made!
This is a new experience for me.
Last Tuesday, after a good lunch (the food here is just too much goodness! I will come back quite…healthy)
[Fun fact: to be called "fat" here is quite the compliment. It means you don't have AIDS...and that you have lots of money]
After lunch, I was sitting and discussing dress designs with the girls.
We doodled a few ideas, and we decided to use them!
One friend here knows a great tailor who charges reasonable prices and makes good quality dresses.
Since I've been here, I have bought quite a bit of fabric.
I really love fabric shopping. You see a pretty print, and you think of the so many things you could make with it. Headwraps, dresses, purses… and fabric is not so very expensive here.
There is some lovely Indian filmy stuff and some hardy African print that's pink and blue.
I had the sketch and I had the fabric, so we decided to go visit the tailor.
Here's how it went:
We drove to Rue de Mission, where there are many fabric shops and many tailors.
We approached an awning where there were a few seamstresses set up with old-fashioned push-pedal machines.
They were just sitting there, under the awning, beside the street, sewing away.
For some reason, I would have thought that a tailor would have their own private area/shop.
Nope, this was all happening on a street corner.
We stood in the blazing sun for thirty minutes, sweating away, and tried to communicate with the tailor, who only spoke Kirundi.
It was a somewhat comical experience. She was very gracious and kind, though my Kirundi was laughable.
You see, Oya is Kirundi for no.
It sounds just like oh yeah!, and well, I slipped up a few times saying, "oh yeah!" when she drew her sketches. She looked confused, and I hastily corrected myself.
I showed her my material and my sketches. I explained all of the details that I wanted in the costumes using gestures and a smattering of French, Kirundi, and English.
One dress is going to be an indian sari-type and the other will be a fitted Congolese-style dress. It's hard to explain...
A Burundian-style dress may come later… it is such that you have four pieces: a blouse with poofy sleeves (and I have seen some redonkulously big ones!) a skirt, a headwrap, and an extra piece of fabric for tying on a baby to one's back or for use as an apron. I haven't decided if I need one of those outfits.
I just don't see myself using one in everyday life in the States…not that I would be so inclined to use a sari, either…
She took my measurements, and sketched what she envisioned it would look like. I was impressed. She took my material and half of her payment, and all was good to go!
She said that everything could be ready by Saturday.
I was filled with anticipation. So excited to see the dresses.
I thought, I have an exciting something to look forward to for Easter Sunday!
Saturday afternoon, we went by her table. She looked surprised to see us, and told me that neither outfit was ready. A lady nearby asked her for me when I should come again. She said to come Monday at 11 am.
So Monday, at 10:55, I came by her table again. She wasn't done! She said that she needed the 5 minutes, so we ran some errands and came back two hours later…
And it still wasn't ready.
She complained about Muzungus and their pushy time time time.
Africans are very relaxed when it comes to time. They'll even be a few hours late to their own wedding.
Needless to say, Burundi time is much different from American time. Everyone takes time to just enjoy the moment.
Also, I went to the ZOO on Saturday. Oh man, it was a great experience. You will hear all about it shortly... and here are some iphone pics.
I'm praying that my camera cord gets here soon!
 |
| This kid is going to be the best pilot ever. He's obsessed with planes! |
 |
| This is the traffic in Burundi |
 |
| This is my tailor! (you can kinda see my dress she's making) |
No comments:
Post a Comment