Tait, Jordan, Ty and Kyle speak . . .

Tait says “hi” to all her friends and family in Calgary. We are having lots of fun here and I am making lots of new friends at school. I am happy with our house because it is big and we all have our own room. Tait found school to be a bit “nerve-racking” at first, but by the second day it was great. The new Head Master of the school, from the UK, also has 4 children - twins that are Tait’s age. The schoolwork is interesting and basically the same as Canadian. The hardest part is the type of handwriting they want me to do. I am in 2 clubs after school, Brownies and Tae-Kwan-Do.It is so hot here that von weekends we go swimming many times a day. We have been busy on most weekends going to hotel swimming pools, a day trip, or swimming in the ocean.Tait says the food is “okay” but not as good as Canadian. She eats fish (Kingfish) and spaghetti. I miss you all very much and hope to hear your voices soon!

Kyle: We have a pool in our backyard that we use everyday. Our neighbors are also from Canada (they have a son, Sam, that is the same age as Kyle). Kyle plays with Sam football (soccer for us Canadians), gameboy and Yu-gi-o cards. Kyle says that school was “scary” the first day but feels better because “ I have made a few friends.” He finds the work a little harder but is doing well. For recess and the lunch break we play soccer (football for the UK and Africans), but it is really HOT! The food is “Yucky” as hardly anything tastes like Canadian food. Do his basic food group at the moment is cereal, mange, pineapple, and ice cream. Last night he had toast with cream cheese, jam with relish (crushed pickles) – so who has the weird eating habits… There are lost of different hotels that we are able to use and swim, dive, and even water slides. Kyle is playing in the tennis club after school and loves playing 'king of the courts.' A big “HI”, I miss my Canadian friends and family. We will see you in July to visit.

Jordan says that the first night was very ‘scary’ as it was very dark and dirty. He laughed at his father the first night as he was trying to kill a lizard in Tait’s room with a plunger. Sorry, no pictures available, just the memories. We are pretty much use to them now. I really wanted to go scuba diving when in Africa. So I enrolled in a course and just recently completed my last dive and received my certification. I was able to see a shark, sea turtle, starfish, and many more fish like the ones on Finding Nemo. He can not wait to go on his next dive.The first day of school I met a student from Germany that showed me around. I have met a few friends and play football often. I have recently introduced a few students to floor hockey – Canadian style, some have never played hockey before.

We have a uniform at school that I really don’t like because it is hot and scratchy. Jordan finds the work in some subjects harder and some about the same. For PE we are placed in houses and my house is green team and is the champion of basketball. I think the school is pretty big because it looks like a university campus with lots of columns. He is involved in 2 clubs after school, basketball and football training, which are lso the junior school teams. The coach is also the PE teacher.

We have used many types of transportation. The Matutu (public van transportation) – but they are all over the roads and are very crazy drivers. It reminds Brenda and Scott of New York taxi drivers, but 50 times worse. Boda Boda (bike taxis) you sit on the back of the bike on a cushion. They are especially fun over the bumps. We have recently bought a car – a 1995 Toyota sedan (stationwagon). Dad is getting use to driving and we are enjoying watching him turn into a Matutu driver. A really funny story is that we were swimmingat the Whitesands Hotel and some monkeys came and stole our wine gums from our bag.They were up in a tree pulling the wine gums apart - sorry no photos. Jambo (hello) Calgary,Alberta, Canada.

Ty likes to swim in the pool in the backyard. The other day he swam 10 lengths. “I can swim holding my breath for a long time.’ He goes to 2 schools – the nursery (kinder garden) in the morning and then his mother or father pick him up at lunch so he can go into1st grade in the afternoon. “I like to be at school with my family”, but he is finding it a long day. He is doing lots of practice with his letters and numbers.

Ty thinks the food is ‘good’ and eats mostly pizza and ice cream and mango, mango, mango! Hello everyone back in Calgary.