Sunday Mass

This morning I had one of my coolest Sudanese experiences to date. After discovering we were both Catholic, my friend Faustina and I decided to go to mass. It started at 8:30, and we were a few minutes late. The church (which is brightly painted on the outside and quite beautiful, the picture above doesn't begin to do it justice) was packed to capacity, and I mean PACKED. So we stood outside with others and just listened to the mass, occasionally getting a glimpse of the proceedings inside. I was not sure what to expect, and ended up being pretty amazed at how close it was to mass back home. This parish has an Italian priest, and he does the mass almost completely in English, with the exception of the homily, which was given in English and translated into Dinka. It was so nice to see people decked out in their Sunday best, some of the kids had suits on and looked adorable. There was also some really cool music - hymns in Swahili and Dinka, accompanied by drums, it was some real Sister Act action! All in all, mass was about an hour and a half. Next week we plan to go early to get some seats inside. My Mom would be so proud!