Update

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I am sorry I have not made regular entries. I have had many exciting experiences.

I attended a wake and a funeral about a week ago. The deceased was a young man who had died of sickle cell. He was 28 years old. His body was taken from the morgue to his home to be prepared by the family for viewing. This was done in a procession with a group of people following the corpse car. There were drums, singing, and dancing. A female family member was even wearing the deceased clothes to represent him in the procession. During the wake, there was also much singing and dancing. However, there were also many tears at the same time. The next day, I was taken to the home to view the body. He was laid out on a bed surrounded by artificial flowers. Some pictures were displayed at the head of the bed. At least one was the picture of a saint. The funeral was a double funeral. The structure was very similar to Catholic funerals in the U. S., except there was more singing and dancing. There was also a collection taken.

Mass here is very lively and long (nearly three hours). There is incense and the congregation is blessed with holy water at every mass. The choir is wonderful! There is alot of singing, drumming, and dancing. People dance in their seats to the music and wave white hankerchiefs to give praise. They even dance up to give to the collection! I love it.

This week we were in training with the women of Atabu. We learned to make beaded jewelry, washing power, and bar soap!

Yesterday, I attended the ordination of seven new priests. It was in Ho about 1 1/2 hours from where we are staying. It was a beautiful service. I went as a guest of the mother of our host. It was my first time attending a function without members of my group. It was a little scary, but things went well.

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