Monday 28th October 2019 ....a good start to the week!!

My morning started with this view

from my patio ......

and when I came back one hour later!!

I was at the gym for my 8.30am session with Aaron..the gym was quite busy and I almost enjoyed my very hard workout!!

I came home and relaxed and made a nice breakfast ..did some computer work and then went into town to pay my rent!

From there I went off on Little Yellow for an adventure into the country and found this great place!!!

Not sure of the history of this dam but it was impressive.....

I was wearing my Crocks so I just waded across the stream to the other side and climbed up the stone wall for these views..

When I came back I saw this Mother and two children trying to cross the stream..obviously there was a way to get across but it seemed like someone had removed the stones for crossing and the Mother had somehow crossed over but the kids were stuck.....

I am going to tell you what I did without thinking then tell you what I thought afterwards and then tell you what my class thought because I told them about the incident..

I just went to the girls and smiled and said Hola and bent down and offered for them one at a time to get on my back and I piggy backed them across.....the Mother smiled and said thanks and away they went.

I got to thinking that I would never have done that in my Country for fear of being inappropriate......

The views of my students was that it was ok because I smiled and was kind and that the Mother could tell I was just trying to help!!

Back at home relaxed for a couple of hours and off to class....I got them all to sit in a circle and talk about what they had done over the weekend....

Then asked them about the incident above...

I had copies made of this..

And we each took turns in reading one and talking about it..

They really are so good I see their English skills and especially their confidence grow every week.

As they were leaving class they all stopped and one of them handed me an envelope and they told me that everyone donated and they wanted to give this money to me for the Three Kings Toy drive.....I had told them about it last week.

Needless to say I was humbled and was blown away by their kindness and thoughtfulness!!!

I like this story I found on the Internet..

Photographs show female elephants wearing the carefully embroidered outfits, which cover their legs, back and neck, as centre staff and villagers stand among them.

Kartick Satyanarayan, founder of the centre, said it was important to protect the formerly abused elephants from the cold.

“It is important to keep our elephants protected from the bitter cold during this extreme winter, as they are weak and vulnerable having suffered so much abuse making them susceptible to ailments such as pneumonia," she told the Times of India.

"The cold also aggravates their arthritis which is a common issue that our rescued elephants have to deal with.”

The centre currently houses 20 elephants that have been rescued from illegal captivity, trafficking mafia, exploited for street begging and circuses where they were abused and subjected to extreme cruelty.

Yashi Kochi!!!