Blind Side, Goats and Kenai

Here is a relatively quick check-in. I hope to post more in the next few days- I finally went to the goat skinning and want to recap soon. But for now, we are well and I hope you are too!

I have two Kenai stories. First, we were talking today about his math objectives for the year. The kids take the SATs a few times a year and I told Kenai I want him to take that and do better than some students (mostly not really thinking he will do better than them, mostly...). He asked what the SATs were and I told them they were an entrance exam for college. He replied with 'well, if I do good and go to college next year, I definitely shouldn't have to pay. I am only 6, they should pay me to go!'

We were snacking on dates today and saving the seeds to plant in our garden. K was chatting, "mamma, I wonder how we are going to get the dates off the date palms when they grow. Wait! I know this from a Jack and Annie book!" He proceeds to pull the exact book Jack and Annie book from the shelf (we have about 15+ of those books), then flips almost immediately to the page that talks about how you shake the trees to get the dates down. He is a reading maniac right now, and he is retaining ALL of the details about what he is reading. He never, ever ceases to amaze me.


*****


A few days ago I finally watched 'The Blind Side' with Sandra Bullock. A few things struck me. First, the crazy primped women with perfect hair and make-up. Wow. I am just not used to seeing that!

Second, when the main character was in the school, then one of the teachers found the story Mike wrote in the trash, it talked about how all around him he saw white. White people, white walls, white everything. That is not a sentiment I feel here (seeing 'black). Sure when I go into town I am stared at, and constantly asked "how are you?" or "You fine?" I expect it on many levels, but I also know that when I look someone in the eye and smile, greet them (in Somali!!), or just nod, when the gesture is returned, we are truely just seeing each other person to person. I do not feel out of place, shunned, or anything 'othering.' Maybe it's because I am an adult v. a kid in school, or because the people here are genuinely warm, or because this is reality and not a hollywood movie. I took offense when they were talking about it though. Maybe because they gave more attention to what made them different instead of all the ways people are just people.

Finally, there is nothing like a movie about taking someone 'less than' into your home and transforming them into just how you want them to be. Aye. "He is changing us," or whatever the line like that is in the movie- whatever! Everything- the store bought Thanksgiving meal, shopping the day after, buying him the fancy car... So much for appreciating the person for who they are and meeting them where they are in life. Not that Sandra did not do a nice thing by helping Mike, but there was something ungenuine about it and a little 'white supremecy.' No doubt he heart was in the right place, but for that to be so glorified and given the hype that it got, there are so many more ways to value people than to turn them into little yous. Im glad I saw the movie, but it did not sit well with me.

(new day) Last night I watched the Constant Gardener. What a different kind of movie than the Blind Side. I could relate to and liked this movie much more. There were many 'isms' in the movie that were right on- the goats in the street and kids asking for shillings, for example. And there was not talk of feeling differences or any focus on that. The premise for that movie is a woman taking on drug companies that are experimenting on people in Africa (Kenya I believe). She was working with and for the people on their terms instead of bringing them all into her world. I like to think K and I are doing that on some level here.

*****

Thanksgiving was fabulous here. Although we did not get to celebrate on Thursday as planned, nor did we feast with the students, on Friday we sat down as a staff to a meal of roasted chickens (from Brazil), eggplant parm, peppers with a tuna and rice stuffing, traditional t-day stuffing, very garlic and butter mashed potatoes, and cooked guava for dessert. I started cleaning the kitchen and cooking around noon. It was nice because 'kitchen Christine' had the space to herself for the most part, and the troops came in around 3 to finish their dishes. I did not know I had a 'kitchen Christine' persona, but more than one person made a comment to me. Hmmm. I had plenty of helpers and others were in there, entertaining me, just fine. Regardless, the meal was lovely! Tastey, colorful, made form scratch, and shared among good friends. Really, isn't that what Thanksgiving is about?