Fantas and Other Guilty Pleasures

Oren loves to do dare-devil stunts when Mommy and Daddy are working at home…and ignoring him.





In many ways I feel like this week is a vindication of last week. It is Saturday around noon right now and Rebecca and I just finished cleaning up the house (mostly small messes made by Oren in different locations) in preparation for having some guests over for dinner. The only thing left to do is to buy a case of Fantas (the honorary beverage of celebration here.) It is certainly a change from life in the US where colas are ubiquitous. Here, breaking out the Fantas is tantamount to opening bottles of champagne.


The occasion we are celebrating is my Birthday (49—really, not a repeat 49!). Nothing big, but we are inviting Zachee, Bridget and Timmy over. Rebecca, at Oren’s request has made a cake. She baked it in bread loaf pans and plans to make a train out of it. Oren really likes to bake, or pretend to bake. He likes to mix ingredients and assist in cooking things. I think his interest in this is thanks to the influence of his Gramma Jean and Grammy Bunny who often cooked with him.



This was a good week in many ways, especially as a contrast to some of the hair-raising experiences of the week before. To begin with, we are all recovering from our colds. This is not to say we had no doctor’s visits. Oren had a recurring low fever for several days this week along with his stuffy nose that concerned us. It is interesting how our perception of what is ailing us changes so much here. In the US a cold and stuffy nose is assumed to be a cold, or at worst the flu, and it would have to get pretty bad before we would see a doctor. Here we are immediately wondering if the illness is just a cold, or maybe typhoid, or malaria, or any number of other tropical illnesses. The fact is, though, there are a lot of run of the mill viruses here as well. And with Oren in pre-school he is exposed to them and is bringing them home.


Speaking of school, I want to give a report on Oren’s progress. In many ways we have been second guessing ourselves about sending him to the French language pre-school. On Thursday evening there were parent-teacher conferences scheduled. I went while Rebecca stayed home with the kids. I was preparing for the worst. Mdm. Cecille is renowned for her discipline and rigor. I expected that she would be telling me that Oren was belligerent and unteachable. In fact, she was quite complimentary. She said he was fairly strong-willed and sometimes resisted changing from one activity to another. But he was learning, and doing better, and was not a trouble-maker (aggressive, fighting other kids, etc.) She said he was beginning to understand the language, and although not speaking, was beginning to listen. I also saw many examples of his coloring, painting, and other crafts on display. I have to say, he has improved markedly in interesting ways. He has learned how to draw lines, circles, connect dots, and color pictures in completely, even staying in the lines. I am not saying it is brilliant, but I would not have thought he could do this at 3. He even holds the crayon right! (This is something I have noticed as I watch him color at home. Notice him doing so, in the picture!) –I have no doubt he is now on the fast track to a full scholarship at Harvard Medical School.


It is interesting that my initial reaction to the level of discipline in the Premiere Maternelle, was to bristle. It is not ‘very American’ to demand a lot of 3 year olds. I remember how surprised I was when we brought her some of his coloring homework and she shook her head, clicked her tongue and said: “Non, ce n’est pas bien fait.” Il faut colorer tout le dessin.” (Non, it is not done well, you must color the whole picture.) But he is really getting better when he is asked to do it.
Even more importantly, he seems to be getting used to it. He still is not happy that 5 days of the week are school days, but he does seem to be making friend there. This was evident on Friday. Parents were invited to come mid-morning and watch a Carnaval (Mardi Gras) parade. Oren and his class were ‘le soleil’ (the sun) and had made yellow masks. We were told to send him dressed in yellow that day.

(After the parade, a group of Oren's classmates came flocking around David in his carseat. Oren, the heroic big brother quickly charged up and shooed them away.)


When we went, all the classes had different costume themes and had a huge parade around the school yard. Afterwards they sang songs and then got to play and go home the rest of the morning. We met some other parents and some of Oren’s friends. It was very nice. And it was clear that Oren did like to do things at his school. We also felt very positively about the school community, as well as teachers and administrators. It is good to get to this point where Oren (and we) are beginning to overcome the shock of being back, and settling into routines, finding community, and making a life here. I should add that taking capoeira (see last week) from the director of the school creates an additional informal connection that has tied us closer to that community.

Something else worth mentioning honestly makes me feel guilty, is the recent establishment of an Indian restaurant here. And when I say Indian restaurant, I don’t just mean any Indian restaurant. Khana Khazana is the same restaurant that we go to in Rwanda. Rebecca and I are connoisseurs of Indian food having spent our childhood in South Asia and I can say with authority that it is a 100% pucca (5 star) Indian restaurant. I honestly can’t believe it is here. It is a beautiful place with a fountain right in the restaurant, great service and awesome food. My reason for feeling guilty is that it makes Burundi much less of a hardship to have such a great restaurant here. The cost is also far cheaper than the US. Entrées are $6 apiece, rather than $14 or $15 for comparable food at home.


We went for the first time last Sunday with our friends the Carrs. (the Scottish family.) We really enjoy them and their 3 boys, although quite a bit older than Oren, really play well with him, and Oren loves that. That same night we saw a lot of our other friends from the expatriate community. Here is a picture I took outside the restaurant with Isaac on his motorcycle as well as other people from our church. It was like mzungu night at Khana Khazana, but then I thought probably every night there is mzungu night since word has spread quickly about the place.


Rebecca and I are continuing to make progress in language. Her French is markedly better and she is able to understand meetings with our partners without translation. Speaking is coming more slowly of course. My Kirundi is coming far more slowly and I have been frustrated by getting bogged down in a lot of grammatical rules when I lack a lot of vocabulary and practice in making simple conversation. Last week, at my request we read a Kirundi comic book (produced by former MCC rep. Deanna Hiebert). It was a teaching tool about respecting others, particularly inter-ethnically and has a sort of Good Samaritan theme with a twa boy helping another boy who had treated him badly when the latter was beaten up. It was great to be able to see what I could understand and to get some more conversational kind of vocabulary. I still feel quite ignorant, but I do actually find I can understand more Kirundi when I overhear it, and I am able to communicate reasonably well with our gardener who does not speak French or English.

This weekend we are getting ready for another trip to Rwanda. We have a lot of preparations to do for an MCC regional meeting that we are hosting. The challenge will be to find things for the several children coming to do who will be there with their parents. We will report our success next week, in the meantime, look for us on Skype if you have it.