Quotes from the boys

So the boys have said some funny things in route to America and since we've been home. I guess I didn't realize how many things they wouldn't recognize or know about. So here are a few of the comments or situations we've laughed about...

On the plane we were served our meal with a piece of cake that was cold. Kenan looks at Brett and says, " Me want it warm. Them have a microwave?"

Once we arrived in Dulles airport, we were walking toward Customs. We had to go down escalators. I went with Silas without thinking and then hear Dawson screaming bloody murder. Both he and Kenan were terrified of the escalators and would only go up and down the stairs.

As we were about to board our last flight to Raleigh, Dawson was standing beside a quite buff man with earrings. He loudly asks Brett, "why does that man have those girl's things in his ears?" A few days later he saw a guy with long hair and proceeded to ask, again in front of the person, why he had long hair like a girl.

On arriving in Raleigh, Dawson hugs Grandma and proceeds to tell her with extreme excitement that everyone on the planes "talked like we do!" (Most of the time we take French airlines so they speak French, not English.)

Dawson also was excited when he went to my mom's preschool one day and there was an African American girl in the class. He came home saying, "there was a black girl in the class but she spoke like we did. I'm REALLY serious. I'm not lying."

The first time we tried to give Dawson water to drink from the sink, he yelled, "That's not for drinking!" (We can't drink from our sink in Mali, it has to go through a filter)

Kenan was scared to death of the toilet at my parent's house. He said it had too much water in it. He had several accidents the first few days home because he was so afraid of it. They also didn't know how to flush the toilet since in Mali, you pull the lever up in the center of the top part of the toilet, not push down on the side.

Kenan has enjoyed eating many new things while home. He didn't know what bacon, celery, or grapes were.

Dawson wanted popcorn. We told him it was on the table in the bag to which he replied- "No Reeaaalll popcorn." (meaning, popped on the stove) Another time they asked when they saw the popcorn bag "it's in a popping bag??"

On seeing snow on the tv, D commented "Oh, it's cold season" and was unable to come up with the word winter. He later said after a short rain one afternoon, "it's the end of rainy season!" (we call it hot season, rainy season, and cold season in Mali)

We are now down in Florida visiting Brett's mom. We went to the beach with the boys. When he saw the beach he said, "wow, it's big." Kenan said, "the water is all soapy!"

We were admiring worms that were crawling on the ground. Both boys got really scared. We told them that worms can't hurt you. Dawson looks up and says, "yes they can. they can get in your belly and eat you." We told him that they weren't those kind of worms to which he insisted "well then they can crawl into your skin." We have to teach them that parasite worms are so small you can't see them.

This one is actually from last home assignment when we taught the boys what a pine cone was. Later we passed a mushroom and asked, what's this? To which Dawson replied, "I don't know...maybe a pine cone or something."

And then two which aren't really related to the transition but to Dawson's desire to not wear clothes. When we got our pig right before leaving, our friend Jake was over. D looked at him and said, "I think I need to take off all my clothes so that the pig will come to me."

While home playing Frisbee with Brett, he said he was tired. Then he proceeded to take off his clothes and reported, "ok, I'm not tired anymore. We can still play."

And one sweet comment from Kenan.... the other day I was singing the song with the lines "I am thirsty for more of you, I am thirsty, O Jesus, I am thirsty for more of you." Kenan looks at me and says, "I'll share my water with you." I said no thanks. He looks at me and says "But you thirsty."