Toposa Earrings

Toposa ladies can get really into their jewelry. The more beads they're wearing, the better. I have one billion several bracelets, necklaces, rings, and even this sweet belt that my Toposa mother made for me. While she was making it she told me "I am making it very big because you are fat." Rude.

Anyways, the one thing that I haven't been able to wear are the Toposa nachulo ka akit, or earrings. I had tried in December and in May to wear them but my left ear kept getting infected. Third time's the charm?

My friend Regina made the earrings for me so she and her son Lochek came to put them in.

The Toposa pierce their ears with thorns so the holes tend to be a lot bigger than those of us who just have the posts. The first time Regina tried to thread the string in my ear she said "Oooh ndoshi!" Or "Oooh it's small!" We had to burn the end of the string to poke it through the hole in my ear.

I would like to say I'm not usually this sunburned and sweaty looking...but I am. I've stopped caring. I live in South Sudan, people.

Then finally once the earrings are threaded through you tie the knot and burn the ends of the string so they don't come untied. The only way to remove the earrings is to cut them out...which I did exactly three days later when my ear was infected again. Sigh. I think I'm giving up on this one.