Can't Help But Smile

Today has been wonderful. I was on the tutoring rotation, so I got to be with the children all day. They are just so fantastic! You can't help but want to keep them all forever. Still, little Sanjay has my heart. When he sees me he just starts running and jumps into my arms. So tender to me. It just doesn't cease to melt my heart every time. Funny story: this morning at recess when he saw me, Sanjay asked me to sit with him at lunch. Of course I said that I would! Later, on the way to lunch, one of the little girls grabbed me and said auntie sit with us sit with us! So, she dragged me over to where they were sitting and I didn't know what to do. Sanjay was just a little ways away with his class, and noticed me. He looked at me and gave me such a cute little frown with enough "Reba I asked you to sit with me and you said YES so why are you not next to me" and a pat next to where he was sitting that I just was torn. Here was this adorable little 11 year old girl that was trying to be my friend, and then this darling little boy that is telling me I should sit by him. So, I ate half of my lunch with her, and then the other half with him. It was fun, because I was able to tutor him later in the day. He was such a good reader!

In tutoring, the first class came in and Chennelle were exiled to a room with (we thought) no A/C and awfully stiff and tiny benches. Later only to find out there was A/C we just didn't know where it was! 

Math tutoring, Poonga, one of the girls in my family that I go to every night right before bed. She is such a sweetheart and I just love her. She also helped to put some of the henna on my hand that I need to take pictures of to post.

Recess! Jennifer, or Jenni, another one of the girls in my family. She is such a stinker. So sweet and loving but so sassy at the same time! I just love her!!

Of course I have a picture with Mr. Sanjay from recess! 

He is such a wonderful reader. Just whizzed through that book! It was called "Fishing in the Rain" about the Hoppers, bunny friends, and Grandpa Grizzly. I am not quite sure that they would really be friends in real life...hmmm. 

Afternoon play time! Alyssa, Kaylee, Kyran, Aubrie, and me! The two boys in the front just jumped into the picture! I don't know what their names are! (This is supposed to be a crazy picture but I seem to be the only one that got that memo. Oops!)

Miranda, our education coordinator, and one of the little boys that adore her! 

So cute. He weighed what felt like 5 pounds. I could have run around with him on my shoulders all day! 

Veran is so funny. He always jumps up onto you and wants to be upside down! So fun. However, he sometimes struggles to get back up. Oh no! 

Veran and I again. Just such a snuggler. I sure do love these kids. So much more than I ever thought that I would. They are just such a joy to be around and bring a smile to my face every time I think about them. I just wish I could bring them home with me and have them forever!

I just think about childlike attributes of the younger ones and how happy they are, how loving and innocent they are about everything. I love that they just want to walk with you and hold your hand everywhere. It doesn't matter what you are doing they will reach up and hold your hand and want to be next to you. So heartwarming to have them around to show so much love and remind me that I need to always show that love to those around me in my life. 

And the Nerves Kick In...

Have you ever done something that terrifies you before you get there? You try to prepare your mind and tell yourself that it is going to be okay, but it is so frightening you aren't even excited anymore? Your stomach is twisting itself into knots and you feel like you're going to be sick and you just want to be at home and curl up into a ball and hide from the world? Well, that's what I felt like yesterday morning. I thought I had prepared myself to go to the leper colony, but when time came to depart, I was so nervous. It's not that I didn't want to go and I didn't want to be around them. It's the exact opposite. I was so excited to meet these people and with the knowledge that they have had such bad experiences with other human contact experiences that I didn't want to mess it up. I wondered if I would be kind enough, know what to say and how to act. I was scared that they would be in so much pain that I wouldn't be able to help them or comfort them. 

(On our way to the leper colony, me and Kaylee!)

I was SO grateful for the experience that I was able to have. It is interesting, some people just know how to make you feel comfortable. For the pain and sorrow that these people have been through, they were so willing to try to make us happy. The CUTEST man on the colony, one who had lost his fingers and toes due to the disease, was singing to us and dancing around as we waited for the medical van with supplies to arrive. He was having us clap as he sang and we all danced and had a blast. Why had I been nervous?! No idea! It was a ball! Once we got into the church and had all of the supplies, we had a sort of assembly line. First they would check in with the doctor to see whether they needed to have ulcers cleaned and removed or just get their medicine. Then if they had to be cleaned they would go through a line of checking blood pressure, bandage removal, ulcer cleaning, an oil "massage" around the ulcer, and then it being cut out and re-bandaged. I was able to clean their ulcers. To say it was crazy, amazing or remarkable experience just wouldn't be right. It was something more. Not to be a narcissist, but it showed me so much about myself. Going there, I didn't know if I would be able to clean it, if doing that would be gross or scary to me. It wasn't either of those things. It was beautiful. I just wanted to thank them for letting me have the experience. I was able to sit with this woman getting her ulcers cut out and put my arm around her and look her into her eyes and tell her that she was beautiful. I was able to talk to her about her family while she winced in pain and just show her love without asking her for anything.

Here is that cute man that was just so sweet about everything. I talked to him while I cleaned his feet and it was just such a fun time! 

This sweet lady was wincing in pain and told me about her two daughters and her life. (Me and Kaylee)

Me, Kaylee & Chenelle

Here's the washing station.

That man smiling is the one that was singing and dancing with us!

It was kind of hard to talk to them because of the huge language barrier. They don't really know very many words in English, and I speak no Tamil, except for nandri (thank you or good) and vanikam (good morning). There are a few symbols for I love you, beautiful, smile, and a couple of other things that we were able to communicate. They would speak in Tamil to me and I would smile and just be happy to hear them speak, even if I didn't exactly know what they were saying. They would be so attentive when I would speak to them even though I am sure that they got very little information from it.

What more can I say? I can't wait to go back on Tuesday to another colony! I am more than thrilled to be able to help people out. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and was able to grow. I am not going to shrink back and stay away from a chance to serve those around me. I am going to let myself grow more and more in the next two weeks and learn things about myself and others that I will be able to keep for a lifetime.

This is their colony. Theirs even had a nice bathroom stall, they didn't just go in the sewer. 

There are little goats and chickens running around everywhere! So cute...but DON'T TOUCH!

India Lovin'

Today my groups rotation was on construction. It was fun! A little different than we thought it would be but we were doing service so it was still rewarding! We got to clean out and re-organize four sheds, ruin termite hills, and help clean the dining hall kitchen!  

This was the BIG termite hill that we ruined. They were NOT happy about that!

Channelle and Kaylee goin' at the termite hill!  

I got those termites! The shovels here look like they have been folded over, and they are odd looking but it works! 

In front of the bike shed was this large mess of broken glass, lots of light bulbs, a toaster, and many other random things. How did they all end up in this pile? No idea. It was odd! We got it all cleaned up and then went into the shed and cleaned that out.

It was interesting to think of the different perspectives that certain people have on things. We have  bikes at home that we would think of as old and broken and ugly but here they think they are so fantastic and get excited about it and that is the kinds of bikes they use. They had a shed full of broken, beaten up, rusted bikes that you wouldn't see being ridden around at home. That is what you see everyone riding around on. An old bike, a less than perfect bike. However, when I see imperfection, they see the value, worth, and use. 

As we cleaned out another shed, Kaylee found this...thing. We are still not sure what it is, maybe something used in cricket? Not quite sure. Also, she is holding a broom in her hand. Those are the traditional brooms you see around there. I think they are fantastic! I want to bring one home. Too bad it won't fit in my bag. 

We were on the campus today doing clean-up so we were able to eat with the children at lunch time. It was so fun! I learned to eat with my hands, and was taught exactly how to do it. Trust me when I say they will definitely tell you if you are doing it wrong! They watched me for a while and kept correcting what I was doing to make sure that I get it right. I got it right though! Now I am an expert at eating with my hand! I might just keep doing it forever. Less dishes to wash, right?! ;)

Sanjay and Sanjay. They love being silly in pictures. 

I just get such a kick out of these boys. They are so charming and loving, they always are so playful. They kept taking away my water bottle and hiding it behind them. They call us "auntie" if they don't know our names. I love how they roll the "r" when they say Reba! It's so cute. (They all call me Reba because there are three girls here with the same name and one goes by Rebecca, the other, Becca, so just to make it easier I go by Reba!-a nickname that I was given to by Bailey in PA's this year at school.) 

The whole campus is covered with mango trees. There are hundreds of them all over! It's picturesque! 

Playtime again! My favorite two little boys (Sanjay and Jonathan) of course wanted to take a picture with me again. They LOVE cameras. If they can take pictures or be in a picture they get so excited! 

Sweet little boy, never told me his name, but he just wanted to take lots of pictures. This is one that Sanjay took of us! 

Bad news of the day: I think I am getting sick. Scratch that...I am getting sick. I have a sore throat. I hope that it will go away quickly so that I can once again give 100% to everything that I do. Tomorrow I am on medical so we are going to the leprosy colony. I am so excited, yet a little nervous because I know that it is something you can't really prepare for all the way. I can't wait to be able to go and serve those who just need the love and support. 

Children Bring Me Smiles

The hotel that we had been staying at is one of the nicest hotels that I have been to before.

This was the complimentary breakfast place. Fantastic service and every kind of food you can imagine. Lots of delicious Indian food that we tried. Dosa, (is my new favorite Indian food) which is similar to a crepe/thin pancake is paired with lots of different dips that are savory and delicious! 

When they came and picked us up to go to the campus, they gave all of us Jasmine flowers to put in out hair.

(Me, Kailyn, Austyn, Kaylee) 

We had a two hour bus ride from our hotel to the campus outside the town. 

(Austyn, Kaylee) 

We finally made it to the campus! 

Here is the courtyard of where we live for the next three weeks. It's called the Elephant House! 

I live in the coconut room!!! So fun. 

This is the school for the kids, where we will be when we are tutoring. 

First day of wearing Chudidars! So comfy and very different than anything we normally wear!  

We got to go out, meet and play with the kids during their playtime soon after we got there! It was so fun to meet all of them and play around 

This is Jonathan. He told me to pose like this! They love cameras and any electronic equipment. They swarm you and beg to use your camera. 

This cute girl was something else. She was playing with my hair and pulling, I mean pulling so very hard on it. Not the most fun hair-do I have ever been given.

The cutest little boys. Sanjay (in the orange shorts) and Jonathan (on my back) were so adorable we played lots of soccer and they took some videos on my camera of just everything that was going on. 

Here is Kaylee with a cute frog we all found. Good thing we found out right after not to touch any animal. Oops! 

Sanjay was just following me around and making sure I was playing for the right team on soccer. We played a little game of tag, he offered me many mangoes and we had just lots of fun! 

Benson is the only guy in our session. He is having lots of fun with the kids, they get very excited about his beard and want to touch it! 

We have to use toilets that are on the floor! No explination. (Kaylee) 

So far it has been so wonderful. The children are so adorable and loving you can't help but be happy and excited the whole time you are with them. We have "family time" after dinner where we kind of help settle the children down in the families they are assigned to with a house mother. They just want to play and get all riled up. We had a lot of fun with that, and they like to play a lot of hand games and sing songs. One of the little girls kept bursting with laughter because it was funny that I didn't know all of the songs in Tamil. She was just pointing at me and laughing and rolling around on the floor. They know how to get what they want, because they just sit there and will beg you to stay just another minute just to see if you will. I am so excited for another day to go work on the construction site and then come back and play with them and have another fantastic day in India! 

Thus Far

Here are just some pictures of the trip thus far. I know there are a lot, but I figured if I don't put a hand full in this post, they won't ever be posted! 

Kaylee and I were VERY excited to ride the bus/shuttle (whatever it was) over to the plane at LAX! We got first class service! The two of us didn't have to be crammed in the back with everyone we were in the very front by the driver! 

By myself for the 14.5 hour flight...let the flights begin! 

This might look a little odd, but was very delicious! Creme Brule Sesame Seed Cake. Fantastic!! 

Okay, so here are a couple pictures of the clouds we were in. They are SO FLUFFY! 

I just thought they were beautiful! 

One stop in Hong Kong! Look at that. So exciting. 

This morning on the way to church. Aubrie, Kaylee, and Me. 

Here are just a few pictures that I liked. They capture this part of the town around the airport, church, and the hotel that we are at for two nights. 

These scooters are EVERYWHERE! 

Papaya cart! Yum! 

Those little yellow taxi-like things are everywhere. They seat 2-3 and are open so if it's not early enough it gets to be very very hot if you take them. 

There is construction all down the main road because they are making a metro! There are lots of scary drivers... The lanes are more like guidelines...the stop lights too... 

Family on the scooter. That's what everyone does here! 

Just a happy lady walking to church. We saw her at church which was just down the road a bit! 

The LDS meetinghouse

Kaylee all excited for church! 

I am not sure if this is Tamil or Hindi. However, both languages are spoken here. The speakers at church would switch between Tamil and English, so it was hard to keep up with what was going on at some points! 

Banana truck! (baananana as they say it here!) 

Well, there are some pictures of Chennai today and my trip thus far. Tomorrow we leave for the campus which is two hours outside of the city. We come into the city on weekends for fun and for church. I am so excited to go to the campus tomorrow and meet the children and get all settled in for the next almost three weeks! The adventure has started but barely begun!

I bought a little side bag today that is handmade and beautiful. I will take a picture of it and post it in the next day or two. I am so excited about my first purchase! I even got a great deal on it! Way to go me!

Goodnight now, I must catch up on some of my sleep. Lets hope that I can sleep until a reasonable hour tomorrow morning. It is only 1:30 in the afternoon here. Oh no. We'll see how this goes!