Dogs Don't Do Ballet!

There is always something going on at TASOK, and just after the Wizard of Oz came the talent show!

Jaffa decided to read a book: Dogs Don't do Ballet, and thanks to her awesome music teacher, Mr Nick, it was projected on the big screen as she read. She did a super terrific job with her pace and all of the voices of the different characters.. and when the sad part came, the whole audience was sad. 

And then.. the happy ending! 

Great job, Jaffa!!

Easter celebration

Our friend Jen organizes the best kid parties for the holidays!

This time, Easter! 

(I guess I could have offered to bring chocolate covered matzoh for Passover, 

but it didn't even occur to me until just now.)

A bunch of us showed up for the easter egg hunt and crafts and food.. it was really hot but fun!

(And Eben was with us, just hanging out with the cool guys somewhere 

eating all the candy they found in the eggs.. 

I guess that's what you do when you're a 9 year old dude.)

Fortune cookies

We were invited to a dinner with a Chinese theme.

So I thought, I should bring a Chinese dessert. Can't say this is my region of expertise. 

(I'm better with  the regions of chocolate and cheesecake.)

So.. I figured I'd give it a try.. 

and I did. They were a little tricky, but turned out pretty good.

First you make very thin batter and rub on parchment into very think circles, then bake. 

Then you burn the crap out of your fingers while you roll and fold and stick in mini muffin pan.. 

then you bake again and forget to put the fortunes inside before that second bake. 

And then you forget to take a picture of the final product, but you get the idea.

My fortunes said things like: 

the potholes on your road will only get bigger, 

you will someday be kissed by a bonobo, 

and you must compliment the chef on his awesome meal.  

I *might* try making these again, if someone offered to make me a delicious Chinese dinner ;)

Oz!

TASOK brought back the school musical! We were soooo excited that they chose the Wizard of Oz. Of course Jaffa wanted to be Elphaba but the elementary kids were munchkins. (We consoled ourselves by saying that next year Jaffa will be in middle school .. aaaaaack!!) 

All of the kids did a really great job!!

This is the house spinning in the tornado (while scenes changed)..

 Then, they landed in Oz where Eben was a member of the Lollipop Guild, 

and Jaffa was one of the City Fathers (helping to announce the Wicked Witch's death).

The Wicked Witch of the West was terrific!!

the crows and the Scarecrow and Dorothy

the Tinman and the apple-throwing trees

At Oz, with the guard.. who did some mean tap dancing in gum boots!

Not only did everyone do a great job, but they did FOUR shows. Both Jaffa and Eben said they would do it again.. we have more thespians in the family!!

Eben's presentation and diorama

Eben's class read a book about an Indian girl, and the each student decided how s/he would like to present the book. Some chose to write a play, some chose to draw a comic strip, and Eben chose to create a diorama and present about it. It's huge (see behind him) and FANTASTIC! He talked about the differences between city life and village life in terms of the architecture and what they eat and how they live. And then he took questions from classmates. He did a great job!

these are crops, these are buildings.. the signs were momentarily displaced..

this is a food stand

the road between village and city

the crops

the village huts

Would you let these kids into your school?

We took pictures for their applications for the International School of Dakar.

I think they'll take Jaffa. Not sure about the other one.

Congolese theft deterrents

So... over the last 18 months or so, you've gotten a little bit of an idea of what living in Kinshasa is like. Here is yet another layer. So when you're sitting in traffic, there are lots of shegues (pronounced shaygay, generally known as young men who wander the streets and rob you). A weeks ago, one shegue was messing around at the back passenger side of the car to distract our driver while another pulled the driver side-view mirror out of the bracket. And ran away. And sold it. So we had to buy another mirror.. and when they installed it, they drilled the (very elegant) pins into the bracket--see the three of them?--so that, if they tried it again, the pins would break the mirror. Theft deterrent. 

If we get really lucky, they'll try to steal our hubcaps 

and then we can take those plastic attachers and put those on our wheels. 

Like these:

On that day, I will feel that our car is truly properly equipped for the streets of Kinshasa.