Thursday, May 6, 2010

Wow! Kids That Actually Smile for the Camera!

Posted by She Said

As promised, I took the kids back to the zoo today. Now I know we haven’t blogged yet about our experiences the first time we went to the zoo, but I’m going to jump ahead to a short but memorable moment I had there today.

While exploring the aquarium, we saw several groups of school-aged children. Each large group of kids had a matching hat and jacket, identifying them as part of a particular group or school. When we walked by, they were very excited to say “hello” to us. I stopped to say hello back, and then they started practicing their English with me. Braedyn and Emily could have cared less and did their own thing as I let the adorable group of kids bounce their words off of me.

“What is your name?” I was asked.

“My name is Susanne. What is your name?” I asked in return only to be answered with a huge grin, followed by a shy glance and a step away from me.

“How are you?” asked another.

“I am very well, thank you! How are you?” I answered, completely loving the interaction.

“I am fine,” answered the young boy, grinning from ear to ear.

The short questions and answers fired back and forth a bit longer and huge grins spanned many faces, including mine. Then one boy, enjoying snacks from a bag, came over to me and handed me one to enjoy. I was overwhelmed with his kind gesture, so I bit into the treat. I have no idea what it was, but it kind of reminded me of what a dried up apple would look like after a voodoo head-shrinking ritual was performed. It was difficult to tear off a piece of the dried flesh of the fruit, and the pit on the inside that my teeth scraped made me happy for not popping the whole thing into my mouth. The taste was rather bland, but it was sweetened by the beautiful smile I received from the boy. I know, sappy, huh?

Once the exchange was witnessed by the other boys, another one wanted to give me his Oreo-type cookie – his partially eaten Oreo-type cookie. Then another boy tried to hand me another type of treat. I thanked them both and politely declined.

Before being bombarded with more treats, I swiftly changed focus to taking a picture of them.

P5060095And unlike our children who shy away from a stranger’s camera, this group of boys were more than happy to smile for the camera. And for that and their happiness today, I was very grateful.

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