Aug. 29:Busy Weekend #1

The First of Many Busy Weekends

Friday, Aug. 29: After school we went to the first football game of the season. The boys were excited to be able to sit with their friends! They enjoyed the game, but didn't really follow it. Jim is going to have to sit with them at the next game and explain things...

Jamo is in the marching band, so he wasn't able to sit in the crowd.

(He's the second one in)

Saturday, Aug. 30: We all piled into the van and drove to Hiawatha to see Jamo run in the cross country meet there. It was fun to watch him run, and he set a personal record! Alex is still on the injured list :(.

The boys worked at the rodeo and helped me make more salsa. We used ghost peppers this time and tried to make it hot enough for Alex. We failed...

Everyone was home for dinner!!!! We had 2 bags of ravioli, 1 box of bow ties, 2 boxes of Texas toast, 2 heads of broccoli, 2 jars of sauce, and an angel food cake with 3 kinds of fresh fruit (thanks for letting me use DeeNee's pan, Sue!). We demolished this meal. :)

We went outside and heard a very loud noise- a cicada! It took us a while to find him in the tree:

Jermaya said that he know they have cicadas in Egypt because he has heard them before, but he has never seen them. Alex said they did not have them in Nigeria.

Sunday, August 31: We went to church and then Jim's parents came for a visit. Jermaya gave them some gifts from Egypt. They were very excited about these! Then the boys put on their traditional costumes and told us about their cultures. We had a great time and learned a lot! After that, they went to the rodeo dinner and worked for a couple of hours. They sold rodeo buttons and cleaned up the plates when people were done eating. It was confusing for Jermaya when someone wanted to pay with a check, and he didn't know what to do! It's the little things like that, that we don't think about, that make things confusing for the boys!

This is the costume for a culture in southern Egypt, the Noba. The Nubians wear this at festivals and parties. They also wear it when dancing like at a talent show. The vest is black or white, and the pants and tunic are always white. Jer is not Nubian, by the way, he is Seddy (pronounced "side").

This is the shedda, worn by the Housa people. They would wear it on special occasions. The outfit can come in many different colors, and the cap is always worn. The cap is called an unla, and the large onyx ring is called a zebee.

Monday, September 1: Alex and Jermaya went to the Little Spurs Rodeo and worked for 4 hours selling buttons. Jameson went to Keokuk and passed out flyers at the parade for NHS for 3 hours. We are KILLING the volunteer hours! :) Jamo & Alex went to cross country practice while Jermaya worked on his World Food Prize essay. This is harder than he thought it was going to be! Jim is helping Jermaya through this process, and Jer is learning that he cannot just cut and paste parts of articles, but has to state things in his own words. This is very hard for him, and I am sure that the language thing isn't helping! Alex is back at practice, and ran 5 miles today with no pain! YAY! Jamo had show choir tonight, Jer worked on his Food Prize some more, and Alex listened to music. He has not sat down and listened to his music since he has been here, so it was a nice relaxing activity for him.

Volunteer Hours Left To Go: 86