Package Delight!

As a child, one of the most thrilling moments of the day was checking the mail (spoken like a true homeschooler, I know). Everyday there was the opportunity to get a surprise (obviously, as a child, it didn't register in my mind that bad surprises came in the mail too...like bills), a note from a friend, a card from my grandparents, or even a fun flyer to look at.

All of that to say, if I loved getting mail as a child, you can only imagine how I felt when we got a PACKAGE IN AFRICA!!!

Thanks so much to our friend Poly for sending it!!

Our mornings are definitely happier with all those coffee supplies!! Thanks so much!

Let Freedom Ring!

As many of you know, the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. So even though we were thousands of miles away from America the Beautiful, we couldn't go without celebrating. Many of our American friends were out of town so we decided to invite some of our local friends over to celebrate join the festivities.


Beth and I cooked food for what felt like days. We had quite a spread prepared including beef ribs, hamburgers, shrimp, potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, apple pie, cake, and best of all - sweet tea!

July 4th celebration lunch

Homemade apple pie

Between five of us girls we managed to put delicious hamburgers on the table but not exactly in a timely manner. I think it took 2 hours for the meat to finish cooking and we're not convinced that it was more from the outdoor temperature than from the charcoal that refused to stay lit.

Nothing says independence like hamburgers on the grill...for a few hours. ;)

Our local friends' strategy for lighting charcoal...it didn't work either.

Beth cooking up some shrimp!

Our celebration involved a lot of work, but the end result was worth it. We were able to meet some new friends and shared about freedom in the son.

We tried to dress patriotic! Good ole red, white, and blue!

We pretended that these cake candles were sparklers...the idea's the same.

Khootooba

June must be the international month for weddings cause there were a lot of them happening over here as well as back home. We were invited to a friend's khootooba or engagement party. I've never been to an engagement party in the States but they like to go all out here. Our friend's family is considered high class so the celebration was massive.


We arrived at 9 pm at her grandparents house and realized we were some of the first ones there. We were told to arrive early so we would have good seats. The back lawn was meticulously landscaped with white tables and chairs overflowing every crevice. There was a stage of sorts near the center of the L shaped yard with long couches designated for the bride and groom. We took our seats just behind the stage area by the swimming pool (yes, even the swimming pool was decorated with flowers).


There were 10-12 white seats placed around every table, which was used more as a coffee table than a dining table. From my seat I could barely reach the table. There was a pitcher of water on the table with a glass for about every 3-4 people (still keeping it African) and a small bowl of candied nuts. Almost immediately after we were seated, we were offered traditional mint tea and cookies.


Guests started filing in about 10pm and the groom arrived at 10:30 pm. The women make this really unique sound for celebrations. It almost resembles the noise children make when pretending to be indians...actually, it's really close to that sound. It takes awhile to get accustomed to hearing.


After the groom arrived, they distributed a fresh drink to everyone. It was a really sweet almond milk drink. I didn't see anyone drink their entire cup -- it was REALLY sweet. Then the couple signed papers, which we think was the religious contract. It seems they sign like 3 contracts here before the marriage is official. Then they went around and greeted all the guests. When our friend came around to greet us, she decided that it was time for everyone to dance so she pulled us onto the "dance floor" where I mostly did the two step because I cannot figure out how to dance like they do here.


There were many more rounds of sweets and caviar, although we missed the fresh juice while we were dancing. We tried to leave at 1 am but our friend wanted us to wait so were didn't manage to leave until 1:30 am, with the party still rocking after we left.


Even though our friends signed papers, they will have a wedding ceremony in December. We're still trying to figure out how all this stuff works here.


Enjoy a few pictures:

All dolled up

The groom makes his entrance

The sweet couple!