A Grand Day Out!

Today has been a 'Grand Day'.
Why?  Yesterday I completed my first term of After school Clubs, Burundi style. I think I was only about 2 weeks into the term when I realised I had potentially made a big mistake volunteering to start an English Club for Years 1 and 2. Basically, I had grossly under-estimated the difficulty of communicating with young children who don't speak English very well. I'm not sure how much English the children have learnt, but I have learnt a great deal about volunteering for After school clubs! Actually, yesterday I found  myself feeling really very proud of the English Club as they all worked together producing model cars. They have come along way from the first week, when it took us 10 minutes to sit down in a circle.
Reason 2: Two parcels of drinking chocolate have arrived. They weren't sent at the same time but the theory is, that they hold on to the post in Nairobi until there is enough to bother sending! Not sure if that is true. Anyway my drinking chocolate famine is over! I would just like the world to know that I have the kindest, most generous, gorgeous daughter on the planet. Thank you Libby, you're my favourite daughter.
So that is reason 2.
Reason 3 for it being a Grand Day. A very kind parent at school who owns a Restaurant, the Taj Mahal (Bujumbura) brought in lunch for all the staff. So we had a really good chicken biriyani and salad, instead of maize ugahli, beans and linga linga. Don't worry no food was wasted in the process of having this treat. We had a lunch date cancelled during the morning, so were potentially going to stretch lunch for two across four. But no need.........! I would highly recommend The Taj Mahal in Bujumbura, if you are ever passing this way. A visit has now become part of my 'things to do' list.
Reason 4. My language lessons have now reached the point where I have the capacity to say sentences like; The man has an ugly goat. or. My house is beautiful. or. The cows are short, fat and ugly. It's great. The only draw back is that it takes me five minutes to get all the words in the right order and decide which rules of adding prefixes to follow. But to quote a good friend, 'the world's my lobster !' now.

Reason 5. The weather today has gone a long way to making me feel like it might actually be December. I have had to put a t-shirt on rather than a vest top, it has been so cold. And the skies have been positively Anglican or is it Anglian or is it Angliful. Whatever, it is....it's been just like home. But maybe not quite so cold. Still 23 degrees.

Nothing like classrooms without windows in this weather!!

Finally, the reason for the title, A Grand Day Out..... I recently introduced my American housemate to the joys of Wallace and Grommit. She had become a little bemused with my tendency to say ' Ah cheese Grommit,' when ever we treat ourselves to  a round of Burundi 'cheddar'! It's definitely not cheddar and actually it's not even Burundian, it's Congolese. They roll it across the border to enhance the flavour. But at the end of the day it's cheese and there is only so long you can go without having cheese Grommit! isn't there. So now we both flap our hands about and say ' How about a little bit of cheese Grommit.' (no crackers)