As is customary in Angolan tradition, the family has been camping out at the home of the mourning parents since we received the news. Since I live accross the city, I was there the official 8 days of mourning and then came back because of work but I go spend the night there every couple of days or so... However, the family hasn't been left alone for one second since the boy's passing, it's a big thing in our culture to be there to support them in whatever way we can, to celebrate family and togetherness through difficult times such as these. So... what ends up happening as the mourning period progresses? It starts out as the saddest, most heartbreaking event you've experienced and slowly turns into a family get together complete with jokes, anecdotes, and jolly good times. By the time the official 8 days were over, we were having all-out movie nights (Tio T has a corporate-style presentation screen, projector, and surround sound system he bought during the African Cup to watch the games in style, lol. Yes, these are some serious soccer fans we're dealing with...), game nights, and fun sleepovers. It's been so much fun. It's like a family reunion, and in the efforts of keeping the bereaved's spirits high, everyone makes a conscious effort to be pleasant, agreeable, and contribute to the positive environment.
I decided to bring along my game of Sequence one of those nights... and I don't know if I've mentioned before on the blog how any efforts of organizing a game night has been an epic fail for me before this. You see, Angolans don't do game nights. They don't do social events other than parties with loud music and dancing. They don't do Annual-Last-Minute-Minority-Picnic-Leonia-Brings-a-Random kind of events. They don't do mountain cycling at a local park. They don't do water skying, boarding, tubing... or anything of the sort. They don't do ANYTHING that I would consider a normal and enjoyable leisurely activity. As I said before, all they do for fun is visit each other, watch tv, throw parties with loud music and dancing, and go to the beach (Where they sit and chitchat on the sand with the occasional foray into the area where the water barely reaches their knees... SMH. It's true that Africans don't know how to swim.) So whenever I suggest any other activity that I think would be so much fun to any of my friends or cousins, they look at me like I'm from outer space. Case in point: For my 25th birthday, my aunt had wanted to organize a party. I told her no thanks, I don't like parties (yes, even Adventist ppl find it normal to party with loud music and dancing, lol). So she said, what would you like to do instead? I said let's invite my friends from church and all the cousins around my age and organize a game night! I have some games we could play, it would be so much fun. My aunt literally just blinked at me. She proceeded to suggest that my uncle and herself would just take me (and another cousin that I share birthdays with) out for ice cream, bring the kids along and call it a night. So that's what we ended up doing (I should note that I don't even eat ice cream, so they took THEMSELVES out for ice cream and I just snacked on a pastry and some juice instead). She thought the idea of holding a game night for a birthday party was ridiculous. She was like, what would ppl think? I'd be so embarassed! It's for a 25 yr old! Not a kid's birthday party, a 25 yr old! I tried to explain to her that there is such a thing as games for grown ups but she wasn't quite getting it. To her games = pin the tail on the donkey and other silly little things like that... lol.
So, fastforward to some nights ago, I break out Sequence and teach a couple of them how to play. Before I knew it, the whole gang had learned how to play and had gotten totally HOOKED! They organized a tournament-style structure where they play in teams of two and ppl get eliminated while the winners keep going forward... and it builds up so much suspense because everyone starts ganging up against the team that keeps winning... it's such an intense way of playing Sequence, they took it to the next level. The first night, they ended up playing til the wee hours of the morning. It became the hit of the night. The next night, they broke out the game again and taught it to the uncles... it became even more intense! Ppl were trash-talking, doing victory dances, the whole 9 yards. It was hilarious. After a couple of days, I caught the 5 a.m. bus home so I could go to work and decided to stay at home that night to catch up on my sleep... and what do you know, the cousins were texting me left and right talking about when are you coming back? Please bring back the game!
I kid you not, they are TOTALLY hooked. Everyone rushes through their duties (while at the mourning, the relatives do everything around the house so the bereaved don't have to worry about it. Cook, clean, buy groceries to sustain the multitude of people staying at the house, etc.) so they can get back to the game table we've set up in the front yard. It's hilarious...
I already have 5 cousins that have asked me to bring them back a Sequence game when I go to the U.S. in December. They crack me up. You see, that's what happens when one is willing to be a little bit open-minded and decide to try something outside their normal routine. You might run into something you love to do. Or you might become an addict... lol... So glad we don't play for money, otherwise I would've created a bunch of gambling addicts!
So this one's to the O's: your donation of a game of Sequence has had far-reaching consequences, it's brought a welcome distraction and a lot of joy to a big family who was really needing it. Thanks girls! :D
Saying goodbye to my awesome roomie in Soyo... that's our duplex behind us...
