Congratulations, Graduates!

The first three month training is now over. It was great. We got to know a lot of the students, and the graduation party was a blast.



This is just a great picture of the kids.





We began the night with games and dancing. One of their favorite games here is putting a balloon on each ankle with a rubber band and running around trying to stomp on everyone else's balloon without getting yours stomped on. I lost pretty fast the last time we played, so I tried a different strategy this time. I stood on the sidelines and took pictures until the very end. Then I walked in and told them "Wo haiyou liang ge" or "I still have two." Problem was, I hadn't seen everyone left. I thought there was only one person left, but there were three guys going at it on the side of the house that I didn't see. They came tumbling back into the fray, and suddenly, I was surrounded. I lost one balloon to the grass (sneaky blades) and the other after a long duel, some fancy footwork, and a stumble backward into a waiting assailant. He stomped my balloon before I knew he was there.

Then, came the dancing. They played some videos of traditional Wa dancing, and most danced along. I, however, can't coordinate my hands and feet well enough to dance. It's just not a pretty sight. But I did take pictures of others attempting coordination. Some succeeded. Some, sadly, didn't. After the dance, we went inside and sang songs, and Monty talked, and we handed out the graduation certificates, honors, and t-shirts. Then we gave the lead team girls flowers, and the guy got two pocketknives. After the ceremony, everyone wanted pictures. So we took pictures. A lot of pictures. Crazy pictures. Funny pictures. Some are below. We also got a group picture. Like the shirts?