The week surrounding this country's Independence Day was filled with various celebrations. The beginning of the week brought two days of parades, followed by activities in our own neighborhood at the end of the week. The first parade was composed of floats from kindergarten and middle schools from around the city. I took the boys down town to watch while John worked at the house as Evangeline napped.
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| Pedi-cabs were decorated to comprise each school's float. |
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| Two to three children from each kindergarten were selected to represent their school. |
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| The float themes ranged from aspects of the culture, such as fish or fruit, to animals and fairy tales. |
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| We stopped to watch the parade in a patch of shade across from Caedmon's old elementary school. We were invited to sit down with a lady in front of her house. She looked slightly familiar, but it is hard to keep track of everyone we meet. As I chatted with her, I soon was reminded she is the grandmother of the neighbor girls directly across the street. My embarrassment was compounded by the fact we had spent the biggest holiday of the year at her house, although it was three years ago. |
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| After spending about an hour watching the kindergarten floats, we headed home. |
Two weeks prior to the parades, the boys' teachers informed us they had been selected to represent their school in the parade for elementary and high schools. The boys were asked to bring "western clothes" for their part. The day of the parade they had practice at 12pm, which resulted in everyone being dismissed from school at 10am. We headed home to get lunch as quickly as possible before returning to school for practice. We have been very fortunate to be barrowing a friends car, which resulted in being asked to help transport the children to the parade starting line. After dressing and practicing at school, I carted two separate loads of kids and props to the starting line for a 2pm start time. Time here is very, very flexible, so the parade actually began sometime after 2:30. As the boys' school was 46th in line, it took additional time for their group to actually begin moving.
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| Practice at school |
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| Elementary schools lining up at the start. |
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| Caedmon and Whitman were allowed to sit in the Pedi cab during the parade. |
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| The parade went through town to a public performance building, about 2 miles away from the start. Come to find out, upon arriving at the building, each school put on a short little play for the Mayor. This caused the parade to move quite slowly, requiring the kids to endure a great deal of standing and waiting. |
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Each elementary and high school showcased an aspect of the Barat culture.
Caedmon and Whitman pretended to be tourists interested in buying fish from local sellers.
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| Caedmon is buying fish, while Whitman snaps photos. Caedmon gave the real smoked fish to the Mayor as a gift. |
After the kids got under way, I realized I should drive the car to the ending point to have transportation for when we finished. After I found a nearby parking place, I walked to meet the boys along the parade route. Once I met up with them, Caedmon had to use the bathroom. Caedmon and I walked up and down the street looking for a place to use the restroom. We ended up a random person's house. Thank goodness for their generosity. When Caedmon was back with his schoolmates, it was nearing 4pm when John needed to go teach, but was at home with Evangeline. I walked back to the car, drove home, and picked up Evangeline to then meet back up with the boys. Unfortunately while I was gone, the kids' float only moved 3 blocks. Evangeline and I then spent the rest of the parade posing for pictures with spectators as we moved at a snails pace.
Shortly after 6pm, the kids had appeared before the mayor and were free to return home.
It was one of the craziness days we have had in a long time. I did a whole lot of running around town, the parade took much longer than expected, the kids in the parade were worn out from all the walking and standing, and Evangeline and I seemed to be more interesting to the spectators than the cutely dressed school kids.
At the end of the week, the neighborhood kids participated in various competitions organized by a fellow nieghbor. Caedmon and Whitman both participated, while Evangeline and I enjoyed watching and chatting with neighbors.
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Eating Competition
Lightweight chip like things were tied on strings to see who could eat theirs the quickest without their hands.
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| Caedmon, in white and blue, participated in a soccer tournament. |
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| Whitman racing with a marble in a spoon in his mouth. |
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| Caedmon watching the marble races with friends. |
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First through third place were awarded prizes for each competition.
Whitman and Caedmon both received prizes for eating the chips on a string and the marble races.
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