Day 12 - Crazy Dancing

Again today we enjoyed the same school routine as yesterday. An early start in the heat. Today was rather exciting as in record breaking time I managed to step out of the shower and have my hair completely dry in under 5 minutes. What an achievement!

Last night was also a great night's sleep, as for the for the FIRST time since landing in Sri Lanka I have slept the whole night through. I have finally found the perfect combination of air conditioning and being cosy. The secret is: air conditioning on at mid-blast, whilst wearing a thick wooly jumper to sleep in.

Today I was in Miss Reenashree's class, and I think it is safe to say that I will be spending the rest of my time here up in Jaffna. Any mention of moving to an alternative class has the 5 eldest girls getting rather sassy! It's great that I am beginning to get to know their personalities, what they are like and exactly what their passions are. They have some amazing dreams for the future and all I can do is pray they are blessed with the means to achieve them!

Miss Reenashree is also a wonderful lady who is great to keep company with. Her life is so fascinating and she seems to have travelled many roads and have a way with offering advice. Her stories are never-ending, so I cannot wait to spend a bit more time with her.

We spent some more time today practicing with the Hindu school for sports day and all I can say is the marching is getting better and better! The children are coming out of their shells and really getting stuck into the team spirit for their races, despite not always knowing everyone on their team. Esther is clearly using her caring qualities to introduce some of the younger children to the older ones and encouraging inter-school mixing. She makes me so proud.

After school she raced the trishore to her house from school, whilst we did eventually get ahead of her, all I can say is that she is really rather fast. I am sure she will place in her age group race for sports day!

Amy and the guys have arrived back from Colombo after dropping off Sarah and the team. As I step out of the trishore Amy gave me a massive hug and told me Sarah C requested she only calls me "Charlie Bear" from now on - not cool! Before I know it my street-cred in Jaffna will disappear. Amy's ability to converse in English to a fluent level came to me at just the right time, it was like a taste of home, but in the Sri Lankan heat. Perfect.

Other English lesson took place today, and I feel like we are beginning to make real progress with our vocabulary. Going letter by letter, with images is working for 3 of the girls, however I can tell one is beginning to struggle, perhaps tomorrow I will change it up slightly. After just over an hour I headed back to Sweetee's house to spend some time with the girls that live around there.

We begin creating and making Loombands with scented bands, which to begin with really were rather overpowering. Somehow, and I am really not sure how, this quiet and peaceful craft session turned into a CRAZY DANCING evening. I was playing recent top songs from my phone and it got slightly out of hand. So much fun, and a great way to pass time! At the worst possible moment Gideon arrived as we were all dancing like clowns. We suggested he joined in, instead of watching awkwardly, but surprisingly he politely declined! Tharshini had called his phone to speak to me, what a lovely surprise. It was great to catch up with her, especially to find out how she was doing in Colombo.

After all that dancing, and a wonderful meal cooked by one of the school children's mother, I've got a wonderful homely feeling inside. Perhaps tonight I'll relax and wake feeling rejuvenated.