Yesterday, I met Danait in the hall. I noticed that she had what we called "henna" on her hand however, there was no design. I had seen henna before on people's hands and feet but it always seems to be accompanied patterns. I was curious to know the reason why. I wanted the children to learn about her culture so I invited her to come to our class for a little presentation. Danait said that she was born in Eritrea and moved to Canada when she was 4 years old. She showed us Eritrea on our globe. It is situated above Ethiopia in Africa. She explained that henna is a powder that women wear on special occasions. She had henna on her hand because on Saturday she had attended a wedding. She explained that you have to mix the powder with water. If you let it rest for 30 minutes, you get the color orange, all night you get red and 2 days black. She said that black is for older women as it is more "ladyish". It will stay on your hands for 3 weeks and on your nails 1 to 2 months. In her culture, they don't make intricate patterns but you can see women wearing their henna in circles: one in the palm of their hands and little circles on each finger.
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