Batik Lesson (Day 6)
So we’re off to a slow morning per usual, I indulged in some juicy pineapples. Then we were off to placement, where I had no idea what was taking place. A woman and child came in the office to sign up for an out reach program and then an entire family came for a session that was done in not English. The director of the Social Welfare Department disclosed to us that often the social workers have to come out of their pocket to provide for their clients what the state cannot because the government is low on funding. He said if we have it then why not give it to someone who is in need!
Before I knew it, it was lunch time. For lunch we had beef okra stew, not so appetizing. The okra made it slimy and we had this doughy ball that was equally gross!
I was very enthused to hear that there was going to be another Arts & Craft activity this afternoon. Our Batik Lesson was so hype, the owner said I should work for him because I did such a great job. But let me tell you, manual labor is not my thing especially without air condition.
Anyway, Batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing application to cloth. First you measure how long you would like your fabric to be, then you choose a pattern to stamp hot wax onto the cloth, make the dye (a little bit of spice and everything nice lol I can’t remember the ingredients) but you add water and then soak, press, and swish the cloth in the dye for 15 minutes. After this, the cloth must be rinsed in a bucket and then dipped in boiling water to remove the wax. Voilà, a beautiful lavender printed cloth was created. Pics coming soon!
After we went to the Arts & Craft store…guess what they were playing…Lemonade! They were jamming to my girl Bey, I was geeked!
But after that my day was pretty much over, I read a little bit and chilled. Reading and chilling are now apart of my daily routine. Joe made us fried chicken and French fries mixed with veggies (strange combination I thought, but it was pretty good).
The seamstress came back to deliver Simone’s clothes because she is leaving Saturday (who am I going to talk to and annoy? Who’s going to wake me up? Why am I going to be in Africa by myself? Why can’t Delta just change her flight? Why am I running out of books to read? lol). Any who, her outfits came out sooo pretty. I cannot wait to see mine! Oh and I found out her name, its Vivian!
Night time rolled around and guess what…the shower was warm for FIVE WHOLE MINUTES!