Successful Skyping

The kids at Chumbageni had another chance to Skype with Key School students this past week. This time a group of 10 fifth graders got to talk to Mr. Shekdar’s 4th grade class about food. Before every video conference, however, I like to get everything set up early and make sure everything is working properly. My parents make for excellent guinea pigs and help the kids get used to Skype and what it’s all about before switching over to the Key School classroom.

My dad was especially helpful this time because he was in the middle of making breakfast when we called. He gave us a tour of the kitchen and showed us Tropicana orange juice, coffee, cereal with milk, a Rocco’s pizza box, and many other things. When the 4th grade class called us and started sharing what they like to eat for breakfast, the kids at Chumbageni had a sense of what they were talking about. It was really cool!

Some of the highlights of the Skype conversation included the absolute surprise of the Chumbageni kids about when Americans eat dinner. One of the girls asked me, if they eat at 6pm, don’t they get hungry before going to bed? (Students here eat between 8 and 9pm) Key School students, on the other hand, seemed to be surprised that Chumbageni students can hold off on lunch until 3pm every day.

I personally had a great time translating words and concepts between the two groups of students. For example, pasta in Tanzania can be eaten for breakfast and is usually cooked with sugar instead of salt. There is also no real equivalent for strudels and French toast, so I had to contrive some explanations involving bread, fruit, sugar, and eggs. They also don’t have pancakes or waffles here, but their version of a pancake or crepe is called chapatti, which was as close as I could get.

Overall it was a great conversation! A big thanks to the Mr. Shekdar, Mrs. Crooks, Pilar, and of course, the 4th grade class for chatting with us! We look forward to doing it again soon!