Our Visit to the Madras Crocodile Bank

About 20 minutes south of our home is the Madras Crocodile Bank. It was built about 30 years ago on some land that originally was beach. They started with just a few crocs, and now they have hundreds with several different species. Plus snakes and turtles. The kids and I took an afternoon to visit.

As usual, we were the only white people there and had several friendly people introduce themselves and inquire about where we were from, etc. There was a local cable station there doing a piece on the crocodiles and ended up interviewing us about our experience and the bank, etc. Fortunately we don't have cable so we didn't get to see our hot, sweaty, insecure faces!

I don't think India has the same public property safety codes that the U.S. does. There were several questionable places just waiting for an accident. Luckily, it was so hot that the crocs seemed pretty lethargic and didn't move much or stayed in the water.

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My Sunday School Class

From the left: Praveen, Mervin, Naveen, Zibiah, Rajesh, Eric

Every Sunday, I am privileged to teach the 12 and 13 year children in Sunday School. I have 6 that come on a regular basis. However, on the first Sunday of the month there are 25-30 children from an LDS-run orphanage that come. That is a busy class! We are literally bursting out of the room! But so rewarding to be able to associate with these special children. The culture and language make for an interesting class! But I love it! I hope they are learning as much from me as I am from them.

Amity Soccer Academy

Corey home teaches a family that we have become friends with. The father and one of the sons have organized a soccer camp for underprivileged children called Amity Soccer Academy. Corey made a donation to the cause and was invited to attend the final game and awards ceremony. Thinking nothing of it, we accepted the invitation and planned to attend and sit on the sidelines.

Upon arrival, we saw a platform with 4 chairs for the "chief guests" on the side of the field. How surprised we were to find out that Corey was one of the chief guests!!! Trying to be respectful and not show how awkward he really felt, he was persuaded to sit on the platform. They tried to get me to sit up there too, but I preferred to take pictures on the sidelines. However, after the game, I sat up there with him for moral support.

He was treated like a king and was even asked to say a few words to the participants. His first words were "Good Evening" in Tamil and the whole group let out a big cheer! I'm gonna say it was because they were excited to hear an American greeting them in their native tongue and not just laughing at him. He gave a brief message about teamwork which was well received. Corey was happy to be there for them, but felt all the attention was not necessary - it certainly wasn't expected.

We made it through the night and felt honored to be a part of our friends special occasion.



This is the older team getting ready to play the final match



Corey greeted them all with a handshake



He was honored to blow the starting whistle
(our branch president is standing to the left of Corey and the father of his home teaching family is standing to the right)




They played at a community park. Most of the parks do not have grass - I think because it's too difficult/expensive to maintain it. This is a shot of the goalie.

As you can see, it is very different playing on the dirt. It becomes a cloud of dust as the players run around. Plus, there are several divots in the ground - prime for spraining an ankle.

It is customary to present the honored guests with a shawl.

Here's a shot of Corey with the other chief guests and the younger children

It was a great experience. Our only regret is that we didn't bring Eric and Paige. We thought it was just going to be an awards ceremony that we could slip in and slip out of rather inconspicuously. I'm learning that I should know better than that. Because we're American, it's hard to do anything inconspicuously, in India.

Eric's Birthday Party

Eric's birthday isn't until August 7th (turning 12), but he really wanted to have a party before school was out because several of his friends were leaving India for good. And lucky for me, he wanted to have his party at our house. So we called it a "Schools Out/Birthday Party" and boy, did they have a blast!!!!

It was so nice because all the kids played together and got along perfectly. They all enjoy doing the same things - I guess that's why they're friends! Here are some pictures:



They started off playing basketball



When they got too hot and sweaty, they jumped into the pool




They didn't bother to change into swimsuits! I think it's because they started pushing each other in before they had a chance to change.




This picture is mostly to show you our gazebo. We love it!

Just wanted to show another view of our backyard. We are fortunate enough to have grass.

After swimming, they had pizza and garlic bread from Domino's. Not quite the same as in the US, but good enough. They also had papaya and mango, chips, and cake.

Now that they have refueled, time for a water balloon fight! And yes, Eric and I filled over 80 balloons (over the course of 2 days)! I was the one who tied them and my fingers were raw!

Eric is armed and ready

The 80 some water balloons didn't last long - but it was fun. Now time for cricket - a new sport for Eric to practice. They had quite a game going - I had to BEG them to come have cake!

Here's the gang! Starting from the left: Kavin from the UK, Rahul from India, Gaya from India, Divya from Sri Lanka/USA, Eric, Zach from the Philippines, Quinn from India, Zeke from Philippines (twin of Zach) and Sebastian from Germany.

It is heart warming to see these children from all over the world be accepting of each others differences, enough to realize how much they have in common so they can be friends.

Our Helpers

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the local Indians who help us each day. Without them, our daily life would be much more difficult.




Lawrence is Corey's driver and drives the Honda Accord





Tamil and Krishna are our security guards who are keepers of the gate; snake, animal, and garbage patrolmen, pickers of fruit, playmates for Eric, and lifeguards (sorta). But mostly, they sit around all day.


Baruk and Sytha are the security guards on the night shift

Vamanan is our Pool Guy. Each morning, he cleans the pool and adds the appropriate chemicals.

Subyiah and Sumunathai (husband and wife, respectively) are the gardeners. They take care of everything on the outside of the house.

Poonkothai is the maid. She comes 3 days a week and mostly cleans the floors, bathrooms, and windows. Without her, the bottoms of our feet would be black all the time. She is in the middle with her daughter, Bagyalakshmi, and son, Arun Kumar.

Ayyappan is my driver and drives the Ford Endeavor. He is "head helper" and keeps all the other helpers in line. He is our main connection to anything India. Without him, we would have crashed and burned a long time ago.