One thing I don’t want my blog to be is a place where I continually gripe about things. BUT, I just have to gripe about something, so bear with me…
I have mixed feelings about “missionaries”. In general, I don’t like them, but individually, I do! Yes, a lot of my good friends are missionaries. Heck, I’m even supposed to be one! Like any group of people, you have some good ones and some bad ones. I’m just really intolerant of the bad ones : (
Some of the missionaries who were raised as missionary kids are the worst. Not all, but some. We were at a party this holiday with a group of these people and I was disgusted and somewhat surprised when I heard one of the “old timers” going through the food line with his daughter, talking about “Wazungu food”. Now, Wazungu means “white person”, so this was evidently all white people food? What the hell?
Yes, I was eavesdropping – he wasn’t talking to me- but I was a bit shocked at his ignorance. For one, it was a VERY mixed group of “white people.” Egyptians, South Africans (white ones), Russians, British, a Ukrainian, Americans and a Canadian. His particular group of missionaries doesn’t really mix with Ugandans socially but in this context we also had my kids, our Ugandan neighbor who is married to a Brit, and our friends black American son. So? Because these four people are black they’re not going to like the food? The black American boy is only going to like the beans because he’s black? My kids won’t like the quiche simply because of the color of their skin? What is “white food” and “black food” anyways? Is Ethiopian food “black food?” Um, no…. it’s Ethiopian food! My kids and I love Ethiopian food but most Ugandans don’t, so the type of food you like has nothing to do with race! Ethnicity is what makes food different, not the color of the ethnic group. Duh. And you’d think this fellow, after all these years of being a “missionary” would realize this. Nope, he was trying to impress his young daughter with his command of Swahili (which isn’t even spoken in these parts!) and teaching her about “white food”. Yuck.
Maybe I won’t share the pizza that we’re making tonight, with the kids. Because after all, Italians are kind of white so it must be “white food.” And no more Ethiopian food for me, because it’s “black food.” Bummer. And so ridiculous!
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter Fun!
For not thinking about Easter much until Friday night, I'd say we had a pretty good one!
Now I am TERRIBLE at holidays. I never plan for them and hate decorating so basically holidays come and go without a lot of pre planning on my part. I tell the kids that there IS a holiday usually a day or two before, then scramble to tell them what the holiday is about. Like Jesus being born, pilgrims thanking God, Jesus dying and raising from the dead, etc. And this Easter was no different.
I was skyping with my Mom on Friday night after a DREADFUL day (which I won't get into!) and she reminded me about the resurrection eggs that we had (and I'd forgotten about!). So that was a start to our Easter! I got them out and sure enough Ella remembered them from 2009 when we were in Montana with Granny. She still knew the story! It seems like anything about Jesus or the Bible that my kids know their Granny taught them. Sigh. Maybe someday I'll get the hang of it...
Saturday we went to our friends house in the afternoon for an Easter egg hunt - Frankie's first ever! The kids were read the Easter story ( a quick kid version!), they hunted eggs (three times because it was so much fun!), ate their candy, Ella and I showed Abi our resurrection eggs and rambled on about them, then the kids played. Fun!
Sunday morning I got a call at about 9:15am from an American pastor from the East Coast who had just landed at the airport - with a package from Granny! He was a relative of a family friend from, get this, West Virginia!! We have one determined Granny let me tell ya, who does not trust nor forgive the Uganda mail system! Ha! So we met him at the P.O here and picked up our package, then came home and dug into the loot.
Oh my. What timely loot it was! Ella got a new Easter dress, Frankie several new shirts (all on sale!), some spaghetti sauce packs and cheese packs for mac n cheese (think EASY prep for nights I don't want to cook!), two candy filled chickens with symbols (so cool!), some "undergarments" for me (I feel SO supported now! ;), books for the kids and last but not least, little veggietale egg wrappers for Easter eggs. So even though I, the children's MOTHER, didn't think of Easter baskets, God, through their Granny and a guy from W. Virginia, provided the kids with some memorable and timely Easter treats. Isn't that COOL? God can totally make up for a mother's inefficiencies!
We went to church - the children in all their finery and me looking, well like a frump (but a fully supported frump!) - then in the afternoon "dressed" our eggs. So easy and they looked GREAT! Which was a good thing because I don't quite have the hang of coloring them yet. Then we were off to yet ANOTHER Easter egg hunt at friends. What fun!
Seriously listening to the Easter story on Saturday
Opening their eggs and eating their candy after the hunt
Proudly showing their new outfits and symbol playing candy filled chickens. Thanks Granny!
All dressed up and ready for church
Toothless L in all of her purple glory!
My little cowboy. I can't believe how long these jeans made his legs look!
After naps we dressed the eggs. So easy and they looked GREAT!
Our egg offerings for the hunt. I exploded a couple eggs boiling them...
The H Huntress going after her prey
Finding one in the bbq
Diving into the pumpkins after an egg
Banana trees are great for hiding eggs!
Proud!
Ella and her friend Abi on the trampoline. These two are quite the pair! Abi is a huge kick in the pants.
All of the hunters convening after the hunt. Telling hunting stories I'm sure ;)
The proud hunters!
And the spread :)
Eatin' with friends up away from the dogs!
Now I am TERRIBLE at holidays. I never plan for them and hate decorating so basically holidays come and go without a lot of pre planning on my part. I tell the kids that there IS a holiday usually a day or two before, then scramble to tell them what the holiday is about. Like Jesus being born, pilgrims thanking God, Jesus dying and raising from the dead, etc. And this Easter was no different.
I was skyping with my Mom on Friday night after a DREADFUL day (which I won't get into!) and she reminded me about the resurrection eggs that we had (and I'd forgotten about!). So that was a start to our Easter! I got them out and sure enough Ella remembered them from 2009 when we were in Montana with Granny. She still knew the story! It seems like anything about Jesus or the Bible that my kids know their Granny taught them. Sigh. Maybe someday I'll get the hang of it...
Saturday we went to our friends house in the afternoon for an Easter egg hunt - Frankie's first ever! The kids were read the Easter story ( a quick kid version!), they hunted eggs (three times because it was so much fun!), ate their candy, Ella and I showed Abi our resurrection eggs and rambled on about them, then the kids played. Fun!
Sunday morning I got a call at about 9:15am from an American pastor from the East Coast who had just landed at the airport - with a package from Granny! He was a relative of a family friend from, get this, West Virginia!! We have one determined Granny let me tell ya, who does not trust nor forgive the Uganda mail system! Ha! So we met him at the P.O here and picked up our package, then came home and dug into the loot.
Oh my. What timely loot it was! Ella got a new Easter dress, Frankie several new shirts (all on sale!), some spaghetti sauce packs and cheese packs for mac n cheese (think EASY prep for nights I don't want to cook!), two candy filled chickens with symbols (so cool!), some "undergarments" for me (I feel SO supported now! ;), books for the kids and last but not least, little veggietale egg wrappers for Easter eggs. So even though I, the children's MOTHER, didn't think of Easter baskets, God, through their Granny and a guy from W. Virginia, provided the kids with some memorable and timely Easter treats. Isn't that COOL? God can totally make up for a mother's inefficiencies!
We went to church - the children in all their finery and me looking, well like a frump (but a fully supported frump!) - then in the afternoon "dressed" our eggs. So easy and they looked GREAT! Which was a good thing because I don't quite have the hang of coloring them yet. Then we were off to yet ANOTHER Easter egg hunt at friends. What fun!
Seriously listening to the Easter story on Saturday
Opening their eggs and eating their candy after the hunt
Proudly showing their new outfits and symbol playing candy filled chickens. Thanks Granny!
All dressed up and ready for church
Toothless L in all of her purple glory!
My little cowboy. I can't believe how long these jeans made his legs look! 
After naps we dressed the eggs. So easy and they looked GREAT!
Our egg offerings for the hunt. I exploded a couple eggs boiling them...
The H Huntress going after her prey
Finding one in the bbq
Diving into the pumpkins after an egg
Banana trees are great for hiding eggs!
Proud!
Ella and her friend Abi on the trampoline. These two are quite the pair! Abi is a huge kick in the pants. 
All of the hunters convening after the hunt. Telling hunting stories I'm sure ;) 
The proud hunters!
And the spread :)
Eatin' with friends up away from the dogs!The kids had a blast! Frankie started the day just a wee bit cranked but snapped out of it and HAD FUN. It is amazing to watch him now - I'm not sure if it's his age or a result of his working through his trauma issues but he can actually interact and play with a bunch of kids now and not only have fun, but totally hold his own! This mama ain't raisin' no wimp ;)
Great day. Great mom. Great pastor from W. V. Great friends. Great God!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Friends, BBQ's, puppies, kittens and rabbits
I have yet to post pictures of our wonderful Christmas road trip, visit with friends and Kidepo National Park adventure, but until then thought I'd post some other "at home" pics since the New Year.
We have really been enjoying our friend Tanya whose been staying with us. She's been a HUGE Godsend as not only is she cheerful, friendly, calm, working on being assertive and brought a TV series to watch, but she also COOKS!!! Yep, you read that right, COOKS!!! And she claims that she even sort of likes it! She also cleans the kitchen too! I mean, what more could you ask for?
Tanya's a really good influence in that she always gets me out doing things that I don't normally do (like spending money!) and going places that I don't usually go (the fancy meat deli in Kampala, cool coffee shops, etc). So we've been living high on the hog lately, eating a variety of yummy food that SHE'S COOKING!!!
So, we've spent our days watching movies, eating delicious things, enjoying our 'pack', practicing dog psychology and generally just enjoying ourselves. The weather is always perfect, too!
My cherry pie
I liked it :)
The other day we had a bbq with some awesome sausages that we'd bought in Kampala. They weren't the cheap slimy type that we usually get here, but some REAL ones!
A pot full of green beans surrounded by some delicious bratwurst type sausages on the campfire
Madea and Bridger calmly and submissively smell the sausages cooking on the fire
Frank and Ranger calmly waiting for dinner to cook
Tanya pouring the beverages
A lovely evening
Foods done! Pig out!
Madea practicing all of the calmness and submission that she can possibly muster. Pretty impressive for such a young pup!
Ms Dave and Madea, chilling on the porch. This is an AMAZING rabbit.
Ranger and Bronco taking a nap while Ms Dave hops around them
Bronco using Ranger's head as a pillow
Strange. Very strange. But aren't all of us in this family?!
We have really been enjoying our friend Tanya whose been staying with us. She's been a HUGE Godsend as not only is she cheerful, friendly, calm, working on being assertive and brought a TV series to watch, but she also COOKS!!! Yep, you read that right, COOKS!!! And she claims that she even sort of likes it! She also cleans the kitchen too! I mean, what more could you ask for?
Tanya's a really good influence in that she always gets me out doing things that I don't normally do (like spending money!) and going places that I don't usually go (the fancy meat deli in Kampala, cool coffee shops, etc). So we've been living high on the hog lately, eating a variety of yummy food that SHE'S COOKING!!!
So, we've spent our days watching movies, eating delicious things, enjoying our 'pack', practicing dog psychology and generally just enjoying ourselves. The weather is always perfect, too!
My cherry pie
I liked it :)The other day we had a bbq with some awesome sausages that we'd bought in Kampala. They weren't the cheap slimy type that we usually get here, but some REAL ones!
A pot full of green beans surrounded by some delicious bratwurst type sausages on the campfire
Madea and Bridger calmly and submissively smell the sausages cooking on the fire
Frank and Ranger calmly waiting for dinner to cook
Tanya pouring the beverages
A lovely evening
Foods done! Pig out!
Madea practicing all of the calmness and submission that she can possibly muster. Pretty impressive for such a young pup!
Ms Dave and Madea, chilling on the porch. This is an AMAZING rabbit.
Ranger and Bronco taking a nap while Ms Dave hops around them
Bronco using Ranger's head as a pillow
Strange. Very strange. But aren't all of us in this family?!Friday, November 5, 2010
Frankie's 3rd birthday party finally happened!
Today we celebrated Frankie’s 3rd birthday! Two weeks late (his birthday was October 23rd – same as his anniversary day of coming home) but better late than never! We were moving on his actual birthday, hence the delay.
I love how different my kids are. For Ella’s birthdays we have around 30 to 40 of our “closest” friends over. For Frankie’s birthday we invited two : ). And only one could come and stay because his little girl friend Abi was sick! Frank believes in quality over quantity however and so he had his little buddy (and our favorite neighbor ever) James, James mom, Kathryn, and of course Sarah! To be honest, I’m with Frank – better a couple of good friends than thirty of forty all at once because then you’re able to enjoy them more.
We had a simple little sausage and marshmallow roast in our new fire pit, ate cake and just hung out all afternoon. It was simple and nice!
Sarah made chapatis because what kind of a party is one without them?!
The kids love watching :) Frank was talking with his nose plugged. Cool when you're three!
Ella claims that she adopted this baby from a babies home in Kampala. So, if you're adopting from Uganda, watch out or you may end up with a baby like this!
The kids watching the sausages burn/cook
Frank had an attentive audience while he munched a sausage!
Before our friends even came the kids had moved on to roasting marshmallows - and Ella proceeded to roast and eat them for the next three hours!
Eating a birthday marshmallow
When our friends came we all sat down and ate. Get a load of Madea! Dog psychology WORKS! A little puppy who can participate in an event where children are sitting on the ground eating FOOD. Amazing!
Frank opening his first present (from James). I loved James face!
Computer from Granny - a crowd favorite
The politically correct way of describing the effects of this toy would be " a lot of group participation" but actually everything, from opening it to playing with it, was realistically more along the lines of "watch out cuz there's gonna be a big fight!"
The birthday boy had to get in a few tricks on the glider swing
Baby Simon even woke up for a little while so I could snap a picture of him in between naps!
I thought that this was an interesting place for a kitty to sleep!
And finally, the CAKE!!! Ella is singing ;)
Blowing out the candles (with the help of his big sister it looks like;)
The entire birthday crowd! James, Kathryn, Sarah, Simon, Frank and Ella
Frankie reading his new Thomas the Train book to Ranger
Reading it to himself...
...and better yet, having Kathryn read it for him!
Sanyu must have slept for a half an hour with her head under this hankie. Go figure!
And Ranger had a nap too.
I love how different my kids are. For Ella’s birthdays we have around 30 to 40 of our “closest” friends over. For Frankie’s birthday we invited two : ). And only one could come and stay because his little girl friend Abi was sick! Frank believes in quality over quantity however and so he had his little buddy (and our favorite neighbor ever) James, James mom, Kathryn, and of course Sarah! To be honest, I’m with Frank – better a couple of good friends than thirty of forty all at once because then you’re able to enjoy them more.
We had a simple little sausage and marshmallow roast in our new fire pit, ate cake and just hung out all afternoon. It was simple and nice!
Sarah made chapatis because what kind of a party is one without them?!
The kids love watching :) Frank was talking with his nose plugged. Cool when you're three!
Ella claims that she adopted this baby from a babies home in Kampala. So, if you're adopting from Uganda, watch out or you may end up with a baby like this!
The kids watching the sausages burn/cook
Frank had an attentive audience while he munched a sausage!
Before our friends even came the kids had moved on to roasting marshmallows - and Ella proceeded to roast and eat them for the next three hours!
Eating a birthday marshmallow
When our friends came we all sat down and ate. Get a load of Madea! Dog psychology WORKS! A little puppy who can participate in an event where children are sitting on the ground eating FOOD. Amazing!
Frank opening his first present (from James). I loved James face!
Computer from Granny - a crowd favorite
The birthday boy had to get in a few tricks on the glider swing
Baby Simon even woke up for a little while so I could snap a picture of him in between naps!
I thought that this was an interesting place for a kitty to sleep!
And finally, the CAKE!!! Ella is singing ;)
Blowing out the candles (with the help of his big sister it looks like;)
The entire birthday crowd! James, Kathryn, Sarah, Simon, Frank and Ella
Frankie reading his new Thomas the Train book to Ranger
Reading it to himself...
...and better yet, having Kathryn read it for him!
Sanyu must have slept for a half an hour with her head under this hankie. Go figure!
And Ranger had a nap too.
All in all, it was an easy, fun way to spend the afternoon, with some of our best friends in Entebbe. Happy Birthday, Frankie! We love you and are glad that you're a member of our family!
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