Sports Day

This past week Emily and Logan each had a sports day. It was nice as this year they each had separate days which made it easier on me. A mother's biggest challenge is being in two or three places at once! The kids participated in 50m dash, 100m dash, sack race, dress the teacher, balloon pop, obstacle course, etc. They both had loads of fun.

India Week

Our school recently had India week, a week in which the kids learned about the food, dances, songs and cultures in India. At the end of the week the elementary children performed in a India week program. It is always so interesting to see the different blend of children on stage in their bright Indian outfits. Emily sang an Indian song in with her class and Logan performed an Indian dance. Emily wore her sari and looked just beautiful. Logan wore his Indian dress- a kurta and pants, he really wanted to wear his jeans but reluctantly put on his Indian pants! Mason who was not in the program wore his doti as most of the kids wore some Indian attire. Mason thankfully had Sundar help him put it on as there is a trick to it. I think they each looked very stunning! The only thing really annoying about the program, or any programs at our school is the noise. Some of the noise came from the students but most of the noise came from the parents. As our school is made up off so many different cultures some groups do not know how to be quiet at events. It was so frustrating the entire time there were a group of ladies talking loudly (not in English) the entire time. Let's just say if looks could have injured they would be seriously wounded.

Jane Goodall in Chennai

This weekend the kids and I had the opportunity to attend a cocktail party hosted by our neighbors Dave and Liz. I must say we had so much fun witnessing the whole setup. They set up tables and chairs outside and strung beautiful lights through out the trees. I remember watching Jane Goodall when I was a child, how amazing that she lived with these chimp and almost became a part of their family. How incredible it was to see and speak with her! Once again, another incredible opportunity while living in India! She showed a brief movie of her time in the jungle and gave a short speech, unfortunately I had to cut my time short as I had to rush to a Scottish Burns Night party at Alan and Juliet's! More on that night later! And once I get some pictures of the kids and I with Jane Goodall I will post them.

On a side night we have survived 3 days with out Ted...only 25 more days left. The great news is that he arrived safely, all was fine at our home and today he is at his new job!

Oh deer

The other day while in the city there was a deer on the sidewalk (yes this part did have sidewalks) ! It really took me by surprise as you just don't see deer in the city. We were not too far from the IT campus where deer and monkeys can be found in abundance but they just stay on the large campus. But this deer ventured out into traffic.

The plan

It appears that we will be moving back in June which allows the kids to finish a whole year at AISC. I am really thankful for this. School is going really well for the kids! Mason received the High Honor Roll award for 1st semester, Logan got a great report card and really seems to be getting math now and Emily is loving school and reads all the time! Plus Logan is enrolled in after school soccer and Emily is in glass painting and jewelry making. By moving home in June everyone can finish what they started and we can prepare for the move back. The only downside in all this means that Ted will be spending a lot of time in the US over these next months. He leaves this Saturday in the wee hours to head back to the US for 4 weeks. Hopefully time will pass quickly for all of us, the kids will behave and Mason is able to help Logan with math!

Sri Lanka

Alice, Sophie, Emily, Logan, Jennifer, Holly, Mason, Margot, Juliet, Helen, Ted, Fraser, Bob and Allen

This past weekend a group of us decided to flew to Sri Lanka to take advantage of the 3 day weekend. We flew into Colombo which was an hours flight from Chennai, a nice short flight. Their were 14 of us...6 kids and 8 adults. What an incredibly fun weekend we had! We left Chennai at 6:45 am and arrived in Colombo at around 8 am.

uh oh...flat tire

We've safely landed!

waiting for our rooms

the only water sport around...

fun times playing

Sophie and Emily

We arrived at the Brown's Beach Resort and after sorting out the room situation we were floating in the pool by around 1o am. I must admit I was very nervous about going to Sri Lanka due to the fighting amongst the Tamils and the Sri Lankans. You could tell this when sitting at the pool I heard something like a gun shot that made me jump about 10 feet! The kids had so much fun playing with the guys in the pool! The sun was really intense even though we were just a bit farther south. By afternoon everyone was a little red! The kids spent time in the pool but really enjoyed playing in the ocean and running on the clean beach! I was amazed at how similiar Sri Lanka was to India but in some ways so different. Sri Lanka was so clean, had no cows wandering the streets, few stray dogs and women in saris (just long skirts). It was nice to walk on sidewalks (yes they had sidewalks too) and not having to worry about what you were stepping in. I had a man propose to me on the beach...I have decided to keep Ted though! On Sunday morning we all boarded a bus that took us to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage which was about a bumpy 2 hr drive. The scenery was very pretty, rice paddies, rubber plantations, hills and palm trees. We arrived just in time for our group to get the last of the feeding tickets...thank you Margot and Juliet for sharing with us! I must say that I got a bit teary eyed when it was my turn to bottle feed the elephant. I have bottle fed a lot of animals in my life and nothing was as amazing (or quick) at witnessing the baby drink its milk! I have loved animals since I was little and elephants have always been at the top of the list.

The Rubber Plantation

Mason seeing how stretchy the rubber sap is

Feeding time at the elephant orphanage

Okay a few tears...

Emily's turn

We then watched an elephant tear and eat the pulp from a coconut tree. I must admit the elephant was very clever about tackling this. It looked like he would surely tip over the way he leaned.
We then were able to walk out into a large field that had lots of elephants, each standing with their mahout or trainer. At one point a baby elephant pulled my hand into his mouth and tried to suck on it! Okay, it may sound gross but it was kind of cool! How many people have had their hand in an elephant's mouth (okay so maybe you wouldn't want to?)? The elephant were not chained or tied to anything, they could have trampled us if they had wanted to but they didn't (note...the big African Elephant I believe may have been chained up).

my hand is in his mouth...

We then walked towards the river and sat out on a deck over looking the river and had drinks while waiting for the elephants. It was such a beautiful site to see these magnificent creatures heading into the river. There was one elephant missing his foot, it was blown off in landmine. The poor elephants spine is all out of whack and I read that they are trying to work on making a prosthesis foot for him. It was absolutely beautiful watching the elephants in there natural environment. The drank and sprayed water. They laid down and were scrubbed by the kids. When heading back to the bus we headed through a tourist area and I saw my very first cobra and snake charmer! The cobra was pretty neat to see...from a distance. There was also a man with some pythons.

Then headed to another elephant reserve where we rode elephants bareback, scrubbed elephants in the river and were given a shower by an elephant! We had our choice between a 15 minute ride and a 3o minute ride and lets say due to the size of the elephant the 15 minute ride was more than enough. We rode the elephant to the edge of a rice field and I will never forget the view. The field was such a brilliant green, waving palms trees and a nice gentle breeze on our face, all from atop an elephant. Once again I am so thankful to have had these adventures!

Please note: several of the photos were taken by Bob Blair, thanks for sharing!

Our Time in India

It would appear that our time in India is coming to an end. We just aren't sure how soon that end will be. We are hoping to remain in India to allow the kids to finish the school year out, which means June. While leaving Illinois was the toughest thing I (and the rest of the family) ever had to do it has been the most incredible experience we could have ever asked for. We have been able to see and witness so many things in this world that God created. I have loved witnessing the Indian culture even though it has frustrated me to no end. I will miss the Indian people and their genuine kindness. I will miss the good friends that have become like family. I will miss the blue sunny skies. And I will miss our life here. But all that being said we look forward to returning to the United States of America. There are so many things we took for granted living in the US and I pray that we never take them for granted again! There is much discussion to be had as far as the transition back and I will update the blog when more news occurs. Thank all of you for your loving support and prayers you have offered our family before the move to India, during the move to India and our time in India. I would ask that you would continue:-)