Field Trips, Friends, and Fun

It has been a while since I've written a new post and an even longer while since I wrote an update about things that we've been doing.  I think the biggest reason that I don't write more updates about what we are doing is that...well, our life is not all that exciting.  We mostly do the same things day in and day out.  Boring, I know.  Hopefully, some of that may change a bit - I'll explain a little more later.

The stories in this blog will update you on what we've done in the past few weeks: a trip to the zoo, our first (of hopefully many more) rugby tournament, a new friend, an awesome new restaurant, and a project in the works.

Several weeks ago, I (Erin) went with my students (both the preschoolers and the middle schoolers) on a field trip!  Who doesn't love field trips?  We went to the one and only zoo here in Sri Lanka.  It was a lot of fun and gave me more time to build relationships, especially with the older students that I work with because they are the group that I spent the majority of my time with.  We walked all over the zoo (about 6 hours)!  It was one of the "old school" zoos with the animals still in cages, and it made me realize what a awesome zoo we have back home in NC.  It was also VASTLY different from the zoo in my city in China where you could pay about $3 to buy a live chicken and feed it to a hungry tiger of your choice (white or orange).  The kids ABSOLUTELY loved it and we constantly running ahead and shouting "Teacher, Teacher!" to get me to take pictures of whatever new animal was in the next cage.  Needless to say, I filled my memory card before we finished our day.  I also made a very concerted effort to take pictures of the children along with the animals and not just the animals or other inanimate objects (a trait which I have inherited from my father it would seem).  We ended the day with ice cream and an elephant show.

At one point on our zoo trip, I felt like I had returned to China.  We were coming up to the tiger and lion exhibits and - no lie! - every eye at that exhibit turned 180 degrees to stare not at the white tiger, but at the white lady!!!  I never thought that a white person would be more interesting than a white tiger!  I just laughed to myself and thought, "If only Amanda and Candace were here with me."

I also realized as I looked through the camera lens and followed these children around all day that I have come to really love them, and already sense the pain of having to say good-bye to them at some point.  I see the beauty that God has given each one of them as they have each been made in His image.  I consider it an honor and a privilege to teach them each week.  I am also thankful that I have been accepted into their home and family.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

These are the older students and family from the Bethel Home where I teach once a week.  Most of the boys have been turned out by their families who cannot afford to raise them.  The family cares for the boys and treat them as their own.

This is the preschool class that I help to teach twice a week along with their other two teachers.  I'm the one taking the picture, that's why I'm not in it.

The elephant show!

Me, along with the students (both from preschool and Bethel Home)

Also, since the older students have been learning about the beach in our weekly lessons - and one of the vocabulary words has been "ice cream", I treated them all to an ice cream cone towards the end of our day at the zoo.  I have also been teaching them one of my favorite songs from childhood - "I Love Jesus Better than Ice Cream" - and will hopefully have a video for that in several weeks (they are on summer vacation now and most have returned home to visit their families).


Last weekend, JL and I got tickets to the Carlton Super 7s Rugby Tournament.  This was a first for both of us since rugby is not a big sport in either the US or China.  Though I have to say that it could become popular with American women because the play (at least for 7s) is MUCH faster than American football and the rules are quite similar.  It made me miss getting to watch live sports - and realize how I took that for granted working as an Athletic Trainer.  I also had a moment of horror when one of the players went down on the field with what I assumed was calf cramps and the medical worker ran out on the field to help him but play did not stop.  So this poor man is on the field massaging the cramps out of this players legs and everyone is acting oblivious to their presence.  At one point it looked like they were going to run a play right through them, but at the last minute, they ran around them.  OMG!  I couldn't believe it.  Having worked MANY a high school football game and having to massage cramps out of legs, especially during those first few games early in the season when the weather is still hot and humid, I could totally sympathize with that medical worker.  I just cannot imagine being on the field doing it while they continued to play football around me!  I've been tackled before, and it is not fun!

I also have a made a new friend recently.  Her name is Dhanushka.  She came to the rugby match with us last weekend (that was the first time I met her) and we hung out this week - going shopping and dinner together.  She is the assistant of one of JL's friends, the friend who gave us the tickets to the tournament.

Here we are at the rugby tournament

After shopping, D asked me what I wanted to eat.  I told her that I really wanted to have authentic Sri Lankan food.  She knew just the place to take me!  It is a restaurant called Nuga Gama here in Colombo.  It is set up like a miniature Sri Lankan village.  They had all of the traditional buildings a village would have, the waiters wore traditional clothes, the cooks were women from villages (so the food was legit!), and their were musicians playing traditional music.  We sat outside and had a small lantern for light.  When the waiter asked us what we wanted to drink we asked him for a menu, but he replied that we were in the village and there were no menus.  So, we asked him to repeat the drink list again, slowly this time.  We drank Amberella (like umbrella) juice - it's kind of like a kiwi but a little sour.  Being "in the village" also meant that I had to learn how to eat with my hand like a real Sri Lankan.  There were forks and spoons on the table, but I was going for the full effect.  P.S. eating with your hand is not as easy as one might think...there is a technique to it.  I am planning on taking JL there and will take pictures then.  D also taught me some Sinhala and I taught her some Chinese.  She is both an answer to prayer and a new request.

Finally, I'm working on a video for work that shows the different projects that we do throughout Sri Lanka - feeding program, medical camp, nursery schools, disaster relief, discipleship and training.  I have finished adding all the pictures and videos, but I have some final editing to do before it's finished.  Once it is done, I will publish it here to the blog as well, so you can see!