Fasting and Feasting

The month of June brought a very different schedule to our lives.  It was the month of fasting which alters most aspects of the community.  Restaurants are not open during the day here in Barat and people operate on a rather different schedule as well; rising at 3am to make and eat breakfast, going to work late, napping longer during the day, and closing up shop early. 

John fasted most days along with our neighbors.  This resulted in him waking up at 4am to eat breakfast and also use the time to study.  Then as I, Erin, was getting up at 5:30am, John usually went back to bed until 8ish.  John would join the rest of us for lunch, but wouldn’t eat again until 6pm when the fast finished for the day.  Many people were less consistently available which made regular language study difficult for John.  The boys finished local school and homeschooling, so they were home all day, yet many of the neighbor kids were not, either spending their time at their grandparents’ house or attending special religious classes.  As the boys didn’t have any organized activities, John came up with the idea of holding an informal soccer practice twice a week in the neighborhood we are planning to move to.  The goal was to provide an activity for kids the same age as Caedmon and Whitman to enable them to get to know each other before we actually move.  It turned out to be an enjoyable activity for all.  During most days Evangeline and I wandered around visiting with our neighbors to be. 

Soccer in our neighborhood to be

Fruit Soup Ingredients: a very popular way to break the fast
(mix papaya, fruit syrup, coconut jellies, sweetened condensed milk, and jello with water and ice)

We brought drinks or sweets to 'break the fast' each soccer practice, though most of the kids in that area were not fasting.

Caedmon eating jello, made from agar (seaweed).

At the end of the fasting month the largest holiday is celebrated.  Culturally this is a time when special foods are made and family and friends visit.  We visited various friends and neighbors the day of the holiday and the few days following.  At each house we visited we were met with drinks, cookies, and plates of food.  Not knowing how many of our friends might stop by our own house, I prepared a large pot of a traditional Barat chicken soup.  It has a little bite to it, but Whitman thoroughly enjoyed it!

Blending spices: large chili pepper, lemon grass, ginger, garlic, and shallots.

Spices are mixed with chicken broth, coconut milk, salt, chicken bullion, and fried shallots.  It is served with rice and hard boiled eggs.

Visiting and eating at a friend's house.

Visiting family with a friend.

Our Baby is One

Just the other day a local friend asked which season in the States I, Erin, miss the most.  As I thought about the question , I realized I miss the changing of seasons the most as there is not an end to the heat nor do I notice the passing of time in the same way the seasons cause.  With that said, it seems every so hard to believe that our baby girl is now one-year-old. 

Sunday, June 4^th, we celebrated Evangeline’s first birthday as a family.  We have been immensely blessed over the past year.  Evangeline was born, healthy and whole,just one day after we arrived in the big city, which is where we desired to give birth.  My body healed and adjusted to nursing quicker than I remember with either of the boys.  We flew to apply for her passport within her first week of life and she stayed healthy throughout all the traveling.  Evangeline had a passport and we all received visas within her frist month.  Other than a few colds, ant bites, and mosquito bites that turn into very large red spots on her very white skin, she has been very healthy.  These many blessings are create such praise as we live in an environment and culture so different than John and I grew up in. 

Birthday Girl at Breakfast

For her birthday I made cranberry scones.  She enjoyed the scones but picked out most of the cranberries.   We then celebrated at lunch with some of her favorite foods, cupcakes, and presents.  It was a nice time together!

We all enjoyed spaghetti, corn on the cob, and a spinach like vegetable.

Not sure what to do with the cupcake.

Figuring it Out

Thoroughly enjoying it!

Investigating the Presents

Help from Whitman

Kisses for a Baby Doll

Happy Girl

Two Endings

This month has brought the end of two things, the soccer league and Whitman's kindergarten career. 

To wrap up the soccer league, John, with a great deal of help from a couple assistants, put together a tournament and awards ceremony. 

As with all events here, an event tent was ordered and set up. 

No special equipment aside from the truck to assist in tent set up. 

John scooping cow manure off the field the day before.

A friend helping to put up the goal nets.

The Final Game

The event tent, complete with the traditional 'nice' seating (couches), and snacks, covered with fancy covers. 

A speech was given by a foundation head.

John awarded a trophy for honesty to a kid who was honest about not scoring a penalty kick,
though it cost his team the game. 

The Winning Team



The 3rd and 4th place game
John made sure the teams learned how to congratulate each other at the end of each game.

A couple neighborhood heads in attendance.

The week following Whitman graduated from his kindergarten that he has attended for three years, with an 8 months break while we were in the states.  The week began as usual until we were informed the day of that Whitman had music practice that afternoon.  It wasn't until music practice started, about 45minutes late due to the flexibility in time here, that I, Erin, began to slowly piece together the parts.  Whitman, with 9 other kids, was to play music as part of his graduation ceremony.  The week turned out to have another practice and another performance on Saturday.  I was also asked to speak at the event on Saturday, which as much as I can gather, was an individual school graduation and parenting celebration, of shorts. 

Whitman in traditional dress at the joint graduation celebration.

Other children dressed and ready to play music.

Children from various kindergartens performed at the joint graduation ceremony.

Whitman's classmates, he is on the far right

Playing traditional music and singing in Barat.



Erin sitting next to the Mayor's wife, who also spoke at the Saturday celebration. 
She is considered the 'head' of all kindergartens in the county.

Refreshments

A Lovely Birthday

We decided to spend the week in the big city.  It was a blessing to me it coincided with my birthday.  For my 36th birthday we went out to breakfast at restaurant that offers the best western breakfasts in town.  We spent time at the hotel pool where we're staying, then had hamburgers at the best hamburger place in town.  For desert we found an ice cream cake at a Baskin and Robins.  It was a really nice day, but the highlight, other than spending it with my family, was opening 36 birthday cards I recently received in a recent package.  I saved the cards and a bar of dark chocolate for the special day.  It was such a treat to receive so many birthday wishes from friends far away.  Thank you all!

Ice Cream Cake!

So many cards and well wishes!

New Normals

The other day I fried up some bananas for a snack.  Though I rarely fry bananas, it is a common snack here, usually dipped in palm sugar while eating.  The locals fry a great deal of food; bananas, fish, chicken, tofu, tempe, cassava, and corn or cabbage fritters being the most common.  Though we truly enjoy fried bananas and chowed down, I can’t bring myself to provide my family with frequent fried foods.  Maybe that is why it was an additional treat. 

Whitman dipping the bananas in palm sugar

So many types of bananas.

Frying bananas on the top and little bananas on the bottom. 

We eat the little ones most often as they are cheap and easy to come by. 

Though many things have become ‘normal’ to us here, not all ‘new’ things have.  Just the other night while reading the boys a bedtime story, Caedmon noticed a cockroach on the mobile that hangs in the middle of their room.  Did you know cockroaches fly?  They do! And yes we have cockroaches.  We finished the story then I thought about the best thing to do.  I didn't want to fill the kids room with bug spray right as they were to go to sleep, but the mobile was too high for me to reach.  While as I was thinking, John reach up and swatted the bottom of the mobile causing the cockroach to either fall or fly off.  We saw it fly to the wall, then scurry towards a corner of the floor we could no longer see.  Unfortunately this greatly disturbed the boys.  Thouogh I couldn't blame them, that night Evangeline slept by herself in the bedroom.  Both boys, regardless of how much we reassured them, would not sleep in their bedroom.  They traded their own beds, in an air conditioned room, for a couch on which they both slept, together, in front of a fan.  I thought for sure one at least would get up and move to their bed during the night, but neither did.  The next day I sprayed under everything and in all corners.  I didn't see the cockroach, but after a lot more reassuring, we convinced the boys to return to their own bed that night. 

Uniforms and a 7:30 start to school have become normal. 

They boys wake up by 6am on their own, no problem.

Black and White: a common phrase, often said in English, used by people when they compare their skin with ours. 

I, Erin, have not gotten use to this as we use black in a different way in English and white skin is not as beautiful in our home culture as everyone thinks it is here (too much culture attached to the words for me).

Evangeline with a neighbor's son, who was born 1 month to the day before Evangeline.

A baby girl in the house! 

We have definitely gotten use to being a family of five and have fallen into a good rhythm with naps, picking up small toys, and keeping an eye on her as she now crawls proficiently.

Riding a motorcycle

Though I have become comfortable driving a motorcycle, I still feel slightly stressed every time I go out as traffic moves so differently here than in the States.  John compares it to a sporting event that just finished.  Everyone is trying to move through the same two doors at the same time - ordered chaos. 

Soccer

     Over a year ago, while we were in the States, John and Caedmon both took part in youth soccer through Parks and Rec.  Caedmon enjoyed his first experience playing soccer, while John gained experienced as the coach.  Little did we imagine the experience would come into play halfway around the world. 

Upon our return to Barat in 2016, John put together soccer practice for first and second graders.  Since there isn’t any type of youth sports league here, the kids scrimmaged with each other at the end of each week.  Last fall, under the social work branch of the foundation he is working for, John organized a youth soccer league.  The foundation sponsored four teams, providing jerseys, balls, and cones.  Finding coaches proved more difficult than expected.  The initial prospects expected to be paid.  After some time, John found four men willing to volunteer their time to coach the kids, ranging from 1^st to 6^th grade.  The teams consisted of 16 players, which due to the high level of interest were selected by the coaches during tryouts.  For two months they practiced throughout the week and played games on Sunday mornings.  We ended the ‘season’ with a tournament. 

This past March, John began soccer again, this time with four news teams from different neighborhoods.  The previous teams wanted to participate again as well, unfortunately they were left to find their own sponsors for this season.  Thankfully a man, who is the equivalent of a State Representative, agreed to sponsor the additional teams, so we now have eight teams participating.  Caedmon was selected to play with the team from our neighborhood.  Twice weekly John takes Caedmon to practice then Whitman, Evangeline, and I pick him up.  We then attend Caedmon’s games on Sunday mornings, while John acts as the referee for half of the games.  John has been blessed by a recent college grad acting as his assistant to help with the organizing and refereeing.  Caedmon has really been enjoying participating thus far and it has provided to be a great deal of culture learning for John and I. 

Caedmon's team warming up before a game.

John reefing and Caedmon #6, watching on the sidelines.

Caedmon is one of the youngest and newest to soccer on his team,

so he hasn't gotten to play much as winning  is a high priority.

Thankfully he is still enjoying it!

Our walk to practice, it takes about ten minutes and is not accessible by car.

We walk through a brick making area.

Past multiple homes.

Still walking!

We made it to practice, slightly late, but it rarely starts on time.