Field Trip

Friday was the first outing for Achiever's Academy this school year so it was much anticipated by both the children and the teachers. The youngest kids stayed home, so we had about 56 kids out of the approximately 120 students. We started the day about an hour early with the usual assembly then boarded the bus. A few minutes into the drive and the music started -- with teachers, kids and Rajesh in the isles dancing. What a crazy scene!

The first stop was a planetarium and technology exhibits at a college in Chennai. Possibly the first planetarium visit ever for these kids. Lots of waiting around (no surprise there) and we finally got in for our turn. The lights go out and some intro slides are put up and the kids all cheer! One surprise was a gruesome depiction of one of their local myths where a man is punished by the gods for eating some of their food so his head is severed, but he doesn't die since he already had eaten some. So his head floats around in the sky eating up the sun & moon every so often, but since he doesn't have a body, he has to spit them back out again. This explains the occasional eclipses we see. After the planetarium we watched a 3D movie with the special glasses and then toured through a very dusty and neglected collection of random technology exhibits. These must have been built by students of the university since they didn't have any consistency.

After the technology center, we went to a kids park and mini-zoo. The park was likely the highlight of the day for the children. Each child brought their own lunch. Notice the towel they placed on the ground to make a clean place to eat. Though I don't think any of them washed their hands. The teachers had asked our team if we would please share their potluck with them. When we accepted they were very happy. So we enjoyed some of the best food we've had here so far.

After the playground time we toured the mini-zoo. Lots of snakes, alligators, some birds and a few other random animals. On the ride home we stopped to get the kids some snacks. Then the music began again! Did I say how loud it was? Fortunately the teachers had had enough so that ended quickly. The parents were expecting us by 5:30, but nobody really worries if you're just a bit late. Maybe they would have started to call if we weren't there by 6:30. The kids were all marched right past their parent and into the school yard where they were released properly to their parents. Anghelika thought that was well done.

So the kids had a great day, and so did all the adults. We were very lucky to have happened to be here for their first outing. This was a great ending of our time with the school. I don't think the kids really understood that we were saying goodbye. The teachers did and they were sad. We spent some time with them in the office, sharing some parting words. Aida started it off with some very kind words that also got us all a bit emotional. We had brought some gifts for them (chocolates) which they were happy to receive. It was obvious they were all very moved by our time with them. We had bonded so quickly in such a short amount of time. They kept asking if we would be coming back. We hope so.