Quiet Corner

So much has happened since I last wrote I scarcely know where to begin.

The week following our Mysore trip was crammed full of drama rehearsals. That's right - drama - my wife and I are assisting with one of the Standard 7 drama productions. We had our first performance last Wednesday and have our final performance on Monday, October 10, for the parents and larger community.

Last weekend Gigi went with the Standard 10 girls to a birthday party not far from Quiet Corner. On Saturday morning I left in a large taxi with 8 students for the journey down the 36 hair-pin bends to Quiet Corner. We were one of 6 groups going for a Leadership Weekend with the Standard 12's. Once at Quiet Corner the fun began. Can you imagine preparing morning tea for your team if one of you is blind and another is mute. That's what the scenario was. The group had to figure out how to communicate as the "boss" was not able to move from location and runners had to transmit messages by signal as to what was available for tea and how many of each item should be ordered. The peanut butter sandwiches never arrived. We did have some bread with some jam placed helter-skelter on it. My 7-Up turned out to be some orange drink!

Different activities throughout the day were designed to have the group of 47 Standard 12's find creative solutions to the problems posed. My job was to make sure the rules of the game were followed and to be a resource person as well as referee! Fun! Fun! Fun!

Gigi did join me in the afternoon and we were able to share some laughs together. One of the highlights was the egg drop contest. Each group received an egg on Thursday and had to look after the egg and make sure "Eggbert" participated in all the activities. It was a real challenge to see how they managed to keep "Eggbert" safe during the ski race! The groups were given materials to prepare "Eggbert" for a fall. Some interesting solutions!

Each group was responsible for serving a meal and for ensuring the clean-up happened.

At night a huge bonfire was prepared and we past the time with skits and stories about "Eggbert" and how he came to be! Some were absolutley hilarious.

Following church on Sunday morning, the service was planned by the group, Gigi and I went for a walk in the area just outside the camp ground. The land is very fertile and we saw some crops being watered. It was an enjoyable experience even if we ate with our fingers all weekend!