A day of crossing cultures-part 2
"Ice? May we see ice?"
The morning was my turn to cross into the African culture and learn. The afternoon was their turn. Mariamu and 5 little kids piled into my car after late morning tea. Lumweja (age10), Dorotea (8), __, Kefliana (5), and Richard (3). We were heading to the airport! They had always seen planes way up in the sky and could not imagine how people could be in such "little" things. Several months earlier I had taken Mariamu to the airport to drop someone off, and ever since then she wanted her siblings to see the same thing.
We had to wait awhile, but they weren't disappointed! We stood at the fence and watched as one plane landed, and we even got to count all the people who got out. A bit later we heard and felt the roar of another plane as it took off. They watched until it got so small we could no longer see it. The expressions on their faces was priceless!!!
The next stop on our "city field trip" was Lake Victoria. They had only heard stories of a huge area filled with water. We spent about a half an hour at the "beach." The first few moments- pictures five little kids, gingerly putting their toes in the water, looking around at others along the shore who were bathing or washing clothes. Little girls, lifting up their skirts to get just a bit deeper. By the end of the half hour- most of the fancy dresses had been thrown aside. Peals of laughter, splashing, digging in the sand for shells, running along the water's edge, and splashing some more.
The final stop was my house. I served them sodas and banana bread. Little Richard stared up at the ceiling at the light fixture. No such thing as electricity out in Bukaga. I asked if they had any questions. Lumweja piped up, "Ice? May we see ice?" Mariamu had brought home stories to her younger siblings of what a white person's house was like. The first thing they wanted to see was ice! They each got 2 cubes plopped into their glasses (after feeling it in their hands of course!) Then Lumweja asked to see my computer. I downloaded the pictures I had taken of them that day and they all laughed at themselves. Finally they asked to see my TV. I put in a video about a man and an elephant. We laughed through different sections. The very end there was a massive airplane that carried several elephants in its cargo. A perfect ending to our field trip! :-)