Taj Mahal

{Days 2 & 3}

Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn again to be at the bus by 5:15. First off on the schedule? Oh, just the Taj Mahal~

It was so so dusty when we first got there we couldn't even really see the sky cus it was all blowing around.

We beat much of the crowds though and had fun taking tons of photos.

We were told a brief history of its creation, but like most other tours here, I'm lucky if I catch half of it because sometimes the accents are so thick. I did manage to pick out that there are four entrances to the outer courtyard area. The East and West gates are open with hours coordinating with the rising and setting of the sun. And the North and South gates are fixed times. We entered through the East gates, then out the North gates where the Taj Mahal is then directly in front of you.

One neat thing about the decorations inside were the flowers. The orange flowers were made up of like 20 individual stones that glow in the moonlight. Our guide held a flashlight directly over it so the light went into the stones and lit them up as he moved the light across them, as if it was touch sensitive and only the individual petal the flashlight was directly on would light up like a lightbulb. (Photos weren't allowed.)

Second most sacred river in India.

We also had fun walking through the mosques. There are two exact copies of the same building, one to the East and one to the West of the Taj Mahal. The T.M took 22 years to build and all the workers would leave 5 times a day to go and pray. So, they had these mosques built on site so they could cut down on the time the workers were away from work. However, only the West one is ever used because it faces East.

After we finished playing around, we still had a full day ahead of us and it was only 8:30 A.M! We went back to the hotel for a nice breakfast, then off to shop. While out, we managed to randomly find chances to sit on a camel and ride an elephant. Such strange things to do just on a whim, but that's India! We had fun buying shoes for 5 dollars, getting henna done on the street, and eating McDonald's soft serve Sundaes.

We were here for the Elephants, and they were here for us. We were their entertainment!

We got to visit two cool handwork factories. The first was a marble factory where we learned a little how stones are shaped and inlayed in marble. I couldn't stop thinking how much my grandpa would love to see it because he does beautiful stained glass work and could appreciate the colors and creative work.

Next was a carpet/silk factory. There were large looms and walls piled with yarn. They let us tie a piece of yarn on the loom with the guidance of the artist and only one other person besides myself wanted to. I was so surprised. It was very intricate and repetitive and one rug takes 6 months! We got to see how the patterns are designed, painted, then carried through the creation process. So many tedious processes all done by hand! I'll forever appreciate rugs.

One member of our group actually bought a carpet and a marble table, so because of her we got to see lots of designs when they brought them all out to show her. Got to walk on them and feel how soft the silk rugs are. Fancy. We had fun looking through all the fancy silks; a lot of us buying a scarf or something. India is such a country of fabrics and colors. I love it! We also went to a store with all these spices and it was killer to the nose.

Headed back to the hotel for journal writing, then sitting glued to the TV laughing at the awesome Indian music videos and all the dancing. Then dinner. We always try to get new things, but tend to fill up on naan and parota (bread-like tortilla food?) It's not hard to order something new cus the menu's don't offer much guidance. It'll say "Shalai Tal Fuman. The name says it all! A classic favorite" and it's like 'Ok, that helped how?' So, I went to bed with a stomach full of buttery naan and happy to get 8 whole hours of sleep.

~Sunday~

We found our church! I loved that the sign says,

"The Indian Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."

Unfortunately, I didn't have anything but my chuddidar to wear, but it was actually probably one of the most comfortable things I've ever worn to church. It was neat to feel the similarity of the Church wherever you go, while also appreciating the beautiful differences of dress.

Then, just another travel day! Seven hours on a bus and three hours on a plane. Crazy how fast and yet how slow it has all been. It was a whirlwind of a weekend. But, it gave us a flavor of walking in and around a foreign city and appreciating the little details you can't see from a bus or working on campus or in a leper colony.

Construction Appreciation Day

I have now officially created a new holiday called

Construction Appreciation Day.

Rising Star Outreach is helping to build a community center for

one of the colonies and it requires serious manual labor.

About 7 truck loads of dirt were hauled in and dumped in piles. We

shoveled the dirt into big metal shallow bowl things and

carried it to the foundation site. We were leveling out the ground.

The previous groups kept saying, "Bring water! You'll drink like crazy." I brought way more than I thought I'd drink. Turns out I drank over two liters in three hours. That is a lot for me! And daddy will be proud I wore a hat and pants to get out of the sun. Ironically, Amy and I both showed up wearing orange San Francisco Giants hats. Ha!

Here we are on top of the mounds of dirt left to be moved.

We so00 did not move it all ourselves. There are still

plenty of days ahead this summer.

The bowls, and the foundation site behind me.

This doesn't even come close to giving justice to the dirt that we were covered in. It was messy and hot but felt so good to work hard. We all left exhausted after 2.5 hrs. I knew I had hit my limit when I bent down to pick up another bowl of dirt and nothing happened. Muscles were apparently done working.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back on campus in the evenings

We write in these books so the kids have memories

their mom's are unable to keep for them.

Story time still gets a little chaotic. For the most part the kids

just crowd around and look at the photos, then take

the book and look through them again and again.

They are fascinated by my acrylic nails, so to distract them from

their constant attempts to rip them off, I paint their nails.

(Photos you get when you let kids run with your camera)

Thought tonight I'd explain a little about these kids. Mama says some people have been asking about how long these kids stay here, if being away from the colony

'immunizes' them from leprosy, and where they go from here, etc.

1) This school has grades from UKG (kindergarten) to about 9th standard (grade) because the school has been open for about that many years. So, for each of the next 3 years, until they have established classes all of the way up to 12th standard, they will add a class. These kids can stay here as long as they have funding from their family or sponsorships. Some kids are pulled out to get married or work before they are 'finished', but RSO won't kick them out.

2) Only 5% of the world's population is believed to have the gene marker that makes one susceptible to contracting leprosy. If one has this gene marker, they must spend an extended amount of time (years) around leprosy to contract it. The kids, therefore, have a high risk because many of their parents are leprous. Spending time away from home at the school does, in a way, help in keeping the kids from contracting it. When, and if, they go back they are not immune just because they spent so much time away. They are always susceptible. However, the people we help in the colonies no longer have active leprosy. They have been given medication to kill the bacteria and now only deal with the after affects (deformities and ulcers). They have ulcers because leprosy kills the nerve endings in the hands and feet, so they will walk for weeks with a nail in their foot or a cut that just gets more and more infected without realizing it because they feel no pain.

3) After school, the kids can go in many directions: work, further education, or back to their communities...just like any other school graduate. Their education, however, predisposes them to continue with higher education or finding a better job than they otherwise could have.

~~~

~~~~I'll be in Delhi for the next three days,

so I'll be back in touch when I can~~~~

Visit an Indian Hospital...check

Today I was part of the medical group, so we got an early start. On Wednesdays, those in this group go to the hospital with any students or patients who need checkups or medicine. I enjoyed leaving while the temperature hadn't yet reached 100 degrees and we still had a couple of chunks of ice in our water bottles. They had been frozen solid not 15 minutes before.

As is customary for Indian time, we were scheduled to leave at 8:00 A.M. but we sat on these steps waiting for our driver to show up 'till about 9:15. Gave me time to think and write, relishing the fact that, for a large part, I was pretty sure only half of me was sticky sweaty verses the usual 'just jumped in a pool' effect I have going on.

Picked up 4 kids in our pajankety jank van here. Then headed to two leper colonies to pick up 4 patients and drove them to a hospital in Chennai, two and a half hours away. There had been some confusion as to who was picking up who, where we were meeting the doctor and where exactly we were going. So when our student director yelled up to the driver to make sure we were headed to Changleput, I turned to her and said, "What? I was told I was on the bus for Disneyland." Kennedy piped in that she'd love to be on the Indiana Jones ride right then. I said, "Seriously Kennedy? This is the Indiana Jones ride!" The van was so ghetto and bumping over all the potholes in the side streets. So, even though I didn't quite make it to Disneyland, I still got about 5 hours worth of the ride, without all the lines. What a plus.

Some of our friends were pretty sleepy.

So...an Indian hospital. Where to start. I guess this one was better than some others. Could have been worse, sure. They seemed to have enough amenities to get done what they needed. But the organization? NOT a shining point.

After pulling up and piling out of the van, everybody was 'given' one patient, 1,000 Rupes (money) and sent off. What??? Would this be a good time to remind someone that I have no idea what you want me to do with a patient, money and a chart?

We started at this window labeled 'Registration.' There was like a long skinny table out from the window and my patient (in the green) scolded me for going to the men's side. There's a serious "no touching" thing in this country between men and women.

This woman at least knew where we were to go to find an examination room...and eventually we did find it on the second floor. I got stared at all day. Guaranteed we were the only three non-Indians in there. Wasn't my favorite kind of attention.

Not exactly high class, but I've seen worse conditions.

Then began the chaos. For the next hour or so, we went from one room to the next, basically being directed in circles by those who supposedly knew which room was for what service. This was super frustrating because, news flash, I don't speak Tamil! And, surprise, most people didn't speak English. Somehow we found just enough direction from people ("room 8...8" or "opposite building...outside" or "fourth floor...up") to successfully look rather busy when in reality we were just a little old lady and a white girl who couldn't communicate even with each other, roaming the halls holding a chart neither of us knew what to do with!

I was pretty humored because seriously, this was a mission destined for failure from the beginning. Kennedy said it was like the DMV on crack. You walk in and you just know you're in for a good time.

Then I got to use these oh so lovely restrooms. I walked in and saw this little girl.

Um, did I just step into a scene from Oliver Twist?

Luckily, while the kids sat outside on the grass behind the hospital eating lunch, a nurse who came with us (and only spoke Tamil might I add) managed to get things sorted out with my patient. Iiitttt was crazy. Nothing like a little culture saturation and problem solving.

By the time we got to the van we were just grateful we made it out in one piece. We were laughing the whole way home with all our stories of wandering the halls, somehow managing to get our patients seen and taken care of. It was a great experience.

Then I rolled up my chuddidar pants, piled my hair on top of my head, and cranked up the ipod with Priya and Kennedy. Turns out Priya is a new fan of Alexi Murdoch and Rihanna.

On one of the seven stops on the way home,

Priya showed us how to dance.

(just thought this was random)

This is a typical thing to see while driving. Still strange to me though.

{Posted for today and yesterday. New one below}

Look Up

Morning Conclave

We split into three groups now, one of which stays on campus and helps in the classrooms and with tutoring. Many of the young ones know very little English. We help teach PowerPoint and typing since RSO has been able to provide so many computers. Knowing English and computers raises your hiring potential 500% in India, so it's an important thing RSO is doing.

~My Priya~

One of the teachers was a little late so I read the small class

a Dr. Seuss book. As luck would have it, I got Priya's class!

She had fallen and stubbed her toe, so we cleaned it up

with some cotton, but soon she was just as happy as ever.

Meet Archana

I didn't realize when this little girl first ran up and hugged my legs this morning I would be working with her throughout the rest of the day.

[K. Gracie in the middle and Archana with 'the face']

The kids send letters and photos to their sponsors.

This little boy is a son of one of the workers. He came and just sat and watched us for long enough that I finally gave him some paper and pencils and he went to town.

Mango Grove Tutoring

"a" for Anne Marie & Archana

Sarathy...

could not sit still, and I loved his ears!

He took his shoes off when he saw mine were off and apparently settled on my lap as being the best place for his sweaty little socked feet.

~Little boys~

~~~~~~~~~~

Originally, I wanted to title this post "Selfish." By the time evening rolls around, mentally I am done. You reach a point after these long hot days on or off campus where physically you are about as dirty and exhausted as you can stand, and emotionally you have given all you think you can give. With over 100 kids constantly pulling at you, crying to be held or hugged, and hearing yourself be called "Auntie, Auntie, me, me, me!" all day long.....cute, but oh so tiring. I would love to have a bottomless storehouse of energy and love to give these kids. But again, as has been made so plain to me over and over again, I am only human.

It's in these moments of pure exhaustion from going going going all day in conditions that are difficult and hard that... I look up.

I look up at the sky and refocus on what I'm doing and why I'm here. I think about all the world of people under the same sky and the worlds apart I feel from my own sky. Though I've only been gone two weeks, sometimes I find my mind wandering back to my home sky; imagining myself sitting on my porch in the evening looking up at that sky. I think everyone feels a partiality to the part of the sky they grew up under. It was their shelter, it brought them their favorite sunrises and sunsets, it was under it they lied on blankets to watch shooting stars with their daddy, and it was their "message" way of sending their prayers and tears up to heaven.

~~~

Standing in the villages, school yards, and towns of India under a sky that I don't know and that doesn't know me has left me feeling a sense of 'displacement.' I feel like a broken record saying, again, how foreign this country and way of life is to me.

But it's just so in your face all the time.

So yes, sometimes I feel selfish with my impatience and fatigue. Sometimes I feel selfish for counting how many days I have been here and feeling like that is some great accomplishment. And sometimes, I feel selfish for spending any time at all feeling displaced from my own life and sky. But these are the times I try to remember to look up...to the good things of this amazing experience and to my Heavenly Father who never lets the prayers of my

heart go unheard, no matter to what sky

I look up.