I Love India!!!

There has been so many things happening the past couple of weeks. I went into Chennai and met up with my little sister Emily and hungout with her all weekend. We went to a Hindu wedding. Then I drove back to Rising Star with the new session. Oh... i finally started a construction project at the colony last week!!!

Let me start by saying that I have the best and strongest little sister ever! She is such a trooper, I am so proud of her. She got to India last weekend on Friday the 13th. The second she stepped off the plane EVERYTHING went wrong. She waited at the airport for 2 hours for her bags just to find out that they were lost. She then went outside to find the driver from the Marriott but he was not there; so she called the Marriott and Dr.Susan (she works at Rising Star) to get a ride to the hotel. Once she got to the hotel she found out that her reservation at the Marriott had been canceled. The one thing that was good was the Marriott set her up with a room at the Radisson and gave her a ride over there. I then met her there a little after 5:00 in the morning. She looked exhausted and like she had the longest night of her life. She handled the situation so well! I could not imagine traveling all by myself and have all of that happening to me at the age of just 17. Emily is so strong and so ROOMBA SUPPAAAAA! I love her so much! 
Words cannot describe how happy I am that she got here safely!

The next day we woke up at 9:00 (not even close to getting enough sleep) and caught a ride to our friend Shanmugam's (aka Eskay) house. There we had an amazing south indian meal served on a banana leaf. Emily learned how to eat with her hand (a very useful skill her in India). The food was so good and we were so full after that we had to take a nap afterward. After our nap we hungout with Shanmugam's family and we went shopping for clothes for the wedding that we were going to on Sunday. Emily found a very nice indian dress and I got a nice white Kurta to wear. Shanmugan then paid for the clothes for us or pulled a "Billy" as I would call it (Not letting us pay for the stuff ourselves). I then may or may not have splurged and bought a pair of RayBans...(dont worry dad I bought them myself). After shopping we went out to eat with Shanmugam's family and got some more great south indian food (I love real south indian food... A LOT).

On Sunday we went to a Hindu wedding and it was so much fun. Emily and I got dressed up in indian clothing and we got to eat more yummy south indian food! It was really interesting going to the wedding because I have never seen or heard anything about Hindu weddings. We had a blast with Eskay and his family there!

The stage where the wedding was taking place.

Where the bride and groom were most of the time. So many flowers, it smelt so good!

The bride and groom getting married!

They look so happy. I cant believe I got a picture of two Indians smiling that aren't Eskay lol. 

The band at the wedding.

Eskay's beautiful daughters Aku (on the left) Abi (on the right).

Emily eating with her hands at the wedding.

The amazing food they served us at the wedding.

We were having a lot of fun here but she didnt want to take a picture with me lol.

 Emily and I in Indian clothing.

CONSTRUCTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im not going to lie, I have been a little down ( and when I say "a little" I really mean "a lot") up until last week about not being able to do a construction project in the colonies. But now that I am doing the job I am suppose to, I cannot be more happy. I love being the construction coordinator here at Rising Star! I love going out to the colony Barathalapuram and helping the people there. The people at this colony are so nice, I love them so much!

The project we are working on is installing septic tanks and bathrooms for about 10 or more families. These people will sometimes come out of their homes and show the other volunteers how to use an indian shovel or offer us coconuts and soda. These people have so little but are willing to give us so much. They are some of the most amazing people and I cannot tell you how much I love them. I came here to India to serve these people but it feels like I am receiving and learning more from them than I am giving them. I am reminded everyday here that charity works both ways. 

Incredible India

Last year I wrote/journaled my experience at Rising Star.

Incredible India!

I came to India not knowing what to expect. One random afternoon Annie sent me a text saying “do you want to go to India” and within seconds I responded, “Yes”. I did not know why I said “yes” at the time, but by the last night at Rising Star I found out why (or at least I think I did). It was to experience love for people that I barely know and to be loved by the same people in return.

The last night at rising star, everyone stood up at dinner and said what they have learned here in India. I knew that we were going to do this and thought of something to say. But by the time that it was my turn to say what I learned, I forgot everything that I was going to say. I never felt the way that I did when I stood up. I somewhat knew what I was going to say and I knew I had to talk about how much I love the kids here and how the kids have loved us ever since we arrived at the hostel. I started with saying how I found out about rising star (that Annie text me one random afternoon and I did not know why I said yes). After I said that, I talked about how the Lord works in mysterious ways, because India has changed my life perspective forever. I talked about how I loved the kids and how I learned to love people in such a short time.

The main reason I am writing this is because I want to expand on what I have learned in India. This trip has changed how I look at everything. When I got here, I thought this trip would only make me appreciate the states more (boy was I wrong). I did not think it would change who I am, but I was mistaken. I have a whole new outlook on life and I’m so grateful for this. These kids and leprosy patients that I have grown to love have so little but are some of the happiest people I have ever meet. I have learned to appreciate the little things in life and learned material items do not make people happy. Money and all the things in the world cannot make people happy. It is love for people that truly makes people happy.

Everything in this world has a purpose. This thought popped into my head when everyone was saying what they learned. I’m not sure why, but it did. I feel that I was meant to come to India to learn something because I feel that I have gained so much more than I have given. This saddens me because I came here to help people and the people of India have helped me even more than anyone will ever know. I only wish that these people appreciated me as much as I appreciated them.

Tonight I had to say goodbye to the kids. We saw the kids at Life Dance (and it was such an amazing experience). After that I walked over to the children’s hostel, I have never felt so many emotions at once before and was overwhelmed; I felt happy, sad, excited, and a bunch more emotions that I’m not even sure of. 

I was sad because I knew it would be one of the last times I would see the kids, if not the last time. I felt that it was harder walking up to the hostel because all the rush of emotions. I never knew that I could love so many people so much, in such a short amount of time. But by the time we had to leave I only felt a couple emotions, love, happiness, and sadness. I never knew how calming it would be to actually say goodbye and have closure. I guess that is why it was much easier to walk away than to anticipate walking away. I also concentrated on how much I loved the kids and by this time, I already made up my mind that I would come back.

My experiences at rising star have changed not who I am but have reminded me what love and joy truly are. I once knew this as a child but being in the service of others has reminded me. I have felt a shift in priorities. I no longer care about material things as much. India has taught me to enjoy the “Little Things” (as Joel said on our last dinner). I have also learned to enjoy the company around me and to love people for who they are.

What I learned in India is so personal and close to my heart that it would be impossible to truly explain what I learned here. 

I was talking to Annie and I told her “thank you for inviting me… I feel that there was
a reason I replied to you so quickly”. She said your welcome and then we started
talking about what will happen when we get home. This subject scared me because
I knew I would be going back to the same place that I left only 3 weeks ago. I knew
I did not want to go back to the way I was before. I told Annie that when I get back
it truly is going to be one of the biggest trials in my life so far. Her reply to this was
simple “I will pray for you”. When she said this, my heart sank. I cannot even explain
how much her saying this to me made me feel. I am grateful to have a friend like
Annie.
I could never tell Annie how grateful I am, for her inviting me to India. It has been an
experience of a lifetime! India has not only strengthened my relationship with Annie
but also with my Heavenly Father.

Testing Testing Testing, Party Party Party

This week has been crazy and exhausting! Right now there is not a construction project so I have been helping out at the school. I have been giving UKG (kindergarden) to 3rd standard (3rd grade) english tests. They have to be given one at a time and sometimes the kids do not understand a word I am saying.  We have also gone to a wedding for one of the nurses that use to work here at Rising Star. Then we had a dinner party for the 4th of July!

Administering the english tests can be very exhausting. I thought working on construction was going to be tiring but testing/teaching takes much more out of me. I give props to those able to teach everyday. The other day I was testing this little boy named Captain Karan (yes that is his name lol) and he had no idea what I was saying. He is a new kid here at Rising Star and is in 2nd standard. He knows almost no english so he got almost everything wrong. It was so hard to give this boy the test because he would lose focus and try to leave the room every 30 seconds. Now that im looking back at it, it is funny. Every 30 seconds I would call out "Captain we need to finish this test" and calling a child "Captain" is just hilarious to me, I feel that im talking to one of my dad's friends from the navy.

The 4th of July party was a ton of fun. We got to have a couple of the kids over and they loved the "semi-american" food that we had. We had hotdogs, fries, corn, chicken and chips. One of the boys, Vimal, wanted to use a fork and would use the fork to eat the chips. At the end we had some soda and ice cream. We made floats for the kids and they loved them, some had 3 or more floats. After they were done with the floats we had a bunch of left over ice cream that got used for a food fight (started by Amy). I avoided being the food fight until the very end when Amy threw some ice cream in my face and Deepan slapped some butter in my face (yes I did say butter). After we sent the kids back to their hostels we cleaned up and were cleaning up the mess from the ice cream fight. Once the water buckets came out I knew it would turn into a little water and it did.

 This is us having our 4th of July Dinner!

 Some of the kids that came for our 4th of July dinner party! So much fun!

 Amy smering ice cream all over Joseph's face in the ice cream fight lol. 

After the mini water fight!

We may not have had a traditional 4th of July party but we sure did have a lot of fun.

The next night we went to the wedding of one of the nurses that use to work here at Rising Star. It was a catholic wedding and was a good experience. Everyone was dressed in Indian clothing, the girls were in Saris, Dane was in a Dhoti and I was in a Kurta (we were all looking awesome!). At the reception the Bride and Groom had to stand and take pictures for hours. They would look super serious while the pictures were being taken and the second after they would have the biggest smiles (Indians for some reason hate smiling in pictures). Although my friend Shanmugam (Eskay) smiles in pictures all the time... and he's Indian...

The ladies looking good in their Saris! Dane and I looking like studs in a Dhoti and Kurta!!

 The Bride and Groom not smiling in their wedding pictures. As soon as this picture was taken they smiled lol. 

 The food at the reception! They were super pushy and just wanted us to eat and then leave. It was like a factory line.