Hello hello!
We're really getting down to the last 12 days here! Gee whiz it has flown by! Here are some the "happs" going on lately:
Christmas season has begun! We went to a carol service at our church last week. It was very nice. A children's choir sang a bunch of songs, followed by an adult choir! Very nice! They even sang Feliz Navidad! Imagine that! I guess it's a pretty big song here. We also went to a children's Christmas show at our translators hostel. The kids put on several dances and skits. it was very fun. Unfortunately i didn't know many of the kids in the show, but it was still very nice. they too, sang feliz navidad. :)
the weather has cooled off a bit, but still gets pretty hot during the day. I can't wait for cold and snow!!!!
We are almost done with the work in the library at the boys home. we will have the big inauguration ceremony next week! The boys are getting excited! They often come in while we're working and want to help (when they should be in class) and they'll try to read a few pages while they work! Also, they began harvesting some Okra from the vegetable garden!! The beans will soon be harvested as well! Very exciting!
Yesterday was a big day for the boys. We went on a field trip to an old stone palace, a dam and crocodile farm, and a big famous temple. it was a looonng day, but very fun! I left my guest house at 4:30 am, and didn't return until 11 pm! the bus ride there was about 3 hours. It ended up just being me along with 120 boys, and about 10 male staff members, and no one spoke much English! Kate and our translator were both sick! It was very interesting but so much fun! 2 of the older boys (one in 8th grade and one in 9th) who know more English than a lot of the other boys stayed by me the whole time. they tried talking in English as much as they could and taught me more Tamil! One boy, Poovarasum, is so sweet and as we were hiking up to the palace, kept saying "Be careful!" and asking if i needed to rest or if my legs hurt. it was so funny! Another boy carried my backpack for me. So nice! The boys were so cute and funny all day! it was a great time. Also, Ganesh (the boy i want to take home that is pictured in one of my older posts, and who recently got transferred to a different orphanage so i haven't seen him in a month) came on the trip with us!!! I was so excited to see the little guy! He sat next to me on one of the bus rides and was talking away in Tamil and laughing! I of course didn't understand what he said but i just laughed the whole time. He's just too cute! All the boys were asking if I had eaten enough the whole day and if i was having fun. They really are very sweet and well behaved children. (with occasional roughness and teasing sometimes, but they are children!) So the palace was an old stone palace on top of a mountain. the hike up there was a doosey! (i don't know the correct spelling of that word..) I'm a little sore this morning! But the views were really beautiful! I will post pictures as soon as i get home, i promise!! After the palace, we went to a dam and the crocodile farm. the dam was really pretty and it had a nice playground that the boys played around on for a while. they enjoyed it! the crocodile farm was interesting..it was pretty much a bunch of crocodiles sitting around..they didn't move much, but some of them had their mouths open, so that was very interesting! the boys loved it! Whenever one would do anything they would be like "LOOK LOOK!!!" it was very cute. After the dam, we had lunch and headed to the temple. it was a very big and beautiful temple. It was interesting being able to see first hand what they do in the temple and their different ways of worship. We walked in and stood on line. there were all these decorations everywhere, and they all have a specific meaning, but I'm not sure what exactly the meaning is. While waiting on line, a man came by with a plate like thing with a fire burning on it. As he passes by, everyone puts their hands near the fire and kind of wafts it towards them, then they put their hands to their face and say a silent prayer. then we came to a small room that had incense burning and a big statue of an elephant and also a goat statue. there they get powder and put it on their foreheads and sometimes their neck. Some people put just a dot in between their eyebrows, and other people put it in a line above their eyebrows. I'm not sure what the difference is and what the meaning of it is. Unfortunately no one could really explain in English so i could only observe. And then going out there were other statues of elephants that they would say a prayer to. It was all very interesting. I was walking around with one boy who was a Christian, so it was interesting to see how he didn't do what all the other boys were doing, and so the other boys asked him and I why we didn't participate, so we were able to share that we love Jesus. It wasn't much but it's a little something! All in all it was a very good experience. I'm really going to miss those boys soo much!
The girls are having their Christmas show this Saturday! They invite their families (most girls have at least one parent, some have both), and friends. It will probably be around 80 people there! It should be fun! the girls will be performing 3 dances, which they have been practicing for a long time! Also, the two oldest girls will be hosting the show, and one girl will be giving her testimony. I'm really looking forward to it!
So, we've been very busy! We will be leaving on the 20th to go to Bangalore and then flying on the 22nd! I am sooo excited to get home, cook, eat American food, see people, celebrate Christmas, and so much more! I will really miss the kids so much though! I plan to keep in contact with them. I do really want to come back at some point in the future!
Alright, well i should get going! I miss you all and thanks for reading! I'll try to post at least once more before i leave! Please be praying for safe travels, and health as well, since i have not yet fully recovered from the worms :/ !
Love,
Delia
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
3 weeks to go!
Hello! My lack of posts is terrible. I apologize!
Anywho, I'm back from a nice vacation. 5 days in Cochin and 6 days in a rainforest at a sustainable organic farm! Good times were had. The largest spiders in my life we seen. (the size of my hand. seriously. ) A more efficient umbrella is to be invented. Cold weather was enjoyed. A dry bed in a spider free area is greatly appreciated now. All in all a good time.
This week back has been a little stinky. I've been sick for most of it. Sick with what you ask? With worms. Needless to say, i am not very happy about it. Thankfully i am now feeling better. It's a good thing they didn't have all the yummy thankgiving food because i wouldn't have been able to eat much of it. I did, however, think about all the food i will be eating when i get home. mmm.
So, there is only about 3 weeks left here. what?! I feel like i've been here forever, but at the same time, i feel like i just got here. I have gotten used to the culture, communicating using 1 or 2 word sentences, and understanding others' fragmented english. I've totally got the ok head bob thing down. I love being here and working with the kids..but I am really looking forward to going home now. I've also come to the conclusion that i don't think i could live in india for longer than 3 months at a time. I think the biggest issue is the food. Most meals are chipathi (wheat flat bread similar to a tortilla) , white rice, and sambar (soupy spicy vegetables). I've tried many tmes to like these things..but please, no more rice and sambar! I can't do it anymore! But alas, i will try my hardest to like the food. I also plan on spending a good full day in my kitchen cooking when i get home. I don't think i've ever gone over a week without cooking for myself (in my adult life) I'm on the verge of going crazy. i think i can make it 3 more weeks!
So we've got lots of things planned for the next few weeks. A christmas program put on by the girls, a field trip to some temples with the boys, and 2 camping trips with the girls! Fun shall be had by all. Some sad news, Ganesh (the youngest boy at the boys home..pictured in post below) left the boys home! He got transferred to a different orphanage in Vellore. Granted, he seems to be getting better care there, and he won't get bullied like he was at the boys home, but i don't see him anymore! :( . I will be able to visit him a few times, so that's good.
Alrighty, the girls are almost home from school. I'll post soon!
Leave comments! The lack of comments has made me sad.
:)
Love,
Delia
Anywho, I'm back from a nice vacation. 5 days in Cochin and 6 days in a rainforest at a sustainable organic farm! Good times were had. The largest spiders in my life we seen. (the size of my hand. seriously. ) A more efficient umbrella is to be invented. Cold weather was enjoyed. A dry bed in a spider free area is greatly appreciated now. All in all a good time.
This week back has been a little stinky. I've been sick for most of it. Sick with what you ask? With worms. Needless to say, i am not very happy about it. Thankfully i am now feeling better. It's a good thing they didn't have all the yummy thankgiving food because i wouldn't have been able to eat much of it. I did, however, think about all the food i will be eating when i get home. mmm.
So, there is only about 3 weeks left here. what?! I feel like i've been here forever, but at the same time, i feel like i just got here. I have gotten used to the culture, communicating using 1 or 2 word sentences, and understanding others' fragmented english. I've totally got the ok head bob thing down. I love being here and working with the kids..but I am really looking forward to going home now. I've also come to the conclusion that i don't think i could live in india for longer than 3 months at a time. I think the biggest issue is the food. Most meals are chipathi (wheat flat bread similar to a tortilla) , white rice, and sambar (soupy spicy vegetables). I've tried many tmes to like these things..but please, no more rice and sambar! I can't do it anymore! But alas, i will try my hardest to like the food. I also plan on spending a good full day in my kitchen cooking when i get home. I don't think i've ever gone over a week without cooking for myself (in my adult life) I'm on the verge of going crazy. i think i can make it 3 more weeks!
So we've got lots of things planned for the next few weeks. A christmas program put on by the girls, a field trip to some temples with the boys, and 2 camping trips with the girls! Fun shall be had by all. Some sad news, Ganesh (the youngest boy at the boys home..pictured in post below) left the boys home! He got transferred to a different orphanage in Vellore. Granted, he seems to be getting better care there, and he won't get bullied like he was at the boys home, but i don't see him anymore! :( . I will be able to visit him a few times, so that's good.
Alrighty, the girls are almost home from school. I'll post soon!
Leave comments! The lack of comments has made me sad.
:)
Love,
Delia
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Ahh, vacation!
Greetings to all from the lovely state of Kerala! After 7 weeks of hard work, we get 2 weeks vacation! It was needed..but i miss those kids already! I think i may have to figure out some way to smuggle 135 kids into the country..any ideas?
Everything has been going very well, and we are certainly keeping busy!! Ok, let's rewind:
Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:
We had a sleepover at the girls home this past week. They were all very excited that we were going to spend extra time with them. We were equally excited. We ate dinner with them, then they practiced their dances for the annual Christmas show that they put on for their families, friends and guests. After the dance, it was prayer and Bible study time. This was so special to be a part of! They sang songs in Tamil, read a section of scripture, and had a short time of prayer. It was really cool to see the young girls, distracted at times, but still had their hearts on God. One girl, Priya, prayed, and she prayed for a couple minutes out loud and it was a very heartfelt prayer (although i didn't understand it since it was in tamil..i could still see her heart shining through) It was a great time. In the morning after breakfast was another equally great time of prayer. It was definitely a blessing.
We've definitely grown a lot closer to the girls in the past couple weeks. It's easier to get closer with each one of them since there is only 15 of them, compared to the 120 boys. They heard me sing a song from Monsters Inc. the movie, and now every time i go, they make me sing it a billion times, while they laugh hysterically and try to learn the words. For those curious, the song is when Mike sings to Celia in a silly voice: "You and meee, me and youuu, both of us togetheeerrrr!" It's very funny. It's been good to see the different girls' personalities come out. My Tamil is slowly improving, and they always like it when i speak Tamil to them. They are also very eager to learn more english.
At the boys home, we are continuing work on our projects. The vegetable garden is growing pretty quickly and it getting quite green! the boys seems to take pride in it too, since they've worked hard on it! We are going to be getting in some workout equipment soon for the boys gym! It will be very exciting to see them learn how to use the elliptical, and free weights. I think they will enjoy it very much. Another exciting thing: Gabby, one of the other girls with me, is working on the gym/ sports projects, and noticed that the boys didn't have any sneakers. So, she was able to raise the funds to buy 117 boys each a pair of nice sneakers! They made a big ceremony out of it, (like they do for pretty much everything! It's very exciting to see how big of a deal even the small things are!) After a very long process of measuring each boys foot, making sure we didn't miss anyone, and going to the store and picking them all out, we had them! they had all the boys sit in the auditorium and gave a short speech, and begun the process of handing out the shoes to each boy. The smile on the kids' faces were priceless! they were all sooo excited to have a comfy pair of shoes that they could run around and jump in. All the boys instantly put on their shoes and started running around, jumping, etc,. to see how the shoes felt. It was very funny! Every boy insisted on getting his picture taken with his new hip pair of shoes! I'm still working to load pictures up, so i will try my very hardest to get them!!! I also got to talk to some of the boys that are Christians about starting a Bible study, since they don't have the opportunity to go to church. They seemed very interested!
A couple Sunday's ago, we got to go into a village for a church service. It was a very different experience! I really enjoyed the service, although it was in Tamil, our friend translated for us. There were only about 20 people there, including kids. they welcomed us in with big smiles and wanted us to sing for them. Afterwards, the pastor prayed for us each individually and it was translated into english. it was very cool. Afterwards, a few of us from the church went walking through a coconut grove, and went swimming in a well! That's right, a well where you get water from. Apparently, people swim in them all the time! it was pretty wide and very deep. It was an exciting experience!
that brings me to vacation break so far! On saturday night, we took an overnight train to Kerala. We boarded a houseboat on the backwaters at about 10 am. From there, we cruised along the waters, and got some good relaxing time. Upon boarding, we got flowers and a nice green coconut with a straw to drink the Delicious young coconut water. All our meals were prepared for us and they were delicious!!! Keralan food is definitely my favorite. they use a lot of coconut, so it's not very spicy. It was certainly 24 hours of luxury! the next day, we spent in Kochi, going shopping, exploring the town, etc. On tuesday morning, I pout Gabby on the train, where she went back to Vellore and will be travelling back to the u.s from there! Her sister is pregnant, and very sick, so she had to cut her trip short. We were all very sad to see her leave and i miss her already!
Please pray for my safe travels!
I think that's all the excitement going on lately! I'll be posting again very soon!
As always, comments are greatly appreciated. :)
Love,
Delia
Everything has been going very well, and we are certainly keeping busy!! Ok, let's rewind:
Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:
We had a sleepover at the girls home this past week. They were all very excited that we were going to spend extra time with them. We were equally excited. We ate dinner with them, then they practiced their dances for the annual Christmas show that they put on for their families, friends and guests. After the dance, it was prayer and Bible study time. This was so special to be a part of! They sang songs in Tamil, read a section of scripture, and had a short time of prayer. It was really cool to see the young girls, distracted at times, but still had their hearts on God. One girl, Priya, prayed, and she prayed for a couple minutes out loud and it was a very heartfelt prayer (although i didn't understand it since it was in tamil..i could still see her heart shining through) It was a great time. In the morning after breakfast was another equally great time of prayer. It was definitely a blessing.
We've definitely grown a lot closer to the girls in the past couple weeks. It's easier to get closer with each one of them since there is only 15 of them, compared to the 120 boys. They heard me sing a song from Monsters Inc. the movie, and now every time i go, they make me sing it a billion times, while they laugh hysterically and try to learn the words. For those curious, the song is when Mike sings to Celia in a silly voice: "You and meee, me and youuu, both of us togetheeerrrr!" It's very funny. It's been good to see the different girls' personalities come out. My Tamil is slowly improving, and they always like it when i speak Tamil to them. They are also very eager to learn more english.
At the boys home, we are continuing work on our projects. The vegetable garden is growing pretty quickly and it getting quite green! the boys seems to take pride in it too, since they've worked hard on it! We are going to be getting in some workout equipment soon for the boys gym! It will be very exciting to see them learn how to use the elliptical, and free weights. I think they will enjoy it very much. Another exciting thing: Gabby, one of the other girls with me, is working on the gym/ sports projects, and noticed that the boys didn't have any sneakers. So, she was able to raise the funds to buy 117 boys each a pair of nice sneakers! They made a big ceremony out of it, (like they do for pretty much everything! It's very exciting to see how big of a deal even the small things are!) After a very long process of measuring each boys foot, making sure we didn't miss anyone, and going to the store and picking them all out, we had them! they had all the boys sit in the auditorium and gave a short speech, and begun the process of handing out the shoes to each boy. The smile on the kids' faces were priceless! they were all sooo excited to have a comfy pair of shoes that they could run around and jump in. All the boys instantly put on their shoes and started running around, jumping, etc,. to see how the shoes felt. It was very funny! Every boy insisted on getting his picture taken with his new hip pair of shoes! I'm still working to load pictures up, so i will try my very hardest to get them!!! I also got to talk to some of the boys that are Christians about starting a Bible study, since they don't have the opportunity to go to church. They seemed very interested!
A couple Sunday's ago, we got to go into a village for a church service. It was a very different experience! I really enjoyed the service, although it was in Tamil, our friend translated for us. There were only about 20 people there, including kids. they welcomed us in with big smiles and wanted us to sing for them. Afterwards, the pastor prayed for us each individually and it was translated into english. it was very cool. Afterwards, a few of us from the church went walking through a coconut grove, and went swimming in a well! That's right, a well where you get water from. Apparently, people swim in them all the time! it was pretty wide and very deep. It was an exciting experience!
that brings me to vacation break so far! On saturday night, we took an overnight train to Kerala. We boarded a houseboat on the backwaters at about 10 am. From there, we cruised along the waters, and got some good relaxing time. Upon boarding, we got flowers and a nice green coconut with a straw to drink the Delicious young coconut water. All our meals were prepared for us and they were delicious!!! Keralan food is definitely my favorite. they use a lot of coconut, so it's not very spicy. It was certainly 24 hours of luxury! the next day, we spent in Kochi, going shopping, exploring the town, etc. On tuesday morning, I pout Gabby on the train, where she went back to Vellore and will be travelling back to the u.s from there! Her sister is pregnant, and very sick, so she had to cut her trip short. We were all very sad to see her leave and i miss her already!
Please pray for my safe travels!
I think that's all the excitement going on lately! I'll be posting again very soon!
As always, comments are greatly appreciated. :)
Love,
Delia
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Ganesh
I want to take him home with me. This is the youngest boy at the boys home. I really want him! How cute is he?
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Hello again!
Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay in not posting. Internet isn't always reliable here.
On saturday, it will be one month since i've been here! Crazy how time is flying by! So, what's been going on you ask? Lot's of things!
At the boys home, our projects are coming along. On Wednesday, the grounds were prepared for the vegetable garden, so they had an inauguration ceremony! the head of Agriculture from a local college came and ceremoniously planted the first seed. Then Gabby , Kate and i (Gabby and kate are the 2 other americans with me) planted seeds. It was a very big moment! all the kids watched and were very excited! After that, we got to give out awards to the kids for athletic achievement. Earlier in the week, they had a sports competition where they played volleyball, ran races, etc. It was very fun watching all the kids compete. they are all very talented and they enjoyed having us there watching and cheering them on. Working with the boys has been very fun! They LOVE when we take pictures and whenever they see a camera, they don't stop asking us to take a picture until we take one!
Some higlights about the boys: One boy, Ganesh, is the youngest at the home. I really want to take him home! He is just so cute and tiny and he gets bullied a lot by the older boys. Another boy has really big and happy looking eyes that i've nicknamed "Mutte Kann". that means "egg eyes" in Tamil. He laughs every time! he makes me laugh with his funny facial expressions too! . One boy, Yenu, has a BIG, bright white smile! He is very good at art and sports. He is very friendly and always smiles. We can see his smile from a mile away! I've also gotten to talk to some kids and found out they were Christians! It was very exciting. These are just some of the boys that i've gotten to talk to. They are all so cute and precious. I hope to get to know all of them well..but that is hard being that there are 120 of them! i will try my best!
It is taking longer to develop relatioships with the kids due to the language barrier. I am trying very hard to learn tamil, and thankfully, we have a translator, Kalai, who works with us. With time i will learn more and be able to converse more with the kids on my own.
At the girls home, we have enjoyed quality time with them. We don't have many projects to work on at that home so we just are able to just spend quality time with the girls. They are all very sweet and well behaved. There is one girl, Sophena, she is very tiny and so cute. I asked her how she was in tamil the other day and she looks up with a huge smile and said "Nalarge!!" (that means good in Tamil. i don't know how to spell it!) The girls like teaching me tamil. Another girl, Sangeetha, is also very tiny and she is one of the youngest along with Sophena. (i think they are both 8). We call her "Sassy Sangeetha" she has a very spunky and sassy attitude, it's very cute! It's been a little easier getting to know the girls since there are only 15 of them, but i will be able to know them better once i can have a conversation with them in Tamil! I'm hoping to buy a sewing machine for the girls so i can teach them how to sew! I also plan to teach them some embroidery and do some art projects with them. They love doing art projects!
I've also had the opportunity to volunteer at the hospital that i'm staying at. they have a rehab center for leprosy patients, where they teach them weaving, pottery, embroidery, etc. It has been very fun so far! there is one man here that has been working there for 25 years. He has lost his hearing and some of his eyesight due to leprosy. He is also mute. He works in pottery, and makes these tea pots called "Magic Pots." you turn the pot upside down, pour water in a small hole, turn the pot right side up and the water doesn't come out the bottom. They are very beautiful and very well engineered! unfortunately, he is the only person that knows how to make them! since he's deaf and mute it makes it VERy hard to teach anyone. I got to watch him make a couple the other day and i hope to learn how to make them. I hope that I can be an encouragement to him. I also got a chance to watch a couple weavers! They make tea towels, skirts, handbags, etc. They are setting up a loom for me so that i can weave too! I'm very excited! It is a little difficult to communicate there sometimes since they don't speak much english. i think sometimes they talk about me and laugh..but not in a mean way. They are very nice, it's just a little awkward at times.
last saturday, it was Diwali! That is the biggest holiday in India and it's a very big deal! People celebrate with special foods and setting off fire crackers. We got to celebrate by going to our traslator's hostel. She has lived in this hostel since she was 6 months old! It is a very big orphanage with several cottages and kids ranging in age from about a year old to 18. It was great to have some time with younger kids!! There was one boy, Barat, who was sitting all alone and he wouldn't smile! I played with him a lot and i got to see him smile as the day went on! He has only been living there for a couple of weeks. I know his father left them and his mother is still alive but isn't able to care for him. He is very cute. Hopefully as time goes by he can get to know the other kids and feel more comfortable and happy there! It breaks my heart when kids don't smile!
Sidenote story: While we were having snacks with the kids at the hostel, a woman came around to all the volunteers to give us a sweet. The sweet is similar to a glazed doughnut and sticky..so the woman had the sweet in her hand, and she was rolling it around..rolling it all over her hand and breaking it up and smooshing it back in a ball again. and then she almost forcefully shoveled it into my mouth. (ew!) I am very germ conscious, especially here in india. seeing her roll around a sticky doughnut in her hand and then putting it into my mouth made me want to gag. It would be extremely rude for me to reject anything from her, so i had to eat it! ew! I really hope her hands were clean...I hope nothing like that happens again. it may have been my grossest experience thus far..
2 weekends ago, we went into Chennai again for an A.R Rahman concert. He did the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire. So we went to Chennai on Saturday night, spent the night in a christian hostel. It was a nice hostel, but there was no a.c..so it was 91 degrees in our room. all night. It was an experience! At least it only cost us about $4 each. on Sunday morning we went to the church service at the hostel. It was half Tamil half english. I really enjoyed having english and Tamil! It's so amazing to hear people singing praise and praying in different languages! :) It was a very good service. Later that night was the concert! It was AMAZING! mmm so good. after the concert, we took a bus for about an hour and a half back to the center of chennai, waited for 2 hours for the train, and finally boarded the train at 3:40. That train ride was one of the dirtiest, uncomfortable and..interesting experiences of my life. We had to ride in general class, so there were no seats availible, so we stood and sat on the really dirty floor. It was crowded and extremely smelly. And since we hadn't slept, i was very tired and cranky and i couldn't handle it. I don't think i've EVER been that dirty before in my entire life. But, i survived the train and luckily we had the morning off so we could sleep until the afternoon. It was certainly an India experience!
Whew! Anyone who read that whole thing deserves a gold star. I'll try to post more often so it won't be such a huge chunk of information! i am working VERY hard to get pictures up on here shortly!!! We are not able to upload photos at the computer lab, and it takes too long at internet cafe's. Our only chance is at the girls home, and it's very slow! I will try my very hardest to get them up shortly! I think that's all the latest news..
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Delia
p.s: Comments are greatly appreciated.
On saturday, it will be one month since i've been here! Crazy how time is flying by! So, what's been going on you ask? Lot's of things!
At the boys home, our projects are coming along. On Wednesday, the grounds were prepared for the vegetable garden, so they had an inauguration ceremony! the head of Agriculture from a local college came and ceremoniously planted the first seed. Then Gabby , Kate and i (Gabby and kate are the 2 other americans with me) planted seeds. It was a very big moment! all the kids watched and were very excited! After that, we got to give out awards to the kids for athletic achievement. Earlier in the week, they had a sports competition where they played volleyball, ran races, etc. It was very fun watching all the kids compete. they are all very talented and they enjoyed having us there watching and cheering them on. Working with the boys has been very fun! They LOVE when we take pictures and whenever they see a camera, they don't stop asking us to take a picture until we take one!
Some higlights about the boys: One boy, Ganesh, is the youngest at the home. I really want to take him home! He is just so cute and tiny and he gets bullied a lot by the older boys. Another boy has really big and happy looking eyes that i've nicknamed "Mutte Kann". that means "egg eyes" in Tamil. He laughs every time! he makes me laugh with his funny facial expressions too! . One boy, Yenu, has a BIG, bright white smile! He is very good at art and sports. He is very friendly and always smiles. We can see his smile from a mile away! I've also gotten to talk to some kids and found out they were Christians! It was very exciting. These are just some of the boys that i've gotten to talk to. They are all so cute and precious. I hope to get to know all of them well..but that is hard being that there are 120 of them! i will try my best!
It is taking longer to develop relatioships with the kids due to the language barrier. I am trying very hard to learn tamil, and thankfully, we have a translator, Kalai, who works with us. With time i will learn more and be able to converse more with the kids on my own.
At the girls home, we have enjoyed quality time with them. We don't have many projects to work on at that home so we just are able to just spend quality time with the girls. They are all very sweet and well behaved. There is one girl, Sophena, she is very tiny and so cute. I asked her how she was in tamil the other day and she looks up with a huge smile and said "Nalarge!!" (that means good in Tamil. i don't know how to spell it!) The girls like teaching me tamil. Another girl, Sangeetha, is also very tiny and she is one of the youngest along with Sophena. (i think they are both 8). We call her "Sassy Sangeetha" she has a very spunky and sassy attitude, it's very cute! It's been a little easier getting to know the girls since there are only 15 of them, but i will be able to know them better once i can have a conversation with them in Tamil! I'm hoping to buy a sewing machine for the girls so i can teach them how to sew! I also plan to teach them some embroidery and do some art projects with them. They love doing art projects!
I've also had the opportunity to volunteer at the hospital that i'm staying at. they have a rehab center for leprosy patients, where they teach them weaving, pottery, embroidery, etc. It has been very fun so far! there is one man here that has been working there for 25 years. He has lost his hearing and some of his eyesight due to leprosy. He is also mute. He works in pottery, and makes these tea pots called "Magic Pots." you turn the pot upside down, pour water in a small hole, turn the pot right side up and the water doesn't come out the bottom. They are very beautiful and very well engineered! unfortunately, he is the only person that knows how to make them! since he's deaf and mute it makes it VERy hard to teach anyone. I got to watch him make a couple the other day and i hope to learn how to make them. I hope that I can be an encouragement to him. I also got a chance to watch a couple weavers! They make tea towels, skirts, handbags, etc. They are setting up a loom for me so that i can weave too! I'm very excited! It is a little difficult to communicate there sometimes since they don't speak much english. i think sometimes they talk about me and laugh..but not in a mean way. They are very nice, it's just a little awkward at times.
last saturday, it was Diwali! That is the biggest holiday in India and it's a very big deal! People celebrate with special foods and setting off fire crackers. We got to celebrate by going to our traslator's hostel. She has lived in this hostel since she was 6 months old! It is a very big orphanage with several cottages and kids ranging in age from about a year old to 18. It was great to have some time with younger kids!! There was one boy, Barat, who was sitting all alone and he wouldn't smile! I played with him a lot and i got to see him smile as the day went on! He has only been living there for a couple of weeks. I know his father left them and his mother is still alive but isn't able to care for him. He is very cute. Hopefully as time goes by he can get to know the other kids and feel more comfortable and happy there! It breaks my heart when kids don't smile!
Sidenote story: While we were having snacks with the kids at the hostel, a woman came around to all the volunteers to give us a sweet. The sweet is similar to a glazed doughnut and sticky..so the woman had the sweet in her hand, and she was rolling it around..rolling it all over her hand and breaking it up and smooshing it back in a ball again. and then she almost forcefully shoveled it into my mouth. (ew!) I am very germ conscious, especially here in india. seeing her roll around a sticky doughnut in her hand and then putting it into my mouth made me want to gag. It would be extremely rude for me to reject anything from her, so i had to eat it! ew! I really hope her hands were clean...I hope nothing like that happens again. it may have been my grossest experience thus far..
2 weekends ago, we went into Chennai again for an A.R Rahman concert. He did the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire. So we went to Chennai on Saturday night, spent the night in a christian hostel. It was a nice hostel, but there was no a.c..so it was 91 degrees in our room. all night. It was an experience! At least it only cost us about $4 each. on Sunday morning we went to the church service at the hostel. It was half Tamil half english. I really enjoyed having english and Tamil! It's so amazing to hear people singing praise and praying in different languages! :) It was a very good service. Later that night was the concert! It was AMAZING! mmm so good. after the concert, we took a bus for about an hour and a half back to the center of chennai, waited for 2 hours for the train, and finally boarded the train at 3:40. That train ride was one of the dirtiest, uncomfortable and..interesting experiences of my life. We had to ride in general class, so there were no seats availible, so we stood and sat on the really dirty floor. It was crowded and extremely smelly. And since we hadn't slept, i was very tired and cranky and i couldn't handle it. I don't think i've EVER been that dirty before in my entire life. But, i survived the train and luckily we had the morning off so we could sleep until the afternoon. It was certainly an India experience!
Whew! Anyone who read that whole thing deserves a gold star. I'll try to post more often so it won't be such a huge chunk of information! i am working VERY hard to get pictures up on here shortly!!! We are not able to upload photos at the computer lab, and it takes too long at internet cafe's. Our only chance is at the girls home, and it's very slow! I will try my very hardest to get them up shortly! I think that's all the latest news..
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Delia
p.s: Comments are greatly appreciated.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
PEOPLE! PEoPLE EVERYWHERE!
First week in India!
The first week here has been great! We started work at both the boys home and the girls home. the boys home has about 120 boys ranging in age from 5/6 to 18. The girls home has about 15 girls ranging in age from 8 or 9 to 14 ish..i think. At the boys home we all have different projects to work on. I'm going to be decorating some rooms and helping with planting and upkeep of a vegetable garden. We've gotten to hear some of the stories on how the kids got into the orphanage. At the girls home, there are two girls that are sisters. Both their parents died of HIV and the older sister who is 10 years old, recently found out that she is HIV + as well. Very dad, but God is defiantely doing a great work at both homes. We have a translator that we are working with that is with us to talk to the kids. I've been learning some Tamil. Eru! that means wait! that's the only word i know how to spell but i do know some other words.
On Monday, we went to the boys home. We got to meet the boys, play games, and get a run down on some of the projects that need to be done. Trying to learn names has definately been a challenge! They all have very long names that are very hard to say, but with practice I'm getting them. They think it's funny when we try to say their names! There is one boy that looks boy that looks like a young Indian version of George Clooney. (side note: I've found that I've been seeing the Indian versions of people i know. It's strange..) They are all very well behaved and it's fun to see all of their personalities and see how much potential they have.
On Tuesday, we took about 90 of the boys to the Circus! The Circus was pretty similar to any other Circus, except it was like 90 degrees with no air circulation and flies everywhere. But besides that it was great! The kids don't get out much so this was an adventure for them , and they seemed to really enjoy the circus.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we went to the boys home and began our work on the projects and played with the kids.
Friday was a very exciting day. We went to Chennai which is the closest large city. Luckily, we brought our friend Kalai who has been our translater. She helped us out so much! We got there at about 6 am, went to breakfast and then took our first Auto ride. If you don't know what an auto is, it's like a taxi but it has 3 wheels and is very small..and a little scary. The entire time, i could stick my hand out of the vehicle and touch the car next to us. So we took the auto to Marina Beach where we got to see the Indian Ocean! :) It was kind of nice to see a beach of fully clothed people! Aftger the beach, we went to Spencer plaza which is like a big shopping mall. There we went into shops and...got our noses pierced! Pictures to come.
Saturday, we took the girls to a small zoo. After lunch, we hiked to a little waterfall. The kids had a blast splashing around in the water!
So it's been over a week and I'm starting to adjust to the culture, communicating with a language barrier, getting stared at, etc. It's been a great experience so far! :)
Thigns that are different about India:
1. animals are everywhere. even in the middle of the road.
2. when the cars here go in reverse, they either play music or a beeping noise.
3. people bobble their heads from side to side to say yes or ok.
More to come later! If you could continue to pray for health and safety for me and the other two girls with me that would be great!
Love,
Delia
The first week here has been great! We started work at both the boys home and the girls home. the boys home has about 120 boys ranging in age from 5/6 to 18. The girls home has about 15 girls ranging in age from 8 or 9 to 14 ish..i think. At the boys home we all have different projects to work on. I'm going to be decorating some rooms and helping with planting and upkeep of a vegetable garden. We've gotten to hear some of the stories on how the kids got into the orphanage. At the girls home, there are two girls that are sisters. Both their parents died of HIV and the older sister who is 10 years old, recently found out that she is HIV + as well. Very dad, but God is defiantely doing a great work at both homes. We have a translator that we are working with that is with us to talk to the kids. I've been learning some Tamil. Eru! that means wait! that's the only word i know how to spell but i do know some other words.
On Monday, we went to the boys home. We got to meet the boys, play games, and get a run down on some of the projects that need to be done. Trying to learn names has definately been a challenge! They all have very long names that are very hard to say, but with practice I'm getting them. They think it's funny when we try to say their names! There is one boy that looks boy that looks like a young Indian version of George Clooney. (side note: I've found that I've been seeing the Indian versions of people i know. It's strange..) They are all very well behaved and it's fun to see all of their personalities and see how much potential they have.
On Tuesday, we took about 90 of the boys to the Circus! The Circus was pretty similar to any other Circus, except it was like 90 degrees with no air circulation and flies everywhere. But besides that it was great! The kids don't get out much so this was an adventure for them , and they seemed to really enjoy the circus.
On Wednesday and Thursday, we went to the boys home and began our work on the projects and played with the kids.
Friday was a very exciting day. We went to Chennai which is the closest large city. Luckily, we brought our friend Kalai who has been our translater. She helped us out so much! We got there at about 6 am, went to breakfast and then took our first Auto ride. If you don't know what an auto is, it's like a taxi but it has 3 wheels and is very small..and a little scary. The entire time, i could stick my hand out of the vehicle and touch the car next to us. So we took the auto to Marina Beach where we got to see the Indian Ocean! :) It was kind of nice to see a beach of fully clothed people! Aftger the beach, we went to Spencer plaza which is like a big shopping mall. There we went into shops and...got our noses pierced! Pictures to come.
Saturday, we took the girls to a small zoo. After lunch, we hiked to a little waterfall. The kids had a blast splashing around in the water!
So it's been over a week and I'm starting to adjust to the culture, communicating with a language barrier, getting stared at, etc. It's been a great experience so far! :)
Thigns that are different about India:
1. animals are everywhere. even in the middle of the road.
2. when the cars here go in reverse, they either play music or a beeping noise.
3. people bobble their heads from side to side to say yes or ok.
More to come later! If you could continue to pray for health and safety for me and the other two girls with me that would be great!
Love,
Delia
Friday, September 25, 2009
AHhhhhhh India!!!!
Greetings from India!
I made it safely and i love it here so far! The flight over wasn't too bad. Mumbai was a little confusing but it all worked out. The drive from the airport to where we are staying was about 5 hours. People drive pretty crazy here. On the drive, we saw cows, wild dogs, goats, camels and MONKEYS! I was very excited to see monkeys... :)
So getting over the jet lag has been difficult. We got in at around 9:30 am on thursday. We didn't have much to do and we were so tired we couldn't stay up. so we napped for a little bit in the afternoon. And shortly after dinner (7:30pm ish) we went to bed. At 12:00 am we all woke up and were totally awake. but an hour or two later we fell back asleep and woke up for breakfast. Today we're determined to stay up until at least 8 pm.
today we took a tour of the hospital that we are staying near. My favorite part was the Rehab center for Leprosy patients where they teach them skills to make a living. This includes weaving, printmaking and other cool artsy stuff. :D!!!! I hope to volunteer there so I can learn how they do things.
So far the food has been very good. Not too spicy.
In other news, it's hot. and humid. 100 degrees F to be exact. It says it feels like 113 with the humidity. Luckily here there is a lot of shade and it circulates the air around pretty well..but yeah. still pretty hot if ya ask me!
Tomorrow we are going shopping and doing an orientation at the place we're vonlunteering at. I can't wait to see all those kids! :D
Well I think that's all I have to say for now. I can be contacted via email : Loveneverceasing@yahoo.com or i have a cell phone here that i can recieve calls for no charge so it would require a calling card. Email or facebook me to get the number. :)
Love,
Delia
I made it safely and i love it here so far! The flight over wasn't too bad. Mumbai was a little confusing but it all worked out. The drive from the airport to where we are staying was about 5 hours. People drive pretty crazy here. On the drive, we saw cows, wild dogs, goats, camels and MONKEYS! I was very excited to see monkeys... :)
So getting over the jet lag has been difficult. We got in at around 9:30 am on thursday. We didn't have much to do and we were so tired we couldn't stay up. so we napped for a little bit in the afternoon. And shortly after dinner (7:30pm ish) we went to bed. At 12:00 am we all woke up and were totally awake. but an hour or two later we fell back asleep and woke up for breakfast. Today we're determined to stay up until at least 8 pm.
today we took a tour of the hospital that we are staying near. My favorite part was the Rehab center for Leprosy patients where they teach them skills to make a living. This includes weaving, printmaking and other cool artsy stuff. :D!!!! I hope to volunteer there so I can learn how they do things.
So far the food has been very good. Not too spicy.
In other news, it's hot. and humid. 100 degrees F to be exact. It says it feels like 113 with the humidity. Luckily here there is a lot of shade and it circulates the air around pretty well..but yeah. still pretty hot if ya ask me!
Tomorrow we are going shopping and doing an orientation at the place we're vonlunteering at. I can't wait to see all those kids! :D
Well I think that's all I have to say for now. I can be contacted via email : Loveneverceasing@yahoo.com or i have a cell phone here that i can recieve calls for no charge so it would require a calling card. Email or facebook me to get the number. :)
Love,
Delia
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