A Colorful Thanksgiving

Well, in trying to figure out how to incorporate a few different and random topics, I decided to use the theme of the visible spectrum of light... interpreted: the rainbow, or as some of us know it as: ROY G. BIV.

Red - The color that most of my 7th grade kids are putting somewhere on their volcano posters in class. We've learned in class how volcanoes can form, the different types and other book-type info. The kids got to pair up and choose a famous volcano and become a "Volcano Hazard Expert" on that volcano, presenting information about the book-type information, as well as the more interesting info about the devistation it created, pictures, etc. AND red is the color of our "new" car and Bryan's new Adidas shoes that he got for N4,000 ($31 US)... which were actually free because we got gift certificates from the school board president to use at the Adidas store here for coming to AISL.

Orange - The color of the sun in the morning when the dust from Harmattan gives it an eerie, hazy glow.

Yellow - Kara's new karate belt color!!!!!! Yup, I passed the test and am officially no longer a white belt. Now onto the orange...

Green - The color of the leaves of the trees that are interspersed with the street vendors. The color that we miss seeing on real trees back home.

Blue - The color of our couch cover and our bathrooms, which feel like jail cells. The color of the pool just outside of our flat.

Indigo - The dye that is a part of the economy in Oshogbo, the town we are going to visit this Thanksgiving weekend. It is located in the Osun State (north of us), that is home to many Yoruba peoples (one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria... the others are Igbo and Hausa). Some of the sites we're planning on seeing are the Enchanted Forest, a forest that has carvings hidden throughout it, the house of Suzanne Wenger who created the enchanted forest carvings, the Nike gallery and the Fulani village. If you go to http://www.blackartstudio.com/Oshogbo.html you can see pictures of some of these sites, as well as the guest quarters that we will stay in. Bryan and I might even have a white shirt dyed indigo during this adventure.
Also check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osogbo or http://www.osogbocity.com/ to learn more... until we can come home and tell you of OUR experiences.

Violet - All I can think of for this one is African Violets, which I have yet to see in Africa (maybe in Kenya) and my mom because she loves African violets.

Hope you enjoyed the colorful array of African living! Until next time... and Happy Thanksgiving!!!