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! 

Fly, fly away.

I flew away yesterday (Friday) at 1pm from LAX and it is now 645pm on Saturday in Hong Kong. The adventure has begun!

Have you ever been on an international flight? Let me tell you. This was my first one, and boy oh boy it was a long flight. So far it has been 14.5 hours and we have a 6 hour layover here in Hong Kong and then another flight to go. 

Why don't I like long international flights? Well, here are a few reasons:
1. I can't understand anyone. Almost everyone spoke Chinese. 

2. The lady next to me was talking about me (in Chinese). Yes I am sure she was because they kept pointing at me and talking about me. I'm not sure if she was worried about me or annoyed by me, but I am thinking the latter of the two.

3. Microwaved meat is the worst. All of the vegetarian meals were gone by the time I chose, so I just ate the rice and vegetables from the meal. 

4. Sleeping sitting up; lets just say that it isn't the most comfortable thing that I have ever done. 

I don't know if I ever want to watch a movie again. I think I watched at least part of 6 movies? Too many for one day. However, I absolutely adore the movie "We Bought A Zoo", and was able to watch it so that was exciting for me! 

However, I shouldn't be complaining. I am so lucky to be able to experience an international flight! It's not every day that your average 20 year old gets to fly halfway across the world! Tomorrow I will be in INDIA! I am so excited. More excited the closer it gets! I will add pictures from the adventure thus far tomorrow when I get my luggage back, which has the cord for attaching my camera to my computer. (No mom, I didn't think that one through. Oops. At least I have snacks! They have been a lifesaver! 

Well, I am going to go back to people-watching. 

Huntington...Utah. Not California

This past weekend I went up a little bit north and visited one of my best friends, Brad Sitterud in his home town of Huntington, Utah. I had so much fun! It was nice to get away for a day or so and just not   having to think about school! 

 

I personally think these goats are SO cute. 

I just wanted to steal a baby one! 

That one wanted to eat my shirt. No thank you!  

The little baby goat is so adorable, but then there was a Llama in there to protect them! No 

Grain for Hitman! 

This is the third time I have ever ridden a horse! So exciting! 

He is so sweet! I had so much fun. 

(Brad, Seth, Me)

So, alas, my weekend was such fun and games. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life and to have the opportunity to do so many things! 

Today

Day 30-a picture of you today and 3 good things that have happened to you today

1. I got to see the Solar Eclipse! We were in the "sweet spot"!
2. I went to church and was reminded about daily scripture study and how important it is in my life.
3. I was able to spend time with friends whom I love. Last Sunday in Cedar City for the summer! 

(Got this picture off of twitter from Cheri Peacock!)