Knives are Kinda Sharp Sometimes…

30 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

It has been a very interesting day…

I woke up at like 8:30-ish then got dressed and whatnot. After that, I went to the bungalow to finally get to Skype with Brandon. We talked until about 9:50, when the power decided to go out so our conversation stopped…abruptly :( . Oh well…

I went to the cooks to find them eating breakfast so they told me to come back at 10:30. I made myself eggs then took an extremely short nap :D .

So, cooking today was a disaster to say the least. I was cutting my third potato when I cut my thumb. Go me! This is the third cut I’ve gotten while cooking so far. I guess India just makes me REALLY accident prone. Anyway, the cooks saw this immediately and were all, “Oh! Go wash!” so, I ran off, my thumb just oozing blood. YAY! Munjula noticed the whole thing and came in to help me out. The cut was so little and hardly hurt at all but it just bled and bled (not that you really need to know that :P ). I soon got a band-aid on it and headed back to work.

The cooks gave me a surprised look when I sat down, then they said something in Kannada to Munjula. Munjula beckoned me over and I was just like, “Why? I’m fine!” but she absolutely insisted. So, I went over and she told me that the cooks are scared and I should go take a rest. I resisted and probably would have gone back if Munjula weren’t right in the doorway. I finally gave in and went to my room.

Then, I decided to just burst in tears (fantastic, right?). I was already paranoid about how the cooks viewed me and now Munjula said they were scared, like they thought I was so terrible at anything involving cooking. So, I felt like a complete failure and thought for sure the cooks never wanted me to help again. Yeah, I was probably blowing things way out of proportion but it’s not like it’s easy to control yourself when you can’t help but to just bawl your eyes out.

I made myself some tea after I’d managed to calm down a bit and was just thinking the whole time: “Please, PLEASE don’t let anyone come in!” I hate it when people see me cry. Hate it, hate it, hate it!

However, I soon heard Munjula coming into my room. ARRRGHH! She, of course, noticed the whole crying thing and said, “what’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Of all people, did it have to be Munjula, the least English speaking of the dorm mothers, to come in? ARGH! In any case, I told her I felt really bad and felt like I failed. Before I knew it, Latha came into my room and asked what was wrong. I told her, then couldn’t help but to start bawling again. ARGH! Latha gave me a nice, long hug while Munjula said over and over, “No worry! No worry!”. Then she told me I should come to her room for devotions today and that she needed tea powder for the devotions. So, yeah, the only reason why she even came into my room was for tea powder. ARGH! Anyway, Latha left for a bit then came back with the cooks! They came in and kept saying, “No feel bad! Sorry! Sorry! Put medicine!”. Then, I felt terrible because the cooks felt terrible! Then, they said, “You good at cutting vegetables yesterday! Come at 10:30 tomorrow!”. So, I felt better but still felt bad about the cooks being sad. After quite a while, Munjula left and one of the cooks left as well. The other cook stayed for a bit, looking very sad until Latha told her to go. I hope so much that Munjula and Latha aren’t mad at the cooks! Anyway, Latha talked to me for a little while then left and told me to rest.

I decided that sleeping would be a terrible idea because then my eyelids would just get more swollen than they already were from all the crying so I designed some stuff on my laptop instead. It made me feel better. I soon got into an incredibly good mood, although I was dreading going to devotion and having everyone ask why I had been crying (since, it takes like an hour before it doesn’t look like I’d been crying anymore). But, I went because Munjula was counting on me to go.

When I got there, I was greeted by little Gracie. The poor girl couldn’t get her pants zipped up so I helped her out. Then, we went inside and I helped her with learning numbers. It was so cute! Lissi finally arrived and we all sat down. Turns out, Jody and Yolanda were busy and Sujatha, Sumitha and Jayne were all in Mysore getting dresses for the girls. Thank goodness!! Devotions was just Munjula, Lissi, Gracie and me.

It was very different with so few of us. We drank tea and had biscuits and dried apples from Lissi’s grandma and just kinda relaxed for a bit. Then, we sang a few songs and Munjula read a verse and talked about it. Lissi then decided to bring up another verse and we talked about that one as well. We ended with learning the song we will be singing for the Christmas function. Munjula was very helpful.

On the way back to our room, Lissi asked what happened earlier because both Latha and Munjula told her I was crying. Yup, Indians really aren’t good with privacy :P . So I told Lissi the story and she, like Munjula, told me not to worry.

After lunch, I planned on going with Daya and David to get nightstands but Lissi wanted to go and she had some things to do so I decided I’d wait for her and just got on my laptop again.

Then, I went to the bungalow and got on the internet and checked up on Lissi. She told me she’d better not go because someone had to be here with Munjula to help with the girls when they get home from school. So, I headed over to the New Zealand family’s house.

Lissi came over just as we were about to leave to tell me not to get her a nightstand because she wanted to choose it herself. David then informed her that we’d be super quick and should be back before the girls get home from school. But, then I realized that I wanted to stop at the post office so we wouldn’t have the time. Daya came up with the idea of dropping her and I off at the post office while David takes Lissi back in the Trax. So, with the plan in mind, we headed out.

Jackson decided to come along with us. He was so adorable. I’d tickle him and while he was laughing, he goes, “Don’t, Marlia. Don’t!” Then he just laughed and laughed. That kid is very cute!

Anyways, we found a shop and they were selling the nightstands for 400 each. David said we should get them for 350 each so Daya made sure she was extremely rude and got the price down. She wasn’t finished though and told the shopkeeper that she bets we can get them for cheaper somewhere else. So, we left, haha!

At the other shop, the shopkeeper told us 350 each right away so we decided to just buy from him. We got the nightstands in the Trax then headed over to the post office.

The post office was all very interesting! First off, they didn’t have envelopes so we went to the shop next door to get one. When we got back, we put the letters in the envelope and Daya had to put some glue on the envelope flap in order to close it. We then went to the counter and asked for the cost of sending it to America. After some weighing and calculating, the lady gave us a whole bunch of stamps and asked for 51 rupees (a dollar :D ). We headed back to where the glue was and painstakingly glued on each stamp. Then, we dropped the envelope off in the box :D . YAY!

The walk back was very nice, even though Daya didn’t know where we were half the time. We talked a lot about so many things, like the topic of swearing and Indian culture. I told her what happened this morning and she said that it’s typical for Indians to freak out about any injury at all. So, as it all turns out, the cooks don’t hate me or distrust me (although, I now distrust myself and am very paranoid about cutting myself again tomorrow), they were just worried about me and wanted me to not die. But seriously, the cut was so tiny! I just need to get used to these things, I guess.

When we got back, Daya had to go to milking so she said she’d help me with the fairy lights we bought afterwards. As I was walking to my room, Caleb followed me and just talked the whole way. When we got down here, I asked him if he’d like to help me clean my kitchen. He did so we set to work. Halfway through, Daya showed up and helped as well. To mop, we had to throw water on the floor and just squigy it into the drain. I love Indian floors! Almost all of them have a convenient drain!

Once we got everything back in order, we got the fairy lights set up. By the way, fairy lights are just white Christmas lights :D . Oh my gosh, it looks absolutely amazing! Like, wow! I love it! I also got all my stuff from the chair I’d been using for a nightstand onto my real nightstand. Like, wow again! Having a nightstand is so fantastic! I actually have somewhere to put my laptop other than the floor!

Anyway, Daya and Caleb sat on my floor as I shared some poptarts and beef jerky with them. We just chatted for a bit about random things. Daya broke Caleb’s makeshift curtain rod. What a great big sister she is! She did feel bad about it though :) .

After a little while, Daya left to go do some workouts and Caleb left as well. I decided it was about time I helped out in study time.

Study time was out in the eating area due to the lack of dorm mothers. I liked it SO much better that way! I wandered around a bit, not really feeling useful. Then I decided to go ask some of the girls if they needed help.

It didn’t take long before I found a girl (Chichra) I could help. She needed help with dividing fractions. Dang, it’s been SO long since I’ve done that! I had to work out a problem then check it on my iPod calculator to be sure I did it right. Then, I started teaching her. The poor girl! She hardly knew how to multiply! And she needed help with every single problem because the teacher only showed how to do one. I was actually really surprised at how much patience I had because it seemed like I had to re-explain how to do the problem each time we started a new one. I enjoyed it SO much though! It reminded me of the the good ol’ days in high school when I’d help my classmates with Algebra.

We got through about a quarter of the problems when the bell rang for dinner. Chichra was right smack in the middle of a problem. Everyone left to get their plates and Chichra was still hard at work on the problem. Munjula came over and told her to stop and get her plate. I tried to get Munjula to let her finish the problem but Munjula didn’t understand very well and kept telling me, “at dinner bell, study time end.” Arrgh! Darn dinner time. I was having so much fun!

In any case, we had dinner and afterwards, I talked to Daya about a certain idea of mine. You see, Daya runs a mile every morning, so I asked if I could join her in the mornings. She was very excited about it and told me to meet her at 7:00. One problem: I’ve no idea if I’m going to be able to wake up then! It’s times like these when I really REALLY wish my alarm clock worked in India…

So, yeah, that was my day :D . I can’t believe how quickly I got into a good mood though. I am now VERY happy that Munjula came into my room for tea powder. I’d probably have had an awful day if she hadn’t. I’m just so scared about tomorrow. Please, God, please, oh please don’t let me cut my finger AGAIN!

Ladies’ Lunch

29 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

It’s been a pretty normal day :D .

I slept right through breakfast and actually didn’t get up until like 9:45 :P .

After quickly getting dressed, I went to the kitchen to the help the cooks. They had me cut a strang-looking vegetable. I had no idea how to cut it so they showed me :D . I didn’t do very well at first and one of the field hands even ended up coming over and cutting one of the vegetables for me, haha. I got the hang of it eventually and just cut away :D .

I was a bit paranoid the whole time, though. The cooks were talking to each other in Kannada and I was so scared they were complaining about me being there or something like that. But, then one of them told me “Good. Very nice” so that made me feel better.

It was only 11 and I was finished with all the vegetables but the cooks told me “thank you very much. Come tomorrow?” I told them I would and asked if they were sure they had nothing else for me to do and they said they didn’t, thanked me again and said I could go. Ah, it is times like these when I really wish I could speak Kannada! Then it wouldn’t be all awkward trying to figure out what they want and wanting to know if they are talking about me :P .

I went down to the bungalow for the half hour before devotions and got on the internet and talked to Jayne and Lissi. Jayne asked how the morning went and I said it was good but they let me go early. She said that the cooks are quite shy so I shouldn’t worry too much.

At devotions, Jody came and we practiced the Kannada song we are singing for the Christmas function. It isn’t going to be as hard as I thought! Sumitha wrote the words in English letters so we could read it and we just sang the lines over and over.

After that, we all headed to the bungalow to help Yolanda with the lunch she was preparing for us. Everyone took everything over so I was left with the computer :D . I FINALLY got to talk to skype with Brandon! We hadn’t talked since the 20th and I was really missing him so it was SO great to see him and hear his voice. However, we only talked for like 10 minutes before Lissi told me I needed to go down to the eating area to make sure the girls don’t throw away their vegetables. GRRR!!!

I didn’t even catch any of the culprits! At like 1:30, Mabel, Lissi, Jayne, Sujatha, Munjula, Sumitha, Jody and I went to the bungalow and sat down for a nice lunch.

It was so fantastic! Yolanda did a brilliant job! She first served Indian Bideyoni (definitely butchered that spelling), which is basically just Spanish rice…only Indian flavor. So, it’d be Indian rice. Yeah.

Anyways, after this first course, Yolanda brought out food after food. We had lamb, chicken, stuffing, baked beans, potato salad, tomatoes and cucumbers, carrot salad, beet root and Sprite! The food (and Sprite :P ) was all so delicious! For dessert, we had fruit and ice cream. Yummy!

We had to wash our plates between courses and it was hilarious! Everyone wanted to do their own plate as well as everyone else’s. Therefore, whenever everyone would find out their plates would need to be washed, there was a mad dash for plates. Lissi grabbed mine and I tried to tug it from her but soon gave up and let her wash it. It was so funny! Then, when we were all finished eating, everyone gathered in the kitchen to clean up. Yolanda came in and she goes, “You are the guests! Everyone can go take a rest and I will clean up. I have plenty of time!” Sumitha then turned around and said, “We no take rest. You go take rest. Take rest. Go! Go take rest!!” then she turned back around and continued cleaning. Haha! I figured I’d better join them but I was soon just standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking awkward because there was nothing for me to do. So I told Yolanda thank you and left :P .

I came back to my room, washed my hair, ate a Poptart, sewed the hole in my new pants, did some things on my laptop and just chilled for like an hour. At 5, I went to find Jaya to go get a coconut. Once I finally found her, she insisted that another of the girls comes too. I don’t remember the other girl’s name. Darn…

Anyways, I learned that Jaya is 16, she has a younger sister and brother, her parents both work in the fields, her family is Hindu and she wants to be an engineer or a doctor. We really didn’t talk much because, honestly, she really intimidated me. She seems SO much older than 16 and she was talking to the other girl in Kannada a lot of the time. She did ask me some questions about America though so she’s still a pretty friendly girl :D .

When I got back, I really didn’t feel like doing anything at all. I laid in bed and had to fight myself to get over to study time at 6. The girls were so quiet and were working so hard and not fooling around at all. I’ve no idea why. Sujatha must’ve spoke to them :P . So, I was just sitting there, doing nothing for a good hour. And Lissi was there too, so I had no idea why I was even there. So, I left at 7 because Sujatha told me I didn’t have to stay the whole time so I could go Skype with family and friends. However, as I was leaving, I passed by Jayne and she told me I could go supervise in the older girls’ study time since there was no one there. So, I did. It was more exciting, though, because the girls liked to talk to each other so I got to do my job and tell them to quiet down :D .

After study time, we had dinner so I still didn’t get a chance to Skype. I was so sad at dinnertime because I was just missing Brandon so much. Jody, as usual, noticed and came to sit by me. She is truly such an amazing person!

Well, time to publish this… good night :)

Christmas Presents :D

28 Nov 2011 4 Comments

by God Carries in November 2011

What an awesome day!

I woke up at 8 and actually went to breakfast :P . Aren’t you proud? After breakfast…I went back to sleep! Aren’t you SUPER proud?

At 10, we had a meeting so I unwillingly got out of bed and headed down to the bungalow. I waited for about an hour before the meeting actually started. Oh, IST, how I love and hate you!

While we were waiting for everyone to get there, Jody needed Jon to sign a bunch of papers for Deejay’s citizenship. Wowy! It looked so long and complicated. And this was just for citizenship, they needed a bunch more papers for his passport as well.

Once the meeting finally started, it was very productive. We talked about things Lissi and I could help out with. Sujatha gave me a new job! I’m going to help the kitchen staff from 10 to 11:30 every day. She said it could also help me in learning how to cook. I am so excited! So, now we have changed the morning devotion time to 11:30, so I can come.

We set a time for when we’d be giving out parts in the Christmas function. It was planned to be at 5:45, right before study time.

After the meeting was over and everyone was slowly dispersing, David came and plopped a huge package on the table in front of me. My secret package from my family had finally arrived! I was SUPER DUPER REALLY REALLY excited!! But, I needed to keep my composure and make all the surprise-ness last so I got some eggs out of the bungalow fridge, put them in a bag, took my package and slowly made my way to my room.

I decided I’d make some eggs to make it all last even longer. So, I SLOWLY cracked each egg, put them in a bowl and was just about to start stirring when Sam showed up. She wanted to know what time we’d be going shopping. Then she noticed the package and she goes, “why haven’t you opened it yet?” and I go, “Hm, I dunno.” Then she says, “Well, open it then!” So, I did :P .

It was like Christmas!! No, really, just like Christmas :P . There was a card and wrapped gifts and drugs and FOOD. AMERICAN FOOD. I set all the gifts aside and looked through all the awesome, fantastic food (and drugs :P ). Like pancake mix, seaweed (my family knows me SO well :P ), nuts, sleeping pills, multivitamins, beef jerky, and nutella. They sent a silicone brush for cooking and I really have no idea why buuuut, oh well!

Sam and I then stared at the wrapped gifts for a while. I figured it’d be my daughterly/sisterly duty to wait until Christmas to open them. Then…I opened them anyway! Muhahahahahaa! I got Poptarts (which, I think the New Zealand girls were more excited about than me), chopsticks (yet again, my family is brilliant :P ), gum, candy canes (which were surprisingly not crushed into little bits), and iTunes gift card and Christmas music.

Sam then decided she’d make me an omelet while I continued to look through stuff. So she did. And she burnt it. And she kind of put a nice, long scratch and Lissi’s and mine new frying pan. But oh well. I ate the omelet, not wanting to waste anything :P .

I then had Sam run and get Daya then I had Lissi, Daya and Sam all try the beef jerky and poptarts. Sam hated the beef jerky. But that’s okay, because everyone else loved it :P . They kept telling me how they want to bring some New Zealand food back for me (they leave to New Zealand for 6 weeks in February) but then they had to keep reminding themselves I won’t be here when they get back :( .

Well, I definitely feel blessed :D . Especially since Jayne’s family sent her a package and she never got it and Lissi’s family sent her two packages and only one came, and it had gotten attacked by rats somehow. I, however, have successfully received two, in-shape packages so far. Suhweet!

Anyways, we planned out what we were going to do for the day during this time as well. I told Daya we needed her help in rearranging our room so we decided that after we went shopping for clothes, we’d come back, rearrange the room, then leave in the Trax (the jeep) with David to get nightstands and fairy lights.

So, after lunch, we did just that. After, of course, I had to wait for Daya to finish Part One of her comic :P .

Anyways, shopping was great. We got everything I needed. I even bought a top that matches one of Daya’s, haha. This might be bad… :P

We got back at like 3-ish and set to work on rearranging the room. Daya is a genius! She basically did everything for us. And we got to make the room super squeaky clean :P .

My bed is now in the corner and I LOVE it here! It feels like my own little space and I now have room for a nightstand.

Speaking of nightstands…we took so long on cleaning and stuff, we didn’t get a chance to get nightstands and fairy lights :( . Daya had to leave for milking at 5 (after, of course, we talked for a bit and I insisted on giving her a pack of poptarts). I was doing some stuff in the kithen then went to the wardrobe. I looked to my right and Dani was sneaking in. I told her that was creepy. Then she started laughing hysterically and, after a while, I finally looked behind me to find Sam coming out from under my bed. Crazy children…

Anyway, Sam said she brought Dani so I could show her the stuff I got. So I did :D . Then I shared some poptarts with them and gave Dani a piece of beef jerky. She said she actually loved it more than she loved poptarts. Muhahaha, Sam! I win again!

After they left, I was absolutely exhausted and laid down for like a half hour. The bell rang at like 5:45 for the meeting for the Christmas function but I was too tired to care. I finally got myself out of bed to go check things out. The eating area was empty except for a few of the older girls checking lice. I asked them about the meeting and they go, “don’t you know about Indian time?” Oh, IST, yet again, I love and hate you…

Once the meeting finally started, we successfully chose some girls for the English skit and figured some other important stuff out. Sujatha then prayed and dismissed everyone for study time.

Study time was, again, in the dorms so I didn’t really need to be anywhere. I hung out with Lissi for a bit then decided to get on the internet at the bungalow until dinner.

After dinner, I made tea for Lissi and me. Then she left…and still hasn’t come back. So I drank hers. Hm. Oh well…

Well, we will be getting nightstands and fairy lights tomorrow hopefully. Then, we can decorate this boring room! Daya said we may even be able to paint the walls… AWESOME!

Gooood nighttt!!

Another Church Day!

27 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

Good day!

I got up at the usual time of 9, then did the usual thing and went to the bungalow to get on the internet.

At around 10:45-isshhh, I went back to my room, fixed my hair (because I got bored at the bungalow and took out all the braids), ate a breakfast of biscuits, grabbed my Bible and notebook and went to the New Zealand family’s house for church.

We spoke about a lot of different things today. It was hard to take notes on! We discussed how people have come before us to pave the way and make things easier for us. We talked about how God’s kingdom is unshakeable and since He is with us, we should be unshakable as well. And then we talked about how witnessing to someone and seeing them get saved is only the first step. We need to guide them and direct them as well. We also discussed how some Christians will see that they’re saved then sit back and play it safe and wait for the end to come rather than actively share that faith. So, yeah, we really didn’t have any set topic :P .

After church, it was lunch. After lunch, I watched a show on my laptop. Then, I went to go hang out with the New Zealand girls.

When, I got there, Daya was busy working on a new comic strip. Dang, she is amazing at drawing! I am so jealous! I watched her for a while the informed her that I really needed to go shopping. So, we went :D .

Sam tagged along and the first thing we did was get chut. I told them I really needed some clothes so we went to a fashion bazaar type store and I got pants and a skirt. We were going to head over somewhere else to get some tops but it was closed because of today being Sunday. All the chemists were closed too so I couldn’t get tiger balm or cereal. So, we have decided we are going to finish our shopping tomorrow :D .

We stopped briefly at a bakery on the way home to get some biscuits and cream buns. As I was asking for the stuff, a guy came up and asked if I was staying at the home and I said yes. Then, he said that his mother and aunt used to work there and asked me where I was from and how long I was staying and so on. He kept apologizing for taking up my time, which was really nice but then he just kept talking and talking. When Daya and Sam came from a shop next door, he started talking to them as well. He told us that we HAD to come to visit him at his house in Mysore sometime and pinched Sam’s cheek as he said he’d take her to the palace on his motorcycle and she could eat in front of the king, haha! Anyway, he gave me his business card and talked about how God is so great and we should tell everyone about Him and so on. It was very interesting…

When we got back, I roasted the peanuts I had bought then…did something? Yep, that’s it :D .

After dinner, I played catch with some of the girls. It was actually a lot of fun. One of the girls liked to throw the ball at me as hard as she could and, sometimes I couldn’t catch it so it ended up hitting the girls who were grating coconuts. Eventually they got so annoyed, they took the ball and wouldn’t give it back, haha.

I tried to help them grate coconuts, but they wouldn’t let me :( .

Lissi and I joined the girls for devotion this evening and it was the usual sing, quote the Bible, and pray. Afterwards, Lissi and I talked some more about what we could do. We want to make the girls tea and sit in a circle and let them ask us any questions they want. Then maybe we can share with them how we decided to come to India. We may share our testimonies, but I’m not sure. I don’t think they would want to know about my testimony. I’m just afraid they wouldn’t understand…

Lissi, as usual, began to worry. She said to me, “What are you going to do if they ask if you have a boyfriend?” Ron and Lilo had told me not to tell them that I have a boyfriend. They said that the girls will think I’m already pregnant or something. But I don’t understand it. They know about dating. They’ve seen it in movies. And they aren’t dumb. In any case, I don’t think they’ll ask about that. Dating isn’t in their culture. It doesn’t really seem like they are that curious about it. I mean, at camp, my campers would always want to know if I had a boyfriend. They were always asking. These girls just don’t. And if they did ask? I think I’m just going to tell them the truth. I feel like the only way I can really help them and guide them is by letting them know everything about me. To be completely vulnerable. To tell them that some things are too personal may throw them off. It’s not like I have anything to hide anyway. Maybe, if they knew everything about me, then they will open up about themselves…

Yup, those are my thoughts for today. I have plenty of time to publish tonight. YAY!

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

27 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

It has been such a cold day!

I skipped breakfast, as usual, and got up at 9. Lissi told me as soon as I woke up that we had prayer time at 9:30, so I hurriedly got ready.

Prayer time was in Jayne’s room this morning. We spent little time praying and a lot of time talking about the Christmas function. UGH! I think it’s great to plan and everything but we’ve just been discussing the same things over and over and I’m just ready to actually put plans into action! I think Jayne had the same idea in her head because she said we could go shopping for decoration material after prayer time and make some decorations with the girls later.

In the twenty minutes before we planned on leaving, I had some dry cereal and peanuts. Yum, yum!

So, Jayne, Lissi and I set out for town in the rain. I actually, for the first time since coming to India, needed to wear a sweatshirt. So weird! Anyway, Shopping this morning was VERY successful. We got all the decoration things we need and I got some coconut oil and a lice comb because I’m beginning to get paranoid about having lice. As we were on our way back home, we passed by a new shop. It was like a dollar store in that everything inside was 39 rupees. We decided to check it out.

It was fantastic! Lissi and I bought a bunch of things we needed for our kitchen and Jayne got a little basket for Momo to sleep in. It was raining our entire shopping trip, but it was, thankfully, a mist which actually felt pretty good.

We got back just in time for lunch. It was my favorite lunch today :D . Anyways, after I ate, I was so tired from a lack of sleep last night and our long walk through town, so I took a nap :D .

I woke up around 3 and decided to roast the peanuts I got in town the other day. They worked out pretty well despite not doing it in an oven :) . Then, I went to the bungalow to get on the internet for a bit and grab my butter from the freezer.

I used my butter to experiment with making a sugary sauce for the peanuts. It didn’t work out very well probably because I had no idea how much of each ingrediant I was putting in :P . Oh well, I mixed the last of my cereal with the peanuts and it was…edible :D .

Uhm…I did some stuff then, at 5, I went to the bungalow to discover that the girls were not making decorations and instead having a movie. So, I decided to watch the movie with them. It was High School Musical 3. It was funny. I laughed in my head throughout almost the whole thing :P .

It was weird when the movie ended. I had to come out of America-world and catch up my brain on the fact that I’m in India, haha. That actually happens a lot like when I’m on Facebook or when I’m talking to my family on Skype…

So, the rain had turned from a drizzle into a pounding rainstorm of complete rainy wetness. When the girls left the bungalow, they ran to the dorm area, screaming the whole way. Latha let me share her umbrella with her and we slowly and carefully made our way through the muddy mess. When I got to my room, my pants were soaking wet and the rain was pounding on the roof so hard I thought for sure it was going to fall on my head :P .

Dinner was delivered to our dorm so we had a meal of chapatti (YAY!), cabbage with egg and curry. No rice. It was weird. I mean…who has dinner without rice?! RICE IS ESSENTIAL! Anyway, Lissi and I ate with the girls in the dorm area while I waited for water to boil for a shower.

After I ate and had hot water, I took a nice shower then decided it was time to do a thorough cleaning of my hair. You see, lice is everywhere here. The girls need to check each other’s hair almost every day to get any eggs out and put coconut oil in their hair to fend off the dumb little bugs. So, since I hadn’t really checked my hair that well the entire time I’ve been here and since I started noticing a lot of dandruff (which was scary since it could be eggs), I have been really paranoid. So, I drenched my hair in coconut oil, then took a strand of hair and ran through it with a lice comb. After a thorough check of the strand, I braided it. I went through my whole head and have concluded that I definitely don’t have lice. As a matter of face, I think the oil has completely taken away the dandruff too because the comb came out completely clean every time. SCORE! I’m satisfied now :D .

Now, my hair smells like coconuts, is exremely oily and is all in little braids. Lissi was just telling me how having greasy hair is a sign of being dirty and poor back home. I told her it was the same in America. Here, however, everyone’s hair is oily and it doesn’t mean dirtiness at all because they all put coconut oil in it. I think I like having the oil in my hair. I feel so clean :) .

So, it stopped raining and it’s not too late at night but everything is so muddy outside so I think I’m going to have to wait until the morning to publish this :( . So annoying! But, at least today’s coldness finally gave me an excuse to cuddle up in Brandon’s hoodie :P . In any case, good night!

Coconuts are Magic

25 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

Well, today has been a pretty boring day. Not very exciting, I’m afraid :P .

I slept SO well last night! Probably because of how busy I was yesterday. It felt so good to finally have a good night’s sleep :D . And today’s weather was SO nice! It reminded me of spring back in America :D . The girls, however, were FREEZING cold, especially at dinner time.

Anyways, I woke up, skipped breakfast then got on the internet at the bungalow. After talking with people for a bit, I came back to the dorm area for devotions, bringing eggs with me so I could make scrambled eggs.

However, as soon as I got there, Lissi said that devotions was starting right then so we headed over to Sujatha’s dorm and I left my poor eggs alone in the kitchen, unscrambled. When we got there, we soon learned that Lissi misunderstood and devotion was at the normal time. So, we just arrived fifteen minutes early.

Yolanda joined us for devotions today and we talked about God protecting us. Yolanda told us a story about a woman who went through a lot of pain because of past boyfriends breaking up with her and decided that life wasn’t worth living anymore. She planned on commiting suicide at a certain time. But, as the time grew hear, two women came to her door and invited her to a meeting. She felt pulled to go so she went and got saved. Her life was completely changed and she was given new hope and peace. She never saw the two mysterious women again.

After devotions and a breakfast of scrambled eggs (finally), I went back to the bungalow and started uploading pictures. And, I continued uploading after lunch. Gr! I miss my USB ports! Uploading takes such a long time when I have to use the computer in the bungalow to do it! Therefore, you had better appreciate the pictures :P .

At about 3, I went back to my room and felt like taking a nap. Not really because I was tired and not because I was bored. Just because :D . So I did.

I got up at like 4 then I…well…I don’t really remember what I did…

Skip an hour and and half…

At like 5:30, Divya excitedly informed me that she had time to go get a coconut. So, off we went! I learned that she has one younger sister, a mom and a dad, who is a contracter. Her family is Catholic. Her favorite color is parrot green, her favorite food is noodles and she hates all animals. Her favorite bird is a peacock, so I guess she doesn’t hate that animal. Which confused me…anyway…One of her goals in life is to see snow. I didn’t find anything else out really because we just talked and talked about random things so I didn’t get a chance to ask anything else. So, it was lots of fun. As we were nearing the turn to get the coconut, one of the coconut guys came up with his bike and knew right away that I’d want one. He told Divya that I always get a coconut from him. I didn’t know that. They all look the same to me! I just get coconuts from the guy closest to me!

Anyway, when I got back, I helped Lissi with study time. There was only one girl working and three girls were just fooling around because they were done with their schoolwork. So, I read them a book to keep them occupied so they didn’t bother the girl still working. They talked to each other in Kannada almost the whole time I was reading and they kept poking the book. So, I told them if they poke the book again, I’d stop reading. They poked the book. I stopped reading. Then, they begged and begged and apologized and begged some more that I would start reading again. I was quite surprised! I thought for sure they weren’t paying attention to a word I was saying. I stood my ground though and didn’t start reading again.

After dinner, Lissi offered Munjula some tea so we made her some and then she came into our room for a bit to talk. She noticed the sore on the back of Lissi’s knee from her brace and insisted that she get coconut oil for it.

Dehydrated? Coconuts! Open sore? Coconuts! Lice? Coconuts! Mosquite bites? Coconuts! Tired? Coconuts! Headache? Coconuts! Break a leg? Coconuts! Cut your hand off? Cocounts! Decapitated head? Cocounts!!

Those last three were exagerations, but I think you get my point :P .

Anyways… Munjula got some coconut oil, prayed over Lissi’s knee then put it on the sore for her. It was very nice. She had to go after a little while though because she said her dorm girls were probably wondering where she is. Apparently, one time, Sindhu was bawling her eyes her because she didn’t know where Munjula was! Aw! The dorm mothers here are so amazing!

Well, I think I’m gonna go publish this now. Maybe I can sneak past David, who is having a devotion in the eating area, without him being able to tease me about taking my laptop to the bungalow so late at night :P .

Happy Thanksgiving :)

24 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

Oh my gosh, today has been so exhausting! It doesn’t help, of course, that I didn’t get to sleep until 3 in the morning this morning :P .

I skipped breakfast and had some dry cereal while I waited for water to boil. Once it finally did, I took a shower then got dressed in jeans and a T-shirt (Because I wanted to be all American today for Thanksgiving :D ).

I headed down to the New Zealand family’s house to start preparing! The first thing we did was head into town to get soda, chicken and corn for tonight. We looked everywhere for corn but couldn’t find it so we just decided to get chicken then and wait to get corn later.

Getting chicken was so interesting! There were live chickens in cages right next to the shop and hanging in front of the shop were dead chickens. Then, inside the shop, we could see a guy holding onto the legs of three dead chickens as he dunked them in a pot of hot liquid and plucked the feathers off. We asked for three chickens and they took them off the hooks, chopped off their heads, stuck them in a bag and gave them to us.

We finally got back home and I was already so tired from the long walk. I soon got energy though as we started right in on cooking (after printing out a pumpkin pie recipe, of course). Daya and I chopped up a pumpkin, cooked it and mashed it. Then, we made the dough for the crust and stuck it in the fridge. To make the filling, we had to improvise a lot. We didn’t have any of the seasonings the recipe called for, so we just put some mesala seasoning in and hoped it would turn out okay. We also didn’t have evaporated milk so we used condensed milk mixed with normal milk instead. Then we just had to wait for the dough to chill more before we put everything together.

Meanwhile, Dani and Sam were making their own Thanksgiving dessert: cinnamon rolls. Dani decided to cook the cinnamon mixture on the stove. After they spread the mixture on the dough and got everything set for the oven, they decided to taste the cinnamon mixture. It was burnt. So, they tried it again. This time, they realized that you aren’t supposed to cook the mixture. But, they forgot the baking powder. Haha! In any case, it was good fun :D . During this time, we also had Caleb go to the bungalow and start peeling potatoes.

At about one, I went down to the eating area to have a quick lunch so I could go back to cooking. However, I learned that Jon Purkash was going to have a meeting with the staff today about the Christmas function after lunch. I was so upset! Why did it have to be today? They had been planning to have it on Friday! I hated not being with the New Zealand family helping to cook because it just didn’t feel like Thanksgiving anywhere else. In any case, Sujatha said I could go back to cooking and she’d let me know when the meeting would be exactly.

When I got back, we started boiling the eggs and got to put together the pie and get it in the oven. Just as the eggs were finishing boiling and I would be able to try making deviled eggs, Lissi came to tell me the meeting was starting. To be honest, I was so angry! Daya told me I should just skip it and no one would mind but I felt like I’d be failing at my job here at the home if I did that. So, I went.

UGH! I was honestly so sick of talking about the Christmas function by then I wanted to just pull out my hair! It was so hard to be understanding and patient when I was just itching to get back to cooking. I even started to feel offended. Like, no one was acknowledging how much Thanksgiving means to me and instead were having meetings. I got so ticked about how everything was business as usual to everyone aside from me and the New Zealand family. So, I spent pretty much the entire time I was at the meeting looking bored, staying quiet and fidgeting. At one point, I honestly felt like crying because of how much I missed feeling the joys of Thanksgiving.

Jody noticed my attitude and randomly whispered to me, “Happy Thanksgiving Day!” It brightened my mood a bit. After an hour of barely paying attention, I couldn’t take it anymore and told everyone I had to get back to cooking and excused myself. I felt terrible about it but I wasn’t being much help at the meeting anyway.

When I got back to the house, I discovered that I had missed the best part: gutting and preparing the chicken. I was upset about that but glad that I could get back. Once we got the chicken in the oven, we de-shelled the eggs. I took the yolk of just one egg to experiment and see if I can get it to taste like a deviled egg despite our lack of ingrediants. It actually turned out really well. So, we made all the eggs and I had everyone try one. THEY LOVED THEM! It was hilarious! The girls even did a “Deviled Egg Dance”. Haha! We then decided we simply HAD to make more. So we did :D .

At one point, I turned to the girls and asked, “So, how’s the pie?” They all screamed their heads off and went racing for the oven in the bungalow. It was quite funny, actually. The pie was fine though and wasn’t even cooked all the way yet.

Then, Daya decided to cut up onions and add them to chunks of pumpkin so we could roast them. This seemed like a good idea, so I joined her.

After that, we were waiting for something to cook (I don’t remember what…the eggs, maybe?) so we put on some music from Youtube and I watched as the girls made idiots out of themselves as they danced all around the living room. Then, I suggested we put on “Cotton Eyed Joe” and I would teach them the dance. They absolutely loved it! It was so funny! I danced to that dumb song until my legs felt like jello.

Cooking had slowed down a bit so we decided it was time to go on a mission for corn. We finally came upon a guy who was cooking (more like burning) corn cobs and selling them. So, after much translating help from nearby Indians, we asked if we could just buy six ears raw. He agreed and we finally had our corn! YAY!

After we started cooking the corn, we started up the potatoes as well. Everything was going according to plan :D .

The chicken was soon ready to come out of the oven so the girls stripped off the meat and put it in the oven to keep it warm. Daya took some juices from the chicken and made gravy. Then, we cut up pickles into slices, mashed the potatoes, took out the corn (which was so dry and hard because it was just not very good corn :P ), set the table (Lissi helped with this), and put all the food out on the table. Everything was finished for 6:30.

The girls and I were SO proud of ourselves! We made the whole meal almost completely by ourselves. Jody and David also couldn’t stop saying how unbelieveably amazing our work had been.

The dinner was fantastic but, honestly, I was just so exhausted by this time that I was only half there :P . I think I liked cooking the food more than actually eating it :D . Before we ate, we, of course, went around the table and said what we were thankful for. I said that I was thankful for new perspectives. Dani said she was thankful that I was here so they could have their first Thanksgiving meal. I felt honored :D .

Jody was so sweet! She has such a way of knowing how people feel! She told everyone how today is such a special day back home for me and how I must have really been missing being with my family and spending this time with them. She gave me a hug and said that, like Dani, she was very thankful that I was there. I felt so blessed!

After we had our fill of food, Daya and I dished out our pumpkin pie. I took a bite and was so shocked! It tasted JUST like pumpkin pie at home does. I couldn’t believe that despite all the subsitutions, the pie still came out so fantastic. Daya and I were very proud of ourselves. The cinnamon rolls came out okay, they just didn’t raise and weren’t fluffy. Oh well, cinnamon rolls aren’t much of a Thanksgiving thing anyway :P .

Lissi, Jody and David pretty much took over cleanup for us, which was really nice. So, we just danced to “Cotton Eyed Dance” in the bungalow after that.

Lissi and I then spent some time watching Youtube at the New Zealand family’s house. My tiredness soon overtook me though so I headed back to my room :) .

I can’t imagine what this day would have been like if we hadn’t decided to make a Thanksgiving meal. I’m pretty sure I’d have been completely depressed. I honestly had not expected for not being home for Thanksgiving to affect me so much. I just can’t believe I got so upset when I wasn’t cooking. I’m just so happy everything went so smoothly and the New Zealand kids got to experience an American Thanksgiving.

So, Happy Thanksgiving, America! :)

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Uhm…yes…

23 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

I think I will just start my posts with various, creative adjectives of my day, therefore…

It’s been a fantabulous day! I skipped breakfast and got up at about 9:00. Then, I realized that I was leading devotions today and kind of freaked out a little. Then, I calmed down and went to the bungalow to get on my laptop for a limit of a half hour :P . Before I left, I grabbed some eggs to make my breakfast.

After another delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, Lissi and I made our room spotless for devotions. I’ve come to realize that if it weren’t for us hosting devotions every week, we would never clean up in here :P . At 10:15, Lissi randomly decided we should go get some snacks to share with the dorm mothers because she is embarrassed about always offering biscuits. So, we headed into town despite the fact that devotions was in fifteen minutes :D .

After getting the perfect snack food item, we arrived back home about five minutes late for our own devotion. But it’s okay, Indians are always late :P . We made tea and sat down and had our usual devotion. I shared James 4:7-10 about resisting the devil, coming close to God and not being part of the world and a Christian at the same time. I didn’t expect myself to be so affected by what I said, haha. I mostly just thought and talked about coming close to God and He will come close to you. I made the point that even when you feel like God is nowhere near you, you need to keep striving to get close to Him because He made the promise that, eventually, He will come close to you. I never thought about it that way and I actually surprised myself when I said it :P .

Anyway, after that, we talked…and talked…and talked…AND TALKED! I got so tired after a while and felt like just kicking everyone out of my room and taking a nap :P . I didn’t, of course. It was all important stuff about Christmas. December just keeps sounding busier and busier! We’re having games, presentations, functions, singing, dancing, dramas, a dinner, presents, awards and decorating. Jayne and Lissi just kept throwing out suggestions. I was thinking about mentioning having a pinata but by the time I thought about it I figured we already had WAY too much going on :P .

Devotions lasted two hours so lunch started pretty much right after it finished :D .

After lunch, I went to the bungalow to finish off the ice cream we got for Lissi’s birthday then to go get the New Zealand girls to try shopping again. However, before I finished my ice cream, Dani came in and said we couldn’t go because Daya had a headache. I told Dani to go back and tell her I’m gonna kill her :P . I wouldn’t actual plan on doing such a thing but ya know…

So, I took a nap :D . At 3:00, Lissi woke me up to tell me that Daya had come to tell me that she could go shopping with me. YAY! I felt bad though because that meant Lissi teaching English to the little girls by herself again but she didn’t mind so I went to meet up with Daya.

We got to the vegetable stand and guess what? It was closed again! Yippeee! Daya told me that we could try again after the English lesson with the girls.

I got back to find that Lissi was making all the girls tea. It was so adorable watching them all lined up with their little tea cups. Gracie was there today! She hasn’t been able to come since Lissi and I started it up because the poor girl got TB :( . But she is looking so much better! Anyway, before I got a chance to help at all, Lissi told me I had to go to our room because Michael and some of the workers were putting up mosquito nets around our beds.

GR! I don’t want a mosquito net! I hate them with a burning passion! But Lissi loves them so I thought that it’s good that she will get one. However, there was only one net, so guess who’s bed they put it on? MINE! GR! Oh well…

After they’d finished, I went back to help Lissi and made it just as they were finishing up. I decided I’d help at least a little by cleaning all the dishes from the tea. Once all the girls left, I went to find Daya. I couldn’t. She wasn’t at her house or at milking. I was sad. So…

I made chapattis! However, after making the first one, I got really bored of doing it so I didn’t try very hard. I was rewarded with three burnt chapattis, YAY! They were still edible though so I had my little snack.

After that, I looked for Daya again. I still couldn’t find her so I grabbed my laptop and got on the internet for about a half hour. Then, I went to help Lissi with study time. There were only two girls though so we ended up just talking most of the time while the girls did their homework with no complaint. One of the girls wanted me to teach her Brittany Spears’ song, “Oops, I Did it Again”. But I told her I barely know it. Yet… Lissi knew it better than me. She’s German, I’m American. Hm…

We left study time fifteen minutes early because the girls finished their homework. When we got into our room, Lissi just squealed with delight at seeing her bed with the poles on the corners, all set for a mosquito net, and a mosquito net on her bed. I rolled my eyes. How could one LOVE mosquito nets! I am now fully convinced that she is crazy :D . So, I took my net down and tossed it under the desk, muhahahaha! I can now lay down on my bed and see the awesome Indian ceiling again. Go me!

The dinner bell rang and we went out to eat. I called over Daya and asked her where she was. She said she was actually in her house, I’m just terrible at looking. Oops. She told me we could head out after dinner.

So, we did! Third night trip into town in a row! Daya invited Caleb to come with us and told Levi to tell their parents that Caleb was coming. Before I left our room, Lissi said she couldn’t eat very much dinner because it was too spicy so I told Daya we should get her some food. Daya suggested chut! Brilliant!

The vegetable stand was open! YAY! We got a pumpkin and some potatoes then went to the chut place. Caleb wanted gobi so we stayed as he ate. Then, surprise! Jody showed up. She said they’d been looking everywhere for Caleb and had no idea where he went. Apparently, Levi fell asleep before he could relay the message. We explained the situation to Jody and she seemed pretty understanding about it. David, however, was quite peeved and told Caleb that he should have asked permission first. In any case, we gave them the veggies and they took it back on the bike. Then we walked home.

Once we got to the dorm area, Jayne and Sujatha asked us if we’d seen Jody and David and we said yes. They told us that they were like really, really angry. Oh boy… Anyways…

When we knocked on my door, we heard a loud, “OW!”. Lissi soon opened the door and was holding her knee. I was so worried! She stood there, in pain, just clutching her knee. She had been trying to get her net over her bed before we came so I insisted she go over and sit on my bed. Daya got a plate and assembled the chut for her. While, she (happily, because she LOVED it) ate, we tried getting the net up. But, it was too big so we got my one and put that up. Daya left and Lissi soon finished her dinner. I insisted on cleaning everything and getting her water. The poor girl had to hop to the sink to wash her hands.

Lissi had been dreaming of coming to India for a very long time and when she found out about working here, she almost didn’t come because of her dumb knee. So, as I was washing dishes, she said to me, “I am so scared the my India dream is coming to an end.” Oh my gosh! Her knee has just gotten so bad! I mean, sure, I’ve had some problems with living with her but, now, I can’t imagine staying here without her. It’s not fair that I came to India on a whim and I’m having no problems and she’s been dreaming of coming here for so long and she’s having all these issues with her knee. Please pray for her. She’s such a sweetheart and I’d hate to see her go and have to give up this dream of hers.

Dang, I’ve written a lot. I didn’t know it was THAT exciting of a day :P . Tomorrow is going to be even more exciting because we’ll be preparing an awesome Thanksgiving dinner. All of the New Zealand kids and Lissi are super excited for it. Caleb says to me today, “I’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving before! This is going to be so cool!” After he told me he didn’t know why it was celebrated, I got to explain it to him. I’m so surprised about how much NO ONE here knows why Americans celebrate it, haha.

Seriously though, I can not believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It’s so unreal! Like, it just doesn’t feel like it. It’s probably the lack of snow and cold :P . And Christmas is in a month!? That’s insane! It feels like July! Plus, back in America, you can tell it’s Christmastime by all the decorations and sales. Here, there’s no sign of it. Nothing. It’s all business as usual. So interesting!

It’s almost 10, I get to walk in the dark to the bungalow and maybe get stung by scorpians and bitten by snakes…sounds like fun! Good night!

Another “Can’t Think of a Title Day” :P

22 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

Another fantastic day :D .

The girls finally went back to school today so the schedule has been restored! I skipped breakfast today again and got up at around 8:30, had a breakfast of dry cereal (with peanuts mixed in for protein :D ) then went to the bungalow to get on my laptop.

Once devotions time came, I headed to Sumitha’s dorm. Devotions were same ol’, same ol’. Lots of chatting afterwards, as usual :) .

For the hour before lunch, I washed clothes. I am so proud of myself that it only took an hour! I’m getting better :) .

After lunch, I took a nap then got up and went to the New Zealand family’s house to go shopping in town for Thanksgiving stuff. Lissi agreed to do the English lesson for the little girls on her own. After we finally got Daya to get out of bed, we went into town. We got some chet, candy, gum, biscuits, soda, laundry washing soap and sugar but no Thanksgiving stuff :( . The vegetable shop where we were going to buy everything was closed so our shopping spree was pretty much a fail. At least, we had some good bonding time and got lots of sweets :D .

Once I got back, it was almost five but I really didn’t feel like going back into town again and Divya (the girl next up for getting a coconut with me) hadn’t asked me about it all so I decided I’d just relax instead. I had some tea and just chilled. Then, one of the girls came to my room and said that she didn’t get to have her nails painted yesterday so I got the nail polish and painted her nails quickly. She was very grateful.

At about 5:30, I went to the bungalow and hung out with Lissi and Yolanda for a bit then Lissi and I headed down to the dorm area for study time. However, the classrooms were closed so the girls just studied on their own. Yet again, I missed out on true study time. Oh well…

Instead, I helped some of the girls grate coconuts for breakfast tomorrow. It was good fun and they kept giving Lissi and me coconut to eat. Now that I think about it, raw coconut straight from the tree tastes so much different from coconut in a bag back in America. Hm…

Anyways, at dinner Manjula showed up wearing western clothes and pigtail braids. She looked like such a teenager! I couldn’t believe how different she looked without Indian clothes. While we were eating, I informed Dani that I looked back on the recipe for Kettle Corn that Ellie had sent me and we pretty much completely screwed up, haha! We then told Daya of this realization and she said simply, “Well, I guess we’ll have to go try it again!” We all agreed!

So, Daya asked Jody if we could go into town to remake it and she gladly said yes and even gave us the money for it. It’s so awesome how much she loves kettle corn :P .

Into town we went again! On our way there, we passed by these four or five men playing drums and some wind intruments. A fairly big crowd had gathered around to listen. It was very interesting and I wished so bad that I had brought my camera! Once we made it into town, we asked the same guy for popcorn. I think he’s starting think we are popcorn addicted :P . He didn’t have enough plain bags left though, so we went from shop to shop to find some. We finally found some then went back home.

So, we cooked up four bags of popcorn and made the corresponding amount of syrup. However, Sam doesn’t like the Kettle corn so we set aside a bowl of plain popcorn for her. Guess what that did? Made the popcorn SUPER sugary! Yay! – ish. It was like a heart attack in edible form! Aside from the over-sugarness, it was just like my aunt’s :D . Yay for success and yumminess! We, of course, got a good-sized bowl for Jody and also saved some for Lissi and Caleb. Then, we just sat on Daya’s bed and munched away!

When it was almost gone, Jody came and said it was super good. Daya offered her some more and she more than happily munched away with us. She asked me how I was liking India I told her that I like it very much. Then she said that it’s probably going to be hard for me to go back to America. She said that you get a love-hate relationship for India because you love India but miss home. However, when you finally do get home, you start having dreams of being in India and then you wake up and realize that you aren’t there anymore and it’s really disappointing.

I’ve a feeling that all this is probably going to happen to me. I’ve decided that it’s going to be impossible to go back to America and live just like I did before I left. India has given me an entirely new perspective of the world. I had been anticipating being changed when I came here, as everyone kept telling me, but never did I imagine it having THIS much effect on me. It’s almost like India is more of my home than America is.

Jody also told me how for the eleven years after her and David first came to India, they were trying to come back. Daya told about when she found out that she was moving to India and said that she was dreading it. Now, however, they all love it here.

Anyway, we finished our Kettle corn and said good night then Lissi (who showed up a little after we finished making the kettle corn) and I headed back to our room.

The days seem to fly by. I’ve been here a little over seven weeks. At ten weeks, I’ll be halfway through the five months. This makes me so depressed! I don’t want my time here to ever end and yet, just as Jody told me, I can’t wait to get back and discover just how different America will be to me.

Belated Children’s Day

22 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by God Carries in November 2011

It has been such a busy and exciting day! Wow!

So, Jayne suggested that we use today being a holiday (naturally) to celebrate a belated Children’s Day for the girls. Soon, Lissi and I both got involved and we spent about an hour last night planning. It’s truly all been such a success!

I got hardly any sleep last night, so I slept through breakfast and didn’t get up until the very late hour of 10:00. As soon as I got up, Lissi said we were going into town with Jayne to shop for things for today’s events. We got popcorn, nail polish, hair ties, juice and even ordered a cake.

Once we got back, I got to paint nails with the girls while Lissi and Jayne prepared a treasure hunt. Painting nails was such fun! I think I’ve probably improved on my nail painting skills tenfold! All the girls wanted me to do their nails and kept saying, “me, next, Aka! Me next!” They did paint each other’s nails too, so that was good :D .

After lunch, I was absolutely exhausted so I took a nice, long nap. At about 3:00, Lissi informed me that we’d be starting the setup for the treasure hunt. All the girls were called to the eating area where Sujatha divided them up into five groups. Meanwhile, Lissi explained to us what we would be doing and had us go hide things.

The idea was that there would be five names hidden throughout the home. These names were written anywhere, like on a coconut hidden in the garbage area, on a banana taped to a tree branch, or written on a chalkboard outside one of the schools. Then, there were five people who each had one of these hidden names. They also had pieces of a treasure map for each of the groups. Five treasures (which was tickets for a movie in the bungalow) for each of the groups was hidden where the specific map indicated.

So, the girls had to go find a name, then find a person and ask if that was their name. If it isn’t, they can’t ask that person again for five minutes, if the name is right, they get a piece of the map. Once they get all five pieces, they put it together and find where the treasure is. First group with their treasure gets a bag of candy.

Lissi did absolutely amazing with setting everything up. I am SO proud of her. Her maps were so good and the tickets for the movie were written so authentically. She even gave each of the people hiding a map complete with where each person was hiding, where each name was hidden and where each treasure was hidden. Dang, it was so creative and awesome! She really put everything into making sure the girls had a good time.

Anyway, after we explained the rules to the girls a few times, we went to hide (Lissi, Jayne, Daya, Yolanda and I). Then the girls were released. It was epic! They got so into it and they understood everything so well. I was so happy! Of course, the fact that I let Levi hide with me got quite annoying, but that’s alright :P .

It didn’t go completely without problem, though. First off, each group had a number and a color and all of us had the correct corresponding number and color except Jayne. So, the groups all had the right pieces except one piece. That threw things off quite a bit but at the end, all the groups just switched around maps pieces and set to work on putting together their map.

The biggest problem was when Yolanda just left her hiding spot, put all her pieces and map on a bench and went to an appointment. When Lissi saw this, she was close to tears and literally screamed (because Jody told her it was okay to :P ). That’s how much she wanted this to be fun for the girls. She wanted so much for everything to go smoothly. Jayne had already given away her pieces though so she took up Yolanda’s spot. So, again, everything turned out okay.

The girls had an absolute blast! They all got their tickets and got really excited for the movie.

While the girls were waiting for the movie, Daya showed me all the popcorn and tea they’d be serving during the movie. I told her I really wish I could have made them kettle corn (honestly, mostly because I really wanted to try making it :P ). So, Daya randomly said we should go out and get some plain popcorn and just make some. And we did! We got two bags of popcorn (and some Chet :D . I got dahe pori instead of gobi this time :P ) and brought it to Daya’s house.

While the girls watched High School Musical 2, we made kettle corn! It actually turned out fantastic! The whole New Zealand family tried some and got so excited about it. Jody said that caramel corn was her favorite snack as a child and the kettle corn reminded her a lot of that. Jackson was hilarious! He was trying to grab the hot popcorn from the pot so Dani served him some in a cup but he dumped it back into the pot because he wanted to get it himself. So, we told him he couldn’t have any. Later, he begged for some so Jody told him to ask me nicely. He did and I gave him some. He sat there while a big chunk of it in his little hand and he goes, “I have big popcorn!” and just bit away at it. So, yeah, it didn’t come out quite like my aunt’s in that it had little sugar strings attached to it and that the popcorn all stuck together but it was still SO delicious. We gave some to Lissi and Jayne and they both loved it. I quite excited about this new snack of ours :D . Oh and everyone says a big THANK YOU to my Aunt Karen :D .

I hung out with the New Zealand girls, Jayne and Lissi for a bit then headed down to the bungalow and watched the very end of the movie. We had a very late dinner :P .

When dinner was almost over, Daya came over to me and said that the bonfire they had been planning had been canceled so the New Zealand girls, Lissi and I could watch a movie complete with ice cream, slushies and, of course, kettle corn. I agreed and said we’d better get a move on because it was 20 minutes until the shops started closing.

So, we headed into town and got Sprite and five bags of popcorn! When we go back to the home, we split up and all got everything we needed. When I got back to the New Zealand family’s house, Daya informed me that the kettle corn didn’t turn out too well. All the sugar  mixture turned into clumps. So, we tried making more sugary syrup stuff. It turned out a lot better and looked more like the way my aunt makes it. However, I honestly liked our first batch better :P .

Anyway, we all gathered on Sam and Dani’s big double bed and watched the movie “Penelope” on my laptop as we munched on all our different snacks. It was such great fun!

So, now it’s past midnight and everything’s locked up so I really don’t think I’ll be publishing this tonight. Tomorrow then! Good night :D

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