I was on breakfast today which was at 7 instead of the usual 6:30. That extra half an hour really makes a difference. And yes, I let Jack sleep in.
Weekends are less structured so there is quite a bit of free time. After breakfast the children have a list of chores that they must complete. Everyday there is a rotating list of who does the dishes, sweep the floor, wipe off the table & chairs, cleaning the bathroom, mopping the floors etc. And on weekends they have to cleanout their cubbies, which means reorganizing and folding all their clothes to then doing the laundry. They are just amazing. Wait until you see the photos - these children are such hard workers and for the most part all the jobs they do, they do well! For example, when they make their beds - there is not one wrinkle!! Just amazing!
Note to Self: make a longer list of chores for my own children when I get back!
They are also (for the most part) extremely well behaved. Pleases, thank youís, welcome Louisa, welcome Jack etc. They are just a pleasure to be around. Oh and when they want to ask you something - they almost always say, ìExcuse meî.
The other thing that I just love - is how happy they all are! They all have their own stories about how they got here - some worse than others - yet for the most part they are all so happy and well adjusted. Not an hour goes by that I am not completely amazed at what India has done for these children.
So today brought soccer, soccer, soccer and more soccer for Jack. I think all the boys were out there playing for every free minute of the day that they had. Jack was exhausted - it was also quite hot and sunny all day (good for the solar but bad for sun burning and heat exhaustion). We brought Gatorade to keep him hydrated and it did the trick.
In the morning I was with the girls drawing pictures, doing puzzles and playing games in the preschool room. Lots of things were taken out - and just like kids at home, when I said time to put everything away - a couple of them did sneak offÖ..they are not allowed to play in there with tomorrow.
In the afternoon, while Jack was still playing soccer, Jessie and I took about 6 of the children for a walk. A walk that I would never had taken alone because I had no clue where I was going. We walked down a pretty steep path into a small valley that had a small river running through it. It was hot and dusty! There was a herder down there with cattle and goats and along the side of the river bed you could see that people were growing some crops - corn, cabbage and even some green leafy lettuce type plants. There was really no rhyme or reason, so I am not sure it all worked. Who got to plant there? Did they all know whose plants were whose? Iíll have to find out.
On the way back up there was another farmer who cut sugar cane for each of the children. And you should have seen them gnaw at it with their teeth. They loved it! But itís hard work and we didnít have a knife or anything to help make it a little easier. We made them promise to brush their teeth extra hard tonight!
We got back just in time for bath time!
Oh, I forgot to mention that there is also a great library that is not only full of books but also videos and DVDs, And on Saturdays they pick the movies for the week. There are hundreds here, all organized alphabetically. Tonight they also have an extended movie time so they can actually watch an entire movie. Most other nights they might only get about 20-30 minutes after egg and toast.
We were on again for dinner, which was rice and a meat stew, water and a banana. They eat really well - lots of protein! The Mamas in each house make all the food - part on the stove in the kitchen - which is gas, and the other part just outside on small round bbq-type grills. Iíll post a picture here when I get back so you can see what they look like.
Dinner for us is always at 7:30 in the Volunteer house and itís always delicious! Elias is an amazing cook and offers more diversity than you can imagine. We eat more vegetables in day that I would eat at home in 2-3 days. Homemade soups (carrot, broccoli, zucchini etc), salad with tomatoes and cukes, potatoes, beans, spinach lasagna, baked zucchini, pineapple, mango etc etc. Truly amazing. So much for me thinking that I was going to loose weight here in Tanzania. We are eating like royalty!!
We had a guest at dinner tonight. She was a past volunteer who has been here many time (at least 5 if I understood it correctly) and she had just (72 hours ago) adopted a 3 month old Tanzanian baby. He was so cute!!! We learned a lot from her and listened intently as she told us her story.
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