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Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery,

Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

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Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins



Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

Download Ebook PDF Online Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

Christine Jenkins is a high school math teacher who has never heard of Kinyarwanda or Kigali. Sonia and Eugene are Rwandan teenagers who have just set foot on American soil. Assuming they need a parent, social worker, and miracle maker, Christine enters their lives with naïve notions of how their relationship will unfold. Her attempts to overcome cultural barriers come in the form of awkward conversations, forced smiles, material gifts – and lasagna. Lots of lasagna. A series of life-changing events throws Christine’s plans off course, destroying her sense of security and control. As she slowly discovers what matters most, Eugene and Sonia gift her with lessons of faith, love, and resilience. Based on actual events, Fake Smiles and Lasagna is a tale of the transformative power of unlikely friendships – and how to find joy in unexpected places.

Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1703671 in eBooks
  • Published on: 2015-09-10
  • Released on: 2015-09-10
  • Format: Kindle eBook
Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

About the Author Christine Jenkins is a writer and teacher who lives in Rhode Island with her husband, two teenage daughters and black leghorn hen.  She serves as the head of the mathematics department at Moses Brown School in Providence, where she teaches calculus and psychology. When Christine is not in Rhodes Island, she is exploring the trails and shores of Cape Cod - a place that holds some of her fondest childhood memories.


Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

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Most helpful customer reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Heartfelt and Personal Story By klavierstucke The title of this book, “Fake Smiles and Lasagna” intrigued me, and was probably the initial impetus to read it. I’m glad I did, as I learned a great deal about the difficulties refugees face adjusting to new lives in a strange country, all the while carrying around momentous emotional baggage from their (often) war-torn homelands. But I also learned a lot about the ups and downs of volunteerism, of finding the “right fit,” and the great responsibility that comes along with committing to being a volunteer.“Fake Smiles and Lasagna” also left up to interpretation as to who the true protagonist was; at times it was the author/narrator, at other times it was one of the other main characters. In the end, I found myself consistently rooting for Ms. Jenkins, who time and time again had to deal with both the everyday stresses of life, juggling career, family and now extended family, as well as coming to terms with more than her share of emotional hardships throughout her life. She is never “preachy;” she just tells her sometimes complicated, self-deprecating, funny story and lets the reader take it from there.One of things that I enjoyed most about reading this book was that I felt a lot of anticipation in wanting to know what would happen next. This was because Ms. Jenkins very cleverly and consistently intertwined her personal story with that of the Rwandan refugees she was becoming friends with. There were times where these stories overlapped, and times where they didn’t - and all for sound reasons. One chapter would talk about an activity the family had with the Rwandan refugees – something as simple as bowling, or going to the Olive Garden, but Ms. Jenkins adds the details necessary to understand that even every day activities like these take on great weight given the circumstances. Next would be a chapter that contained childhood memories on Cape Cod; also somewhat commonplace in the abstract, but again, Ms. Jenkins use of recurring symbols, such as crossing over the Sagamore Bridge onto Cape Cod, and the dissolution of stress all adds resonance and depth to even lighthearted passages. Particularly touching for me were two story lines in the book; one, where Ms. Jenkins gains the trust of the elusive and bottled-up Eugene, and the other, where through the course of multiple chapters she deals with her mother’s cancer diagnosis and outcome.“Fake Smiles and Lasagna” is filled with humorous family anecdotes, often describing personality quirks that we can all relate to. It also contains a great deal of sadness, something not always easy to write or read about, but Ms. Jenkins does so without pretense or melodrama, and the end result is a sincere and heartfelt memoir about self-acceptance, family and friendship.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. families across continents By DP Christine Jenkins' "Fake Smiles and Lasagna" is a wonderful, engaging, and deeply affecting story of family, an age-old tale told in an new way. When Chris and her husband--together with their two daughters-- decide to support two newly-arrived Rwandan refugees, they couldn't know the ways that Sonia and Eugene would challenge but also enrich their lives. But this is more than a tale of the way a family expands by welcoming others into it; the novel explores the loss of beloved parents on both continents, the growth of teenaged daughters born to the author as well as those "adopted," and an evolution to "African time"--and with it, a lessening of structures and opening of hearts. Whether it's explaining bowling, body surfing, and sledding, or learning how to negotiate the vagaries of food stamps and English language acquisition, Chris shares her stories with an honesty and humor that make a reader feel as though she's sitting alongside a dear friend--waiting, always, for the next detail or anecdote. Spanning graduations, deaths, and childbirth, the book chronicles the moments in which we become a family and discover ourselves. Readers' smiles will be anything but fake as they laugh, empathize, and care for the gloriously flawed but wonderfully real families of this immensely readable first book. I'm already eager for the sequel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. I love the way Chris begins each chapter with a quote ... By Barbara A. Burtt My first thought after reading Fake Smiles and Lasagna was that I wanted to drive to Cape Cod and spend a long weekend talking with Christine.Chris describes the book as a journey of self-discovery. While reading it I found myself wondering what I would find if I too went on such a journey. I realized while reading this book that you can’t really know a person, maybe even yourself, unless you open yourself up to scrutiny , overcome self-doubt and “open yourself up to new possibilities”. I was engaged from page one. I love the way Chris begins each chapter with a quote from Eugene or Sonia. I had to keep reading to explore what the quote would lead to.My new mantra after reading Fake Smiles and Lasagna is “everything is going to be OK.”

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Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins
Fake Smiles and Lasagna: one high school teacher, two Rwandan refugees, and a three year journey of self-discovery, by Christine Jenkins

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