Fun Sunday

Well, I had such fun on Sunday! It was game day at church, so everyone met up at the church in the afternoon. We all sat in plastic chairs and wooden benches along the sides of the long, narrow dirt courtyard in front of the church. In the courtyard, they used flour to mark finish lines for races. Then there were running races by age group (little kid, big kid, teen) and walking races by gender for the adults. The little kids also had a race where they had to jump like little frogs, with their legs bent and hands touching the ground between their feet on every hop. It was so cute! For youth and adults, they also had a lemon-and-spoon race, which was a lot like egg races I've seen at home. The lemons here are small, about the size of key limes. So you would balance a lemon in the spoon and hold the spoon in your mouth and race walk. I won first place in my age group! Have to say, the games were such fun and required so little in the way of set up, that if we ever have another Herod or Wilson family reunion or big get together, I vote that we play some of these games. It was a blast! See descriptions of some of the other games below:

• Memory test: All the married women were let into a small room where 17 everyday items (like a comb, light bulb, roll of tape, etc.) were laid out neatly on a table. We had one minute to observe. Then we were ushered out and given a pen and piece of paper and had 3 minutes to list all the items we could remember. I won third place!
• Bombing the city: Using flour, a large plus sign was drawn in the the courtyard, with a letter drawn in each quadrant: D for Delhi, B for Bombay, H for Hyderabad, C for Calcutta. Then players would walk around in a circle, passing through each quadrant. When the whistle blew, everyone would freeze. Then someone not playing the game would fan out four cards, face down, with the names of the cities, and someone would draw a card. Everyone in that quadrant was out. This continues until only one person is left.
• Musical chairs: The rules and set up were a little different from at home. The chairs were set up side by side in a straight line, alternately facing opposite directions. At each end was an extra chair, kneeled on by someone not playing the game. You had to walk around the line of chairs, and when the music stopped, you couldn't go back, only forward, and you could only sit in a chair facing you. This eliminated the situation you see sometimes with our set up, where you have 2 people trying to squeeze into a chair at the same time. There were only so many chair facing your direction, and you plop into the nearest one or race around in a circle like with Duck, Duck, Goose, trying to get to the empty space before another person. It was good fun.
• Roll jumping: A clothesline was strung between two trees and bread rolls were pierced through with string and tied to dangle from the clothesline, just above people's heads. Each person stood under their own roll, and then it was a race to see who could jump and bite at the roll and bring it down first.
• Find the coin: People stood around a wooden bench on which there was one paper plate for each person. A coin was placed in the plate and then covered with a mound of flour. At the signal, each person clasped their hands behind them, bent at the waist, and tried to be the first to pick up his/her coin using only their mouth. Some people blew to move the flour and then picked up the coin, and some dug right in. Blech!