Lazy Weekend

With the session ending and two of four of us in the elephant house not feeling well, we had a lazy weekend. The rest was great, although, unfortunately, I am still not better. Berlyn is getting there but she still isn't better either. Poor thing. Our room is struggling some. hahah

Berlyn and I decided to take a walk on Sunday afternoon. We went around the corner into the first part of the village, and found ourselves in a village celebration. I was trying to pass quickly because I felt like we were interrupting and I was in baggy workout clothes so I didn't want to be offensive by my dress, but Alamalu was there and insisted that we come over to the celebration. Some of the other staff members were there as well, along with their husbands and kids. It is always fun to see them out of work and/or school mode. Of course Alamalu offered us some food and we were lucky enough for one of the food items to be vegetable doughnuts! They sound disgusting but they are really really good. The men were shirtless and decorated by the painted signs of Gods. They were getting a bus ready to make some kind of pilgrimage over the coming week-it was all very National Geographic like. I didn't even bring my camera because it was just a little walk, and I don't know if I would of felt comfortable taking a pic in such an authentic and intimate situation but trust me, it was really very cool.

After that pit stop we continued on our way. I finally walked up on the first road that runs to the side of the first little temple in the village. Turns out it goes all around and connects with the other part of the trail so we walked the whole thing. On our way back we stumbled on this:

Had we gotten there a minute earlier we would have seen the actual birth, but we did get to see/hear its first cry (which was rather pathetic but I am sure good for a new born goat) and watch the rest of the cleaning off process-which the lady did with her hands and then simply wiped them on the grass. We didn't get to see it stand up on its own because we didn't want to be creepy and just stop and watch for 1/2 hour or something, but I still kind of wish I would of. Who knew our Sunday afternoon walk would involve a festival AND a fetus morphing into a baby goat! The most random things are always happening here. 

November Session

We had a short session here for the next couple of days--it is a five day session and one of the days was orientation so really it is only four working days long. The group was great though, and everyone meshed really well. We have a mother with her three kids, another mother with her daughter and one more single traveling volunteer. Here is a quick rundown of how the session went:

Day 1: Tuesday was our first working day. We started the morning out by completing an on campus service project that entailed picking up leaves and garbage around the maintenance shed. Besides nuts and bolts and broken light covers we also found an array of jungle bugs, 1 big black scorpion and 2 baby snakes. 1 of the baby snakes was another Krait snake. The baby ones tend to look less harmless but are actually more poisonous then the big ones simple because they don't know how to control the amount of poison they pump into whatever it is they bite. On the bright side there is now one less Krait snake on campus. Unfortunately, in other snake news, the cobra still hasn't been caught.

After the service project we freshened up and attended the Perry Matriculation School Science and Mathematics Exposition. Our special guests were Ms. Padma Vankatrpuram and Dr. Mani Balu and his wife. Both Padma and Dr. Balu have been extremely instrumental in the unprecedented esteem and growth Rising Star has seen over it's ten years of operation. I have been wanting to meet these guests for a while now-Padma especially-so I was very happy that they were able to come. They were super hospitable and kind, just like I pictured them to be.

Our special guests (including volunteers) were sprinkled with rose water and had a sandlewood bindi placed on their forehead.

The actual Science and Mathematic Exposition was VERY neat. It was honestly one of my favorite things I've shared with the kids since being in India. They had worked so hard on their projects and you could see how excited and proud they were to show them. Each kid had a speech prepared about their project and they all recited it from memory, no notes were allowed. My camera died pretty early on, but it was probably a good thing because I would have taken hundreds of pictures of this event. For reals though. It was very interactive too-the kids would present their project and then play games with you using their projects. One kid had a fishing game-when I first went by he told me the fish were dead (because he couldn't find his magnets to make the fish move) but then miraculously, he found the magnets and was calling "Aunty Aunty the fish are alive again!". We played fish attack rather then just fishing. The smallest kids-the UKG kids that I am obsessed with- had memorized a bunch of words that they knew the opposites for. Charles, Abi and Sangeetha manned that booth. They would have you chose a card and read the word to them, then they would shout out the opposite word. All three of them were proud of themselves but  Charles especially was so so SO proud of his newly perfected ability. His eyes were practically sparkling with joy. Tinkerbell  showed us how to combine words to make sentences, one kid had an incense burning volcano, there were displays of the different kinds of habitats, decked out diagrams of cells and different body systems, electricity conduction experiments, brain teasers, math tricks-you name it they had it. My only disappointment were discovering there was an entire room of displays I missed because I didn't know it was there, and not seeing Nandhakumar's (one of the boys I tutor) booth. When we met up for tutoring later on I asked him where he was and he pointed to the field and said "Out there shooting off my rocket." I was SO disappointed that not only did I miss his booth but I missed his awesome rocket! 

You can't really see it here but in the lower pic the diagram had actual lights on it that the kid could turn on and off

I've found myself being a little mama bear of the kids lately. Its not a secret how much I love them, and nothing bad has happened to cause me to become more protective, but when other people (new volunteers, visitors, etc.) were going around looking at each booth, the thought that maybe one of them would say something that may hurt their feelings or not act interested when the kids had poured their hearts into their projects made me feel super protective of them. Of course no one would do this on purpose, it was a real concern I had today. If the kids were making fun of another student's project I would get really protective too. I think it is just because I see how hard they work every single day and know that they are away from their families most of the year so I feel a responsibility to give them love, discipline and positive reinforcement. Then again, maybe I have just come to love them a little more then I've realized. That means saying goodbye in April will kill me, but I can't focus on that. I just need to focus on the here and now and living in the moment. 

Day 2: My sinus infection kicked my butt this day so I spent almost all of Wednesday sick in bed. I drug myself out to go to playtime though-and as I turned the corner by the hostels little Kavia (UKG Kavia) came running off the play ground yelling ASH-EL-YE!! ASH-EL-YE!! She didn't stop until she reached me and hugged my legs so tight I couldn't move. Words can not express how much it warmed my heart. The volunteers went to a colony this morning followed by the zoo. Everything I heard told me that it went really well, I was just sad that I did get to experience it with them. Somehow I ended up telling my monkey bite story-complete with the Facebook picture album- to most of the volunteers that night. It is funny because even though I know it happened, I still laugh at my luck (or lack there of) when remembering all the details of that incident.

Day 3: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! The day stared out as normal with morning conclave at 8:00. Not to long after we started we were surprised by a special visitor-our turkey. We have been planning on making a Thanksgiving dinner and Dr. Susan offered to get us a turkey from the Marriott in Chennai.  We got a turkey alright. We got all of it in fact. Frozen solid.

Luckily, I was feeling much better this morning so I went out with the volunteers to Bharathapuram Colony. I was thinking about it-how some people go serve food at soup kitchens on Thanksgiving but because of where we are and our circumstances we went and served at a leprosy colony. I always feel more grateful in general after being there, but it seemed extra special special to be serving there today with it being Thanksgiving and all. The colony there is actually at an old folks home. There was a group of them that were really happy to be in pictures today. There are two ladies there are are SO tiny. Like they are grown women but are around 4-4.5 feet. One of them had wrapped herself in a blanket because she was so cold so I went and hugged her while rubbing her arms. She was so happy about that. I know because she had the biggest toothless smile on her face.

There is one man at this colony that has really bad ulcers on both sides of his ankles on both feet. We have been working on them ever since I got here, and they are looking better believe it or not. I feel so bad whenever he comes. Obviously I am happy to see him and happy to know he is continuing on with his treatments, but it makes me so sad because his case seems kind of hopeless. I know it really isn't hopeless but I can't help but feel that way seeing how long it is taking him to heal. He has a great attitude about it though which reminds me not to feel to hopeless. It doesn't seem right that the patients should be the ones helping me with hope sometimes-shouldn't I be helping them? We take turns I guess.

After the colony we went to the art school and made a quick stop for portha. Then we were off to help with the final preparations for our Thanksgiving feast. Rebecca had been working on it through out the day-but once we were home it was pretty much all systems go-minus a meeting some of us had with Dr. Susan. Everyone who didn't attend the meeting help set up the tables and chairs, Camry, Libby, Avery and Cohen were in charge of the table decorations, name tags and the seating arrangements. Lon made mash potatoes, I made green beans with sautéed onions, Anne brought stuffing from the states (I could of kissed her I was so happy about having stuffing), Brooklyn made deviled eggs, we had rolls, turkey, this stuff called Turkey ham which really just tasted like regular ham so that was a bonus for sure, hummus, vegetables, gravy and corn from the campus kitchen. Oh and Rebecca made us each individual apple pies. And yes, I did just list all the food we had because it was so amazing! We don't normally get to eat anything like this so it deserves to be recorded in great detail.

**We do have a picture of all the group at the dinner table but it was not on my camera so I am still waiting to get a copy of that one. You can check back if you really care to see it.**

We invited Dr. Susan to our dinner, so we had a pretty authentic dinner going on with a real Indian in our midst (and yes I know that the pilgrims didn't meet these kinds of Indians--laughs..hahah). When the meal was done we went around he table and all said what we were thankful for. I had been pondering this question for a few weeks now, and I concluded that I am thankful that my life fell apart because if it hadn't-I don't know that I ever would of been led to India. I never would have experienced the unique things I am blessed to experience every single day. I would of missed out on a lot of personal healing and growth, great friendships, life lessons and crazy adventures. I would of missed out on the opportunity to fall in love with 240-ish kids, all the patients in the colonies and the rest of the RSOI staff. Before this experience,  I don't know that I have ever felt so immediately blessed after going through a rough patch. I don't know why I was given this opportunity but I am so grateful I was. I want to continue to make the most of my time here in order to show my thankfulness to my Heavenly Father for blessing me in this way.

Day 4: Our last day---I was going to go to education with the group but plans changed when Dr. Susan said we needed to take Berlyn to the hospital. Her gut has been having a hard time as of lately. She even has what we call her bacterial baby because her stomach is so distended. We don't laugh to much because it is sad, but on the bright side we know she will look cute preggers one day. Before we left we took a quick group picture since we didn't know if we would be back before the volunteers left. We look happy but it really was sad. We were happy sad.

Anyway, off to Sri Ramachandra Hospital we went-Berlyn, Summer, Dasha, Williams and I. We got to the hospital where I found out I was continuing on to Chennai to run some errands for Dr. Susan. So off went Williams and I do to that. Williams is really good at hand motions when trying to talk to the volunteers so needless to say, it was kind of like I was playing charades most of the day with Williams. Except for that one time that he got lost for what I swear was a couple of hours, and then left me in the running car parked in the middle of an entrance/exit of a small road while he walked down the street to ask directions. Of course as soon as he left a bus pulls up behind and a red car pulled in front of me. They both kept inching closer and honking their horns louder and louder but there really wasn't anything I could do about it. I had a few hand motions I wanted to give to Williams when he came running (laughing mind you) back to the car, but I was good and refrained and just frantically waved come. VERY frantically waved come. We stopped by the airport to pick up some lost luggage for one of the volunteers and I discovered that there are some seriously creepy looking/feeling places in the Chennai Airport. Luckily, I made it out with the package, both kidney's and my life. Then on our way back from the airport, some drunk guy was walking into traffic, waving his hands and swaying like crazy. Not knowing if we were going to have to stay the night or not, I stopped to buy some food for us-KFC baby!! I got the food to go but when I came out of the KFC, Williams was gone again. I found out later that he went to get another kind of food down the street, but I didn't know where he was or when he would be back so I just sat down on the curb to wait. The security guard insisted that I take his seat-and I was getting shaky so I had to eat something, but I felt really dumb sitting on a chair, facing the road where everyone could see me, eating KFC. I am sure I looked like some selfish American tourist. Little did the passerby's know I live here and was just as grateful for the opportunity to eat KFC as they are.

Back at the hospital, Berlyn had had a lot of tests, and we were just waiting to talk to the doctor about the results-which just like in America, we had to wait a long time for. I was getting nervous when they redirected us to the room that said Gastrointestinal Surgery Consultation-but luckily we didn't have to go there. They gave her more meds and are just going to watch things for now so that good right? It was a better outcome then we expected, however it was frustrating for Berlyn to be so sick, have her belly super distended and be told that everything was normal when clearly it is not.

The good thing about her tests coming back normal was that we were able to make it back to campus in time to eat dinner with the group. I know it sounds stupid because we only knew them for five days, but I am sad to see them go. They really were a great group. I learned a lot from each and everyone of them. Gerry and her three kids Sacha, Thalie and Luke are doing exactly what I hope to do one day-traveling the world as a family. They brought over donations of Legos for the kids-I will never forget how sweet that was. Mary and Ann were some of the nicest people I had ever met. They were so real and down to earth they were kind of like a fresh breath of air. And Mark-or Mark Groban as I came to call him-is an extremely talented at everything person, with a heart of gold. The combination makes him pretty unstoppable.

Saying goodbye is never fun but hopefully it is only goodbye until I get back to Utah. Then the reunions can begin!
   

   

   

Stuffage

This week was spent putting final touches on the schedule for next weeks volunteer session, and me still battling my head cold that has crossed over into a sinus infection now. Joy. I use to get these all the time. Then I got a surgery to help prevent them and I honestly don't recall having one since then so this has been a rude reminder of how bad they suck.

In other worthy news:

Dr. Susan donated some of her old clothes to the Elephant House closet. Thus, Berlyn and I have been having Dr. Susan dress up days. One day we walked over to show her just how much we wanted to be like her by dropping in to see her while wearing her old outfits. She looked a little shocked-and then she laughed a lot. And I may or may not have said I few key phrases of hers that made us laugh even more. She told us later that when she saw us she had this idea of how awful it would be to have duplicates of the same person in the world. Lucky for her, that can't happen-By God's grace.

I finally received a coveted invitation to dine at Cohen's Cyber Cafe and Avery's Awesome Restaurant.

Cohen hard at work

 Only the freshest ingredients will do

Their service was top notch, they were extremely personable and it was really really hard to choose a winner-but I went with Cohen in the end because he had the ability to make a hot dog sandwich taste pretty close to a real hotdog, without the use of any real hotdog or anything else other then bread and condiments.

Avery totally took the cake in the presentation department though. Who knew apples with honey and sprinkles could look so good?

And last but not least, the other items served were Crackers with Jam (Avery) and a Honey Mustard Sandwich (Cohen)

Cohen has developed quiet the pillow fight obsession as of late. Sometimes it will just be he and I, sometimes it is Avery, he and I. But the other night it was everyone. Well everyone besides Lon who didn't want to participate in the violence. It was a blast though. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

 Poor Rebecca found herself in the middle of a triangle of death

On Saturday we went to Mamallapuram and didn't do to much other then eating and hitting the beach. It was perfect weather to play in the water and be lazy on the beach. Minus the peddlers who literally surrounded us and wouldn't go away, even though I was "sleeping" the whole time. They were preying on Berlyn more then me though. I think I have turned them down enough that they know not to try so much with me anymore-but Berlyn--she is a new face to them. She is fresh meat. When we got up to leave some of the sand from Berlyn's towel blew onto one of the ladies. She got some in her eyes and even though she was speaking Tamil-you could tell she wasn't very happy with it or with Berlyn. Ironic isn't it? That you hover over us when we are trying to relax on the beach, but then get mad at us if normal beach things happen-such as sand flying around.

As we were walking off the beach, there was a kid sitting off to the side of me who quietly said "Hey! Do you want a friend?" and then threw a rat at me. No, I am not kidding. He had a sting tied on one of the rats legs so it could only go so far as the string was long until it drop/flopped to the ground. It startled me at first because even though I see crazy things everyday, I have never had a rat thrown at me until today. I probably disappointed the boy some as of seeing I didn't scream and run away AND then promptly told him that I was a pet rat when I was little. I told him he needed to be nicer to the rat-to which he agreed he would-but who knows if he really was. Lets be honest, he probably wasn't. Oh well, I tried.  

They were playing christmas songs as the prelude music in church this week. I am ashamed to say that I immediately thought to myself-"Why are they doing that? It isn't the holidays." I literally had to remind myself that yes indeed, it is the holiday season. We built a snowman out of sand on the beach the other day but I still had to remind myself today that it is late November and Thanksgiving is this week. It just doesn't feel like the holidays though. The mall had some christmas decoration up so that helped a little--but it just doesn't feel very holiday/Christmassy.

One thing I am loving though are the "cooler" temperatures. The cooler temperatures have made it so a lot of the locals are wearing coats and crocheted half bonnet things to keep warm. When we got home from Mamallapuram I was in my swimsuit, sundress and sporting a slight sunburn, and we were greeted by  some of the house mothers, bundled up, knitted bonnets and all walking around the track. I've love to see their winter clothes. Even though it makes me sweat to think of wearing them myself, it is cute to see them all bundled up. I can not take credit for these photos-these were taken by Rebecca the other day. I love them. She is so talented. And even though these pics are of little kids, the adults sport them too-little kids are just to dang cute to not photograph.

On  a brighter note-today was the primary program in church. I love the primary program, and I don't recall seeing in any other country then here. The kids did so good and it was so fun to watch. You would not believe the paparazzi that exploded after the closing prayer. I didn't think we were allowed to take pictures in the chapel but it happened today. On at least 35 different cameras. One of them happened to be Beryl's--so here you go. Adorable right?