Happy Eid!

Two or three more days until Eid (we are awaiting the word from Saudi Arabia as to the precise date) and we are now in holiday mode. Kim and I have 8 days off school and the kids have maybe 2 or 3 or 4… None of their teachers seem to know so I guess they’ll figure it out next week. We’re looking forward to visits from our VSO friends and hope to visit some of our Keren friends as they celebrate in their homes.

After a bit of a slow start getting used to the heat and various parasites in the food and water here, we’re getting back into the hang of things. I may be imagining it but it feels like it’s cooling down. I can now ride back home from school on my bike without getting overheated and dehydrated. And last evening I even put on a sweatshirt as the breeze felt actually cool. It should continue to cool down from now until January giving us more time to wander about during the afternoons instead of having naps. Lukas and Simon have begun playing soccer regularly with the neighbourhood kids each afternoon. Lukas says his ball skills are definitely improving as he struggles to manipulate the ball around cacti and the generally uneven terrain and attempts to get the ball away form the Eritrean kids. Eritrean kids supposedly have very good skills (though I guess their passing is virtually non-existent.)

School has been going well. Our classes are now back to normal size so we are once again facing the joys of teaching to 60 or so kids. On the bright side, my grade seven class only has about 45 girls and they’re all incredibly well behaved. I’m working on convincing my grade 8s and 9s that they will be asked to leave if they disrupt, so I’m hopeful that I’ll have fewer frustrations than last year. Kim’s big news is that he’s getting desks in some of his classes. Controlling a bunch of teenage boys sprawled out on the floor is a bit of a challenge.

We celebrated our first full week of school last Saturday by biking out with the kids to the fancy Serena hotel on the edge of town and ordering pizzas. It’s the best pizza in town and though pricey, it’s a nice treat, and makes a change from the usual cabbage, tomato, pumpkin and onion dishes. Though potatoes on pizza may sound a bit odd, their vegetarian pizza is really good. The next day, we were invited to Maya’s friend, Sabella’s, house for a huge family gathering to celebrate the arrival of Sabella’s long lost cousin. Sabella’s aunt was a fighter in the struggle for independence from Ethiopia when she became pregnant. She ended up leaving her daughter Intisar with some nuns in Sudan, telling them that she’d pick her up as soon as possible. When she returned to Sudan, the nuns and her daughter were gone. She tried to find her daughter with no success and ended up marrying, having several children and moving to the States. Meanwhile, Intisar was growing up in Holland with her adoptive parents. Recently she decided to track down her birth mother. She wrote a letter to the Eritrean newspaper giving all the details she knew about her mother. Sabella’s mother read the letter and realized that this must be her niece. Unfortunately, Intisar’s mother had died of cancer in the States, but Intisar was happy to meet the rest of her family in Eritrea. We arrived Sunday afternoon to find a huge crowd, plenty of taita and zigne, and a tent full of various family members and friends. After being ushered to an isolated room to eat a huge meal, we managed to join the crowd and watch various family members give welcome speeches. These were followed by plenty of music and dancing. One man sang and played on a single stringed violin-like instrument while several women beat on drums and others danced. It was lots of fun to watch, though I didn’t have the courage to join in on the dancing, which involves moving shoulders up and down in rhythm to the music and stepping around in a circle. I enjoyed watching the women dancing with huge smiles on their faces. I’ve never seen Eritrean women enjoying themselves so much!

I guess that’s about all the news. Now, a plea for donations. I’m running out of my Canadian pins. These much coveted items are very effective sources of motivation for my students. Each week, one lucky girl on the winning team in each class gets a pin. So, if anyone has easy access to their MP’s office, I would really appreciate it if you could try to get some pins for me. They’re really lightweight and shouldn’t cost much to send. Thanks!

Take care,

Barbara