Imagination not required

This past week we traveled to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the home of Tim's field assistant, Gabriel. Our preparations included finding gifts for Gabriel's family, his wife (Mama Rickson...as Maasai women are no longer called by their first names after they have kids, but rather become the mother of their first born), son (Rickson, aged 6), and daughter (Irene, aged 4).

Rickson was the easiest to shop for: a toy car would be just the ticket, Tim was sure (turns out he was SO right, but more on that later). For Mama Rickson we bought an umbrella, a gift that made Gabriel's eyes go wide when Tim suggested it as an option. For Irene, however, we struggled a little. Stickers or a sticker book? Cards? What about crayons? She already had some, Gabriel said, but how many? Were they good crayons; would she like ones that are higher quality? Does that really improve the coloring experience? And what about something to color on? Should be buy her a ream a plain paper? A small book of lined paper (which is all we could find)?

In the end we settled for colored pencils and the one coloring book we could find..."Copy Colour." Yes, that's really its name. I was a little appalled at the boo-, at the overt statement that there was a right way to proceed. Although are pages for coloring, imagination is not required.
-kjd