Summer Holidays

This year I felt summer was not very long, even though the temperature was very high in Hyderabad.  My only concern is my daughter who begins her summer holidays, and I wanted to ensure that she is busy and occupied.  Luckily I found the Methodist church organizing Vacation Bible School for 10 days, and I was happy to send her to this school.  This year she was happy to attend as she had company of two of my nieces Rachel & Nissi who attended the same camp.  The theme was very inspiring for children; the caption was “YOU ARE SPECIAL”. 

It was an enriching experience, and I was glad to see the bonding happening within them. The camp had singing, learning of memory verses from the bible, Bible quiz, picnic and group work. All three of them were happy to be involved won prizes for various competitions and enjoyed the outing.  I feel a sense of gratitude towards the Methodist church for providing a meaningful experience to the children.

Then we had an invitation to a wedding at Vizag and we took chance to see Aaraku valley and Vizag city, which was an enjoyable experience. I shared the Aaraku experience in my previous post.

Hand made Tortoise 

Then one fine day, I came across an advertisement on summer camp for children at sacred space, Secunderabad.  It was a half day camp, and there was singing, tai chi, kungfu, stiching, art and craft, cooking and also dancing.  So I sent Dorothy to attend this camp for the next 15 days at sacred space; she enjoyed learning here, basic Of Yoga, Taichi & Kungufu. She even baked bread and brought it home.  The last day was fun, as the children performed what they learnt in the camp; Dorothy too joined and danced with other kids. 

Flower vase made in Paper & coloured 

Then there was a session on Rocks and Planets by and environmental organization, called The Society to Save Rocks that seeks to notify, preserve and spread awareness about granite rock formations in Hyderabad.  It was an enlightening session for me, for I never heard of this in our city.  It is said that Hyderabad is the only city in India where rocks are legally protected. This society also organizes rock walks on third Sunday of every month, organizes awareness events, lectures etc... For more information log on to: www.saverocks.org  this definitely was a useful, informative and inspiring session.  I do appreciate sacred space for conducting this session for all children and parents.

Learnt at Sacred space - stationary box

The last week of the holidays, I went out for a couple of movies, and took Dorothy to a circus, as it was the first time, along with my friend and her little daughter. I remembered the circus I went with my mother and the fun that I had watching the elephant; horse and lion perform some acts.  Dorothy was disappointed as she did not get to see the lion and tiger.

Painting done in the camp

There was not much of a crowd, and we were not allowed to take pictures. I admired all those people who did a lot of gymnastic with various props, the guys who rode the motor bikes, the elephant played cricket and dogs too performed some very risky acts. 

Deep within my heart I was also feeling sad for the hard work and the risk that was taken to   perform.  Circus is no longer a great show now for today’s children, as there are plenty of other amusements, and it’s sad to see it dying a natural death.

The end of summer vacation, I was glad and looking back this summer 2014 was quite interesting and enjoyable for it brought in some lovely memories of my own childhood, and watching my daughter enjoy….. … made me feel young and relive once again the joys of childhood.