300 + $8,000= our Thursday

Day Two and SO much has happened. We haven't blogged on our wonderful afternoon yesterday so I will do so and then someone else will touch on all our project sites tomorrow-which were wonderful and humbling for our first day :)

-numbers and exact observation may be inaccurate! only the afternoon through my eyes!-

"the number's behind brother xavier's thursday adventure"

..2 ambulances Brother Xavier's home sent for us to graciously bring us out to his children's home...through the chaos of traffic and bouncing of pot holes we arrived!
.300 children greeted us
..2 intense games of basketball where claps, high-fives, and smiles were the name of the game
.5 children per the 12 of us = a jungle gym of FUN!
..28 hours till we go back for Creative Writing, English class, Drawing, and Painting and an afternoon touch up wall painting project
.77 pictures taken BY the kids with OUR cameras--experimental pictures are ALWAYS the most beautiful :)
..1 intense game of cricket going on IN BETWEEN two intense basketball games
MANY MANY MANY friendship bracelets tied on little arms
.45 seconds before they found out we had brought bubbles...
....10 minutes later all 6 containers of the bubbles were GONE

It's not often we're able to visit a small village of beautiful children greeting us from countries around the world that some of us may have never heard of or ever get the chance to travel to. Many of these children have been brought in from the rural villages of Nepal, islands off the coast of Bengal, to the downtown, chaos of Kolkata. Each one of them greeted us with open arms, multiple hugs and for some kisses. They recognized Derek from last year and he openly picked them up and twirlled them around as the rest of us got adjusted to the energy and love in front of us!

We were able to share with these children, their home mothers (massi's) and fathers, and Brother Xavier an $8,000 check we all worked throughout the semester to fundraise for. Thanks to all of your for you overwhelming support, we were able to offer him a check for an ammount that will go so far in this country. As Anne proudly stepped up to give him our check in a small classroom, we all sat alongside as if we were the students at colorful benchs throughout the room eager to share with him our support. Ironically, Anne's UnderArmour shirt purchased from the lovely SMC Bookstore in good ole' Alliot Hall delivered the check and Brother Xavier with a screenprint that read: "Saint Michael's College. Protect This House." Ironic or not, it was a powerful moment for all of us to know how far Saint Michael's itself has brought this home and how far this $8,000 alone will help to sponsor, feed, clothe, and educate so many of those we shared the afternoon and future days to come with.

And the countdown for each of us is...
7 Children waiting for their turn to blow bubbles held by Christine
2 seconds before that Anne's non-fiction books were a hit
8 teenage boys learning Spanish with Helen
20+ great moments captured in photographs by Jerry
15+ hugs for Derek as they welcomed him back into their home after a year
Numerous shared smiles exchanged with Anne-Christele
1 (but probably many more exchanged) witnessed "pick-up-under-the-arms" full body swings by Eric
20+ hugs given by Rachael
12+ girls clapping hands in a circle with Katie as they taught us a song in Bengali
4-5 kids who know how to make the friendship bracelet stitch-Chinese Staircase-all beacuse of Claire!
1 amazing, mean, and competitive 1/2 court 3v.3 game of basketball played with Meghan and Heather