Rayenda, Day 2 Report

Day # 2…

One hard day of work (actually not that hard, given that it rained on and off all day), and one day off.

The microphone man has now been going for 4 hours!! The microphone man is the guy at the local mosque that started yelling into a microphone (which is attached to megaphones that broadcast to the entire town) at around 6 pm this evening, and hasn’t stopped yet – current time is now 11:07 pm.

Today we had the day off because it was a National Holiday – in fact we were told by a local that it is an international holiday celebrated by 189 countries (National Mother Language Day). Hmmm – I think we need to start observing this Canada!

So the day off – not much else to do except wander into town and go to the market. This is not an ordinary stroll into the market. Two of the other Canadians here, Laura and Bill, were heading off so we decided to go with them – thankfully as it turns out. As soon as you emerge from the “safety” of HODR headquarters you are immediately surrounded by old and young alike all singing “Hello!”, “What is your name”, “Where are you from”, over and over and over again. And then they start following you, the little kids often grab your hand and walk beside you for your entire journey.

We went back in the afternoon to pick our newly made bedding. Along the way Rod and Scottie both picked up stragglers who held onto there fingers the number of followers who joined the procession to the mattress kiosk grew and grew – it was like the pied piper! Our mattresses weren’t ready so we opted to keep strolling. Soon Connie picked up two little sisters who both wore frilly dresses and sported short hair – sorted of reminded me of me when I was young. But I can’t imagine having grabbed onto a complete strangers hand and walking through the mall with them on their shopping trip. The parents even encouraged their kids to follow us. With mattresses in hand, we headed back and one by one our little companions left us to return home. How cute.