I am sad, because the Deaf school is on break again, and when they return the students will have graduated up a grade, which means my seventh graders will not be returning. Right now the school where I am teaching does not have a big enough school, enough teachers, or enough money to go past the seventh grade, so when the students complete the seventh grade here, if they want to continue their education then they have to move on to one of the other Deaf schools in Nepal. I have really grown attached to all the students here, and I will really miss my seventh graders :( Thankfully I did get to spend some time with them before they left. During the months of March and April the Deaf school was getting ready for exams, they were also getting ready for a big cricket tournament among all the Deaf schools in Nepal. So when the school got out for the day, I would go up with the older boys who are on the cricket team to watch them practice and to help keep score while they practiced. It's really interesting learning about cricket, and how you play and keep score. During the time when the students were taking exams, the Deaf teacher's daughter came down to stay at the school and visit her dad, so I got to hang out with her some, and when the students were done with exams for the day, me, her and some of the students would go up to the soccer field to watch the soccer tournament that was going on here during that time. That was a lot of fun! We got to see four Soccer games played here, and we would all try and guess which team would win and see who was right. When the exams were finished all the students went home, except for those on the cricket team (some of the boys from the third, fourth, and fifth grade classes, and all of the seventh grade boys). I got to go with the cricket team on a very long, bumpy 15 hour bus ride down to the city where the cricket tournament was being held. There were eight other deaf schools whose cricket teams came down to compete in the cricket tournament. The cricket team stayed at the Deaf school that was hosting the cricket tournament, I stayed at a motel the first two nights with a Deaf lady. Her and her husband (both are Deaf) came down to watch the cricket tournament and they also helped with the costs to host it. Her husband is the one who helped to start the national Nepali sign language, so it was really cool to get to meet both of them. After the first two days there, I moved into the girls hostel at the Deaf school that was hosting the tournament. Everyday we would go to the field and watch the teams play, and then I would watch my team play and help keep score. It was really fun, but unfortunately my team lost. I also got really sick with a stomach bug of some kind while we were there and I had to go see a doctor, thankfully it only lasted two days, but we did have to stay an extra day and wait to leave because I was so sick. On our way back from the tournament we stopped in Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha, and took a tour there and visited the temples, which was really awesome! I am so thankful that I got to spend this time with the seventh grade students (and the other students too) before they graduated. Here in a couple of days me and my teammate will be heading to Darjeeling, India, for a few weeks to visit and to renew our visas. Please pray for safe traveling and a good visit there. Please also pray that the Deaf students have a good break and all make it back safely to school.
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