The things I'm MOST excited for when my family comes:
1.Seeing the joy on Gogo Penda's (my local mom) face when she meets my US mom.
2.Watching the shock and final understanding of my US family when they meet my Mauritania family and see our home.
3.Teaching my mom and dad how to properly squat over the poop hole (you know, so they don't fall over, pee on themselves, or...miss)
4.Laughing at my sister trying to sweep the dirt with that puny little hand-held broom.
5.Showing "the women" aka Kelsey and my mom, the way to balance 10-20 liters of water on your head, walk up the steep river's bank, get to our house, and pour it all into the cannery...without spilling any on your shirt.
6.Letting my dad help kill, butcher and eat a goat. hahaha, hehehe.
7.Waking up with my sister next to me, at sunrise, dragging her tired butt off of the bamboo "bed", and showing her off as we go buy the breakfast bread at Mary's house by the Mosque.
8. Showing how Mauritanian women don't use tables for cutting, cooking, preparing anything... The knife is so dull that your hand is all you really need for everything: chopping onions, preparing meat, peeling potatoes, etc.
9.Hearing the "local-English-teacher-who-has-never-actually-left-Mauritania" try to speak with my grandma....even HE speaks better English than my grandma! (yeah, he still doesn't believe me when I tell him that....)
10.seeing the joy on their faces when the kids start to drum and dance around my family... or the fear!
11.Loading baggage, suitcases, and family into a canoe to paddle across the river to get to our village as the sun is setting.
12. watching the wonder as Africans learn that "America" does not mean the United States alone, nor does it mean "white"
13. Helping my parents eat dinner with their HAND. from a BOWL with like EIGHT people around it!
14. Making the parade through town to show off my family to my new (Mauritanian) family and friends. You know they'll be taking pictures of the first-ever entire American family to come to Tokomadji.
15.trying to teach my mom, grandma, and sister how to do laundry by hand so that it squirts water out and squeaks as you wash.
16. BATHING IN THE RIVER!!! without showing anything from your armpits to your knees
17.Putting these CLOTHES on my family!
18.Getting their hair braided and their hands/feet henna-ed. It'll take at least 3-4 hours of just sitting really still.
19.Letting action-based, pantomimed relationships form that will transcend culture, age, ability, social status, distance, and language. Seriously half of the village already knows the FULL name of each person coming to visit... along with their age, job and/or school year, types of food they like, and favorite color. They're excited!
20. being the connection that allows people new experiences: priceless.
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