Le Concert

Eline and Helene have some new experieces: 



It’s Sunday, and I had a long day head of me. At 07.00 o’clock were we going to meet the choir, but Helene and I thought that African time was African time so we decided to wake up 06.30 with plenty of time. But we were wrong! A friend knocked on the door 10 minutes after I woke up and asked if we were ready, the bus were going to leave at 0700. What happened to African time when we needed it!?

We managed to jump in the bus quite surprised that the Norwegian girls were one of the last! We drove out to Dang were a church performance was first and a concert was second on our schedule for the day.


A 5 ½ hours long church service seemed even longer when you sat on a wooden bench squeezed together. I had no feelings in my butt and back, but a lot of good music was played and we were served lunch afterwards! I guess 1 ½ hour service at home is going to be nothing when I come back. ;)
It's lunch time and we're eating somthing we weren't sure what was..

After church, waiting and preparation was next on our schedule. Helene and I were given a “pagne” (kjole) and before we knew what to do next, Haoua, a girl in the choir, took us with her to get ready. We ended up in a small “apartment” consisting of 2 rooms were we were supposed to take a shower! Two white confused girls who didn’t quite knew what to do, ended up taking a “shower” using a bucket, soap and water. Haoua helped us get dressed before we rushed back to where the concert was held.

At 6’oclock, when the concert was supposed to start, that’s when we started too warm up. My conclusion was that Helene and I wearing the same clothes as everyone else would help us not stick out as much. I was wrong again! As we walked in, someone yelled out: “Nazara, nazara” (white people) and “Dance bien” (dancing well), not sure if it was irony or a compliment.
Sing and shine
Four weeks ago, when I was given the list of 14 songs for the
concert, I for sure, thought that I would just be watching. No way would I ever learn all those songs and some of them were even in tribe language!

I must say that out of 14 songs, I did quite well remember the text and moves. Of course, there is some miming here and there, but I had so much fun! Norwegian audience is totally different from what I saw this day. People were dancing and singing with us, some even came up on the stage joining in!

The concert was done about ten o’clock, we cleaned, pressed everyone in a small bus and were home around 23.30. I was deadly tired in my feet and back, but it was all worth it!

Read more at Eline's blog
Read more at Helene's blog