Stormy Night

9/19/2019 *Reposting blogs from my Senegal website because I took it down.

The comfort of a stormy night. Wherever I am, I love stormy nights. The night is never predictable. They can last for minutes to an hour to days. Back in the US I would be watching tv, reading a book, or sleeping. This being I would still have electricity. I could snuggle up in my blankets and relax. Here every time there is a storm the electric would go out, just like when we had tornado warnings when I was little.

Before the power went out I went to the roof with a chair and watched the birds fly in their packs to reach a safe destination. While I was gazing into the sky, yaay and Rama covered the windows and doors with the pink curtains hanging from the ceiling to block some of the rain, sand, and wind from coming into the house. Elhadji and Fama ran upstairs to get me before the rain started to fall. When I got downstairs, yaay told me to open my bedroom door and let down my curtain. I asked why and she said "Sa naj dafa tang, aprés dafa seed" (your room is hot after it's cold). So I went into my room and opened up my door. While I was opening up my door everyone else was doing the same.

Once all opened we reconnected in the main hallway and boom. Lights out. I immediately was like “now what?” There was nothing to do. It was pitch black and Ndeye Diouf was still cooking and yaay was preparing the dish to plate the food. Papa went into his room to try and find a light so yaay and Ndeye Diouf could finish dinner, meanwhile, everyone else was sitting. Yaay and Ndeye Diouf came back into the hall because dinner was not ready yet. The only thing I would hear was Rama and Ndeye Diouf laughing at their phones, papa and yaay mumbling some words, the rain hitting the ground, and the lightning in the sky. I could feel Elhadji and Fama staring at me even though I could not see my hand in front of my face.
So like any sister I tried to scare them. When the lightning struck I spotted them on either side of me. So when it went dark again I grabbed Elhadji's shoulder and said “Boo!” In response, I had a screaming child in my face and Fama behind me laughing. After Elhadji ran to papa to take cover. Then I turned around and scared Fama. She immediately got up and ran to Papa. I scared them off. 

Oh no. It was only the second week. This is going to be a long 7 months. I started to spin my head tie around my wrist trying to kill time. I was just waiting for yaay to say "Aida, reer," her cue to tell me dinner was ready. Until I had four little hands trying to taser me. Then Fama yelled, "Foo” (play). So I got up and for a half of an hour, we all went around trying to scare each other. Running everywhere hearing screaming, and laughing. It reminded me of when I was little. Making fun out of nothing.
"Aida, Elhadji, Fama Kai Reer" (dinner). All of us went and washed our hands. It was one of my favorites, "Puitie Pwa." We all sat down around the plate in a circle and yaay held the light so we could all see. From all of the running, I was very hungry. It was the best meal I have had so far. Rama, Fama, and I were the last ones at the bowl. Once we were done we picked up and laid back down on the Basson.

Drawing with Fama during the storm

We rested for a while before we all got up and started to play again, but instead of trying to scare each other because it was getting late. I was teaching them how to dance. I don't call it dancing, but they called it dancing. I was just teaching them how to do Gymnastics turns and handstands. I also taught the shopping cart, sprinkler, and the macarena. After a while Rama put on some music with a light shining onto the mock stage (aka the back of the hall by the fridge), and Fama and Elhadji had a dance-off. I tried to mimic Fama and everyone started to die laughing. For someone who cannot dance, it was very bad. The only person that was not laughing was Elhadji and he shook his head at me and said, "Aida"(imagining someone saying ALVIN like Alvin in the chuck munches. That's how he said my name.) and then made this ticking noise.  He grabbed my arm and started to move it like how he was dancing before. Then he showed me how he was moving his legs slowly so I could get the gist. After a while, I was mimicking him. He taught me how to do the male portion of the dance. I was so much better at it. 

When I played lacrosse my favorite drills were the agility ladder and that is kinda what the male dance is. It is how fast you can pick up your feet and move your legs to the beat of the song. The girls' portion is the legs, but it also includes the arms and being graceful while the legs are moving. And yes that is not me. 

It hit 11:30 and Yaay told Fama and Elhadji to go to bed. So I went into Yaay and Papas bathroom and brushed my teeth and washed my face with my filtered water because when the electricity goes out so does the water. I walked out of the bathroom and told yaay, papa, Rama, and Ndeye Diouf "Busuba Inshallah" (see you tomorrow if God wills). 
Sitting on my bed right now reflecting on the night makes me giddy. I feel like I can have fun again. I feel like I do not have any outside expectations. I could get used to these stormy nights.