A Whale of a Good Time

We started today in family groups at the orphanage, making thank-you notes and other gifts for sponsors back home. The kids were very excited to write back to their American friends, especially since they opened their sponsor gifts last night. Lots of kids chose to show off their artistic abilities and drew pictures for their sponsors as well.

 Many of the kids brought little toys, jewelry or other gifts from their sponsor packets to play with and show off during the day. Several even carried their letters with them once they'd been translated. Though each kid is very different, you can really tell how important those little connections are for each of them.

In the afternoon, we broke out into rotation groups and taught the kids about Jonah and the whale. In activity, Shawn and Lindsay learned an important lesson about translating American sports to Russian kids. After a very fun game of whale tag, they decided to play baseball with the kids. The kids said they were familiar with the game, but it became apparent pretty quickly that they had no idea what was going on. It ended up being Shawn and Lindsay playing all positions while the kids watched in utter confusion. Who knew baseball was so hard to teach?!

In craft, Mel and Kathy made whale pillows with the kids out of felt and it turns out they're better at sewing than the Americans. The whole team spent yesterday's team meeting attempting to sew example pillows and complaining about how hard it was. Steph in particular was horrible at it and worried the kids would have a hard time.  The kids, however, had absolutely no problem and ended up loving the craft.

In lesson, the kids got to sit inside an actual whale--well, not a real whale exactly, but a very large one made of trash bags that the team borrowed from the VBS team at Woods Chapel. It was a HUGE hit and so much fun for the kids.

Tomorrow is a new experience for the older kids--we're taking them bowling! We can't wait, and we're hoping they pick it up faster than baseball.