Ensworth School- India- 2015

Today was another great day at Timbaktu! We woke up for our 8 am breakfast and then hung out and played games before our community project. We got to work on the community project for two and a half hours, and we made massive progress! We got two solar power lamps up at the school, we are close to completing the new bathrooms, and the 3D maze is coming to life! After some good work and progress, we headed to lunch and got ready to head to the school to be with the children. We got the opportunity to teach crafts to the kids, some classes made paper airplanes, paper frogs, paper boats, and my class made paper chains. We then got to garden with the kids which turns into hang out time with them. Two little girls braided Maggie Zerfoss' and my hair Indian style, which was so sweet and a great memory to have made. Next on the agenda was dance class, and I am happy to announce that many of us officially know an Indian dance! The jingle is so stuck in people's head, some have reported singing the song in their dreams!  Once mastering the Indian dance, we got to teach our cute dance teachers (all under the age of 10) an American dance. To stick with our Southern roots, we taught the girls the Hoe Down Throw Down from the ever famous Hannah Montana Movie. After dance class, we have rest time, which for many of us is a time to try to stop sweating for at least 10 minutes. We had our anchor and journal time, and for those of you who may not know, anchor is a time for us to sit, share, and reflect on our day. For example, I was thankful and appreciative for the children we got to be with because their energy rubs off on all of us and reminds how incredible it is that we get the chance to be here. Dinner was a dinner for royals for us! After 10 days of straight rice for every single meal, we are all ready to explode! However, last night the kitchen served… MASHED POTATOES AND BLACK EYED PEAS! I can't tell you how many people were jumping around, and some even crying at the sight of mashed potatoes, it was heavenly!! And on top of our glorious meal, the leopard had been spotted just half a mile from the girl's sleeping area! No worries, everyone was prepared and protected by Maddie (one of our World Leadership School councilors who has turned into our Dad of the trip) Everyone was hoping to see the leopard, because who wouldn't want to see a leopard?!? There were no spottings last night, but there is still hope for the nights to come! All in all, it was a wild day here at Timbaktu, but everyone is safe, having fun, and makings lots of memories!

P.S. Hi Bon Bon! Love you lots Mommy, I'm having lots of fun and can't wait to see you soon! XOXO

P.P.S A Message from Hayden: Happy birthday mom! I love you - Hayden!! 

See you all soon! 

Namaste from Timbaktu,

Sarah 

I'm not sure I can say a whole lot else about today after Sarah's been so detailed, but I'll try. Community projects progressed as usual, and we were blessed with slightly cooler weather. As for myself, I got to spend those few hours helping assemble the solar lights that were going to be erected next to the 3D maze – which is also growing by the minute. After projects concluded for the day, we headed to lunch. Surprise, rice and lentils, but still no less filling. Lunch prepared us for the chaos to come – in the form of dozens of six-year-olds throwing paper planes at each other in a windstorm. My group was the one to blame for that. Craft time saw the five of us Ensworth students sitting in a circle joined by maybe 20 kids or so. I got to lead everyone in constructing a simple paper airplane; incredibly rewarding once the understood what to do with their project, and suddenly the air was full of multicolored planes that somehow never poked an eye out. I can't speak to what's been said about the dance so far, because a handful of us instead opted to join the kids in a game of cricket. Now, do note that basically none of us know how to play, and receiving conflicting directions from students who can't really speak English isn't exactly the most straightforward way to learn. We managed our best, though, and had fun despite total domination of Team Eagle by Team Tree. Afterwards, the biggest event of the night was of course everyone's infatuation with the mashed potatoes. And then following dinner all of the girls' group got to walk back together because of our friendly neighborhood leopard. I didn't write a whole lot but that doesn't mean the day was any less hectic. In that case, even though it's tomorrow here, I guess all that's left to say is "good morning."

• Elliot

4 monkeys are always looking for food

3-D maze construction

Dinner time!

Dancing with the children