Camping in Hariyana

By Evan and Audrey Sayer

We took a two hour bus ride with Evan's Cub Scout Pack to a place called, "Camp Wild!" (The camp was not "wild" but we had fun.)  Our bus was a big orange one. We got chips and some juice on the bus. We talked and stared out the windows during the ride. When the pack got to the camp the Boy Scouts were also there. Someone helped us find our tents and cabins. Mom Dad and Audrey slept in a cabin because only the scouts were supposed to have the tents.
There was a ropes course that had a Tarzan rope, a rope bridge, a rock-climbing wall, a wooden balance beam and a tunnel. Evan was just about to get on the Tarzan rope when the pack had to go on a hike.

The hike was about one hour. It went up on a ridge. A couple of kids got hurt from some thorns. When we got back Evan did the Tarzan swing and the rock wall! The wall was kind of hard, but he made it to the top. It was 25 feet tall.

Later, one of the Webelos organized a game called "War," while we waited for dinner. It was sort of the Cub Scouts against the Boy Scouts. Everyone just sort of ran around. Audrey had the most popular team called "the Neutrals."
Then we had dinner. The food was pretty good. After that we had a bonfire. We sang songs, our Cub Master told jokes, the boys did skits (Evan's was about a dog that was in a bag.), and we roasted marshmallows on sticks.
Then it was time for bed. Unfortunately Evan was stuck in a tent. He was sad about it and the boys were loud. Dad came and moved him to the cabin. Then we all went to sleep.

In the morning we all brushed our teeth and went outside to play soccer with some of the other boys. Then Audrey and Evan went to sit with the Boy Scouts by their campfire until breakfast. We came and got mom and dad. Evan had three pancakes for breakfast which were pretty good. Audrey had one pancake and some apple slices.

After breakfast Audrey went off with Mom to do some real rock climbing and rappelling. Mom did it too. They both went up and came down a rock face that was probably 40 feet high!  

The pack had some skills tests. A skills test is when you do an obstacle course, or you get taught how to build a fire - we made one using only a single match! We also learned about first aid and how to use a compass. Then we learned how to play Kickball and Ultimate Frisbee which we will get belt loops for.

After that we we planted seven trees, washed our hands and had lunch. Evan had three grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches! Dad helped us pack up the sleeping bags and our gear and we headed home, back on our big orange bus.

Swimming Really Fast!

by HouseBoy

Audrey and Evan have been going to swim practice after school a couple of times a week this fall. They celebrated the end of the season on Wednesday (Nov 10) with their schoolmates and coaches. This special swim-practice included time trials, yummy snacks and plenty of cheering! The kids were all 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students.

Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun even though the weather is now getting a little chilly in Delhi for swimming...  Evan participated in the 50 meter freestyle and the 50 meter breast-stroke - always his favorite!

Evan was very proud when he easily won his heat for the breast stroke with a time of 1:05:07! He went on to place a very close second in his timed-heat for the 50 meter freestyle (53:45 seconds).

Audrey jumped in with both feet and competed in five of the six trials! 

She was very proud of easily winning the time trial for the 200 meter IM (this is a four stroke race - butterfly, back, breast and freestyle). Her time was 1:57:69, besting both the boys and girls in the group. Audrey obviously enjoys racing and having fun with her swimming buddies as well.

She went on to place in the timed-heats for the 50 meter breast, 50 and 100 meter freestyle, and the 25 meter butterfly.

Evan and Audrey are both becoming fast and very graceful swimmers!

Speaking French in India

By Audrey and Evan Sayer

We flew to Chennai on Indigo Air. We drove two hours to get to our hotel in Pondicherry. Pondicherry is a state south of Chennai. It is very tropical like Kerala. The hotel was called, "Hotel du Parc." When we got there we noticed it was cleaner than Delhi.  Some people still speak French there (but with an Indian accent). When we got our hotel we watched T.V. and went bed. In the morning we ate breakfast. Evan felt sick, so Mom gave him something called, "Pepto-Bismal." She also let me play on the hotel computer until I felt better. I played a game called "Moshi Monsters" on the Internet.

That day we went down along the beach to walk on the rocks by the Bay of Bengal. We took the "Heritage Walk" (Boring French Colonial walk thingie). We went in some shops and saw lots of old buildings. We went to a Ganesha Temple. He is the god of prosperity and the remover of obstacles. At the Temple there was a very big elephant. Her name was Lakshmi. When you put a coin in Lakshmi's trunk, she gives you a blessing and a pat on the head.  We also saw a colourful Catholic church, but we did not go in. The gates were locked.

We ate lunch at a Pizzeria. The pizza was made in a wood burning oven. Then we continued on our walk and went to more shops. We even bought some gifts for friends - and for ourselves! 

Evan chose an elephant key chain and Audrey chose a purple and green cow passport holder.  After that we went to the hotel to rest, we finally ate dinner at a place called, "Madame Shanti." On our way back to our hotel we met three people who were staying at our hotel.  We told them to go to "Madame Shant's" or the pizzeria.  Then we made it to our hotel in the dark and went to bed.

In the morning we packed up and went to the front desk to get a cab (taxi) to our next destination... a place called Mahabalipuram, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Audrey's 10th Birthday!

by House Boy

Today Audrey turns ten years old! Dad says he can't believe it. Her celebration started early this morning with a special breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit. Audrey opened a gift from her Grandma (new purple Crocs!) and a gift from Evan... an action figure of bad girl, "Aurra Sing" from Star Wars.

She chose a special outfit today for school and she received a call from Mom (who is working in Chennai this week). Mom sang "Happy Birthday" to Audrey over the speaker-phone and got all the details of the day so far.

In the evening after swim-coaching, Audrey and Dad made a special dinner - homemade pizza and tossed salad. There was Vanilla birthday cake from our favorite bakery in New Delhi, "Red Moon."

And, of course, more gifts... It was a great day!