funeral= fun-for-all.

Funerals are typically a time of sadness. But in a country where 40% of the adult population suffers from AIDS, death is just another thing they factor into the day. It is so prevalent and funerals are so frequent, that they could not possibly spend all that time being sad, they would never stop mourning. Instead, Shonas have turned funerals into a time to celebrate. Like most deaths, there is first a time of mourning. Shona women are known as "professional mourners", they've got the tears and wailing down. They believe that death is a direct result of a being cursed or "witched" by someone (obviously not the AIDS epidemic), in order to prove innocence everyone needs to mourn. a lot. and very publicly. Troves of people make their way through the hospital screaming and crying. We had 4 deaths yesterday, which does not make for a smooth day of procedures. Once the show is over, so begins the party- two days of singing, dancing and eating. I attended the funeral on Monday because it was for an employee of Chidamoyo (and because they needed someone to prepare food for the guests... I guess I can add caterer to my ever expanding list of job titles here!?!). I went into it not knowing what to expect- after the mile walk to the village, I showed up to find 100 women singing and dancing in a circle- jackpot. It took me 3 minutes to make my way to the center, and so began the dance off! After hours of dancing in the extreme heat, I caved. FINAL SCORE- Shona women: 1. White women: 0.