She's basically the cutest (and cleanest!) Beninese baby ever
p.s. notice Jasper's friend the goat in the background, I'm happy to say he also made it through Easter and is still with us
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Easter Bunny Comes to Dogbo
Every Sunday morning that I'm out walking somewhere in Dogbo I always disappoint someone when they ask if I'm going to mass and I say no. Of course I don't know how they really feel about that response, but sometimes if they're going to or from mass themselves I feel I've especially let them down. When I feel really bad I explain that I'm Orthodox and they don't have my church here. I don't know if they've ever heard of it (probably not for most), but they understand the idea and accept the excuse. (Good thing I'm not posted in Eastern Europe or else that wouldn't work so well...hehe...)
But even though this past Sunday wasn't my Easter (which was also very interesting to explain to people), I thought it would be fun to bring a little bit of American tradition to my Catholic neighbors. So, the kids and I decorated Easter eggs and then they went on an Easter egg hunt in the front yard! The idea just came into my head a few days ago an I'm so glad it did because it was both easy and fun. Of course I had no egg dye so I spent Saturday trying to creatively come up with colored water to dye them. Well, neither colored frosting diluted in water nor bled markers did the trick, plus the eggs are brown, making it harder. So, in the end I just invited the 4 kids in to sit around my table (which would have been enough since I've never even done that before) and we drew on the eggs with markers.
At first they thought I was crazy but then they really got into it. The 9 year old boy, Jueslin, drew a great chicken and egg on one while the other kids were mostly just randomly scribbling. I even asked the 15 year old boy who was over doing my laundry if he wanted to join and he got so excited. He took a good 15 minutes to decorate his egg. I myself had forgotten how fun egg decorating can be, and I must say, some of mine came out super cute :-).
Anyway, so then I sent them home and told them the next activity would be in half an hour. Their mom knew I was going to hide the eggs, so she shut the windows and locked the door. I hid some in plants, others behind rocks or boards, and then others I sort of left in more plain sight. When I was finished they eagerly came to my door awaiting instructions. As they walked up, the 6 year old girl spotted one and pointing to it she said, "Kristin, it has fallen!!" "No!" I said, "it's not fallen, you found it!" Then I explained that Gloria had found the first one and they had to find 11 more. Jueslin is the only one who clearly understood I think, and the others just followed him for most of the hunt. Gloria found a few as well. Papa picked up 3 and I had to yell at him to stop because this was for the kids! As it began my other neighbors came out and were eager to watch and help count down as more were found. They even helped their 1 year old baby girl find one by their door. After about 20 minutes all the eggs were found and everyone had had a good time. Then I sent Jueslin to give all the eggs to his mother, which was actually a very big gift because eggs are quite expensive.
Well, after the hunt I explained to the kids that a big bunny had come and delivered me gifts for all of them. I received an Easter package about a week ago with a little pink bunny basket, fake green grass stuff, and jelly beans. So I stuffed that full and let each of the kids take a big handful of jelly beans and other candy. Then I sort of tried to show them the book of Peter Rabbit (which also came in the package), but since only Jueslin speaks basic French, they just sort of looked at the pictures and didn't say much. Either way, I know they enjoyed it all because a few hours later Jueslin excitedly asked if there were more Easter activities I had to share. Sadly I said no, but I can't wait to do it again next year!
But even though this past Sunday wasn't my Easter (which was also very interesting to explain to people), I thought it would be fun to bring a little bit of American tradition to my Catholic neighbors. So, the kids and I decorated Easter eggs and then they went on an Easter egg hunt in the front yard! The idea just came into my head a few days ago an I'm so glad it did because it was both easy and fun. Of course I had no egg dye so I spent Saturday trying to creatively come up with colored water to dye them. Well, neither colored frosting diluted in water nor bled markers did the trick, plus the eggs are brown, making it harder. So, in the end I just invited the 4 kids in to sit around my table (which would have been enough since I've never even done that before) and we drew on the eggs with markers.
At first they thought I was crazy but then they really got into it. The 9 year old boy, Jueslin, drew a great chicken and egg on one while the other kids were mostly just randomly scribbling. I even asked the 15 year old boy who was over doing my laundry if he wanted to join and he got so excited. He took a good 15 minutes to decorate his egg. I myself had forgotten how fun egg decorating can be, and I must say, some of mine came out super cute :-).
Anyway, so then I sent them home and told them the next activity would be in half an hour. Their mom knew I was going to hide the eggs, so she shut the windows and locked the door. I hid some in plants, others behind rocks or boards, and then others I sort of left in more plain sight. When I was finished they eagerly came to my door awaiting instructions. As they walked up, the 6 year old girl spotted one and pointing to it she said, "Kristin, it has fallen!!" "No!" I said, "it's not fallen, you found it!" Then I explained that Gloria had found the first one and they had to find 11 more. Jueslin is the only one who clearly understood I think, and the others just followed him for most of the hunt. Gloria found a few as well. Papa picked up 3 and I had to yell at him to stop because this was for the kids! As it began my other neighbors came out and were eager to watch and help count down as more were found. They even helped their 1 year old baby girl find one by their door. After about 20 minutes all the eggs were found and everyone had had a good time. Then I sent Jueslin to give all the eggs to his mother, which was actually a very big gift because eggs are quite expensive.
Well, after the hunt I explained to the kids that a big bunny had come and delivered me gifts for all of them. I received an Easter package about a week ago with a little pink bunny basket, fake green grass stuff, and jelly beans. So I stuffed that full and let each of the kids take a big handful of jelly beans and other candy. Then I sort of tried to show them the book of Peter Rabbit (which also came in the package), but since only Jueslin speaks basic French, they just sort of looked at the pictures and didn't say much. Either way, I know they enjoyed it all because a few hours later Jueslin excitedly asked if there were more Easter activities I had to share. Sadly I said no, but I can't wait to do it again next year!
In other news, life's been pretty alright. Jasper has been sick for 2 weeks now which has been exhausting, frustrating, and expensive. He seems to get a little better everyday, but he's still far from his old self. I'm also a horrible mother, because I left him at the vet tied to a tree for 2 weeks while I travel to the capital to attend 2 different Peace Corps workshops. The first one this week is myself and three other volunteers working with people from the ministry of education to rewrite the national English books. It's actually a big privilege and opportunity, and I know it's going to be a week full of hard work and likely quite a bit of frustration. To reward ourselves at the end we're going swimming on Saturday at the ambassador's pool and then I'll be in an eco-tourist village called Possotome visiting a fellow volunteer until Monday. He's actually Greek Orthodox too, so we've got plans to pull out some Easter traditions and have a big midnight feast! Then next week is a big workshop to plan summer training for the new volunteers. I can't believe they're coming in 3.5 months! Anyway, by the time I get back to post I'll have only 3 days of teaching in April and then just through May til the end of the school year. Crazy how time flies!
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