Hello Out There

I’ll keep writing each week, though I’m not sure when these blogs will get sent. We’ve now had a week without internet service. I guess I shouldn’t complain. Before we arrived in Eritrea, I never dreamed that we’d have a good service as we do. The occasional problem with the server or with lack of electricity shouldn’t get me down, but I’ve come to rely on it to keep in touch with everyone.

It has been a good week here. Everyone is healthy and has been for a while, though now that I’ve said that, one of us is sure to come down with something. Our friend Saba is now fully recovered and her happy, energetic self once more, which is really nice.

Maya and Simon are into their second week of home schooling and seem to be doing okay. They haven’t received most of their program yet though so they’ve got maybe a bit too much free time. They’ve taken on some more of the chores now that they’re home more, which is really nice. Now we come home to a dirty-dish free home and lunch is usually ready for us. Despite what Simon thinks, we haven’t turned them into slaves. I’m hoping that these skills will be useful next year as well.

Today the kids begin their first Arabic lesson. We figure that since schooling hasn’t worked out here, at least they can learn a useful language. My Arabic is coming along and I’m even using it my classes, to my students’ amazement and delight. It helps them to understand things better and also shows them that it’s okay to make mistakes, which I do regularly. I made a big one yesterday when teaching my grade 12 boys’ class. I was writing adjectives on the board, and beside the word “handsome” I wrote, jameel, in Arabic. The problem with writing in Arabic is that it’s hard to know when to put in or leave out the vowels. I chose to leave out the “ee” sound. At the end of the lesson, a student came up and politely pointed out that I’d written that the man was a camel (jamal) instead of writing that the man was handsome. Oh well, it was close.

Kim is going through his share of bodily injuries these days. A week or so ago, he was chopping up branches from our beloved guaza tree. He’d chopped off the bottom ones to make a shaded area in the yard for us to sit. The guaza tree has 2 to 3 inch thorns on it and one of these got embedded in his thumb. He still has a huge swelling there, though we’ve been assured by friends that the tree isn’t poisonous. Then, a few days ago, while riding his bike in town, he was hit on the head by a man carrying a big stick. The fellow was one of the many mentally ill guys who wander the Keren streets. Most of them are harmless, but this one, though not very strong managed to make a bump on Kim’s head. Kim was more angry than hurt, but luckily some local people managed to prevent him from hurting the guy. The word spread quickly and that night Saba had a call from our principal making sure that Kim was okay.

We’re enjoying our weekend addition to the family, a VSO volunteer named Michelle. She lives in a village a half-hour away, but likes to come in every weekend as she finds it lonely there. We’re appreciating the company. The kids enjoy playing Monopoly and going on hikes with her on Saturday and Sunday mornings when Kim and I are at school. For some reason, when Kim and I suggest a game of Monopoly, the kids think it’s a bad idea, but not so with Michelle. She’s also helped me by pointing out to the kids when she thinks their behaviour and treatment of Kim and me is bad. It’s very nice for all of us.

Guess that’s all for now,

Take care,

Barb