Become a kid again ;)

They get intense

After a pretty relaxing weekend, I was so ready to go back to Mayapuri. When I arrived at the Asha center on Monday, the UK volunteers were playing some games with the boys. The volunteers had been painting, and now that the painting was all finished, they were all headed off on different adventures. Although they were only there half the day, they definitely got in a full days worth of fun. It was hilarious. Elephant wars, cricket, ninja and more extremely energetic games that did not exactly put the kids in a mood to sit down and learn English...so I figured I'd join in. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em right? But since all the boys were playing, and it was extremely hot, I figured I'd do my part as honorary photographer. I mean, how could I not document the epicness that is elephant wars? Like I said, hilarious.

Elephant wars...LOL

That afternoon, after the other volunteers had left, the girls arrived for class, energetic as ever. After about an hour of class, the girls began to get antsy, so I finished up and let them go outside to play. Now, this may seem like such an ordinary afternoon as a volunteer English teacher in India, but on the contrary, something new, something sooo exciting (for me at least) happened that day. On one of the trees behind the Asha center, some of the children had tied a rope, which they fashioned into a swing. As I watched the girls taking turns swinging and pushing each other, I knew I had to have a turn. So I walked outside slowly, and like little mind-readers, the girls pulled me over to the swing screaming, "Diidii, diidii! (older sister) You!!"

Don't worry, I didn't kick anyone ;P

So I had a turn (what a people-pleaser I am), and it was AMAZING! The entire time, I was just praying that I didn't fall mid-swing or that the tree branch didn't snap, taking me and the fun new swing down with it. But it was great. As the girls pushed me, I screamed and laughed, oblivious to the strangers who had come from their houses and left their work to come see the strange woman, acting like a little girl.

Getting fancy

Success!

And the fun did not stop there. Today, I had another full day at Mayapuri (YAAAAS), which meant more teaching, and of course more playing. Some of the girls arrived early for class (cute little eager beavers), so I went outside and hung out with them for a bit. Two of them were taking turns riding their friend's bicycle, and after a few minutes, I found myself riding the bike around and around, ecstatic at the fact that I could still ride (it's been years so this is a big deal here)!

One of the little cuties I was chasing

After a somewhat difficult afternoon English class (still trying to figure out how to explain the difference between how much and how many), the girls began running around--my cue to stop teaching and start playing. Despite the intense heat and my profuse sweating, I found myself playing tag with the little five-year old girls, learning Hindi dance moves (finally!) from the older girls and doing pretend ballroom dancing with some of the other girls. Basically, I got a killer workout, but it didn't dawn on me until I sat down to write this blog what else I got in these past few days. I got what I believe is a rare opportunity that becomes more and more rare as we grow older. I got the chance to act like the carefree kid that I know I can no longer be (or maybe I should say should no longer be ;) ).

Shenaniganary!