Bushi-Ato

So last weekend we loaded up a van with 17 youths and a car with a university student celebrating her 22nd birthday, the director of the A.C. and me riding up front. We went about 45 min. outside of Khujand to a place in the foothills called Bushi-Ato. It would have only taken us 20 min. to get there but the road was just awful. When we arrived there were a lot of people already there camped out under the trees with generators going, stereos playing, and TVs going. There was also a lot of garbage and horses all around so I knew that wouldn't do so we took our group up to a nearby meadow overlooking the whole fray.
Students paid for, shopped for, and prepared all the food for the day. One 11th grade girl cooked 10 kilos of chicken the night before. We had 36 loaves of bread, liter after liter of lemonade and cola, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. All I did was pay for the transportation and organize the day's activities. I planned twice as many activities as we actually did. The kids also brought an old turkish carpet to picnic on.
So the first thing we did of course was eat. After that we hunted for easter eggs in the bushes dotting the meadow. I bought, boiled, colored and hid 45 eggs. The kids loved it. Then we did the raw egg toss it was amazing how some eggs just never seemed to break while others broke easily. I saw raw eggs bumping along the ground. Then we did paper airplanes. Everyone had to design their own paper airplane or I showed them how to make one if they didn't know. Then we went to the top of a nearby ridge and let them fly. It was a lot of fun to see all those colorful airplanes floating freely through the blue sky above the bright green meadow below. Then we had a scavenger hunt with all sorts of fun things like a yellow leaf, a flat rock etc. Then we went and played football. I joined in the action too and the boys and girls played well together for about an hour. It is really rare for girls to play with boys here especially in a game like football. But the girls and boys played very well together the girls got right in there and mixed it up, falling down getting dirty it was a lot of fun. We were all like brothers and sisters. I think you can see that from my picture. Then after all that people were tired. So we just rested plus the sun was hot and we had no shade so that was also hard on people. But we rallied in the afternoon performed some skits, played volleyball just in a circle and had multiple three legged races. Others also went for a hike to the top of the mtns. Before we left we had a big lunch with all that food students brought. Also someone brought by a horse and most kids had never sat on a horse so they had the opportunity to get in the saddle.
They didn't want to leave. I felt like a father i had 10-12 kids all pleading with me asking me if they could stay longer but I said no and we left just before 5 pm. It's cool with the A.C. because we are all young people, I'm the oldest, but we do great things independently and energetically.
All the kids had a great time and all the extra food was brought to the local mosque in the name of the American Corner (A.C.) . So the beat goes on. Tomorrow off to an orphanage all day. Friday we did a communtiy clean-up. Finally got all the dirt in the garden today and we started recycling and selling glass and plastic bottles. More about all those things later and of course I'll have pictures of all those things too.
Until next week...