Homeleave #4: Baltimore Highlights

Independence Day Celebration in Baltimore.



We have just completed one month of our homeleave and while I have posted a couple times since arriving here I want to try to a brief synopsis of some of things we have done here with some photos as well as give some impressions of what seems different now that we have lived outside the country for 3 years.

Since Baltimore is the home of Rebecca and my parents it is a place we have visited frequently over the years, even before moving to Burundi so there are things we like to do here, and Oren in particular has favorite activities which we have done on outings over the past 4 weeks.

Actually tonight is the July 4th, American Independence Day and we went out to a place near Baltimore called Oregon Ridge to watch fireworks with accompanying music by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.    It was interesting to realize how little Oren knows about his identity as an American at 6.  Rebecca showed him the American flag and explained that it was the flag of our country, and that July 4th was our country's Birthday.

The kids loved to be out in the evening and played on a large playground in the park prior to sunset then watched the fireworks afterward.  I was struck by what an anomaly this would be in Burundi.  Any explosion in or around the city can cause fear or panic and a sustained volley would almost certainly be mistaken for rebel groups firing mortar shots from the hills into the city.  We do here the pops of firearms and grenades almost nightly there still, the result of criminal activity we are told.  So it is quite a contrast to stretch out and enjoy the the thundering report of exploding fireworks and 'oooh' and 'ahhhh' under the brilliant colors of flaming debris.

An American public playground

It seems important to share these American cultural traditions with our children, moreso since we are not here and their exposure to their cultural heritage is not experienced in any regular way.
Prior to this however, we have made efforts to get the most out of our time here with visits to other typically American things.  It is amazing, though how some of the more mundane activities are the most appreciated.  Going to a playground at a park or school is a daily event.  It is something I took so much for granted here before we left, but now it is something I cherish as a special opportunity to play with our kids.  I can't say there are no playgrounds whatsoever in Burundi, I think there are 2 or 3, but none are engineered with the safety requirement of playgrounds here.  Even more, it is great to be able to go to a place where there is no wall and where your children playing in one place for more than 10 minutes does not attract an enormous crowd.  We are so anonymous here, it is, I admit, such such a relief not to be stared at so much in public.

Besides the daily playground visits though, we have gone on the following outings:

1) Railroad Museum-- Baltimore has an amazing historic railroad museum with many old steam locomotives and other cars, all resting in an enormous old round-house.  Oren is a train enthusiast and he and David, with their cousins Miriam and Gabriel and Grandma Jean went to the museum and had a marvelous time.  Oren particularly likes the engines where he can go into the cab and pretend to drive the train.

2) Baltimore Zoo-- My parents went with us to the Baltimore Zoo it was a lot of fun to go with the kids as they have only been to one once or twice in their life.  They loved to see the animals in cages although I don't know if they were too impressed with the zebra, giraffes, rhinos and lions, which they have seen in the wild very near to where they live.  There were slides and a zoo train.  David was most enamored by the farm animals like donkeys and goats because he could pet them.  He definitely seems far more comfortable on a farm than in a city in my opinion.

3) Orioles Baseball Game-- We did get to see the Orioles beat the Cincinnati Reds last week.  We went with Rebecca's family (her brother's family and their parents).  Oren did not really understand the game although he did let me explain it to him somewhat.  We were in the upper deck so the distance did not help in terms of keeping the kids engaged.  They did make it through the 7th inning before we had to go home.  It was a fun day all-in-all.

4)  Oren's 6th Birthday!-- This was a big event that we celebrated last Thursday.  He invited his cousins and their parents as well as all of his grandparents.  Oren is in a robot phase right now and wanted more than anything, some kind of robot for his Birthday.  We were able to find him one that teaches some reading and math skills.  He also wanted a robot Birthday cake and wanted to make it himself.   His Grandmother baked a brownie cake that we cut up in the shape of a robot and Oren iced and decorated it using his new toy robot as a model.  It was a very good likeness and the family really appreciated his efforts.  He also received many other gifts to take back with him to Burundi including a baseball glove, snorkel and mask, tennis racquet, basketball, as well as a bike to use here.  (He learned to ride it this week.)  He also got some badly needed underwear and t-shirts.  The kids played together most of the day and had a treasure hunt to find the presents after dinner.

5) Washington D.C.--  Oren is just getting old enough to really appreciate something like a visit to the Smithsonian museum of Natural History.  It was something I loved to do as a child as well.  We went as a family with Rebecca's mom.  We decided to add an element of adventure by taking the kids there by train from Penn Station in Baltimore.  Oren loved the double-decker passenger cars and the whole train trip.  We even had to take the metro (subway) once we arrived in D.C.  That was also a special treat for him.  Of course it meant that by the time we arrived it felt like we had done quite a bit.  Still, the children loved the museum where we saw an imax 3d movie and saw many animal and aquatic exhibits.  Their favorite place was the insect exhibit which featured all live animals and the kids got to hold live caterpillars, stick bugs, and even a Madagascar hissing cockroach.  (As if a non-hissing cockroach is not dreadful enough.)  David probably liked this best because he will happily pick up just about anything and has even caught a turtle, a frog, and crayfish on his own around our house.

6) Church-- We have been going to different churches since being back, we were at my parent's church for a presentation, but went to the North Baltimore Mennonite Church the past 2 weeks.  This past Sunday Rebecca preached from Matthew on the parable of the weeds.  I won't tell about it in detail, but there is a link here to a recording of it:  http://sermon.net/enbmc

Other activities we have done include berry picking--bluberries, rasberries, strawberries, black caps, thus far, with Grandma Jean, trips to the barber, the private airport where their grandpa has use of a Cessna airplane, several trips to the library where the kids have checked out many books and played reading games in their media center.  Again something that we have nothing like in Burundi!

News from Burundi has generally been good from our colleagues.  We have heard that the books that were sent this past Feb. have all arrived and the ones for Burundi have all reached their destinations.  The Hope School is grateful to receive so many.  I hope to take some photos when we get there.

I got some interesting news from my dad of all people.  He had to go to a conference in Nairobi and passed through Bujumbura.  On the way home he was on the flight with Zachee, Bridget and Timmy who were leaving Burundi for good (temporarily).  They talked a bit in the Brussels airport.  We are hoping to see them on a visit to Niagara Falls we have planned in late July.  It is a small world.

It is good to feel like I miss Bujumbura, even as I have been enjoying daily the experience of walking down clean paved sidewalks, going into air-conditioned houses, being anonymous, not being asked for money constantly.  But, maybe because of that, I do feel like being here feels like a Club-Med vacation even just walking in the neighborhood.  I don't know if I really ever want to get used to this again.  In many ways I enjoy feeling like it is a special treat rather than an entitlement.

This week we will be visiting my brothers and cousins in various parts of the midwest.  We leave for Kansas City on Thursday.  If there are any friends in Burundi reading this, we are thinking about you and miss you all.  More in a couple weeks.