Week #2

For this second posting on our now famous BrownsinBamako blog we celebrate the start of the school year for Jenna and Gus.

Jenna's first day as a big first grader was Tuesday, and Gus started in PreK program on Thursday afternoon. Both are quite happy to be back in a routine and making friends their own age. Gus has stopped asking, "has it been a year yet?" : ) Instead we hear about which bikes go fastest (the Fire Chief bike) and who got wettest at the water table. Gus' PreK program goes from 7:30AM until noon, and is in the same building as the Kindergarten. It has a fun playground and a lot of space for play. Jenna is very focused on learning to read, losing her front tooth (3 first-graders have already lost teeth during class this year!), and starting to pick up le francais. First grade has French classes every day - fantastique! Her class includes 13 students and at least 5 languages are spoken fluently. School starts at 7:30 sharp so it's lucky that we live right down the street - and that the neighborhood roosters start making noise early!

We tried not to bring too much stuff with us, but a priority for Gus was his sand digging machine and outside trucks. However, there was no sand around the house so Randy and our "guardien" Moussa (in the red outfit) coordinated with a local boy to bring a donkey cart full of sand to re-landscape a portion of the yard. The kids were very excited, and a little amazed, when the sand arrived on Saturday...

Jenna and Gus were almost as excited to pet the donkey as they were about finally having a place to use all their trucks and diggers!

Monster Mango! Although the mango season is fast coming to a close, they are still plentiful in the markets. This giant was as big as Jenna's head! Mangos are currently a staple in Jenna's diet, ad small sweet bananas are for Gus. We have a mango tree and coconut tree in the backyard, but no bananas.