Today we had the neatest ceremony. For the last week when we've been going to visit the students, many of them had been gathering flowers and picking through them for the nicest ones. I figured they were going to make something to sell.
It turned out it was all in preparation for today! All of the kids bright small cones made of banana leaves stuffed with flowers and a stick of incense to present to the teachers as a thank you. On top of that, they also created these beautiful topiary-like flower statues called "paan", and gave two per class. See the pictures, they were stunning!
To start, all the kids lined up their paan on tables below the stage, while the teachers sat in a line on the stage behind other low and narrow tables. 10 at a time, the kids kneel-walked across the stage, stopped to present their flower cone by putting it on the nearest low table, bowed three times, and then kneel-walked off the stage. It was quite the production. At the end the Director lead us through a 18 minute prayer, and I definetly caught references to myself in it. Aww.
After, the teachers chose the top four prettiest and most unique paan, and the classes who won got candy, new brooms, and a new mop for their class. I handed out third place, and made a big show of using the broom as a fan (that's what they look like!), making all the kids howl with laughter as the VP played along and pantomimed for me what it was for. I threatened to throw a "too-kay" (geko) at him, and he retaliated by saying he would toss a spider back at me, at which point I ran off the stage in mock defeat.
On a more serious note, the teachers then gave out packets of money to the (much) less fortunate families in the school. It was supposed to help pay for a piece of a new uniform for each child. I found it interesting that all the children cheered when their friends went up to recieve the envelopes.
Once everything was finished, we took pictures. Lots of pictures. Then my favorite kids wanted pictures with me. Not to be outdone, yet more pictures with the teachers.
After school I went and visited some more students' houses, and then I ate entirely too much at dinner. Trying not to think too much about the days after tomorrow, I am enjoying myself too much now.
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