A lesson in being yourself

For this story to make sense you will need a little background.  Every Friday is "Fun Friday" at Preston Taylor Ministries during which the kids take part in various different enrichment activities during the normal programming time.  Some of the activities include: learning guitar, learning French, art, gardening, training for a 5k, etc.  The kids are a part of the same activity for 6 weeks then, after 6 weeks some of the activities change and the children pick a new activity.  I do not work on Fridays so I have never seen the day in action, but I have heard about it and seen the excitement on children’s' faces as they wait for Friday and talk about what awaits. 

So my story begins...

Last week the children were signing up for a new Fun Friday activity.  Ms. Sarah was reading out an option and any interested child was to raise his/her hand.  One of the new activities for this period is ballet (which could not be any more exciting!!)  When Ms. Sarah called out ballet, just about every girl’s hand shot into the air and, as you can imagine, a unified grumbling rolled through the boys.  That is, except for the little boy sitting in my lap, one of our kindergarten boys who is a ball of energy and excitement.  Well, his hand shot in the air and started to wave frantically back and forth, a silent "Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!"  I will admit I was a bit surprised as his enthusiasm was unexpected.  When Ms. Sarah called out his name to add him to the list the other kids immediately started laughing.  As the group received a lecture about laughter being inappropriate and that each student is allowed to choose whatever they want and there is nothing wrong with whatever that choice may be.  However, throughout all of this commotion this little boy sat there, unfazed and beyond excited about the prospect of starting ballet!  As the day went on it seemed as though other students went out of their way to pick fun at him, or sneer at him that "ballet is a girl thing,"  but all of these remarks were laid on deaf ears.  This student could not be knocked down from his high.  Instead, he ran around, worked hard and spent any free time showing off his ballet moves.  I was beyond impressed with his pliès and all of his spinning and twirling.  More than that, I was inspired by his impenetrable spirit.  It was a humbling experience to watch a six-year-old boy brush off negative comments, laughter, and jokes at his expense because he was so self-assured and confident in himself and his passion for ballet.  I think I can safely say that I learned a valuable lesson from a six year old the other day; a lesson that I can only hope to apply in the face of life’s challenges.  I’ll keep ya’ll posted on that.  

Side note: This weekend I learned where Mr. Witherspoon (Reese's father) lives, and apparently met Kevin Mawae.  

Off to the races...

In stark contrast to the nature experience of the fishing trip, this past weekend I drove to Lexington, KY and attended a horse race.  The Keeneland horse races happen every weekend of October in Lexington, and then again every weekend during a month in the spring.  One of my best friend's Katy goes to grad school at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, which is about a 3 hour drive and one time zone away.  Her parents were visiting from State College for the weekend and so I was determined that I would get to go see all of them, a little taste of home.  As it turned out, they happened to have an extra ticket to Keeneland and invited me to go along!

So, Friday night I had to stay in Nashville for our midnight rugby party.  My roommate Ashley is from Northern Ireland and is a HUGE rugby fan.  The Rugby World Cup is currently happening in New Zealand and Ireland had made it to the quarter final.  For the first time, with the 12 hour time difference, the game was on at a (semi-reasonable) hour, midnight central time.  We went over to the Toolshed (the other YAV house) where a projector and speakers had been set up on the patio- the fact that it is still pleasantly warm at midnight is one of the joys of living in Tennessee.  We watched the game complete with Northern Irish traybakes (a type of sweet treat) and green face paint like true fans.  Sadly, the game did not turn out the way we hoped, Ireland lost, but the experience was a lot of fun!  Needless to say though, I didn't go to bed until 3 am.  Then, I woke up at 7am to drive to Lexington, KY.

Keeneland Grandstand

The drive to Lexington is beautiful and a relatively easy drive. I arrived there around 12:30 eastern and was so excited to see my second parents and best friend.  We had to get changed because you have to dress up to go to a horse race-crazy! We were all dolled up and then headed over to the racetrack where people some people were tailgating and others were headed in to the grandstand.  Let me tell you, this was quite the experience!  People were dressed to the nines, women in stilletos and designer dresses and some men in suits.  We walked  into the building in an attempt to find our seats.  We walked through the courtyard, bought ourselves a program (so we could look like real professionals while analyzing the statistics), passed by the paddock where they show off the horses that are about to race, and eventually we found our seats at the very far end of the stadium.  We settled in right before the 3 race started and attempted to learn how to place a bet, and how to wager based on the horse's odds.  Watching as the horse and jockey rode by to be placed in the starting gate, then the excitement of the crowd as the horses raced around the track, it was all very exciting! It was a thrill I wasn't expecting, and it only increased once I had placed a bet on a horse in the next race.  I felt some loyalty to Great Attack and his jockey but alas, they did not win or even place!  After that, I could

Crossing the finish line

easily see how betting and wagering on horses could be addicting, but I was content to only watch the remaining races.  The horses were just absolutely beautiful and I had mixed feelings when seeing them forced around and whipped with an expectation that they would run even faster.  I didn't really know what to feel and I still do not know much about horse racing at all.  I can now say I have had that experience, and while I don't see myself going back anytime soon it was certainly an interesting glimpse into the world of the affluent Southern culture.

Gone Goldfishin'

Two weekends ago, I ventured out into the Tennessee country with my boss and 25 K-5th grade boys (plus 3 girls) to go fishing.  The fishing trip was an "incentive trip" for the kids.  Throughout the week, during the after school program, the children are able to earn points for good behavior; individual points can be spent at the "store" every Thursday and group points (there are 8 different colored groups in which the kids travel for each rotation during the day) are put towards an incentive trip   This month's incentive trip for the boys was fishing trip hosted by Great Outdoor University.

We left early Saturday morning, the kids on the school bus while I followed in my car, to head to a privately owned, stocked fishing lake.  Well, once we had traveled about 10 miles I was in completely unfamiliar territory for me, and with a simple (and incomplete) set of directions in hand I was counting on following the big yellow bus pretty closely.  A few red lights later the school bus was no where to be found, and so I relied on my directions which got me to the country road on which the property laid, but then the directions just ended.  My boss called me, shortly after I realized I was not going to figure this out just with my excellent sense of direction and brilliant intuition however, there was no service so the phone call was very fuzzy --the joys of being out in the woods.  I heard enough to know I was looking for a gravel road on my right with a small, barely readable sign that said...something? After two more laps of the road (and no luck) I called my boss back.  Somehow, this time the cell service was excellent and the phone call was clear as day; I was looking for a sign on my right that said "TPC," which I had seen but it had been on my left.  I drove back to the sign and decided to turn left anyways, only later did I realize that the bus had entered the road from one side while I had entered from the opposite side so all the direction I was receiving was the opposite of what I was seeing-very confusing!  Eventually I found it and the day began!

The kids were divided into 3 groups and moved from station to station learning how to bait a hook, cast the line, and then remove and release a caught fish.  Once the stations were finished, and the kids were beyond anxious to get started catching fish, we passed out the poles and headed down to the lake...and the chaos ensued.  First of all, the thin fishing line is easily tangled and with the carelessness and patience of a typical child these lines were tangled in only a few minutes! Then there was the bait, we were using nightcrawlers and were expected to rip the worms into pieces before putting them on the hook.  Well, this was just too much for about 90% of the kids, and so it was left to the adults to rip the worms and bait the hooks.  Let me tell you, ripping a worm in half was a horrible feeling.  It's cruelty to animals, for sure.  I constantly had to look away and pretend I didn't feel it squirming and then tearing, and then squirming even more.  It was killing me a little bit on the inside, but I wasn't going to let anyone see it.  I survived, but I don't think it got any easier.  Another problem with K-5th graders and fishing is the sharp hook on the end of a very unpredictable line swinging back and forth, side to side.  I think it is a miracle that we all survived the day with no injuries.  I nearly missed getting a hook to the face numerous times because the idea of waiting until someone moves or backs away is just absurd.  Lastly, fishing (or at least actually catching a fish) is a serious waiting game.  It involved, patience, sitting still, and waiting, all of which are not characteristics of any K-5th grader that I have ever met.  The routine of the day was: untangle line, bait hook, cast line, wait approximately 10 seconds, then reel line in, and repeat.  Needless to say, no child caught a fish.  However, many of the kids were entertained with catching salamanders or the mere act of casting and reeling.

Overall, the kids all had a lot of fun!  It was complete madness, but it was great to get the kids out of the city, away from their neighborhood, and show them the beauty of nature.