This morning we were back at the train station heading to Ranchi. Unbelievably, the train was on time and without incident so we could all relax for 3.5 hours with books, journals and computers.

Rajesh, our driver at Sooch Village, was waiting at the station and whisks us off for more Diwali shopping, lunch, and a look around Jharkhand’s capital city. We decided to walk for most of the time and the extra effort was rewarded when Kevin and I  came face to face with a real Baskin Robbins. Really. 31 flavors, real hot fudge, even Oreos. I passed on this treat since I am on such a health kick lately (ok even I can’t say that with a straight face!). 2 scoops with hot fudge please.  And this was before lunch. Mmmm.

Then we were back in the car for the ½ hour trip to Sooch Village – with another side trip for us to buy the fireworks for Diwali. Sparklers and lights and more pots with the oil. The whole Village would be decked out and I couldn’t wait!

Finally we arrived at Sooch Village just in time for the children to start playtime. These kids are still getting used to visitors so they were more shy than the children at the other homes and less likely to tell us what they wanted to do. But it didn’t hold anyone back and we got right in the action with the compulsory game of Bulldog. This time the Housemothers were on our side and we managed to take down the whole children’s defense line in about 20 minutes.  Then, all the children at Sooch Village played a soccer game, girls against boys.

Because the next day was a holiday, the kids got to have a movie night and watch The Little Mermaid in Hindi.  The kids were cracking up at the dog and the lobster and were getting into the action scene right when the electricity went off. But they sat patiently while we waited for power. No complaints, no acting up, just patiently waiting.

By this time we were all exhausted and decided on an early dinner made by the resident chef, Nanke. Her dahl and curry eggs wrapped in chapatti got the thumbs up from all and we tottered off to bed happy and full.

The next day was a big day, starting at 6am so we crawled into bed early, hoping to rise in time for yoga with the kids.