On weekends and playgrounds.

Alisa:

After successfully completing our first week at the center, our weekend was filled with nothing more strenuous than lounging at the pool, watching the big match (I discovered cricket is not my sport—seven hours is much, much too long. The most exciting part of the match was when the guys “found” a little boy, who liked to dance, and turned him into the unofficial mascot), viewing the final game of the World Cup, and spending time with Steph’s friend Shireen.

Steph:

Shezzie is one of my dear dear friends, and has been from way back in the day. It's been a joy to catch up with her, relive favorite memories and put new ones in place. The cricket match was one of them. The big match is played annually between CIS and Gateway (pppssshhhh...) and for the first time in 4 years, our boys took the trophy home. Not only did we get to witness a well batted win, but we got to dance some prime baila, catch up with friends and last but not least, see Prema, school tea-maker, house keeper and custodian. She is one of those wonderful installments that remains at a given establishment for the entirety of eternity and never changes. Speaking of CIS, we visited school this weekend as well...it was a strange feeling walking down those well trodden staircases and well ambled hallways, but wonderful at the same time.

We also had to bid farewell to our beloved friend, travel partner, partaker in getting charged by elephants and owner of the brightest neon shirt in the history of neon shirts...Ms. Christina Peter. Gah. Chrispet, we miss you already.

Alisa:

Work on Monday was so good. Shireen came and feel in love with the babas. Steph and I got our first taste of visiting the grounds. It was quite the adventure shepherding 16 kids though the busy streets of Kandy town. But, fortunately, we were able to keep track of them all thanks to their bright, matching yellow and red shirts embossed with the words, “I am special” on the back—Steph and I got into the spirit too and also wore our very own matching outfits (things like this happen after living together for a year).

Our time at the grounds was spent playing a rousing game of soccer—I don’t know if I’ve been subconsciously picking up tips from all of the World Cup games we watched or if my ability level is similar to that of 5 and 6 year olds, but the game was quite a success.

Back at the center we did fun things like playing with play-doh and watching a documentary of Sri Lankan animals before heading off to teach computer class. The class, which we had been secretly dreading, was so much fun. We had our English class boys who are a hoot and a half. We learnt typing today—and spent about 30 minutes typing, “The red fish ate the blue fish”. And I really mean we spent 30 minutes typing that sentence. But by the end of the session, Sajeewa, learned the proper way to position his hands on the keys and decided to practice typing sentences for the rest of the class instead of playing games. He also got a trishaw for us, and one for a good deal to boot, after the lesson.

All in all a great day and we can’t wait to see them again tomorrow. We’re bringing a boom box to English class tomorrow afternoon; stay tuned to hear how it turns out.

Love,

Alisa and Steph