When you say "Africa", I say:

Yesterday I reposted a video of African men talking about what kind of picture has Hollywood presented of the Africans. They showed clips of Hollywood films where Africans had guns everywhere and they loved killing and shooting. In the end they hoped that wasn't the picture that came into our minds first thing when we think of Africans.

I wanted to share with you what is the first thing that pops into my head when I think of Africans.

AFRICAN MEN:

I think of Senegal. I remember seeing probably 20 guys playing soccer in midday and my dad was there as well. We had to get 1.5 liter bottle of water from the freezer for my dad because it was so hot. But the Africans didn't drink at all during the game. My dad was tired but super happy being able to play with those guys. I don't think they had a common language but they came along perfectly on the field.

AFRICAN WOMEN:

Again I think back to Senegal. It was the only trip to Africa that I can remember things better. I think of my great aunts helper at her house. She was so energetic and kind. She also had two children one at the time 14ish and one was only a baby. Unfortunately couple years after our visit she passed away because of cancer and her older daughter had to take care of the young one.

AFRICAN CHILDREN:

In the area my great aunt lived there were heaps of children. The boys played soccer with my two brothers and the girls played with me. We had no common language except what we could make out with our bodies. They taught me games they play and I tried to teach them some of my games I know. One was where we all stood in a circle and started throwing a ball clockwise. You had to catch the ball without moving. If you dropped the ball you were out and when people got dropped the length to throw the ball got bigger.

Some mornings before I got to go to play outside the other children were sitting on the wall surrounding the house.

One day I invited them to draw to the house. All of the kids where so excited to be able to draw to a white paper with colors. There were so many who wanted to come! I had to keep half still outside so there would be enough crayons for everyone.

DINNER TIME:

We went to visit my great aunts work place the church. Everybody gathered around and had a chat for a while. We sat on the floor/ground on pillows or without. Then they brought out the food. There were these huge bowls of couscous and something and we split 4-5 bowls equally to everyone in the circle. The eating happened just with our hands. Couscous was sticky so that you could get bigger amounts at once. It was more that just eating together. It was how we actually shared the food and enjoyed it together. I loved the idea not having your own plate because it was more of a communal atmosphere.

My family spend a Christmas in town called Fatik in Senegal at my great aunts.