We did our regular bus trip, walk, city bus, to the Vatican Embassy to Mass. We are really lucky to have a great priest and it is always worth the effort to get there.
We didn't have long to feel alone, as we were invited to a dinner with eight others at 3:00. Right when we got back from church we started peeling potatoes for scallops, and Peggy baked biscuits and cleaned and prepared strawberries for short cake.
Potatoes and baked cauliflower
Fran, from Seattle, and Jan from Fairplay were hostesses at Fran's lojman. It was a special treat as we had a spiral ham!! Remember, no pork in Muslim countries. Jan has a car and took Laura, who has privileges to the US Army base here, and they got a ham!! And bacon too, yes, Fran put it in deviled eggs. It was really good with the eggs, especially since it was the first pork we've had since breakfast at the Embassy Suites in Denver the morning we left.
Yes, that's really a ham!
The highlight was having a little kid there. Nicolas and Jonna, from Jamaica, have a 1 1/2 year old son, Jonnic (pronounced Jonique). He was quite intimidated for a while, having missed his nap, but then realized he had 8 other people who all wanted to play with him so he had warmed up.
Mom and Jonnic
We laughed and talked a lot. Besides the Jamaicans, we were from Seattle, Colorado, South Carolina, Washington state, and Iowa. Most had kids and memories and stories of Easter's past, but to keep the mood light, we just enjoyed the moment and company.
There were no egg hunts, but Jan did make a "Toyne" bunny bag for everyone. It was filled with candy-remember the army base-and other cool little gifts (I got a can of Spam too!)
So, although we missed our families, we were blessed to spend time with friends here and celebrate. It appears that with international teaching, families are usually an ocean away, so everyone looks out for one another and special memories are made in different ways in different settings in different countries. We're thankful.
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