The pictures shown here are taken way back during the first week in July. But! The good news is lunch is pretty much the same each day so these pictures are still up-to-date (except some kids have left and some new ones have come).
The school has an excellent cook (I actually don't know her name...we greet each other everyday but I've only known her as the cook...I should learn her name.) She makes the most delicious lunches. The base of the meal is almost always rice or noodles and every once in while, dumplings. Anyway, she also prepares several different dishes of vegetables or meats and then we, the teachers, serve the kiddos.
The lunch process is actually pretty cute. There are about 35-40 kids ages 3-5. We have three tables and right after the second class ends (12:10) we rearrange the room to accommodate everyone. Usually, by 12:15 all the children have washed their hands and are ready to say the prayer. This is classic. I know the church does not promote memorizing prayers, but! These kids are just barely learning English and to try to get one to say the prayer and all the rest to listen would be super difficult (my family will totally understand this...at home sometimes more than one kid wants to say the prayer and we end up offering two...now just think of trying to offer forty!) No way! So, in order to give ALL the children the opportunity to pray ALL the children say the prayer. I recorded it so ya'll could see what it is like.
You might notice that after the prayer they get quiet really fast and then raise their hand. That's because whoever is the quietest and best behaved will get a nice bop on the head from teacher Jane meaning they are the lucky kids that get to help pass out the dishes - woot woot. :)
Then, after the prayer, teacher Jane serves the main food (rice, noodles, or dumplings) while Hannah, teacher Anita, and I follow close behind serving the meat, vegetables or other toppings. This is hilarious because we will come by and ask the kids, "Do you want some?" and if it is something they really like they will thrust their bowls out or nod their heads emphatically and say, "Yes! Yes, Teacher!" And then, my favorite part, is when they DON'T like something. Some kids will simply shake their head but almost always, the younger ones, will either cover their bowl with their hands or! Even better! Put their
whole bowl under the table to protect it from the possible addition of some food they don't like. I love it, love it, love it. It doesn't matter how many times they do it and how long I've been here, it still makes me laugh inside every time they do it. :)
Let's see after that there is almost always soup - which is mostly water with bamboo or some other vegetable and then some fruit (in the beginning it was usually yellow watermelon, then guava, and now we usually have apple slices). When the kids are done they bring their bowl and spoon and put them in a bucket and then run outside to play before they have their story and naptime. And that's the end of lunch! :)
This is one of mine and Hannah's favorite lunches - fried rice with lots of different veggies and bamboo soup. Except now my FAVORITE FAVORITE food is actually curry....mmm. I don't think anything can beat it. I have completely and totally fallen in love with this most excellent deliciousness. In fact....sometimes...when we are lacking on comida in the apartment...I simply grab some curry cubes from our spice cabinet and mix 'em with water and carrots....that's not anywhere near as scrumpdiddlyicious as what the cook makes, but it's still pretty dang good.
A few weeks later a new boy came to school. He had long long lashes and was super cute. Again the Chinese teachers asked me for a name. I looked at him and thought of my little brother. I thought a little longer this time - knowing whatever I said would probably stand. But the name Michael continued to sound good to me. By lunchtime he had been named and another child now carries the name of one of my siblings. 
Not too much longer another boy arrived. However, this naming experience proved to be a bit different than the first two. The student's parents expressed to Yu-ling that he loved the movie "Cars" and wanted a name that had to do with cars. Hmmm...Henry? Naaa...I didn't think they would want it. And besides the parents wanted me to provide a few options. I ended up writing down Owen (for Owen Wilson - the voice for the main "car" in the movie) and Nicholas, for a German I found on wikipedia that helped with the invention of cars. In the end, the parents chose Henry and I think they made an excellent choice! 
