Aunt Julia

For the past two weeks, I’ve been babysitting Chris’ sons while he’s out of town on a fundraising trip in America. While Stephanie was here, we took turns staying in the guest room and watching them in the evenings. Now that she’s gone, Stephanie is calling me a “single mom” to Danny (8), Paul (10), and Jonas (14).

Personally, I kind of like “Aunt Julia.” Aunts are cool. They are fun. They let you stay up late and take you to movies and don’t follow any of the rules.

Well, while I try to be cool and fun, I definitely don’t let them stay up late. In an act of incredible selflessness on my part, I give up an hour on my laptop during “generator hours” to let them watch movies before bed. Luckily, there is a big selection of kid-friendly movies at their house. If we were choosing from my collection, it would be West Side Story or The Way We Were. Somehow, I don’t think Robert Redford would have the same appeal for them. We might still do WSS…I am happy to indoctrinate a love of musical theatre in any country!

The boys and I have had a lot of fun these past two weeks. We’ve instituted “cinnamon roll Saturdays” and celebrated Thanksgiving together. They have charmed my entire family through Skype sessions--in which Jonas proudly declared to my mom that he was "sure Julia will be killing a goat any day now." (I think this was in reference to me not fainting at the sight of our Thanksgiving chicken being killed. Jonas is my biggest cheerleader as I become "a real Tanzanian woman!")

All three boys have all completed a run to Lugeye, our neighboring town.

Danny has learned to crack his back.

Paul dedicates all his soccer goals to me…five tonight!

Jonas is my favorite Kiswahili teacher, and I repay the favor by giving him advanced English vocabulary and slang terms.

This morning, we made pancakes, and the boys took turns at the coveted position at the stove as “pancake flipper.” Was I a hovering nervous wreck as their little fingers were close to the open flame of the slightly-unpredictable gas stove? Of course I was. But they were champs, and everyone emerged from the experience with all their appendages burn-free.

We ate our five small pancakes “sampler style,” because that’s how Aunt Julia likes them. Everyone had their choice of maple syrup or fruit jam that I heated over the stove. The boys were very impressed that I came up with this fancy culinary technique.

As this afternoon’s storm rolled in, so did the boys into the house. “Julia, will you teach us French?” Ummm, not what I was expecting, but sure!

They ran to get out their journals, and I wrote out some phrases with the Kiswahili translations—my first time teaching with Kiswahili as the base language. They took copious notes on anything I wrote down.

I don’t know many kids who are casually picking up their fourth language in their free time on a rainy Thursday during their Christmas break…but even if I did, I’m sure these three boys would still be my favorites.

Paul, Jonas, and Danny (L to R)