Relaxing weekend...i think not!!

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of posts, tiredness and a busy weekend meant we weren't able to access the internet! Hope everything is well at home as the 12th draws near and the trouble associated with it increases....best wishes to all the Ballyclare folk who got caught in it!!

The weekend is usually a time of relaxation and rest- not for us hey!!! We got a glorious extra 15 minutes extra in bed on Sat morning, and then off we went to a temple called Chidambaram, dedicated to Lord Naharajah. It is one of the oldest Hindu temples in the world, with some parts dating from the 6th Century AD. This really impressed us, Blair in particular who enjoyed each and every second of the experience......especially the leprosy pool and the burning hot stones everywhere, combined with us all being barefoot due to shoes not being allowed in the temple.

Afterwards we went to a mangrove plantation where we had lunch in a hotel beside the lake, where we rushed for the french fries when they appeared. After lunch we went on a boatride on the lake. It was the ideal way to relax after the best lunch we have had since arriving in India, and gave a few of us a chance to work on our tans (only joking Naomi!! We were all sun screened up, honest). The only issue was that it was a bit boring after the first half hour of sitting in a lake, and the heat was incredible and was a bit uncomfortable after a while.

Returning to dry land, we took the 2 and a half hour bus ride back to the hotel and straight into showers, beds and the pool!! All in all it was a fairly uneventful day, with the only highlights being Blairs constant and persistent hatred of everything Indian, and the site of these manly young men running like women across the hot stones of the temple- Stephen (Badger) has never moved so fast without chasing Adam!!

Sunday was tough too, mainly because of the very early start 6.30m in order to attend St John's Church of South India. (I don't think Adam or Andrew knew such a time existed.) It is similar to a Church of Ireland service. During the service the team was invited to sing Shout to the Lord in front of a congregation of 30 locals. Near the end of the service they listed the birthdays and wedding anniversaries of all the members of the congregation. Since it was Glen's 1st wedding anniversary he was given a mention as well. All the birthday and anniversary people who were present including Glen went up to the front and has a special prayer said for them. To us it looked as if Glen was being exorcised.

After church we got breakfast and then went to the village to spend the rest of the morning with the children. The day consisted of a sports day for the children and playing games with the children. Johnny was the musical chair champion after nearly flattening a wee girl. Adam Stewart enterened the locals with some dancing and got rave reviews. Michael joined the irish fellows for a game of football (football, not soccer!!! crazy irish and their gaelic nonsense) in the rice fields. Blair played frisbee with some boys for nearly the whole time, while Andy showed off his skills with a nerf ball. Lorna and Susan did action songs and duck, duck, goose, while William entertained the kids with heads, shoulders, knees and toes (knees and toes!)

All in all it was a tiring but very enjoyable morning, with all having a good time! The afternoon was spent in the pool for most of the team (some of them unwillingly- Susan was dragged in!) and the task for the afternoon was building a four-man tower, with people sitting on each others shoulders. We epicly failed in the task but we had some great craic doing it, although by the end most of us had very painful friction burns on our shoulders! (friction, not sun honest!!)

Glen slept a lot, like old men do on a Sunday afternoon.

The evening time was a carefully coordinated dinner to celebrate Glen's anniversary, with it being the first time in a number of days since the whole team ate dinner together. Glen was unaware anything special was happening, but then a lovely cake was presented to him and we all sang a Happy Anniversary song to him (a terrible parody of Happy Birthday to you, but it worked). The team further surprised Glen by telling him that we had booked him a full body massage for the next day!! And when we say full body, we mean FULL BODY bar one obvious area! Glen was understandably delighted (and more than a little concerned)

The evening devotions on both nights were led by the younger guys, firstly Adam Stewart, Dale and Pastor Roger led us on the Saturday night and then Andrew, Johnny and Pastor Scullion on the Sunday night. Both groups focussed on how we should be so appreciative in the UK of what we have, compared to the lack of material possessions people have in India

That is a very brief summary of the weekend, not much happened to report and we were glad to be getting back to work on the Monday

Photos to follow!!

Michael, William and Glen