After a good afternoon nap for all seven of us, our taxi driver was back to pick us up, this time to take us to Tuna and Jeepu's house for a beautiful evening of fellowship and celebration. As it would turn out, the timing was perfect, as we would say goodbye and fly out of Orissa the next evening. Of course, at this time, we were only hoping that that would be the case, but the events of the day and God's very obvious hand in it had lightened our moods and given us the freedom to just really enjoy these new friendships that we had.
Little C, welcoming us to their home!
In India, two beds are often pushed together and used as sleeping space at night but also as couch/resting place by day. We all sat together getting to know each other better and hearing each others' stories.
Tuna and Jeepu showed us a photo album with lots of wedding and extended family pictures.
G was a quiet, sweet presence at their house...I really enjoyed her and wish we could have understood each other better!
At first, Tom stayed glued to Hoffbeast's hip, but eventually, he ventured down off the bed, ready to explore. He was becoming more confident already!
At some point during our visit, I turned to big C and asked if they had any traditional Indian games that they liked to play and if he wouldn't mind showing me one. So out came this!
We spent the next hour sitting on the floor playing....so much fun!
Tom decided that sitting with Mommy just might be acceptable, especially since his friend, L, was so close by. He was cautious but got more and more comfortable the longer we sat there.
C and G were both amazing at this game, and L wasn't too bad either!
I, on the other hand.....I wasn't so good.
The game was played by flicking a certain-colored disk into one of four corner pockets, attempting to knock your opponents out of the way at the same time. First, they shook powder on the board to make it easy for the disks to slide. Sort of a combination of air hockey, paper football, and billiards all rolled into one!
The winner, C!
L was all smiles! In fact, this was the first time we had seen so many smiles on her outside of her hotel room!
Finally, a group picture before our goodbye. It had been a joy-filled evening, and we were and remain so grateful for the friends God has given us on the other side of the world!
3 comments:
That game board reminds me of a Carom board. What a great idea to play--no words needed, just smiles and fun!
Carom...that might be the right name! I'll have to check with Tuna to be sure.
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