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Here are some things my family and I have enjoyed this week. I don’t have any news stories because I have been avoiding the news in favor of time with my kids who were all home for the holiday.
The word schism. This is a great word. It is fun to say, it is usually unexpected in conversation, it conveys a lot with just a few letters. It makes us giggle. We are big fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events audiobooks (it must must must be the audiobooks), and that’s where we get the word from. So many of our family inside jokes come from these books. Are there any other cake sniffers out there?
The movie Djibouti. This is a terrible movie and we laughed so hard we could barely stay in our seats at the theater. It is only funny (I suspect) to people who live here and well, we live here and have lived here for a darn long time and love a good laugh, which we got while watching this. We still laugh about it a week later.
Whale Sharks. The past few years whale shark sightings in Djibouti have been pretty scant. But this year, all five Joneses agree, was the absolute best year swimming with them that we have ever had. I can’t even count how many we saw. Sometimes we would swim alongside one or two or three at a time for more than five minutes, peacefully enjoying each other’s presence. If you want to swim with them and are in Djibouti, book a trip with Rushing Waters Adventures.
From Red Earth: a Rwandan Story of Healing and Forgiveness by Denise Uwimana. This book is devastating and stunningly gorgeous. The most powerful book I read in recent months. Her story of forgiveness is truly breathtaking.
A women’s exercise facility in Djibouti. I have known about this place for a while but never visited. I took my daughter there this week to practice with their football team and it was amazing. A full football pitch (soccer), basketball and volleyball court, pool (currently being updated), workout gym, good price. For locals - Quartier 7, by the big new mosque.
Million Dollar Shortbread cookies or, homemade Twix bars. Why have I never made this? So easy. So good.
What’s your good news this week?
Good News Friday, January 7 2022
I love all of this so much! Thanks for sharing these beautiful, funny, and moving photos, recommendations, reflections, and links. Looking forward to seeing the Djibouti movie more than ever after reading about your and your family's reaction to it ;). Continuing in the holiday time theme of your post, I was really moved a generous and thoughtful gesture of the taxi driver who was driving me to the Christmas Day lunch I (as well as you and your family :) ) attended a couple of weeks ago. When I mentioned to him that I was going to a Christmas event, he immediately pulled out a small bottle of perfume and invited me to put some on, to help me be fully party-ready :). It was a small and brief, but nonetheless very meaningful and delightful interaction.