Since returning from our vacation
with the grandparents, Caedmon and Whitman have returned to local school here
in Barat, but with a twist. As we have
acquired land and hope to move to the other side of town, we decided to enroll
them both in an elementary school in the same neighborhood. Initially we anticipated their beginning a
new school to occur simultaneously with our move, or at least within a month of each other. Unfortunately, we are still awaiting
important pieces of wood for the actual house building to begin. Thankfully Caedmon and Whitman have
transitioned to a new school very well.
Both of the boys left friends and the familiarity of their previous
school. For Whitman this also meant entering elementary school which here
means a great deal more sitting and ‘working’ than playing. After their first day, they both said it was
different than they expected, but in positive ways! Caedmon was happy that there were girls who
already knew his name. Whitman said it
was different than he expected because it was similar to kindergarten in that
he spent his day just writing letters and numbers. The children are much less accustomed to seeing
westerners in that part of town, resulting in the boys being followed around, stared at, and touched quite
a bit. Thankfully they seem to be taking
this well. Whitman gets out an hour before Caedmon and because the frequent crowd that follows him, he often joins Caedmon in class until his brother finishes as well.
As for John and I the five-minute
drive to school has become a 20 minute drive instead. Relatively speaking we know this is nothing
to what many in the States under take on a daily basis, but due to this fact
and the boys getting out at 11am and 12pm (why two different times I’m still
trying to figure out), John and I have decided to spend our mornings in that
area of town building relationships within our future community. People always seems happy to have us there
and often ask why we both don’t come every
morning. We alternate mornings to allow Evangeline to take her morning nap, which seems to be a reason that doesn't quite fit into the local's 'cultural box.'
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Filling water containers to use at home.
I, Erin, have spent my morning in the new neighborhood with women in their homes or out doing what they do, which has consisted mostly of going to the market or filling water containers.
We had city water installed at our property. Since we are not using it yet, we have allowed neighbors to use it when it runs, which seems to be once a week. Some people have wells at their homes, but being so close to the sea they say it is very salty. Others use neighborhood wells for all water used in their homes.
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We are praising the Father that this transition for the boys has gone so well and that they seem to be enjoying school! I, Erin, was also skeptical of spending a whole morning, multiple time per week in that area, but my fears and uncertainties have been replaced with very welcoming arms and rich settings for language and culture study.
