Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Smiles for miles
Upon greeting the people of Enoosaen, I've encountered some of the biggest and brightest smiles imaginable. The frequency of greeting is much higher than in the United States, but at no cost to quality. I find it very refreshing how authentically happy people are to converse with one another. When they pass eachother in the streets, they make sure to stop, allowing enough time to properly greet one another- be it a handshake, hug or the submission of one's head to an elder for blessing. Smiles here have been of particular interest to me for a few different reasons. Their intensity and obvious beauty being first and foremost, second comes the sharp contrast to the serious default demeanor of Africans in general. If you've ever heard the saying "black people don't smile in pictures", my guess is it's partly attributed to the frequency of serious facial expressions. Until you actually approach someone for conversation, you might even think they wanted nothing to do with you. This is hardly the case.
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