Inner Circle Park

(Millipede - Not our photo)

We had fun taking the kids to the park today. We found a local park that is walking distance. The play equipment is old and VERY worn but well loved by the local children. The park also has a beautiful garden and a large cricket field where cows often graze or rest in the shade.

We brought our badmitten sets with us today to play in an open area. While trying to play badmitten we saw our first millipede. We took a break to watch it move over grass and old leaves. I used my raquet to gently push it over so the kids could see its hundreds of tiny orange hairlike legs. It was an amazing site. After we gazed at the legs it quickly curled up into a ball to protect itself, then we let it go on it's merry way.

After 10 minutes or so of badmitton Annika got bored, so she and I handed our raquets and shuttlecocks to some nearby 12 year olds who were watching our pathetic game. We headed over to the playground as they enjoyed playing with the badmitten set and probably played for an hour straight in the warm sunshine.

While at the playground we also observed a group of small children. A four year old girl, probably the oldest of the children, was caring for a baby I'd estimate at five or six months. There were no adults around. She was obviously accustomed to taking care of this baby because she carried it on her hip like a pro and when she sat on the swing she sat cross-legged so the baby could lay in her lap. The baby was used to her and she was used to the baby. After about 2 hours at the park, the troop of youngsters took off into the neighborhood. Heavy duty. The little girl was taking great care of this little baby I was just shocked at the responsibility the four year old has at such a young age.

During our time at the playground the local schools let out (the public schools are six days a week). Once the school kids invaded the park there was tons of activity. The badmitten sets got handed around constantly and even the extra shuttlecocks were used by clever children who used their schoolbooks as raquets.

Locals seem to have a lot of curiosity about these white people playing amongst them in the local park. Kids love to run up to A&A and ask in english "What's your name". A couple times now Erik and I have been called "Uncle" or "Auntie" when the local kids need our attention, like when a shuttlecock gets stuck in a tree. It's very endearing.