American Gifts

A little over a year through my service I went home to visit my family. Among the things I brought back were gifts for my counter part Johnathan and his family.
I brought back:
Small soaps, lotions, body washes and beauty items for Johnathan's two wives.
For the girls, they each got a doll of some sort (Barbie, mini cabbage patch) and a stuffed animal.
For the boys (Johnathan has one adopted son and the other is their neighbors son who is always at their house) they got matchbox and army cars.
Johnathan got a bright red shirt with the South Carolina Flag on it. He was so excited he hugged it to his chest before stuffing it down his shirt to protect it. he was terrified that it would get dirty. Abby ran from person to person, holding toy after toy to her chest. She also put on the little mini clear plastic toy backpack with the yellow plastic straps and wore it all day. They told me later that these toys were so amazing because now the kids would have a toy to play with at school during 'play time.' For a school with over 1,000 kids there were maybe five dolls. Just five, you could also imagine the state of those toys.

It was also quite funny to watch the children as well as the adults try to sneak glances up the barbie's skirt and shirt. When I caught them they giggled in embarrassment. Johnathan explained that they saw that the doll had breasts so they wanted to see if it had a 'you know.'

The day after I got back to my site I went over to Johnathan's house to give them their gifts. The looks of awe and joy on their faces was indescribable. They passed around everything and thanked me profusely, smiling, laughing and clapping their hands. Johnathan was so excited about the toys he had to take each one and play with it He was possibly more excited than the children.

When I gave the boys the cars everyone oohed and awed because they had already heard about 'Correen's cars.' Let me explain.
In a package I had received some time ago, there were little cars. I put them in the 'fun box' that I take and put on my front porch when the kids come to visit, its got crayons, paper, some little toys, yo-yos chalk, stickers and more.
When i showed the children the cars, the first to see were Abby, ken and Winston. They literally started screaming, "Gali Moto! Gali Moto!" I took one and pushed it, showing that it rolled. They started shrieking with excitement. They were pushing then all over the porch and on the wooden beams of my gate, watching them roll down, propelled by gravity. They were jumping up and down going, "Correeni! Correen! look! LOOK!"

I wish I could have brought ten suitcases full of things to give them. The warmth I felt at their Pure Joy was one of the most fulfilling moments of my life.