Given the Niger Delivery Service, Brian's mom Karen reminded me it is time to think about the Holidays. We are open to ideas for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Ideas thus far:
1. Send a Thanksgiving Day Box with traditional items for dinner. The thought is that members of the 2011 crew will be cooking together sometime over that holiday. Let us know if you are sending over a package.
2. Send holiday cards to all the crew members. This would be a wonderful way to demonstrate our support and give them "decor" for their abodes. SEND YOUR PCV NAME AND ADDRESS TO KAREN AND SHE WILL DO A MASTER LIST FOR ALL OF US AND FORWARD IT ON.
Karen'e email: regnitk@yahoo.com. We could choose to send a box with cards for all or separate cards...it is the thought that we know will count.
3. Ship a holiday present that can be shared: M and M's; Dried Fruits and Meats; Hard Candies. The thought being something to open and something to share.
4. Send one or more ornaments. The Niger "tree" might need some imagination but if there are plenty of ornaments...all will be well.
Let us hear your thoughts. Send your address to Karen. Stay in touch as it is communication that gives us strength and understanding, pride and peace.
Warmest regards,
Patty and John
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Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteThings have been hectic here and we have not been keeping up our part of the information sharing.
As everyone else we have eagerly read the blogs that have posted descriptions of their swearing in, celebrations and new posts.
We did finally get a memory chip from Emily and it includes a short video of Katie's speech in Zarma, LOTS of pictures of giraffes, a nice selection of her host family etc.
I sent, hopefully successfully, Emily's address to Karen for cards.
The ornament is a fun idea.
We have started a Thanksgiving package for Emily, thus far there are mostly peach items (for some reason our menu features peaches, root vegetables and bourbon... none of which figure that heavily in our daily dining!) I included some pumpkin spice coffee and need to go out and look for something that is representative of turkey. Oh, I also included some butternut squash pesto and a butternut squash soup... maybe they make turkey shaped pasta!
I think we have entered another period of adjustment. Although Emily was very eager to get to her post and get going, I think she is trying hard to impose some structure on this period of integration and is a bit surprised by how overwhelming it is to take the initiative and just wander around an meet and communicate with hundreds of new people.
For us, communication is a little harder...
cell service in her town is funny we can hear her better if she heads to the mayors office and uses a new cell phone. At her hut she has to stand on a chair in the corner of her concession and ambient goats and children create interference. In the long run her proximity to the capital will be great for email and other forms of communication but during her settling in it is hard to step back from the easy communication we had their last few weeks of training.
We hope all your children are settling in and your communications are easy and reassuring! Going into this fall season, we are thankful that they are with such a special group on this adventure.
Stacy
John and I agree with you, this is another period of adjustment. There was a feeling of comfort and comradarie when they were all together. "Home Alone" is a new script for all of us. Will is well, had more good hours than not good hours in the village this week. Having just mastered his Hausa this was his first week. He reports he is perfectly fine until 8:30 at night and then he wonders what to do, it is dark, the battery powered lights bring out the bugs, but then it is too early to go to bed. His plan is to address evening hours this week. His successes were building a shade structure with the villagers for his house and purchasing a pot that will keep his water cool all day long. We have started our T-Day package with coffees, teas, nuts and dried fruits. We sent Karen Will's address. Keep in touch - this is an important time to stay connected.
ReplyDeletePatty
Hello ... I'll be sending out the mail addresses to those who requested them by the end of this week. If you haven't sent your son/daughters address yet, please do within the next few days to regnitk@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen
Hello ... thank you to all who sent me their son or daughter's address. I sent emails today with all the addresses. If I missed you, please email and I'll be sure to send the list to you and get yours to the others. I think the PCV's will be nicely surprised to feel connected with home over the holidays.
ReplyDeleteKaren