First Hausa Wedding!

Sannuda Aiki (Good Work!) 

Where the bride sits during the party

I was able to go to, part, of a Hausa Wedding! There are many different sections to a Hausa wedding, and I haven't quite figured out how it works. I went to the bride's party, where only women are allowed to attend. There were hundreds of people who came to her parent's house, lots of food and great music. The groom is one of my co-workers.

On the way!

Some of the women at the bride's party

The bride!

The bride

I tried to "smile with my eyes"

One of the popular Northern Nigerian fabrics

I went to a club! 

I had a blast. They played a lot of Nigerian hits and American jams

Testing out the color

Gold from Dubai at the Sabongari Market. 311,000 Naira (over 1,000 USD)

One of my co-workers! 

It's 100 every day

Kano City Zoo!

Sannu!

I've really been keeping up with doing an 'activity' every weekend. I'm having a blast! It's keeping me busy, and I'm finding out a lot about Kano. I can't lie, I was pretty impressed with the variety of animals the zoo had. 

Hello long legs!

One of my favorite photos, I've ever taken

Kaduna!

I was able to go to a Conference/Training in Kaduna. It's a two and a half hour drive from Kano. The drive was beautiful, and filled with lots of large stones. AND I saw baobab trees!

Yes, it's this green

Reminded me of Zambia!

Conference leads and my co-worker on the far left

Incredible stones. Next time, I'm hopping out the car and climbing one

Love this shot

Kano Dye Pits and Kurmi Market

yaya gida? (how is your home?)

I got the chance to go to the Dye Pits and Kurmi Market! The Dye Pits are over 500 years old (I'm told). The only color used is a rich blue, and they tie the fabric with string to make symbols representing different things (the Emir's palace, Kano's pillars etc). I bought one blanket at the Kurmi market, but I plan to go back after checking out all my options!

Please enjoy the photos.

A lighter blue takes 1 hour of dunking and a deep blue takes 3 hours!

Dye Pits

Dye Pits dye lasts for 1 year

One of my favorite cloth patterns. 

Oh! The traffic. 

There's a settlement right next to the dye pits.

Oldest Mosque in Kano

One of the (many) entrances to the Emir's Palae

Emir's Palace

One of the gates within the palace

To get a 'shiny' fabric you have to bang the fabric for hours

My first fabric from the Kurmi Market!

Masks at the Kurmi Market

The shop where I purchased my blanket.

Lots of spices

The market is hundreds of small shops

Some of the many patterns

Traditional bracelets

How the fabric takes on the unique patterns

One of the traditional Hausa homes