Ramadan Break

After school ended, all of my kids got opportunities to help at the Refugee and immigrant Center, with the preschool. With the end of the public school year, we got an influx of older kids, and the ESL program took in a family with 4 kids at the same time. It was pure chaos, and we needed a lot of backup. With all the help, it turned out fun a lot of times, and hard sometimes.

Emma and Aya

One day, I got on a Chex Mix kick.  Ptolemy said, "Mom, when you give this to the refugees, if there's any left over, can we have some?"  You know how it is:  if there's anything delicious, new, interesting or valuable, don't touch it!  Mom is giving it to someone.  This time, though, we got to keep and devour all the Chex Mix.  Sunnyvale is on a three-week break that coincides with Ramadan.  It was fun to celebrate the first couple of days of the month-long fast with my students.  The kids weren't fasting, but the adult Muslims were.  Yesterday, I saw a man in a full robe and fancy hat, like the kind you would wear in North Aftrica.  He was at Sam's Club with what looked like his annoyed grown-up son, buying mounds of food.  Because of my job at Sunnyvale, I knew that they were probably Muslim and preparing for the massive feast that marks the end of Ramadan.  I love how these things that were invisible to me before, now stand out.

 Karyn Allen, ballet friend

 Evyn, thanks!

I had a lot of donations when I asked for summer fun things.  MY friend Brianna gave me a bag of swimsuits, which Mama Sudila took home for her 12 children.  We also got 30 pool noodles from the Siggs, and a ton of other swimsuits, pool toys, sunscreen and towels from a RElief Society group and other friends.  A couple of times, we had a "class store" where the kids made money out of paper and spent it.  They were creative.  They even made wallets for their money!

I'm glad we are on a break while we figure out what to do with the preschool.  It's a complicated equation, balancing the needs of the ESL program with the preschool with the families with the volunteers, and I don't know the answer.  I hope it becomes clear as we go.