Summer Salad, Sun Tea, And Sweet Corn

I try to eat lighter on the weekends, and Julienne is getting more comfortable going off the grid to cook for me. This week's Friday request for for a salad, rice, and a vegetable mix. I bought some green beans yesterday and suggested she boil some corn (not normal here, it is usually roasted). She had made some cucumbers and onions last night with a nice mayonnaise sauce and I asked her to embellish it a bit for tonight's meal. She knocked it all out of the ballpark! She added some tomatoes and avocados to the salad and the corn was perfect. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to have this food here on a hot summer's night after fasting all day. I even had butter for the corn and beans .Last night I had put a bottle of sun tea with lemon in the freezer - refreshing isn't a good enough word. It was a very nice way to top a fun, productive, and touching day. It is my pleasure to share some of it with you (the food didn't last long enough for a picture though :(

It humbles me that I can stop the car, climb out, and invite myself into someone's home  and be received with complete acceptance and graciousness. This family was pounding cassava into flour, and I have been very fascinated with the whole process since arriving (a pure cassava post coming soon). The young girl was so earnest, I am still smiling ten hours later :)

Friday at school - games day!

Tracy Chapman 

My dream come true - Tracy Chapman doing a duet with Joan Armatrading :)

More and more children are coming to classes and sticking around 

The nursery school children practicing their skit for the American English Day on July 4th

Heading back off for some pineapple

The rock game somehow related to jacks. I will not leave until I learn the rules!

Hanging out on a Friday evening

Saint Fort telling his students that he can't see, forcing them to describe things in English - A good, intuitive teacher!

It catches me off guard sometimes when I realize I still have the capacity to underestimate folks. I was a bit reluctant about teaching them Capture the Flag, thinking it might be too complicated. I was so wrong :)

Swing by to see what crazy game they are playing this week

Captured prisoners in capable custody

It is an hour and a half (at least) ride home, but it is so beautiful. and there are so many friendly people on the way, it never grates on me (even despite the gizzard jarring road). It reminds me of driving in rural Oklahoma where everyone waves at each other.

Love these small compounds with immaculately kept courtyards

Occasionally, I catch up to the right part of the world rapidly revolving around me. As usual, today was all over the map as multiple projects keep evolving and we struggle to stay ahead of them and figure out how they will sustain themselves after I leave. We played a new game today and continued to plan our 4th of July event, an open house, and a celebration party on my last day in the camp. I am fasting and it was very hot today. I was somewhat relieved when the 65 students and teachers left for the day leaving me and the club leaders to wrap things up. While were chatting, I noticed this little girl, Christine, sitting in the back of the room intently copying the schedule on the blackboard. She must have slipped in when everyone left. I didn't remember having seen her before, and I was pretty sure she had no idea what she was copying. I smiled at her and beckoned her to the front of the room to sit beside Yvon. She shyly complied and the leaders gently asked her about herself. When asked why she was there, she simply said (in Sango), "I love school." The gravity of those three words hit me harder than any of the hundreds of precious and touching moments that populate every one of my days  here. I was aware that there are levels of affluence here, but when I heard her speak so softly, then saw her clothes, I knew which end of that spectrum she lived in. The leaders were great! They immediately made her feel welcome and made sure she would come back Monday to join a suitable class. Me, I (an inside joke here) have decided to interrupt the work I have given the local tailor to commission of a couple of dresses - one for Christine and one for Benjamin. It seems somewhat sinful being able to be Santa Claus so easily, but it is a sin I can live with :)