I went to stay there for a night with my grandpa...well at first I was supposed to go myself, but somehow the old man decided that he wanted to come early as well. We stayed at my grandpa's brother's house (it used to belong to the both of them but after my grandpa moved to the states he gave it to his brother). The house is in its original form, which makes it an experience to live in. There is no wash basin, so my grandpa told me to brush my teeth in the bathroom (tub). So I go in and start brushing and while doing so move all of the buckets of water around that are placed in the corners to find the drain...and couldn't find one! So I panic since I'm going to need a drain pretty soon, and signal to my aunt "where do I spit"? She just kept laughing at me because she couldn't figure out what I was asking and apparently I looked pretty ridiculous. Turns out there is like foot long by foot tall opening at the bottom of one of the walls that looks like it's a crawl in space to the next room that actually serves as the drain! I now wish I had taken a picture of it...but it didn't function to well since the bathroom isn't built on as large of a slope as I think necessary so half of the water doesn't exactly drain out and instead stays pooled in the bathroom! Gross!
Anyways, so I got ready while spending the whole time with a greater appreciation for the facilities we have in the states! I spent the day playing with my 8 month old cousin and hanging out with family. My grandpa took me around the village and introduced me to more extended family and friends that I did not know existed...it turned out to be more of him showing me off to his friends. I can't describe how it felt to see and hear the pride and joy with which he told people I'm his granddaughter and all about what I'm doing...sometimes you don't realize the value people put on you mostly because people don't take the time to tell others. When my grandpa was in the states I took him to the hospital on two separate occasions when he had pneumonia. I knew that it meant a lot to him that I dropped everything and went to his aid, but I never realized that my actions in his eyes defined my love and attachment for him. Everyone in our village knows that I took him to the hospital - which was really not a big deal for me, definitely not the story I would think of sharing with people I'm talking to for 5-10 minutes, but that simple gesture meant the world to him. I'm grateful to have gotten this opportunity to spend some quality time with my grandpa and meet all these really random villagers as well :p
In the evening we went to the garba...it is super crazy! Your family can decide to "take" the garba any of the 5 days, though you have to decide beforehand. The morning of you bring a divo (candle) from the garba to your house and keep it going all day. Then in the evening any of the daughter-in-laws of the family has to take the garbo, which means they put the 45 kg garbo on their head and spin in circles with it...let's just say it's not everyone's cup of tea!
The garba itself was a lot of fun - they go on pretty late, around 3 or 4am...it was exhausting, but a good time! Below is a brief video:
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