The Biggest holiday of the year

The month of fasting ended on Sunday, making Monday the biggest holiday of the year.  Celebrations look much like those of our major holidays in the States.  People travel home, usually to where ever their oldest relation lives, and the day is filled with a great deal of eating.  On our block everyone, except us and a neighbor directly across from us, traveled outside the city.  On Sunday night we joined our neighbors from across the street for parade.  Cars and trucks are decorated with lights and signs, then drive through the city.  Other cars and motorcycles join in by following the parade.  We too joined in the motorcade, driving the route of the parade in a car and seeing one 'float' and hundreds of motorcycles. 
Monday we joined our neighbors again, for a meal at the great-grandma's house.  We ate traditional wrapped rice, hard boiled eggs, chicken, and fish.  Then there were sweet drinks, usually some sort of soda, and lots of cookies to snack on. 

With our neighbor's family.  Neighbor girls in white and pink - center.  Two of their aunts on left, grand parents back-center, and cousin on right. 

Erin with our neighbor, same age as Whitman. 

Our neighbor, far left, with her eldest daughter in pink, same age as Caedmon.

Erin and the grandmother.

The grandpa with two granddaughters.

More family.

After eating we just laid around, watching TV or chatting. 

Traditional cookies and peanuts.  After eating with family, people spend the next couple of day or up to one week visiting friends and family.  At every house you visit during this week you will be offered at least cookies nicely displayed in jars and a sweet drink. 

 Another aspect of this holiday is new clothes and money.  Kids and many adults too, look forward to getting at least one new outfit for the holiday.  Kids also receive money, usually small new crisp bills, from friends and relatives.  It is also the custom for kids to walk around the neighborhood for money as well.  It reminded me of Halloween as kids I've never met before stopped by and said a phrase to get something in return, just trade the candy for money.


We took the opportunity to get pictures and names of all the kids in hopes of actually remembering their names. 

As one final activity this holiday, John and I learned how to make containers for one of the many varieties of wrapped rice.  Young leaves from a coconut tree are woven into little square containers.  They are then filled about half way full with rice and steamed for hours until the rice is cooked. 

It just takes longer...

After living here for more than 2 years, I, Erin, am still surprised at how long things sometimes take.  We come from such a time oriented culture, “Time is money” for example, that I frequently get frustrated with the time it takes to get things done. 
I often think, “I’ll just whip up a batch of…,” then it turns out taking much longer than anticipated.  Here in Barat the only canned food I’ve seen is sardines.  Even the equivalent of brown sugar, which is actually palm sugar, has to be either melted or chopped-up to use.  There are no prepared lunch meats (oh how I miss that), peeled baby carrots, or frozen vegies waiting to be steamed.  My quick and easy, last minute, go to meal of Spaghetti now requires tomatoes to be chopped (pealed and seeded if you really want a nice consistency) to make the sauce from scratch.  Thankfully last time we were in the big city we stocked up on canned tomato paste...instant spaghetti sauce here we come!

Palm sugar wrapped in banana leaves. 

Tomatoes waiting to become sauce.  These are the biggest I've seen. 

Milk to be made from powder!

The epitome of things taking time has most recently been experienced in my attempt to learn more about the occurrence of malaria here.  Two blocks away there is a local clinic, similar to the public health department in the States.  It offers minor medical services and attends to community health needs.  There is a specific offices dedicated to malaria so I thought this would be the best place to start.  The first day I asked to speak to someone in regards to malaria.  The office worker wasn’t in as her hours are 8am to 12pm and I had come in at 2 in the afternoon.  I returned the second day only to find she was out sick.  On the following day, a Friday, she was still out sick.  On Monday I finally was able to meet with her.  She said she was really busy but could prepare some documents for me if I would bring a thumb drive in on Thursday.  Thankfully we were able to briefly discuss some of my questions.  Thursday I returned to find, that once again, she was not in the office, though it was 9:30 in the morning.  Unfortunately no one knew when she would be in and her cell happened to be inactive.  On the sixth day, Friday again, I returned again to no avail.  This time I left my number to be informed when she returned.  I have yet to get the documents she mentioned, but was able to get a small picture of malaria occurrence here in Barat from our brief conversation. 


The "Public Health Center"

 

Kids and Questions

There are many questions here that are ok to ask that are taboo in the States.  Any time you leave the house people ask, "Where are you going?"  Then when you return people ask, "Where are you coming from?"  These are pretty simple questions to get use to, though it is hard to get into the habit of asking them of others.  Other frequently asked questions, that are a little more uncomfortable are, "How much did you pay for that?", "What's your religion?",  and "What type of birth control do you use?"  These are all appropriate to be asked by someone you just met!
Yesterday a couple very inquisitive kids were at our house.  They began with simple questions about Caedmon and Whitman.  Could the boys speak the national language?  When are their birthdays?  Have they ever eaten rice?  Then they proceeded to ask about what I was doing on the computer.  They followed with, "Where did you get your computer?"  "How much did it cost?"  "Where did you get your clothes rack?" "How much did it cost?" "Are Caedmon's cousins in school?" 'Where are they in school?"
I was quite surprised with all their questions, but began to see a little into their world.  Such as when they asked, "Who gave Caedmon's school uniforms to him?"  To me it was obvious the school did, for a small price.  But they probably got their uniforms handed down to them by older siblings or cousins, so it was only logical to ask who they came from. 

Are you fasting?

We are half way through the month of fasting.  Here in Barat it feels quite different than in the big city.  Many of the people, particularly the kids, will ask us if we are fasting.  It seems to be a pretty common question among themselves as well.  All restaurants are closed until the evening and people seem to do a lot more staying inside than usual.  All in all the town is pretty quite, opposed to the big city which remains pretty busy even during this month.  Each afternoon local women set up tables on the main road near our house to sell home made goods usually eaten to break the fast.  I, Erin, had the opportunity to learn the process of two of these treats with a friend.  We made a local sweet treat called 'green bananas' (literally translated) and a fried snack that looks a lot like a turnover but is filled with potatoes, carrots, and small noodles.

The kitchen in my friend's house.  She does have a two burner gas stove off to the right.  She used the wood burning one against the wall to steam the dough for the 'green bananas.'  The dough consisted of flour, water flavored with palm leaves chopped in a blender, salt, and a little margarine.  It was thinner than pancake batter, but turned into play dough consistency after steamed for 15 minutes. 

Various ingredients. 

The steamed green dough is flattened and filled with a slice of banana. 

 

The dough is wrapped around the banana and shaped.  Later it is eaten with thickened coconut milk flavored with more palm leaves.

I had a great time learning about the process and spending time with a friend!  A few days afterward we had a group of elementary teachers over to break the fast and we served her treats! 

Recent Happenings

It is hard to believe June is almost over.  Living in a place that feels like perpetual summer, I still find it difficult to notice the passing of time. 

Over the past few weeks we have been busy with life and some extra events!

Compost bin

I've wanted to try composting for awhile as the dirt here seems to have a very clay like consistency.  We finally got a suitable container and are finishing our second week!  I'm sure I, Erin, as women, looked pretty funny to our neighbors drilling holes in this big container.  One neighbor asked if we had an animal inside because of the holes and rock on the lid. 

 

Our small garden.  From the left: lemon grass, basil starters, then chili at the far end.

 The real reason I wanted to start composting was out of a desire to grow a small garden, particularly vegetables or herbs that are difficult to get here, or that I rarely use.  Lemon grass and small chili peppers are very abundant here, but whenever I buy them at the market most of it goes bad before I can use them up.  I’ve also wanted to grow basil for the longest time as dried basil does not exist here in Barat.  Fresh basil can be found at the market but I’ve only ever seen lemon basil.  A nice neighbor cut off some springs from her plants after I asked where I could buy the plants.  It is lemon basil which will do until I find regular basil.  Green peppers are next on my list, again not available here.  We have some seeds Caedmon is anxious to plant, but I’m wanting to wait for some good compost first!

 

The filling in of our backyard has been finished, making a decent playing area.

Our picnic lunch on our bench in front of our house.

                                                     Caedmon finished kindergarten! 

Now it's summer vacation, though I'm not sure what that means as they've been playing outside all year and school was only ever two hours a day.  Never the less it was an achievement we celebrated first with a picnic of hot dogs.  We found some good sausage and I made buns.  Later we invited the neighbor kids over for cookies, ice cream, and a movie.  We used a big screen and projector in our front room.  It was great fun and something special for everyone, though the neighbor kids got a little bored as we didn't have any movies in their language. 

 

Our picnic lunch was joined by neighborhood friends!  They liked the hot dogs too, though not all of them liked the ketchup.

 

Caedmon riding the length of our street on his second day of being able to ride a bicycle.

 

The neighbor girls have bicycles that both boys have been interested in.  Caedmon spent a couple weeks riding the small bike with training wheels, then set his sights higher.  After about a week and a half of pushing with his feet and occasionally trying to pedal, he has learned how to ride a bike!  And now another item has been added to his birthday wish list. 

 

  We have also had the pleasure of attending multiple events: a baby naming party, a circumcision party, and a graduation parade. 

Folding banana leaves for a desert to be steamed inside. 

Preparations the day before for the baby naming party. 

It is a custom here to name your child at a special party at least 7 days after birth.  Many people wait longer than 7 days until they are financially able or have the time.  Our neighbors had the party about a month and a half after their baby's birth, at which point the name was made public and began to be used.  The day before the party family, friends, and nighbors all gathered to help with preparations.  I joined them, pealing shallots and garlic in the morning, then folding banana leaves in the afternoon. 

The actual event started the next morning with cutting of the baby's hair and placing it in a coconut.  They then read various prayers and served a meal.

 

A nurse, on the far right, preparing to circumcise the 12 year old on the bed. 

It is the custom here that boys are circumcised between 10 and 12 years.  Here in Barat you just have it done in your home, by a nurse.  Our host family's son had this pleasure last Saturday.  John and the boys went early to watch the procedure, which is not a very private event.  We then took part in the celebratory meal afterwards. 





Graduation Parade

John was invited to a small town about 20km away.  The town was celebrating children who had graduated from kindergarten and also those that finished learning to read Arabic with a parade.   All the children dressed up in either tradition dress or other costumes.  Those that finished learning to read Arabic rode horses.  There were over 80 horses. 


Girls decked out in tradition dress. 

Just graduated kindergarteners, also decked out in traditional dress.

 

Teaching our house help to read. 

On a more daily basis, I, Erin, have been teaching our house help to read.  She is from village south of us, but has lived here since her marriage.  She is in her twenties and never graduated elementary school.  It has been my pleasure to spend about 15mintues most days teaching her to read the national language.  The national language unfortunately is her second language, but the letters and sound system are the same.  It has proved a little humorous at times when there is a word she reads that neither of us know!  It has been exciting to see her light up when she understand the words on the page and see her begin to refer to herself as 'just a little smart.'

 

And more kids!

Each day seems to bring a new face to our front yards and new challenges as our cultures collide.  Sunday we invited the children of our host family over; the same family we lived with for 5 months.  The younger girl is the same age as Whitman.  At one point in the afternoon she came to me asking to go ‘pee.’  I helped her to the bathroom and told her to sit as I pointed to the toilet.  Apparently I was not clear enough, for just as I feared, she immediately squatted on the floor and peed.  Thankfully she was in the bathroom, but our bathroom is more like a shower with a toilet in it.  I helped her get dressed then proceed to disinfect the bathroom floor. 

A highlight from the weekend though, occurred when two neighbor girls stopped by to ask for a Band-Aid for a small cut.  Apparently we are known as the house with Band-Aids! 

A challenge recently has been to love the kids as we are called to.  There is a group of kids that wander the neighborhood looking for plastic, glass, and cans to turn in for money.  Apparently they can get a nickel for 1 kilogram of plastic.  I have told these kids to always stop by as I will set aside our plastic, glass, and cans for them.  This is the closest I can get to recycling here and it helps these kids out.  These kids have also taken to peering in our windows.  The other day they proceeded to ask for the apples on our counter.  It stirs up different sentiments in me when I am asked to give versus deciding to give on my own, especially in a manner my culture would see as rather impolite.  I am called to welcome these kids, not hinder them, and give to those who are in need.  So I am learning to love them are they are truly loved and look past cultural, social, and economic differences. 

Saturdays

 

Ever since we first arrived in country, we have set Saturdays aside as a family day.  The culture here is very relational and as we take initiative to build relationships and learn language it can be difficult to spend time just as a family.  So, on Saturdays we may stay home and Skype, or go out to an enjoyable and relatively quiet place!  In the big city this usually meant the mall as it was air conditioned, had play structures for the boys, and was pretty quiet on Saturday mornings.  Now in the small city of Barat there are no malls.  There is one city park along the beach.  Though kids are still in school on Saturdays the city park turned out to be pretty busy with fish vendors, many wanting to talk to us.  The beach has turned out to be a great spot.  Sunday the beach can be quite busy, but we have enjoyed it on Saturdays as we usually only see a couple other people. 

My favorite beach from the cliff above.  It is a 30minute walk from our house.

Looking towards the opposite cliff. 

Down on the beach!
This beach is pretty rocky, reminding John more of the Oregon coast than Florida!  The water is clearer, there is less trash, and it is quieter than the other more popular beach. 

 

We still run into locals wanting to chat.

If we don’t feel like the beach, we head to the graveyard.  This isn’t just any graveyard.  It is a historical graveyard where former Kings from the area are buried.  It is larger and more beautiful than any park here or in the big city (not that there really are parks).  The graveyard sits upon a cliff with an incredible view of the ocean.  There are multiple little places to sit and catch some shade, along with a fair amount of open area with grass.  It is also very quiet.  Most people don’t choose to go and sit in a graveyard, even to the extent some are too afraid of spirits to venture there. 

Walking through a neighborhood on the way to the graveyard we are joined by a group of kids coming out to 'see the westerners.'

A well and public bathrooms for those in the neighborhood without water in their homes. 

From the neighborhood we climb up the hill! 

A community graveyard, still in use today.

Entrance to the King's Graveyard

Nice large grassy area with a view. 

 

Historic graves.

More historic graves.

A traditional house within the complex.

Enjoying the shade, a small breeze, and the quiet!

Whitman

Caedmon

The view!
Fishing boats and homes below.

Kids

Most kids are just left to play and wander on their own.  Small children that can already walk usually are left to the care of older siblings.  I’m probably a pretty odd sight as the only adult that follows my children around wherever they go.  The other day the boys wanted to play badminton at tennis courts that are practically next door.  I followed them over there along with at least 8 other kids.  I was the only adult.  The ages ranged from 18months to 13 years. 

One of our neighbors, an 18month old cutie, accompanied to the tennis courts by his 11 year sister.

Sisters of the small boy; the 5 year old is a skilled climber, as her 11 year old sister watches from below1

More neighbors, enjoying the space to play!

On a different day some kids were over at our house playing and reading books with the boys.  When Caedmon and Whitman left to go on an errand with John, the kids just stayed.   The whole time they read the books we had in the national language.  It made me wonder if they have any books at home to read for themselves.  They are 2nd and 3rd graders who seemed, on that day, very enthusiastic to practice their reading skills. 

 

Neighbor kids reading.