Put Me in the Zoo

This Saturday we got to take all the children of New Hope on a field trip to the zoo! George rented a bus and were crammed in pretty tight, but the kids didn't seem to mind. It has been a long time since the kids have had an outing, George says they try to go to on an educational trip at least once every year, but haven't been able to in the past couple of years. You can imagine they were all pretty excited when we headed off to Bannerughatta National Park!

My group (from left to right)

back: Angel Mercy, Varun, Sudha, Ganga

front: Ajay, Nishmitha, Sneha

The kids had a blast! It was a perfect time to take a trip because we had extra chaperones. Each adult had 7-10 children in their group so it was not too overwhelming to keep track of everyone. After we saw all the exhibits we gathered together for a big lunch fellowship. Amma and Ramiah had cooked puliyogare with Indian pickle early in the morning and we had brought the huge pot along with a few jugs of water to feed everyone. After lunch, the kids got to play games and use the zoo playground until we had to leave.

Charlie, Ramaih, and the older boys bringing lunch from the bus

The group gathered to give thanks for the day

We only had one casualty, (of course it was one of my girls) who was pushed on the playground by another group of kids and tore a huge chunk out of the ball of her foot. (At the last second I had remembered to bring my first aid kit!) It looks painful, but she is really milking it for all it's worth! She is home from school today as she can't walk all the way there. I'll throw her a bone, everyone needs attention sometimes.

Angel and her wounded foot

The ride home was long and HOT, as I shared a seat with five other children including a hot and sweaty napping 5 year old on my lap. It was loud as the children played singing games and kept the joy from the day shining brightly. It was a little crazy with a busload of rowdy kids, but it was worth every second to see their smiling faces so happy.

Nina and some children napping on the bus