ISM International Day March 8, 2014

 

Every year the kids’ school (International School at Moshi – Arusha Branch) has an Internatioanl Day.  It is a fund raiser for the school and  the different nationalities all have a tent and offer things native to their homeland.

The India contingent offered food, henna tattoos, massage and limb manipulation as well as dresses or tunics to buy.  The food was delicious and the sauces ran out quickly.  Because there are so many Indian families they had their own tent.  The dancers had their own beautiful performance on the stage.

The Americas tent represented the USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic..  When there are not enough of a nationality to support a separate  tent they happily combine.  Besides having many flags flying, the  tent offered flan, chocolate chip cookies, fruit kebobs, chips (called crisps here), lemonade and margaritas.

 

The Australian tent featured an Aussie barbeque.  The grilled half chickens and served it with carrot/cabbage slaw and a flat bread which resembled chipati (a staple here) but was a bread served in the early settlement days in Australia since it need no leavening.  Such a tasty meal served with such big smiles.

The Scandinavian tent offered pastries, desserts, big pretzels, freshly fried chips and a Dutch kitchen table offering coffee with a little nip added.  This tent had the most colorfully dressed participants.  Haven’t seen that much orange on display in awhile.

I think the lasting impression you came away with was how much acceptance for differences there was as well as how much mutual respect.  Here’s a picture of the girls with their best friends.  Udine(center left) is from Belgium and Dana (center right) is from Israel.

Did I mention the “Bollywood” dancers?  They were something else!

 

Thanks for letting me share.

Sue

P1 and P2 Field Trip to Olasiti Primary School

 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Today I had the good fortune to go on a field trip with Anderson’s class. He is in what we might call a mixed class of Kindergarten and First grade.  The children from ISM  had work sheets and were to find the similarities and differences between the primary school in the Olasiti village and their school.

One of the first differences was in the obviously sub-par structure of the buildings which housed the classrooms. They were made of mud with tin roofs and not very inviting.

 

 

 

Can you guess the next difference?

Yes, in this class of first graders there are 103 students and one teacher! The desks have benches behind them and look like they may have been intended for two students to share, but three to four children were at every desk.  Most of the learning is by rote as a group.  Don’t think there’s much individualized instruction possible here. Our children sang a song in Swahili and the village students also sang to us.

We left the classroom and walked around outside to see other similarities or differences.

Here is the library (not much bigger than a closet):

There is no medical treatment available at the school, but the village clinic is a short walk.

The children from ISM (International School at Moshi, but the Arusha branch) seemed to have an understanding of how fortunate they are, especially compared to most of the local population of Tanzania and indeed most of Africa.

The children were fascinated by my necklace, the names and number of grandkids I have 

Thank you Lisa and Anderson for letting me go with you today!

Some pictures of the village

And always the cattle or goats to contend with on the roads.

 

Monday, March 3, 2014 - Random Thoughts

 

These really are random thoughts, so take them for what they’re worth.

 

When on safari while having breakfast in the dining tent (all fancy with cloth napkins and table set just so) I ordered scrambled eggs, forgetting the British influence here.  I got what my mother called “creamed eggs”.  To make these you whip up eggs as you’d do for scrambled, but then instead of putting them in afry pan with butter, you put them into a saucepan with simmering milk and stir until the milk is absorbed and the eggs are set.  If you think this sounds delicious, try it sometime!

 

This is a picture of a dung beetle.  They make perfect balls from, well from poop and roll it until they find a nice soft spot  where they lay their eggs on it and  bury it as well as possible. They keep the land fresh!

 

Yesterday I finally had a chance to hang out with Anderson alone.  He brought out his bow and arrows he got from his visit with the Hazdas (the hunter gather tribe).  he’s really good at shooting those arrows and I am not so good.  We had such fun probably the most when we tried to figure out how to retrieve the wayward arrows from up in the banana trees.  Laughing is good for the soul.

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Speaking of banana trees, Anderson showed me where the fruit grows from (notice how I end more sentences with prepositions now).  It’s a reddish brown rugby ball shaped thing that falls to the ground after the bananas start to grow.  It’s leaves feel like really thick banana leaves.

 

I also get to spend time with Tierney (who is so hungry to learn how to sew, knit, crochet and Ashy who is just one of the best kids anywhere.  I so love this opportunity!

 

The milk here is the kind with the cream on top of it.  I wonder what the butterfat content of the rest is?  I think   only Americans are obsessed with fat in the diet.  Europeans seem to pay no attention.

Oh and Mama Jackie makes her own noodles for lasagne!  Can’t wait for dinner.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the “circle of life” and know that there is nothing more important than family even with all of our flaws.  I’m reading a lot and am in the middle of “The Fault in our Stars” and there’s a quote in there apropos to Mike’s death  and I paraphrase a bit, but “it was like a hand grenade which left all of us with embedded shrapnel”

Thanks for reading!