Making Our Own Fun

Sometimes not having a car really stinks. Rose often wants to "go somewhere" after school and we just can't. We also only have a small portion of our stuff so far, so our play things are limited. This has forced us to use our imaginations, and to make the most of each other's company. :) Our UAB and consumables shipments did arrive last week, and that was a joyous occasion. The kids were thrilled to see all the boxes of cereal and goldfish crackers we had stocked up on back in America. And maybe even more exciting than that were the huge boxes that everything arrived in. Our house has been transformed into cardboard city.

Cardboard slide

Cardboard fruit stand

Cardboard pizza parlor and mailbox

Saturdays are special days because Daddy's home and we have access to the car that he is renting from the embassy. I'm not allowed to drive it, which is fine by me…still feeling a little nervous about starting to drive here. Anyway, last Saturday we went to the National Museum. The upper level is dedicated to timeworn taxidermy of Guyanese fauna. It was really like visiting a museum from the 1950's (that hasn't received any maintenance since then), but still an interesting experience. I was actually rather impressed with a giant ground sloth exhibit on the first floor. It looked like it was recently done. Later in the afternoon we went swimming at the ambassador's pool, which is open at certain times to Americans who work at the embassy. The kids loved being back in the water. 

When I'm at home with Jasmine during weekdays I try to either go on a walk or include her in some of my household chores as "learning experiences." I offered to watch a neighbor baby one day so she could have a little buddy to play with. She loves babies.

Luckily there have been a number of other activities that have kept us occupied during the day. On Monday, for example, we were invited to a baby/toddler play group at the home of a woman whose husband works for the E.U. embassy. That was really cool because I got to meet a bunch of non-American expats. The CLO (Community Liaison Office) at our embassy also has little brunches once a month which rotate from house to house, so I went to one of those yesterday. Sometimes it's nice to have days where we just stay at home, though, where I can observe Jasmine making her own sorts of quiet games.

This has certainly been a bonding time for our family!