Sorry, couldn’t think of a better title for this post. But, my friend is indeed weaving a fan from a palm branch in this picture. These fans are not, however, used for fanning yourself when you’re hot (which is basically always.) Instead, they are used for fanning the coals or the wood that you’re cooking with.
Here’s a finished fan:
And here’s a girl using a fan-
Finally, here’s me, not using a fan, but rather my little gas stovetop. You can’t see the gas bottle it’s connected to underneath the counter.
I am currently down in South Carolina, and it is interesting to see a very similar practice here by the African-American population. They will weave the Palmetto leaves and sweet grass into baskets, and artwork. It seems they carried this over from Africa (or so I am told).