Last week was field trip week for our entire school.  My class was supposed to to camping out in the woods but it was too wet and cold for the little guys. So, we camped out at the elementary school.  We went horse back riding, boating, hiking, and on a trampoline.  We saw monkeys, rolly pollies the size of your finger, cows, monkeys, cows, did I mention monkeys?  According to the kids, we saw bison, a fox, and a baby grizzly bear.  We didn't, but their imaginations get the best of them sometimes.  We put their sleeping bags in the library watched a movie to fall asleep too and then dog piled Mrs. Mitchell.

I (Kyle) went with the 10th graders to a city called Coimbatore about 6 hours from our house.  We did some various social awareness activities like visiting a tribal village, planting trees, communicating with a transgender community, hearing tough stories at an HIV/AIDS support group and learning about child labor.  We also learned how to make bricks (see below).

Making bricks out of mud

As you may know, Kyle and I like adventure.  We like exploring, climbing, and anything out of the ordinary.  I wanted a bean pod.  Not just any bean pod.  A 1 1/2 foot long bean pod that you can shake and make music.  Naturally they grow on trees, so I climbed up and took one.  On the way back down however, the last branch broke and I fell shin first into the edge of a concrete hole.  It was a bummer, but I got to see what my bone looked like up close!!  Kyle got to take care of me all week with a bum leg...that was fun.  I got lots of piggy back rides.  I got the stitches taken out yesterday and it seems to be healing slowly, but at least it's healing.  

Brick-making is one of the main sources of income at this tribal village.  We learned how they do it and then we tried it ourselves.