Friday, April 23, 2004
Good post Grace....
moments that stuck out for me (i know they're a little dark but I still wanted to write them down)
1) When we first came in Ahmed (that's the translator's name) was sitting on the bed, his back to the open window. At some point during Khadija's long speech about the report cards the window (fourth floor, no screen - scary with all those little ones around) slams shut. Ahmed jumps about a foot. Everybody laughs, including him. "I thought it was a gunshot maybe," he says. "Because you're always thinking it's that, you know..."
2) We brought a picture book of Somalia for the little kids to look at. One of the older boys (Mohammed?) found a picture on the last page of "Somalia today" - soldiers with guns, and some people distributing white bags from the back of a truck. Hassan (7) and some of the younger kids (both Khadija's and the neighbor's) all gathered around staring. I asked what they were looking at; they showed me the book and pointed at the white bags, saying "food", and the truck, telling me it was a "lorry". They were more interested in the soldiers, however. Mohammed said "beba" and made a motion like shooting a rifle. "Soldiers?" I asked. "Yes," they all said. Grace suggested on the bus that he probably meant "gun" and that makes more sense... he doesn't know many English words and I really hope "soldier" isn't one of them.
3) So many kids. The eating was definitely a crazy experience - rice everywhere. Rice on the baby, rice on our pants, the kids with their own plate of rice in the kitchen and little Noor for some reason with his own bowl of rice and spoon. How would I deal with nine kids, 24/7? (I think that's the total number of Khadija's and her neighbor's children)
moments that stuck out for me (i know they're a little dark but I still wanted to write them down)
1) When we first came in Ahmed (that's the translator's name) was sitting on the bed, his back to the open window. At some point during Khadija's long speech about the report cards the window (fourth floor, no screen - scary with all those little ones around) slams shut. Ahmed jumps about a foot. Everybody laughs, including him. "I thought it was a gunshot maybe," he says. "Because you're always thinking it's that, you know..."
2) We brought a picture book of Somalia for the little kids to look at. One of the older boys (Mohammed?) found a picture on the last page of "Somalia today" - soldiers with guns, and some people distributing white bags from the back of a truck. Hassan (7) and some of the younger kids (both Khadija's and the neighbor's) all gathered around staring. I asked what they were looking at; they showed me the book and pointed at the white bags, saying "food", and the truck, telling me it was a "lorry". They were more interested in the soldiers, however. Mohammed said "beba" and made a motion like shooting a rifle. "Soldiers?" I asked. "Yes," they all said. Grace suggested on the bus that he probably meant "gun" and that makes more sense... he doesn't know many English words and I really hope "soldier" isn't one of them.
3) So many kids. The eating was definitely a crazy experience - rice everywhere. Rice on the baby, rice on our pants, the kids with their own plate of rice in the kitchen and little Noor for some reason with his own bowl of rice and spoon. How would I deal with nine kids, 24/7? (I think that's the total number of Khadija's and her neighbor's children)
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