Personal Space

A shortish (for real this time) entry tonight as we had an unexpectedly long day.

Alexia invited us to the first mass of her cousin who was ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church yesterday. This also included the reception afterwards. Now, once upon a time I myself was Catholic and I recall that mass lasted about an hour. But I guess first masses are different and I'd imagine the Burundian fondness for speech making also had something to do with mass lasting 3 hours and the reception another 3 after that. I will also say that no Catholic mass I have ever been to had 2 dancing troupes- 1 girls in bright colored flowing robes with flowered headbands, 1 boys in traditional dress including tall grass headresses; drum, trumpet and flag waving fanfare for the presentation of the host; or applause. The trumpet, drum and flag waving fanfare was my favorite because a few times early on the trumpet would end on a bit of a sour note which caused the audience to laugh and then every time they played after that the boys sitting behind me would giggle in anticipation of the final note.

The reception was very much like the wedding reception we went to. Audience was split in two and looking at each other. Fanta was offered. Also beer, the Catholics having no problem at all with alcohol. There was more dancing and singing and also some traditional Burundian drumming. Which brings me to my observation about personal space.

I had noticed at the big Independence Day reception with the president that people got really close to the drummers while they were performing. Not really close to watch, really close while they were walking by or chatting with a friend or setting down a drink. Really close while seemingly not paying attention at all. Several times I was certain someone was about to be bashed in the head with a drumstick. Today while the drummers were processing in and while the dancing girls were dancing, people would walk right through them, I mean right through the middle of the dance to go and greet the new priest or set their glasses on the table. On the street too I notice people will maintain their trajectory even if it means brushing right past you. It's as if the entire nation has a personal space index of 0. How else do the buses built for 24 people fit 30?

What's even more unnerving is that this goes for the drivers too. If a car or bus or motorcycle is making a turn where people are crossing, well, it just makes the turn which is its business and expects the people to not get hit which is their business. They'll honk, but they won't swerve and they certainly won't slow down.

And what seems odd to me is that it sort of works. No one did get bashed with a drumstick, the dancers didn't miss a step and rarely, rarely have I ever seen a Burundian scurry out of the way of anything. Sure we see about one accident a day on our way to or from the clinic but given the fact that there are no traffic lights or speed limits and the 3 stop signs I've seen were all completely ignored (and I don't just mean Chicago rolling stop ignored, it's really as if they aren't there at all) and there are no lines in the streets and as far as I can tell 'drive on the right' and 'wear a seat belt' are the only rules at all, wouldn't you think there'd be accidents much more often? It makes going for a walk (or, you know, anywhere) more of an adventure than I'm usually looking for but it all seems to work out in the end.