A Wonderful Life: Sheep for Lunch

Several months ago, we had the pleasure of hosting 80 people (half kids, half adults) for a MAF social here at our compound. We throw this kind of party twice a year, and invite all those who work for MAF and their families to join us for a day of fun and food. A small way of saying 'Thank you' and showing how much we appreciate all their efforts at work.

Bocce Ball...called 'boule' here. Phil picked up some pointers from the experts!

We ordered 4 crates of pop (96 bottles!), 2 large sheep stuffed with Spanish flavoured rice (it was our only option!) and vegetables, 150 tortillas and the MAF international staff made 5 cakes and brought 3 huge watermelons and 2 large pineapples....and we ended up with just a little bowl of leftover meat and rice which we gave to the guards on the night shift.
Phil hung a huge tarp to provide extra shade (it was hot season here....and it's 40 degrees in the shade....so NO ONE wanted to sit in the sun!) and we laid out a huge tarp for kids to sit on and managed to scrounge up close to 50 chairs.
We played some fun 'minute to win it' type games...the highlight was the Oreo challenge where you stick an Oreo (icing side) on your cheek and have to use your face muscles to get it down to your mouth. People were falling off their chairs laughing....the guy who won looked hilarious as he tried to move the Oreo down! Another fun game was the 'doughnut on the string' game...we bought some little Timbit-like doughnuts from a lady we know and made several different strings with doughnuts on them. We had the kids go and then the guys take a turn....we held it high and made the men jump to get them! So much fun!

Water games were a hit with the kids...

The biggest hit by far was the ongoing tournament of Bocce Ball...who knew Chadians were MASTERS at that game??!!!!
After everyone was fed and satisfied with dessert, the adults hung around for several more hours and talked and played and relaxed. The kids had the time of their lives....riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline (like 10 kids at a time!), swinging, sliding, running and climbing. Everywhere I looked, there were kids having fun. It was so good to see our friends enjoying a break from the daily grind and relaxing for a bit.
I attempted French in a bunch of different conversations...and managed to keep one going for a while. She was very gracious to me as I butchered French words but hay, she understood me and we had a good chat.
We waved goodbye to the last visitor around 4:30...we were exhausted but happy knowing everyone had a great time. I loved looking around during the day and seeing everyone chatting and having fun....we are blessed to have such an amazing team of people who work for MAF.

Until the next 'fête' however...I think I'll stick with chicken! :)