Joel and Andi McMartin
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Flat Isaac

May 14, 2014 by Joel and Andi

For a school project, Isaac (my sisters middle child), sent us a flat version of himself for us to take pictures and share a little bit about our life here.  The boys were excited to do stuff with flat Isaac and I got to thinking that some of you might enjoy seeing the picture we got too.  Here is the letter that Flat Isaac wrote to Isaac about his time here.

Dear Isaac,

Thank you for sending me to Africa.  It is hard for me to find the words to describe everything I saw, smelled, heard, tasted and touched.  Life here is very different.  However I have tried to write a few things down for you to learn a little bit about where your cousins live.  I hope that someday you too will get to visit and see it all for yourself.

Your cousins live in a small town an hour outside of the big city of Dakar.  There is one paved road coming close to their house, but after that it is dirt roads.   There is sand everywhere!  There are also animals walking free all over: cows, pigs, horses, donkeys and goats.

Each morning the boys wake up and go to get bread for breakfast.  They get it from the local boutique that is just around the corner, which is where they buy a lot of their food.

Tyler let me come with him one morning on the walk
The shelves of the boutique were loaded with food and you just had to tell the man what you wanted and he got it for you
The man was very nice and is friends with Ethan and Tyler
Tyler even let me carry the bag they use to carry their bread each morning
For breakfast they ate bread. Ethan had it with jam. Tyler had it with cinnamon and sugar and I had it with chocolate peanut butter. Yum!

After that it was time for school.  Ethan let me go to school with him.  It was all in French, but he translated for me.

It was fun to meet Ethan's friends and his teacher

School ends at 1 and then we headed home for lunch.  I was starving as it was very much past a normal lunch time for me, but they seemed to be used to it by now.  Lunch usually involves a rice dish.  They eat all around one bowl.  I was even daring enough to try eating with my hand although I had to be careful and only use my right hand.  The food was good, but I could see how it takes some getting used to.

The meal was made of peas, with wild boar meat and fries

Even the clothes their are different.  Although a lot of kids can be found wearing shorts and shirts, the grown ups don’t wear shorts and the ladies all wear skirts.  Dressing up is a lot more important there.  It is important to dress up when visiting people, even friends.  When dressing up they wear traditional cloths which are very colorful and bright.

Tyler showed me one of his fancy outfits

On one of their days off we drove an hour a way to a pool.  Tyler and Ethan were very excited for the chance to get a way and have some fun.

We saw lots of fun things on this outing.
One was a monkey, who we fed rice to later in the day
There was a man there carving wood and he let us watch
He worked at it all day
Their grandma taught us how to play marbles, with 5 marbles we found in the sand
The boys went swimming, which was a high light of their day
Since I am made of paper, I figured it was better to spend most of my time lounging in the hammock

Isaac, Ethan and Tyler were so excited to share a little of their life with you.  It has been so long since they saw you and are looking forward to seeing you this summer.  They also hope that one day you can come and visit, because there is so much more that they can show you about life here.  Thank you for sending me in your place as it was a wonderful opportunity.

Love,

Flat Isaac

Filed Under: Updates and News

More Posts:

« Little Gifts From Above
Furlough Prep 2: Accomplishments »

Comments

  1. Erin Fast says

    May 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    This is one of my favorite posts yet! Abby came walking in & started asking questions about all of the photos of Tyler & Ethan. She looks forward to meeting the boys when you return.

  2. Jane Van Ryn says

    May 22, 2014 at 1:57 am

    That was SO MUCH FUN!!! I bet our Isaac would love that too! When are you coming to Portland?

  3. Jeannette Bessler says

    May 15, 2014 at 6:13 am

    What a neat idea this is. I enjoyed reading Flat Isaac’s adventures

  4. carolyn Gaupo says

    May 14, 2014 at 5:15 pm

    How fun this was. I’ve participated in some Flat Stanley projects. It is amazing what you will do when you have a reason to show a lifestyle. Thanks to Flay Isaac for showing us yours.

  5. Lauri M Amandus says

    May 14, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    I bet when Isaac gets his flat Isaac back along with this tale… he will be just delighted. Thanks for sharing it. I did one of these for my niece and think I had more fun with it than she did. Tee hee….

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