The Ethiopian Candyshop and Volunteering with Arab kids

Last week, I played with and taught some English to a group of Ethiopian kids at a local community center in Hadar, the poorer neighbourhood. The kids fell in love with me instantly, smiling and slapping me five. When I sat down with a group of boys, aged maybe 8-10, literally the first question they asked me was: "Do you know 50 Cent?" The second question: "Do you know DMX?" The third question: "Do you know Tupac?" They then proceeded to write the words 50 Cent on a piece of paper, asking me if it was correct (it was). They did this from memory, they did not really know the letters. They also had no real understanding of who 50 Cent is. The asked me to sign one of his songs, I mumbled: "Take me to the Candyshop. Na Na Na Na Candyshop." I didn't know the words. They didn't care. "Sing it again!"

It has been otld to us that many Ethiopians adopt the oppositional culture of African-American hip hop or of Rastafarian Redepmtion, because they are aware of their status at the bottom of Israel's socio-economic ladder. Even though they are happy to be in Israel, light year better off than in Ethiopia, there is still a lot of tension.

Every Tuesday the kids get to see a live animal in class. This week, some woman brought in a Tarantula. This reminded of the exhibit of the world's most dangerous spiders and scorpions that I visited in Prague in the summer of 2001. I didn't get to hold teh Tarantula, only to touch its legs and torso, because it still had poison in it. Ah Israel. Safety is so over-rated.

The kids were good kids. A bit rowdy but nice and fun and easy to get along with. I taught some of the older boys some English words, then played basketball with them and some kids from the Arab school next door. Apparently, the Ethiopian teachers fear that the Arab kids are violent. I'm not sure if this is the case, but my experience earlier this week at the Achva center was markedly different.

The Arab kids, mostly Christian, I assume, took a while longer to warm to me, though did eventually, begging me for piggy-back rides. Like with the Ethiopians, I spoke to them in Hebrew. They were very rowdy, didn't really listen to me and they picked up broken glass on the basketball court and refused to pick it up. They really liked dancing though, the boys and the girls, which was fun. I had tried to teach some of them chess, but to no avail.

Working with these kids, Ethiopians and Arabs, is rewarding but really tough, hard to get through to them. I sometimes feel I'm better off with older kids, even though young kids do seem to like me. We'll see how it all goes.