Malathi and Rao invited the parents over to their house for dinner tonight. The Finstons and the Mills come over and after dinner we called the boys using Skype. When we first called at about 11 am China time, Lear informed us that no one was awake yet and we should call back later. We called back about 30 minutes later and were able to talk to everyone (other than Teddy) Andrew told us that they went to a Karaoke bar last night. He said that Teddy sang a song, but he did not know what it was. He also reported that they went to a gym to play basket ball, but it was an old gym and not air conditioned. As a result it was too hot and they only played for about 30 to 45 minutes. Ryan Pattee spoke with us for the first time and told us that he got a haircut. I asked him if he got any special services while he was getting his hair cut. He laughed but said that he only got a hair cut and since no one spoke English (a recurring theme for the boys) he was not able to communicate very well and his hair cut was a bit on the strange side. The Mills were able to talk to Ned and Drew. Ned seems to be doing well, but Drew appears to be fading. Hopefully he will be able to rally and realize that although it seems like a tough haul right now, if he sticks it out he will truly cherish the memories later in life. It is not the coasting through parts of life that we later remember, its the aspects that are hard or challenging that we battle through and overcome that we remember forever.
Scott Mills talked to Ryan Rellinger. He said that he sounded strong, but not particularly enthusiastic. Hopefully it is because he had just woken up. It sounds like the boys are experiencing many new things and because they do not speak the language do not understand what is going on at all times. That must be disconcerting. But a certain level of uncertainty is always a part of foreign travel.
The party at Chethan's house broke up slightly after 10pm. The food was great, the hosts were most generous and everyone left in good spirits. Based on our conversation with the boys, Lynne and I plan to call Hong to talk to her about getting more help for Lear. We all concluded that it must be very difficult for Lear to have to not only try to address the requests of 7 boys, but also deal with planing for meals and entertainment. I think sometimes the boys do not appreciate how hard Lear has it. Not only is he the only one who speaks Chinese and English, and has to translate everything (Andrew should appreciate how hard that is because he has been asked to act as a translator of French for his Dad and hated every minute of it), but he also has to plan the day and then explain to all the neophytes traveling with him what they are doing. Lynne and I plan to talk to his mom to let her know that she needs to provide Lear more assistance so that he does not have to focus on the mundane things and can enjoy himself more with the rest of the boys.
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