Wackadoo

The last days at the little school....

All ready for Year 1

the wondertwins with their matching #5 buzz cuts....making quetzals, playing quetzals

El Professeur

"I just can't believe the sounds that I"m hearing! Cows that bark?  Pigs that say "neigh" ?!  And Monkeys that shamelessly stand there and bray?  It's really much worse than I ever expected! We have to do something about it!"

and backstage.....without the goofy glasses

Rainbow Buffalo

(There is a company that makes kids' drawing into stuffed animals -- isn't that just a brilliant idea?  

I may have to make one myself with this buffalo FPFJ drew for his friend Chilembi's birthday card.)

Homework

Homework is a new thing for Finn.  Owen loves to help.

Homework is so we can learn how to read.  And so your mom reads to you and you can learn how to read to.  My homework for school is FUN.  We do reading.  I have two word lists.  The words are:

a

and

dad

is

the

mum

no

it

at

we

to

was

big

she 

me 

on

The letter sounds we have learned about are: L, T, H, F, C, K, I, O

(they teach the phonetic alphabet! we are learning together....) 

I get books to take home AND my library book.  The book has pictures and mom or dad has a sheet with lots of words that go with it.  I get to tell my own story and also to hear the book story every day.  The kids in the book are Biff, Chip, Kipper.  They dog, Floppy.  My library book this week had 5 chapters.  It was called Postman Pat.  He had a cat named Jesse.  

Jamaica Day

Jamaica is a country. It is an island.  It is in the Caribbean Sea.

The capital of Guatemala is SO EASY.....Guatemala City.  I do not know the capital of Jamaica by memory.  Mommy tells me it's Kingston. Mommy teaches Passports and I take the class with the big kids.

The flag is:  yellow X, green triangles at the top and bottom, black triangles at one side and at the other side.  Yellow is for sunshine, green is for hope, black is for strength and creativity.  Strength like in the football game.  How good you are at skill.

We studied pirates so we could make pirate puppets.  We made story bracelets using the colors of the beach, the sea and the Jamaica flag.

the story of five kitties.

I am Five. I have Five Kitties.

Meow is my first kitty but it is my 3rd favorite kitty because it's a little bit old but it looks nice. Meow is the dark gray one. it's name is just Meow because I just made it up in my head. Nana says I was a baby and I took it from the store and I would not let it go. If you wanted Finny to come home, you had to bring the kitty. I never let go of it. Geeze-Louise, I was still in the crib.

Meow can dance or sing or meow or walk or it can.....TICKLE YOU!!!!

It could clap : Ming ming ah ming ming ming ming. Or BANG: BOOOOOM! BooooM! bbboooommm! It can hit the drum. It smells a little bit like coffee. It has a spring it it's tail - a pretend one.

The next kitty is "Kitty with Hands." See. Listen: "My name is Kitty with Hands!" This kitty can do butterfly kicks and dance and do capoiera. It can TICKLE YOU RIGHT THERE and tickle you with it's tail. Kitty with Hands can "click" and CLICK faster yet! And it can "Tra-La-La!" and fly like Captain Underpants and sing in music.

This kitty with the next kitty--it is also "Kitty with Hands." I'll show you. This one I think it's a girl. It looks like a girl, it's more cleaner. The "Other Kitty with Hands" is more brown and it's dirtier and maybe a girl could be dirty or browner.

This kitty is blue and red. Look -- it has paint on it -- on the ear. And there is a heart on the tag. It can tickle you. It can also sing or dance and do capoiera OR it can do karate and front flips. This blue kittie can do a bum drop in the water. It is called Webkins Kitty. Mary and Kyla gave me the Webkins Kitty at summer. Not this summer but the summer before. It's not gray, it's blue. Really. it's BLUE ONLY.

ALL the kitties can tickle you. They are all ticklish. Only they laugh if you tickle them very hard. They like sing-laugh when they laugh. They sing the song like the one at assembly (Valderie, Valdera! My knapsack on my back!)

This year for my birthday I got a NEW kitty. It looks very cute. very very very very cute and I love it. It's different because it's gray and white. (Mom: but all the kitties are gray and white?! Finn: NO THEY ARE NOT! Some are even Pink! Their noses are even pink!)

This kitty can go snorkeling and diving down for dolphins or up for dolphins up in the sky. It can go as fast as dolphins in the sea. It can tickle you IN THE ARMPITS! I have not made a name yet. Maybe next week. I think so. The kitty will make up a name for itself and it will tell me in my ear and I will tell you. Next week, after school it will walk downstairs and tell me.

The new kitty is having a hard time taking the photos

All my kitties speak English. Everything in English. They don't understand French except what I understand like un bateau. they understand that. They know everything I know. Even I know how to put on my shoes. They wear clothes. But they're furry -- the furry stuff is their clothes.

Kiss!

Finny's session with the kitties. Interviews and Photos. (no agents, no translators)

Lufupa and Kafue

Under the marula tree at Lufupa Wildnerness Safari Camp

even kitties go camping

mommy is about 4.5 years along....

(it was about 6C at night, mommy has the warmest coat in zambia)

I SEE SOMETHING!

Running interference

This is a funny picture with my friends Margret and Taonga. Margret is 6 and Taonga just turned 3. We were all home from school on "Africa Freedom Day." We are playing but also working. They are modeling for a project making some signs that will show that if you protect yourselves from getting malaria you can play and have fun instead of going to the clinic and getting injections. Mr. Derrick says I will get 'photoshopped' right out of this picture so it was really funny to think that I am there but in the project I am not!

"Taonga" means "Thanks" She is usually very smiley and happy now that she is not afraid of mzungus but she was (1) pretending to be sick and (2) is scared of getting her picture taken.