The Flying Tambrinis: Fun Days in May

International Day at AISN

For international day, the kids got to dress in the costumes of their native country, or in their country's colors. They got to try different crafts and activities, and they put on a little program for the parents, followed by a potluck lunch of foods from all over the world.

My kids went for red, white & blue, plus their DC hats and flag pins.

Here is Alex waiting with his class for the program to start.

Can you find Alex in this picture? : )

The preschoolers sang a song about where they were from. Each kid had a turn to sing.

Alex's friends Shims (Mauritania), Chloe (France)

and Ben (USA) and their teacher, Ms. Amel (Algeria) and

assistant Haboussa (Mauritania)

Alex enjoyed being on stage and singing his part!

Cute little Sun is from Iraq

The Mauritanian contingent awaiting their turn

Ziyad is from Morocco - he is always laughing about something

The American kids all came up and said "Hello" except Alex, he said - "Hey!"

Alex, Nick and Natalie (not pictured: Olivia)

The Spelling Bee

The TLC school hosted a spelling bee and invited AISN too. It was the first bee Aaron and I had ever been to and Olivia was the first one of our kids to participate in a bee. It was a well organized and fun competition. The did 3 groups in the morning: kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, then 3rd-5th in the afternoon.

Olivia with her classmates Diane and Anna

Ettou, Diane, Anna, Olivia and Kira

Olivia waits nervously to be called

She was bumped out of the running early on, but it was a

great learning experience she is eager to do again next year.

I love all the emotions going on in this picture: Olivia is clearly bummed out, Kira (smiling) was the 2nd-grade champ, and poor Nic (on the end) burst into tears shortly after this. The drama!

Each participant got a ribbon

Vietnamese Cooking Class

Jeanne (below) is a friend of ours here and she offered to do a demonstration of Vietnamese cooking. I hosted it in my kitchen, since it's very large compared to most homes here. Jeanne made 4 things: monk fish in caramel sauce, spring rolls with chicken, spring rolls with shrimp, and a vegetable-beef-noodle stirfry. She also made some yummy dips to go with the spring rolls. I provided a large pot of rice and for dessert, mango sorbet. With the exception of hoisin sauce, all the ingredients can be found locally. The ladies really enjoyed it and took lots of notes. Then we got to eat it all!

Fresh spring rolls with shrimp

Tiffany (USA), Alida (Burundi), Katrina (USA), Amanda (USA), Oydin (Uzbekistan), and Norie (Japan). Jeanne is Chinese & Vietnamese. It's a Small World After All......