This is my little Skuli. Braelyn currently leads the class in English words mastered, but she did have quite a head start. Amor, Abdul and Abdul round out the class and we have fun. So far I've taught them common phrases such as "Hello, how are you? I am fine, thank you. My name is Abdul" etc. We are also going through the alphabet and learning a few words for each letter.
So far we've done A-G. One of the biggest challenges (aside from lack of retention) is their inability to say an American R sound. Here, it is rolled so it's practically a D, sort of an L. Funny thing I took for granted when I set out to teach them "car" and "bird".
I also failed to post these pictures of our Celebratory Henna. Siku kuu (Day Special) is the huge celebration at the end of Ramadan that is similar to our Christmas. Everyone gets new clothes, the children go around to all the neighbors to get candy and then at night, everyone heads to town in all their sparkly splendor to eat, mingle, and show off just a bit.
We skipped that scene, but still splurged on henna which the girls LOVE. Even Braelyn got in on the action with it trailing up her arm. Unfortunately, it dries too slow to prevent it smearing on her dress...my skirt...Justin's pants...down the hallway wall...maybe that was a bad idea.
As I set the table later, I realized mine looked surprisingly similar to the dishes my mama bought me before we moved out. It must be a sign. That I like henna designs.
Hunter also received her first official head covering when we were out visiting. She ADORES it. She even wore it with her swim suit to the beach. Quite the mixed signal if you ask me, but I'm sure not going to discourage her whole-hearted embracing of the local culture! It does help that she CAN take it off when she gets hot.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Our relationships continue to grow and expand. I trekked into the village Saturday to visit with the henna girls and that was...good. Lots of long silences. Please pray for renewed vigor in language learning. It's hard to make time to study enough when there are no tests or deadlines. Maybe we should make some up. Anyways, thanks for praying!
So far we've done A-G. One of the biggest challenges (aside from lack of retention) is their inability to say an American R sound. Here, it is rolled so it's practically a D, sort of an L. Funny thing I took for granted when I set out to teach them "car" and "bird".
I also failed to post these pictures of our Celebratory Henna. Siku kuu (Day Special) is the huge celebration at the end of Ramadan that is similar to our Christmas. Everyone gets new clothes, the children go around to all the neighbors to get candy and then at night, everyone heads to town in all their sparkly splendor to eat, mingle, and show off just a bit.
We skipped that scene, but still splurged on henna which the girls LOVE. Even Braelyn got in on the action with it trailing up her arm. Unfortunately, it dries too slow to prevent it smearing on her dress...my skirt...Justin's pants...down the hallway wall...maybe that was a bad idea.
As I set the table later, I realized mine looked surprisingly similar to the dishes my mama bought me before we moved out. It must be a sign. That I like henna designs.
Hunter also received her first official head covering when we were out visiting. She ADORES it. She even wore it with her swim suit to the beach. Quite the mixed signal if you ask me, but I'm sure not going to discourage her whole-hearted embracing of the local culture! It does help that she CAN take it off when she gets hot.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Our relationships continue to grow and expand. I trekked into the village Saturday to visit with the henna girls and that was...good. Lots of long silences. Please pray for renewed vigor in language learning. It's hard to make time to study enough when there are no tests or deadlines. Maybe we should make some up. Anyways, thanks for praying! 
4 comments:
I LOVE your skill! You're awesome Shannon :)
Hey guys thanks for the posts. We made it to Mombasa...survived ABO and now are settling in. Would love to get in contact with you via email about a few things. email us when you have a chance jonamiechalmers@gmail.com
Just thinking about you today and wanted to say "hi". Love that last picture of Hunter. So glad you guys are doing well!
Miss you all!
K
great pics- LOVE reading about Skuli!!! That is my heart so I am asking our Father for you!! Also there is some greta language resources where you can "test" yourself and set goals- we HAD to do that or we found we would get stuck. ukitaka niambie....upendo wa Mungu, dada yako kutoka kisiwa kikubwa :)
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