Golden Nuggets: Curing Baby Hiccups

If you have kids, you know how freely other people give advice about raising them. Apparently everyone has strong feelings on how babies should be be taken care of. This unwarranted advice can be helpful, but most new parents find it irritating. This phenomena of giving new (and not so new) parents advice about how to raise their kids seems to transcend cultures. At least, I've found it happens in Haiti as well as the U.S.

I've found that raising my son in another country means that I not only get advice from friends and strangers alike, but I also get very... interesting advice. I've heard all of the following:

• babies younger than 1 month old cannot be held in an upright position because they are too young to sit
• babies need to wear a hat to keep their head warm (remember 70* is a LOW temp here)
• babies cannot suck on their hands/fingers or they will be "distracted" later in life (my husband's family seems to think Isaac will have a lower IQ if he sucks on his hands, which he does a lot)
• if a baby cries, he's hungry--just feed him

But my favorite advice so far as been about curing baby hiccups. So without further ado...

The Haitian Way to Cure Baby Hiccups

1. Take a thread from the mother or father's clothing. If the parents are away, the caregiver's clothing will do.
2. Lick the string.
3. Place the string on the baby's forehead between his eyes.
4. Leave the string there for as long as it takes.

Let me know how you fare in getting rid of baby hiccups with this method.

Beans, the magical fruit

Beans are a staple of Haitian cooking. We make them pretty regularly at our house--always in the pressure cooker because they take FOREVER to cook otherwise. Normally we just eat beans with our rice, either mixed in or as bean sauce.

Recently I found a refried bean recipe for the pressure cooker. I had never made refried beans before, but the recipe looked pretty easy. I tried it, using fresh red beans. It was delicious. My husband said it was like eating really thick bean sauce (his favorite food). So, I put the recipe in my box to use again later. I think I've made it two or three times since I found it, and it's been awesome every time! Not only does it taste good, we always have a good amount left over for later in the week.

This weekend I decided to use the dried black beans we had to make the same recipe. Do you know what the difference between dried and fresh beans is? Dried beans are cheaper. Fresh beans cook faster. But those are not really all that important in this story. The difference to remember is that dried beans have shrunk from their normal size and will grow in the cooking process. This is important to remember when you are measuring them because once you put them in water to soak, they will suck it all up and get nice and plump. So when you think you have one ti mamit of beans, you really have about two ti mamit after they have been soaked...

which is double the amount of beans the recipe calls for...

which means you are going to have more bean sauce and refried beans than you have Tupperware space.

So if you're hungry, stop on by. We have some delicious bean sauce we'd love to share with you.

So many things to say... about being married

1. Married life is awesome! I love living with Arold and being able to talk to him anytime I want. 
2. He cooks, and patiently explains how to make rice the Haitian way. He even trusts me to make Haitian rice when I don't trust myself.
3. The most difficult part of marriage: sharing my computer with Arold. I really thought giving up closet space would be difficult, but that hasn't been a problem at all.
4. He's quick to help with household chores. He's done the dishes more than I have (THANK YOU JESUS!!), and he usually sweeps at least once a day.
5. I totally underestimated how difficult it would be to sleep with someone else in the bed. I don't know that I've slept all the way through the night since we've been married. He keeps bumping me and stealing the blanket. 
6. Can someone please explain to me how just two people can use so many dishes during one day?! Seriously. I don't understand how 1+1 = dishes for an entire family!
7. He's always looking out for me. He logs me into Facebook when he's finished with the computer. He takes things out of my hands to carry them for me. He checks the doors and windows before we go to bed. He makes sure my ear is covered by the blanket when we go to bed. And he takes his shower first in the morning, so I can stay in bed for a few more minutes.

I love being married!

Fun Mail

I sent out wedding invitations a couple of weeks ago. (There are only 7 weeks left until I marry the most amazing man I've ever met! I can't wait.)  Anyway, at the last minute I added two couples to our guest list. One of them has already sent a response: an 8x10 photo with a message from both the Mr. and the Mrs. Here it is:

Hot Sauce & Cholera

Arold arrived at his technical school today and found some other students sitting in the lounge eating. He noticed they were putting a lot of hot sauce on their food. It's really hot in the city today (95*) and he told me he couldn't imagine eating hot sauce on such a hot day. He apparently mentioned it to the guys too because they told him the hot sauce was to kill cholera.

Oh my word! Hot sauce as a preventative against cholera. That's hilarious! You can't make this kind of stuff up.

As funny as the idea of hot sauce killing cholera may be, this incident illuminates one of the issues I've been wrestling with lately. Most of my students (and many adults that I know) don't have a basic understanding of the human body or healthy living. What I consider "common sense" in the realm of human health and well being, is clearly not common sense. Obviously things like "keep open wounds clean" and "don't put bleach in your mouth" are not intuitively understood truths. They are lessons that must be taught.

The simple solution is to start teaching people about health. But where do we start? Do we create our own curriculum or find one that works elsewhere? What's the best way to get information to the people? How much information can they handle at one time? Is this something that can be implemented in our MTM schools? If so, will the teachers need to be trained? How much training do they need?

If only hot sauce killed cholera, then I wouldn't lay awake at night wondering how to educate high school graduates about germs and how to prevent sicknesses.

What?

After a night of big rains the Laboule kids and I found this in the riverbed on our way home from school.

How was that washed down from the mountain?

The Itsty Bitsy Spider

I was spoiled for a couple of weeks when there were back to back teams and a week of no school. I didn't have to walk up the mountain for almost 3 entire weeks! In that span of time the rainy season has come into full swing. It rains nearly every evening, and often rains in the afternoon too. A medical team from (mostly) Oregon was here last week, and there were several days we came down the mountain in the pouring rain. It can be intense around here during the rainy season!

Anyway, the team left on Tuesday morning, so I've had to hoof it up and down the mountain the past two days. This morning while I was picking my way along the muddy, rock filled road* down to the riverbed I had a revelation. I am the itsy bitsy spider.

The insanely crazy Britney walked up the mountain road
Down came the rain, and washed that Britney down.
Up came the sun, and dried up all the rain,
And the insanely crazy Britney went up the road again.

 

*It really can't be considered a road; that would imply drivable conditions. It's little more than the route the rain water takes to get to the riverbed. It just happens to be wide enough for a vehicle. The only trucks that drive this path are a) going to Gramothe, b) dumping trash or dirt in the riverbed, or c) getting rocks or sand from the riverbed.

Oh, how I love these girls!

These four girls are in Seconde. (That means they are in 11th grade, but they have two years of high school left because Haiti has a 13 grade education system. Nothing is ever simple in Haiti, but I digress.) They're also in my after school computer class, so I've gotten to know them pretty well. However, in the beginning I could not get them to talk to me. They didn't attempt to talk to me in English, so if they needed something they would get one of the boys to translate for them. I was really sad that they wouldn't talk to me for the first couple months. But now it's a different story. 

For all of February and most of March they teased me saying they were coming to my house after school. They have an obsession with the food that I eat. The constantly ask me what I will make for dinner after I get home. Often it's a sandwich, and they think that's funny.  I've yet to figure out why.

One day a few weeks ago these girls asked me if I would take their picture. I didn't have my camera so I told them I would do it tomorrow. Well "tomorrow" turned out to be a no uniform day at school, for what reason I have no idea. Anyway, they chose special clothes for these pictures. I thought we were just going to take one group photo, but I quickly learned it was a photo shoot! First I took their individual pictures. Then a group photo. THEN they wanted to change shirts and take more individual pictures. I said, "Are you kidding me?!?" To which they said, "What does that mean?" 

 Ameline has an easy smile, is down to earth, and makes me laugh. While she's friends with the other girls, she is a bit more independent and doesn't feel the need to do everything with them. She also probably has the best English vocabulary of the four girls.

 Romanie is persistent, attempts to speak in English more than the other girls, and also speaks slowly for me in Creole. I appreciate that a lot!

Ogimene is the ring leader of this group. She's curious about everything, gets excited easily, tries to talk to me in English but often switches to Creole because it's easier, and she is a whiner when she doesn't want to do something.

 Tania is a punk, plain and simple. The girl has attitude, but it's generally not directed toward me. She has no problem telling others what to do, and she especially likes to boss the boys around. She also very rarely even attempts to speak English. She'd rather get someone else to do it for her.

Eventually we took this final picture where they look so happy to be alive. But don't let them fool you, they are definitely giggly teenage girls. It's just that Haitians don't smile for pictures.

Hmmm....

Last year for my spring break I came to Haiti to help in the medical clinic. Willem kept asking when I was moving to Haiti. I thought he was joking. Little did I know I would move to Haiti in September.
 
My friend Abby is here for her spring break. She's helping in the clinic and hanging out at my apartment. It's been such a blessing to have another familiar face around this week. Willem keeps asking her when she's moving here. She thinks he's joking.

Any guesses on where she'll be living in September?

Computer Lab Makeover

Jay shows some of the boys how to use a complicated math program that I will never understand. That particular computer was bought by the Internet Club at Central High School in a city in Illinois. I think Champaign.

Rosias found this old projector during the computer room makeover and decided to be the film crew. He was enthralled with that old projector even though it would only project a very small area, no matter what we did to it. I think he entertained himself for several hours looking at old filmstrips and even drawing on a blank one. He thinks I threw the thing away (it is defective), but I secretly held on to it and will give it to him sometime in the future.

Matt and Matt on the left were the computer gurus who set up the internet and the network. Jay was one of the masterminds behind the entire extreme classroom makeover. And that thing in the middle? That is one very awesome purple laptop cart!

I love this shot! They may not have been raised with computers like a lot of American kids, but they catch on quickly.

Here I am doing something really awesome. I'm sure it was really awesome because 4 teenage boys are watching so closely. I think maybe I was showing them my skill with the program Paint.

Haitian Names 101

Names were (and still are to a certain extent) really difficult for me to get used to when I first came to Haiti. First there is the fact that French names are very different than English names. Then you have to take into account that all names, even ones I recognize on paper, are pronounced with a French accent. Names like Stephen and David are harder to recognize when they sound like Stef-on and Da-veed.

In the past 6 months I've noticed some interesting trends in Haitian names.

1. Absolute most common names in Haiti: for women Marie (sounds like my-ee)followed by any other name. For men Jean (sounds kinda like the end sound of garage) followed by any other name.

Ex: Marie Claire, Marie Ange, Marie Claude, Marie Rose
Ex: Jean Claude, Jean Robert, Jean Pierre, Jean Bertrand

2. E, M, P, and Y are very popular letters.

Male names:  Evens, Etienne, Erick, Exumene, Emmanuel, Michel, Marc, Mackenson, Pierre, Peterson, Peter, Paul, Patrick, Yves (sounds like Eve), Yvner

Female names: Esther, Edline, Emmanuela, Mirlande (sounds like Mirror-lahnd), Monique, Mimose, Patricia, Philomene, Yvonne, Yvette, Yvrose

3. Often there is a common base with various endings.

Rosena, Rosemene, Rosita, Rosina, Rosilien, Rosilia, Rosette, Rosemita, Rosemina, et.

Fred, Fredson, Fredo, Frednel, Frederick

Dieuseul, Dieuy, Dieumene, Dieumaitre, Dieujuste, Dieufort, Dieubon (this base means God)

4. Common female name endings:  -line (Ameline & Cloline), -lande (Mirlande & Nerlande), -ette (Rosette & Yvette)

5. Common male name endings: -son (Robenson & Davidson), -nel (Fritznel & Kesnel), -ner (Yvner & Fredner)

6. There seem to be some common names that are not originally French: Manouchka (Ma-noosh-ka), Shnider/Schneider, Natacha (Natasha), Nephtalie, Lovensky, Djoumy, Dieuseul

7. Names I think are tragic for little girls, but are very common here: Guerda/Guertrude, Bernadette, Bertha/Bertony, Fedna, Medjine

8. While not overly common, the use of the words "love" and "wood" in names still baffles me.

Ex: Ruth Love, Mylove, Michaelove, Woodson, Wood Kelly, Woodjerry

Wowzas!

Today is March 1st.


That's crazy. Just crazy.


In just one week I will have lived in Haiti for 6 whole months. (minus the two weeks I spent in the States for the holidays)


That's crazy too.


That's all I have to say this morning... More posts to come this week.

Things I miss about the US

in no particular order...

1. watching TV shows online
2. having a car to drive
3. Chipotle and Wendy's
4. understanding the cashier at the grocery store
5. Redbox
6. the public library
7. having a microwave

Golden Nuggets VI

Golden Nuggets is a term I am borrowing from my friend Sini who is spending her senior year of high school in Indonesia as a foreign exchange student. She calls all the random facts she's gathered about the country she's now living in Golden Nuggets. In that vein, I am going to periodically share Golden Nuggets about Haiti. 

• Every morning at 8 o'clock sharp, the Haitian national anthem is played on the radio.

• Punctuation is apparently optional in Creole. I noticed that many of my students skip punctuation of all kinds when they copy a text from the board or another piece of paper. I figured it was just one of those "I'm learning a new language" issues. But then I used a first grade reading primer in one of my Creole lessons. There was not a single punctuation mark in the entire book!! I couldn't believe my eyes. There were probably 30+ stories in the book and not a single end of sentence punctuation or an apostrophe to indicate a contraction (there are a lot of contractions in Creole). There weren't even any capital letters. I couldn't tell where sentences ended, which words were names, or which words were supposed to be contractions. It was frustrating.

• Envelopes and gum pose a particular problem in Haiti. There's a lot of moisture in the air here on the mountain, so envelopes and gum need to be stored in airtight containers. I opened a pack of gum, ate a piece, and put the pack in my backpack. Three days later the gum had drawn enough moisture (inside my backpack) to leak all the oil and become sticky. I've seen other packs of gum that have been left out on a counter and it's not pretty. And envelopes...well they just seal themselves. I have 30 envelopes that are sealed with nothing inside them. So if you get any mail from me that looks like it's been opened and taped just. Don't worry, that was me.

What I will NOT miss about Indiana

1. cold weather
2. chapped lips
3. dry skin
4. my winter coat
5. snow

Travel Day

I wrote this during my layover in Miami. The last leg of my travel day stretched out longer than I anticipated, but I'll have to share that story after I get some sleep!
 
Today has been… odd. I woke up before my alarm went off with a stomach ache. Waking up before the alarm rings really isn’t that unusual for me, but the stomach ache part was new. After my brain started functioning I realized today was the day I was leaving Haiti to spend the holidays with my family. Then the stomach ache made sense.

I haven’t mentioned it to very many people, but I’m pretty nervous about going home for Christmas. I’ve only been out of the US for three and half months. In the grand scheme of things, that really isn’t that long. Yet, I feel like much of my life has changed in those months. I’ve been anxious about how those changes will affect my relationships with my loved ones. First there’s the fear that I won’t be able to find the words to explain what’s happened in my life and heart. But mostly I guess I’m nervous that the people who know me the best suddenly won’t understand me anymore. And I don’t know how I’ll cope if that happens.

Possibly the strangest, and most significant, sighting of the day was on the way to the airport. Beth drove me to the airport this morning, and we traveled roads we take every time we go to Petionville or Delma. There’s a park near the police station that has been a tent city for the past 11 months, and I always gawk as we drive past. Today, however, there were sections where the tents, the people, everything was missing. Entire sections of the tent city have disappeared. We had a moment of celebration in the car. The absence of even some of the tents is a triumph for the nation of Haiti. I’m excited to see how many more tents are gone when I return in 2.5 weeks.

Beyond my stomach ache this morning and the missing tents in Petionville, there have been several other interesting incidents. First, I ate a hamburger for breakfast. It makes me chuckle even now because I’m sure the lady who served me thought I was crazy. But the airport shop in Port au Prince was crazy busy and I didn’t feel like struggling through the language issues to order something more breakfast appropriate. Also at the P.a.P. airport were the funny little conversations I had with the airport workers. Being able to speak a few words of Creole makes for some funny exchanges. One security guy waved me through the metal detector. I had left my passport holder on around my neck because I knew I could get away with not taking it off. He pointed at it and said, “Passport?” So I showed him the inside. Then he asked me in French if I spoke French. I said, “No.” But then he asked me a question not in English. I told him in Creole that he talks too fast, so he asked me my name in Creole. I answered him, and he told me to have a good day. I thought it was pretty entertaining.

In Miami I had a scheduled 7 hour layover, and I came to a strange realization: It’s really obnoxious to comprehend all the words being spoken around me. I’ve come to enjoy being oblivious to what others are saying, and I find it annoying to be subject to everyone else’s thoughts. For instance, I didn’t really need to know about all the different religious organizations working in Madagascar or the horse farm in Waco, Texas. I especially didn’t want to overhear the argument between mother and daughter about traveling to Europe. But there were some good parts to my layover. At one point a man behind me started speaking Creole on his phone. It was sweet music to my ears! I didn’t understand everything he said, but it was nice to hear some familiar sounds. Then there was the man who exited the bathroom with a good 3 feet of toilet paper hanging off his shoe. How does that even happen? If I see t.p. on the floor, I avoid stepping on it. And then there are the babies. I love babies. The Miami airport has been full of babies today. I wish I could pick them up and cuddle them, but I think going to jail for attempted kidnapping would put a damper on Christmas. So I just smiled and waved.

I’m hoping that the oddness ends there. I don’t really want to experience more weirdness on my final flight or the drive home from O’Hare. But I suppose weird is a better theme for the day than frustration or patience or even boring.

Psalm 56:1--Britney's Version

Today I was reminded of the first verse in Psalm 56.  

"Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me...". 

Back in September when I first arrived in Haiti, Willem gave me a speech about Haitian men. He said I might have been okay in the States--meaning maybe some guys liked me, but here in Haiti there would be men lining up to get the opportunity to love me. He went on and on about Haitian men and how they would really, truly love me. He said he didn't care how much I loved a man, he would have to step in if he felt the guy was using me to get a connection to the States. He made it very clear he would only bless a relationship if he knew the guy really loved me. I just chuckled to myself, thanked him for looking out for me, and hoped he would stop lecturing me soon.

However, this week I've realized there is something about this white skin that drives Haitian men crazy. This week has been Exhibit A in men throwing themselves at me.

• First, one of my 8th grade students, age 18, asked me if I was married. I told him I was not, and I asked if he was married. He replied that no he isn't married, but he's ready to get married. I asked him who he was going to marry, pointing at some of the girls standing near by. He paused for a little bit and then said he wanted to marry me. Oh, how the other students had a good time with this piece of information! 

• Then there are the random greetings I've heard lately. It's customary to say "Bonjour" to almost everyone you see on the street. I've received the following greetings lately: 

Bonjour bee-u-ti-ful!
Hello sexy.
I love you. I still love you.

• Last night I sat and talked with some of the neighbors. There's a man here visiting his mother. He's Haitian, but he lives in the States most of the year. I had met him before, but wasn't overly impressed. He is close to my father's age and was a little too quick to kiss me on the cheek. Last night he asked me how old I was, inquired about how I liked living in Haiti, wondered aloud if I would be interested in staying more than a year, and then proceeded to tell me that if I did decide to stay I should let him know--with that "you know what I mean?" attitude that says he's not just being hospitable. Tonight during our English "class" that was really just the three of us talking, Taina quizzed me on having a boyfriend. Then she said that her cousin told her he liked me and asked her to do all the work for him! YUCK!! I think I might have to talk to Willem about this guy.

• There is also the ongoing saga of the 19 year old student who admitted that he likes me. He is part of the group that walks with me after school each day. I don't think I would mind walking with him so much if he didn't always "conveniently" end up walking right next to me. (I'd like to remind you that Haitians don't understand the concept of personal space.) If I slow down and try to put some space between us, he slows down too. If I trade someone places in our line of people, he shifts over too. I've gotten to the point where I just tell him where to walk, or I make sure one of the little kids is holding my hand on the side closest to him. All of that is bad enough, but today it got worse. I didn't stop at the guest house before going home. I decided to go straight up to the top of 48 and on to my house. He decided that he would take the long way home so he could walk me even more than he already had! Add to that the fact that he is constantly saying, "Be careful!" and "Watch out!" and it's enough to make me lose it.

I suppose the moral of the story is this: If you need a self-esteem boost, move to Haiti where all the men love you.

What a great day!

Today was an all around great day. There wasn't anything that made today oustandingly fantastic, but all the little pieces of goodness add up to one satisfying day! First, I ate breakfast with my new Canadian friends. The guys have really made me feel like a part of their team. I really appreciate how they've included me and loved me this week. After breakfast, they took me up the mountain to school. I was able to witness the meeting of sponsors and their sponsored children. A couple of the Canadians sponsor some preschool children, so the kids were pulled out of class and given some gifts. The first two kids did a great job. They were a little curious about the tall white guy who was talking to them in a foreign language, but they let us take some pictures of them on Helmut's lap. However, Frank ended up traumatizing his kids. The first girl was close to tears as she sat on his lap and the other girl started crying before she even got near him. She wanted nothing to do with the goofy white guy!

After the traumatizing of preschool children was over, I went to 7th grade to watch the Haitian English teacher. He was reviewing mass nouns and counted nouns. It was very, very boring, but it helped me know what to practice with the kids during my hour with them later in the day. I was planning to follow Mr. Gary to 12th grade to see what he would teach the older kids, but I needed a break. Instead of going to 12th grade, I headed up to my computer room to get organized and maybe do some cleaning. My Creole tutor came shortly after I arrived. I taught him to play Jenga because he heard that the kids liked it. I really wanted to win Jenga because it's an American game and I was the one teaching someone else, but the weirdest thing happened! We took out every possible Jenga piece, but the tower was still standing. That has never happened to me before. It was so strange I took a picture of the tower at the end of the game.

After the Jenga game I decided I should probably go watch the end of Mr. Gary's 12th grade class. I am sooooooo glad I didn't sit in on the entire hour. He was teaching them that the third person singular (he, she, it) version of verbs ending in o, sh, ss, x, and ch need an "es" instead of just an "s." I was there for only 15 minutes and I wanted to go to sleep! And the students didn't seem to be learning anything new. Some of them even stopped the lesson to ask me about goosebumps. It was really funny trying to figure out what "chicken flesh" was (that's the literal translation of what they say in Creole).

Oh, this is becoming a long post. I suppose if it's too long, you'll just stop reading. Anyway, last week my grade 7 class was horrible. They talked while I was talking, they wouldn't listen, and they didn't even try to understand me. Today some of the girls were kind of snotty at the beginning, but they shaped up eventually. I had an activity where they were able to get out of their seats and they seemed to enjoy it.

After I finished teaching, I had a Creole lesson. I learned some words for family relationships, and then Arold taught me some songs. I really like learning the songs we sing in church. I'm getting pretty good at the chorus to "I Surrender All" in French, and I hope to add some others to my repertoire soon. Today I was introduced to "Nothing But the Blood" in Creole, but I left my paper at school. I won't be able to practice until tomorrow.

After school was out, I had my computer class. I really enjoy this group of students, probably because it's 15 of the best English speakers in the school. The kids are smart, and they really try hard to understand me. More of them have also been walking with me after class, which I like because it gives me an opportunity to get to know them. The girls typically take off right after class is over and walk so fast I can't keep up. Today, however, I walked with them instead of the boys. Actually, it was kind of nice to walk with them because they are a lot quieter than the boys. The girls aren't as comfortable with English, but they tried to talk to me a little.

Plus, the walk from school to the guest house took me exactly 30 minutes, which is a personal best. I am pretty proud of myself!

After school, Willem harassed me about all the boys asking for my phone number. A couple of my students have asked me for number recently, and one even admitted to some other kids (that came and told me) that he has a crush on me. Isn't that fantastic? (I hope you caught the sarcasm in that!!) To finish out the night I ate a final meal with my Canadian friends and then said goodbye. They all gave me hugs and wished me well. :) Now, I have some time to clean my little apartment and maybe study some Creole before I head off to bed.

It really has been a wonderful day.

My Boyfriend

I've known for a while that this particular guy really likes me.

He finds ways to be near me--it's quite endearing! He's very helpful and frequently volunteers to carry things for me. He sings songs to me, and holds my hand whenever I will let him.

Today he made it pretty clear that he wants me all to himself: he told one of my students, in no uncertain terms, that he was not to talk to me anymore. Homeboy is jealous!

Isn't he cute?

Just for the record, this little guy is NOT my boyfriend. He just wishes he was. He's one of the little guys at Laboule Children's Home, and for whatever reason he has latched on to me. He's also the one who sang at church a couple weeks ago. You can even watch the video.

After School Class

I have a computer class after school on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is my favorite class to teach because it is small and the students all speak enough English that I can communicate with them. It doesn't hurt that it's a more laid back atmosphere and we joke around quite often. The boys are talkative and always have questions. The girls are still a bit shy, but they are attempting to speak with me more and more. There are only 7 working computers right now, so the students work on the computers in pairs. Today I split them into two groups, so they could work independently on the computer. While one group worked on the computer, I taught the other group how to play Jenga. They loved it! You can view pictures on my Facebook album.