Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes - 01/09/2013

Beautiful girls

BEN - Another early wake up for a brief church service.  Bob gave the message again, although I don't think anyone told him this was the case until the moment he stepped up there.  This morning at school, Gabby and I decided to break off from the main group and do our own thing.  We bopped around from classroom to classroom alternating between either singing and teaching songs, and playing hangman.  We taught 'Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes' and the camp classics 'Have You Heard About Harry' and 'The Grand Ol' Duke of York.'  The kids loved all the motions and we had a blast.  By the 6th or 7th classroom we were completely wiped from dancing around.  We stepped outside for a few minutes, and realized that the bus for lunch was already here.  Time flies when you are clowning around.

After a nice lunch and siesta, we headed back to school for Sports Day.  We sat on the main field and watched a few different demonstrations.  First was a synchronized ring (boys) and baton (girls) dance/march followed by a karate demonstration.  Shockti, on of my avid followers, was one of the karate stars, which was cool to see.  After the kid's demonstrations, it was our turn to play some games.   They had us come up front of the whole school and play little mini games meant to embarrass us including ball throwing, cherries on a toothpick with your mouth, ping pong balls on a spoon, and word games.  It was a bizarre spectacle, but the kids seemed to enjoy it, so whatever.

The other very exciting thing to happen was that Gabby and I decided to sponsor a little boy!  Our little guy's name is Abishek and he is a little bowling ball bruiser, infamous among the group due to his over worn Playboy shirt.  Abishek is in 1st standard and enjoys both Tamil and math class.  When he grows up he wants to be a policeman.  He has an older sister named Donnalakshme and their parents live in Bangalore.  We told Abishek and his sister the good news.  He was happy, but didn't really understand what we were telling him.  We have pledged $200 a year which covers his room and board, uniforms, and school tuition.  It is really a unique thing to be able to sponsor a child overseas that you actually had the privilege to meet.  I think it will make the relationship more meaningful.

Abishek

When we returned to the hostel, the sports continued and we played another high intensity game of soccer with the kids.  The power was off, so after soccer we had to bucket shower by flashlight.  I decided to shave my beard, which looks and feels very weird.  My hair is still wild, but the beard is gone.  Later, one of the first kids I saw said, "You shaved, it is not good."