My girls finished school in the middle of May, and as a congratulatory gesture, I told them I would take them for ice cream.
Doug's days are filled with studying for teaching at night, so since I knew it was going to be a girls trip, I asked them if they would like to invite the 17 year old twins across the street.
They said sure.
We thought the hot part of the day was the perfect time to get some respite from the heat with a scoop of ice cream, so we walked to their gate around 2pm.
They said it was too hot to be outside, so they invited us in.
Their dad was sleeping in the sitting room like he does every day for a few hours (his shop stays open till at least midnight every night, so every day he takes a rest), so we sat in the mom's bedroom on the floor.
They pull
doshaks out every night to sleep on, so the bedroom is just really a square empty room with a TV.
The mom, my lovely neighbor
who shares her food with us, sat with us, the 7 year old was in and out, and the two 17 year old's were also in and out with their school books, because they were still studying for finals.
Arab soap operas and Bollywood/India soap programs were on, so she switched back and forth between channels.
We visited for an hour. My neighbor is great at continuing to try and communicate with us. When I am struggling with a word, she tries really hard to think of another, easier way to say it. Kylie is great at remember vocabulary, so I use her a lot, too. I felt like all three of us carried the conversation well with her, even though it was a bit choppy.
My neighbor had said that we should wait until 4pm to go for ice cream, but at 3pm, she told her daughters to start getting ready. Granted, it does take them quite awhile, because they dress to the nines every time they go out.
But at 3:30, they were ready. I told them I was taking them to
the "fancy" place we had discovered. They had heard of it, but they had never been. I told them I would pay for a taxi because my neighbor has an injured foot that's awaiting surgery.
Five of us sat in the back seat and my friend and her 7 year old daughter sat in the front with the driver.
Fun times!
The taxi driver headed in the direction of another, smaller dessert shop with the same name, and we told the ladies we needed to turn around to go to the big one because the small one only had two flavors of ice cream. We wanted to take them where there were MANY options.
Do you remember the pictures I showed you from our serious summer investigation?
Well, we arrived.
Walked in.
And this is what I saw...
Eight canisters with six flavors.
Lemon, Mango, Strawberry, Watermelon, Banana, and scant tracings of Dark Chocolate.
I was stunned.
So I asked the man behind the counter, "Where is all the ice cream?"
He said, "Maybe tomorrow."
Oh, well.
The two mom's (me and my neighbor) got strawberry, and everyone else got tiny, little scoops of Dark Chocolate. I was so sad for my friends because they were missing the "experience," but they seemed happy enough, and we had a good time talking.
My neighbor's girls suggested we walk home, so I asked my friend about her foot, and she said it was ok.
It was a good walk, even though I could tell my friend was in pain, and we witnessed a motorcycle accident on the way.
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| Karis and Z |
So even though the shop had a sad showing, it was a successful day in relationships building and language practice.
[On a side note, the little girl above was first dressed in black shorts, and when she came into the room, my friend laughed and said her daughter needed to change because she looked like Charlie Chaplin.
I thought that was an interesting tidbit...that she (and many people here) are familiar with Chaplin.]
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