Oranges!

"Oranges!!" the kids exclaimed with glee as they saw what was on the dessert table at dinner last night. They ran over and had to be told to take only one to begin with so that everyone could taste the delicious treat. 'Treat?' you may ask.

I'm sitting here thinking about your possible reactions. Some of you may be concerned, are we under feeding the kids so much so that they should be excited about oranges? No. Some of you may be wondering whether the school is so poor that we can't afford fruit. While that may be true for many families in Pakistan it is not true for MCS. Are we teaching them that oranges are some kind of super fruit where by eating them they will gain straight As? No!

I think of my dad who used to tell me that he would get an orange for Christmas. I remember being confused - and I don't think I quite believed him. I'm sure you can understand why. Oranges are available all year round in New Zealand... in most 'western' countries, in fact. We eat our own in the winter, and we eat oranges from California in the summer. I don't think I even really liked them when I was a kid. I preferred mandarins. Oranges and apples were too common - I remember being excited by chocolate and candy. Granted, the kids here also get excited by chocolate and candy. The difference is that chocolate and candy are available year round. Oranges are not.


It was so nice to see the kids excited about oranges. It's nice that I can get excited about oranges, too. There's just something...natural about eating what's in season. The fruit and vege here honestly does taste better.