So I have many more pictures to post... but that will come another day. I just feel like I should a couple things since I haven't in a few days and then I am going to sleep because we are leaving at 6 30 am tomorrow to drive to Chennai! woot woot. But as you saw we went shopping and to the beach on Saturday and it was absolutely incredible. Saturday was our first day off from any sort of volunteering since we've been here and it was an absolutely wonderful break. Drew and I bought quite a bit of stuff on Saturday and neither of us spent very much money at all. It's crazy how cheap everything is here. I bought a purse that in the States easily could have been 30 maybe even 50 dollars and it was 4 dollars here!!! But probably the purchases that Drew and I were the happiest about were the paintings that we bought from a man named Masi (who does these gorgeous canvas paintings) and our tailor-made traditional Indian pants.

After shopping we all went to the beach. And I am not going to lie, I don't think any of us got what we were expecting. I think that we were all expecting the beach to be kind of dirty and have a ton of trash (they legitimately don't have trash cans here... when you don't want something anymore you just throw it in the street. No joke!) But as it turns out, it was one of the prettiest, cleanest beaches I have ever been to. (And keep in mind I've been to Kauai, HI many a time so that's saying something.) The beach really was incredible and being in the water felt so amazing after spending an entire week being covered in humid, sticky sweat that even after a shower somehow reappears in about 2 seconds. We spent a few hours at the beach, swimming in the sparkling ocean with hundreds of dragonflies over head... they were so cool. We also swam in the hotel pool there, which was pristine. It was so nice. It was also nice to be in a tourist area for a while and be able to wear tank tops and bikinis without offending anyone. Saturday ended with one of the best experiences I've had here so far. Saturday nights are movie nights for the kiddos so we watched Tron on the projector with them. I got to sit next to Saketa (I don't think I spelled that right) who is 4 or 5. The entire time she wanted to me to tickle her back and arms and it reminded me of my needy, touchy-feely self haha. She is so absolutely beautiful though and I love every minute of rubbing that cute little back as she feel asleep on my lap. (then of course I fell asleep too....)

Eventually our wonderful day in heaven came to an end and we all went to sleep absolutely exhausted. Yesterday we went to church and it took us almost three hours to get there. But it was absolutely worth it to get to go to church in India. Yesterday was just a really nice relaxing day of church, reading, and, of course, mother monkey-- the best game you've ever played. Yesterday was especially fun, just getting to know Kylee, Abbi, Meredith and everyone else better. It's soo fun spending time with all of the other volunteers.

Today was also a really great day. I was tutoring at the school today and had a lot of fun seeing and tutoring the girls in my house (Raja Kumari is our house mother). I was able to read with Priya and Navia, who are both girls in my house and it was so fun to see how excited they are about reading and learning... although I think Priya gave Drew a little bit of trouble when he was trying to help her with her math homework. I also got to play with all the girls from my house at play time, which was so so so fun. Today was their day to use the bikes, which they only get to do every 2 weeks so it's a treat for them. It breaks my heart though, because they absolutely love cycling (as they call it) but have their bikes don't have pedals or if they do they have popped tire or only semi-working chains. But they still make it work and they still have the biggest smiles on their faces the entire time. It's very humbling to see the types of simple things that bring these kids happiness and joy. It really was amazing helping Rosemary and Suda and Priya ride their bikes around the campus!

To finish a delightful day off right, Raja Kumari gave me a new beautiful henna tattoo on the back of my left hand going up that arm. I absolutely love it. And I got to skype with Lili for a few minutes before it stopped working. That was fun to see her home! I can't wait to be home too and see her in person. But I am not quite ready to leave India yet.... Anyways I am off to bed. Sorry for the long post tonight. It's more for me than anyone else. I am kind of using my blog as a journal and I just want to make sure that I don't forget the experiences I have had on this trip. Peace and love