shrimp & saddleback shirts & eating with our hands

tuesday was shelley's first day at mattakkuliya

as well as the kid's first time eating prawns!

we decided to get some for them as a treat.

and here is tali modeling them.

ashane, the girl of many talents, showed us the art of coconut cracking.

one thing we have all loved about sri lankan culture is eating with your hands...

it is seriously so enjoyable.

and messy.

it took melissa a couple of days to learn...but now she's practically a pro.

we found a frog!

that beacon of light in emily's hand contains the little guy.

my mother was a big hit with the children!

what we love about being here for a whole month is getting to spend a lot of time with these kids and getting to know them all well. (although we can't really remember any of their names...)

these boys are gems.

the middle one is one of the oldest ones here. he's a tough guy and he walks with a definite swagger.

this boy is the fastest child we've ever seen.

he fascinates us. he's very mysterious.

he can either be found helping serve meals to the other kids or racing us and his friends.

this one is just so sly.

that is the only word to describe him.

the boy on the right is the cutest little thing!

he loves being held and jabbering to us in sinhala even though we don't understand him.

this is kind of out of place...but here is mattakkuliya!

iruni! she is one of the only names i remember.

one day when we were leaving, she ran up behind me and put her necklace that she wears every day in my hand.

so i took mine off and put it around her neck.

it was a touching moment.

from then on we have had a special bond!

here she is with my mom.

isn't this precious?

ashane and i

these two are brother and sister, i believe..

sue cripe was thoughtful enough to make us these shirts and send them with shelley!

we all wore them the day after we got them.

thanks so much aunt susie!

here's fast boy and sly boy.

ahh these kids are great (: