The Good ol' US of A!!

Our Grayhound Bus leaves at 1:00pm today.  We have our tricycles packed (not everyone can ride a 2-Wheeler:)) and are ready to go!! Today we stayed in the United States and traveled by bus, bike, and taxi cab to get from the east coast to the west and then home again.  While we were traveling we learned all about the celebration of Kwanzaa celebrated from December 26th-January 1st. Kwanzaa is a celebration of Family, Community and Culture.  It is an African holiday created for African people in 1966.  This is a time when people can better understand their culture and bring forth the best in their culture! There are Seven Principles and they are explained in the Kinara (candle holder).  The Seven Principles are:

1. Unity
2. Self-Determination
3. Collective Work and Responsibilty
4. Cooperative Economics
5. Purpose
6. Creativity
7. Faith

We were able to make our own Kinaras while we were traveling.  We will be putting our souvenirs in our suitcases to bring home next week. The Kinara has one Black Candle in the middle and 3 Red Candles on the right and 3 Green Candles on the left. A candle is lit for each day of Kwanzaa.  On the 7th day they have a feast called KARAMU and the last day they exchange gifts.  We were able to taste popcorn, a favorite here in the United States.  The corn is also a symbol of Children in the Kwanzaa celebration.  They place an ear of corn for each child in their family on the African Cloth that is placed in a central place in their home.