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March 04, 2007

Lunar eclipse in Africa

The lunar eclipse last night was beautifully clear here in Burkina Faso, West Africa. It reached totality at about eleven o’clock. The moon was very full, very red and very difficult to stop gazing at.

Usually Djibo is completely silent by midnight, but on account of the eclipse there was a great din until the early hours of the morning. Lots of people were out on the streets banging pots and pans. I talked to one of them.

- What are you doing?
- I’m clanging.
- Why?
- Can’t you see? Allah has caught hold of the moon.
- But why clang?
- So that he will let go of it.
- What would happen if you didn’t clang at all?
- He would still let go of it. But it would take a very long time.
- Well, in that case, clang harder.
- Hahaha. (jumps up and down, banging on a pot). I will clang until he lets go.

This morning I asked Mamadou about people’s response to the eclipse. ‘There are three kinds of people,’ said Mamadou. ‘There are the people who are afraid and clang. There are the people who are afraid and pray. And there are the people who are not afraid.’
‘And what do they do?’
‘They sleep,’ said Mamadou.

Posted by sahelsteve at March 4, 2007 05:09 PM