Wow! Today went by so fast, it was full of school, beach, interactions with the people, causing a scene, all the good stuff a day should be made up of!
We started out this morning going back to the 'Christina Public School'. It was crazy fun! I found out that yesterday about half of the kids were scared of me, that's why they were crying. Imagine that, the white lady is scary! haha They probably thought I was the ghost from their scary campfire stories. Anyway, we spent an hour an a half singing, 'The itsy bitsy Spider', 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and 'Old McDonald'. They didn't actually sing Old McDonald as much as they laughed at Brayden doing his elephant noises. Here are some pictures of the most adorable kids ever...
The kids weren't as shy as they were yesterday, and actually we broke the ice by taking pictures of them and then showing the pictures back. They all thought that was so hilarious. Such cute kiddos! Brayden helped me in the nursery class, but the other 3 went to their own classes. Davis decided he'd feel a little more comfortable in Conor's class, so they went together. They learned all sorts of words in Telegu (the actual local language, unlike like my post from the other day that was the wrong word!). And Dallan went to class without a problem...he loves the attention. They had the kids working out of workbooks, Dallan was practicing his abc's, writing them over and over again. I guess maybe when he goes back I should tell the teacher to put him a grade level because last year in kindergarten he was spelling at a 1st grade level and reading at a 2nd grade level. Oh, well...it's summer school. We've decided to go to this school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a couple of hours each day.
After school we met Ryan at the office and had lunch...Chinese! Yummy!
Then at about 1:30 we headed down to Rushikonda Beach for the kids to take surfing lessons. First, you must realize the Indian culture does not revolve around the beach...at all. Remember Andy I told you about...his life completely does, so he sticks out like a sore thumb as much as my kids do. He's been teaching surfing lessons for the last 5 years in the same place, same beach and every time he pulls out surfboards there is a crowd. He told us there are 6 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh that actually surf. Other than the kids he has taught. This guy is amazing, his story is amazing. His love for and passion for what he does and his goals and aspirations...Andy is a modern day pioneer for this sport in India. He has a college degree, is working on getting a Master's, speaks better English than some of the locals we met in Orlando a couple of weeks ago, teaches surf lessons to those who want, but then has adopted this group of kids who have dropped out of school, teaches them English, social skills, all the things he learned in school, and also teaches them how to surf. His plan is to train them up, teach them how to become instructors so they have a trade and can in turn make a living working with him. The boys had a blast! He was out there with them all the entire time. Actually, his students were as well. Instead of making the boys paddle, these cute kids let them ride the boards and they were pushed out to sea. Almost every time.
The beach experience in India kind of reminds of the beach in California, or probably most any public beach you'd go to. For those of you who have ever been to a public beach that is crowded and you walk around for a place to camp out for the day, there is always the foreigner in his speedo, making sitting next to him a little awkward...well, that's kinda how I felt. Everyone at the beach had clothes on. Everyone except, me, my family and Andy. But they were all in the water. Before we left the states I bought this cute little sundress bathing suit combo. It's super cute, I even saw a couple women wearing it in Orlando as a sundress. Anyway, so I'm wearing this cute sundress with a cover up, and I'm feeling completely immodest! The sundress goes down to my knees! Every women there is in her sari or full clothes, or whatever they were wearing that day. And here I am in my sundress, my legs whiter than white because my fake tanning lotion has worn off already and in the middle of India, with people taking photos of themselves with me in the background. If you've never experienced people "trying" to get you into the picture, you'll probably not understand how obvious it is. Imagine walking down a street wherever you live and spotting some public iconic figure. (I am not referring to myself as such.) You'd probably take a second glance, maybe try to get a picture with them in the background...this is the same kind of thing. Of course you always have your bolder personalities who come up and ask to have their picture taken with you. And then you have the type of personalities that are bolder than that...the ones that tell you how you are looking beautiful today and then ask to be your friend on facebook. Yeah, that's a little weird...besides, if he ended up as my friend on facebook he'd have access to my blog and read about himself. Talk about awkward!
Overall we had a great day, everyone is tired, Ryan is already in bed. And we're going to go for another round tomorrow. Oh, and if you were wondering how much surf lessons cost for the boys. 1000 rupees ($20)...it was a 2 hour lesson. India rocks!
PS: More pictures to come, but I'm having issues uploading them...
We started out this morning going back to the 'Christina Public School'. It was crazy fun! I found out that yesterday about half of the kids were scared of me, that's why they were crying. Imagine that, the white lady is scary! haha They probably thought I was the ghost from their scary campfire stories. Anyway, we spent an hour an a half singing, 'The itsy bitsy Spider', 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and 'Old McDonald'. They didn't actually sing Old McDonald as much as they laughed at Brayden doing his elephant noises. Here are some pictures of the most adorable kids ever...
 |
| Brayden teaching songs |
The kids weren't as shy as they were yesterday, and actually we broke the ice by taking pictures of them and then showing the pictures back. They all thought that was so hilarious. Such cute kiddos! Brayden helped me in the nursery class, but the other 3 went to their own classes. Davis decided he'd feel a little more comfortable in Conor's class, so they went together. They learned all sorts of words in Telegu (the actual local language, unlike like my post from the other day that was the wrong word!). And Dallan went to class without a problem...he loves the attention. They had the kids working out of workbooks, Dallan was practicing his abc's, writing them over and over again. I guess maybe when he goes back I should tell the teacher to put him a grade level because last year in kindergarten he was spelling at a 1st grade level and reading at a 2nd grade level. Oh, well...it's summer school. We've decided to go to this school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a couple of hours each day.
After school we met Ryan at the office and had lunch...Chinese! Yummy!
Then at about 1:30 we headed down to Rushikonda Beach for the kids to take surfing lessons. First, you must realize the Indian culture does not revolve around the beach...at all. Remember Andy I told you about...his life completely does, so he sticks out like a sore thumb as much as my kids do. He's been teaching surfing lessons for the last 5 years in the same place, same beach and every time he pulls out surfboards there is a crowd. He told us there are 6 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh that actually surf. Other than the kids he has taught. This guy is amazing, his story is amazing. His love for and passion for what he does and his goals and aspirations...Andy is a modern day pioneer for this sport in India. He has a college degree, is working on getting a Master's, speaks better English than some of the locals we met in Orlando a couple of weeks ago, teaches surf lessons to those who want, but then has adopted this group of kids who have dropped out of school, teaches them English, social skills, all the things he learned in school, and also teaches them how to surf. His plan is to train them up, teach them how to become instructors so they have a trade and can in turn make a living working with him. The boys had a blast! He was out there with them all the entire time. Actually, his students were as well. Instead of making the boys paddle, these cute kids let them ride the boards and they were pushed out to sea. Almost every time.
The beach experience in India kind of reminds of the beach in California, or probably most any public beach you'd go to. For those of you who have ever been to a public beach that is crowded and you walk around for a place to camp out for the day, there is always the foreigner in his speedo, making sitting next to him a little awkward...well, that's kinda how I felt. Everyone at the beach had clothes on. Everyone except, me, my family and Andy. But they were all in the water. Before we left the states I bought this cute little sundress bathing suit combo. It's super cute, I even saw a couple women wearing it in Orlando as a sundress. Anyway, so I'm wearing this cute sundress with a cover up, and I'm feeling completely immodest! The sundress goes down to my knees! Every women there is in her sari or full clothes, or whatever they were wearing that day. And here I am in my sundress, my legs whiter than white because my fake tanning lotion has worn off already and in the middle of India, with people taking photos of themselves with me in the background. If you've never experienced people "trying" to get you into the picture, you'll probably not understand how obvious it is. Imagine walking down a street wherever you live and spotting some public iconic figure. (I am not referring to myself as such.) You'd probably take a second glance, maybe try to get a picture with them in the background...this is the same kind of thing. Of course you always have your bolder personalities who come up and ask to have their picture taken with you. And then you have the type of personalities that are bolder than that...the ones that tell you how you are looking beautiful today and then ask to be your friend on facebook. Yeah, that's a little weird...besides, if he ended up as my friend on facebook he'd have access to my blog and read about himself. Talk about awkward!
Overall we had a great day, everyone is tired, Ryan is already in bed. And we're going to go for another round tomorrow. Oh, and if you were wondering how much surf lessons cost for the boys. 1000 rupees ($20)...it was a 2 hour lesson. India rocks!
PS: More pictures to come, but I'm having issues uploading them...
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