just another week in India

I’ve been so busy here that I’ve forgotten to update my blog!

I’m definitely feeling more settled here and getting used to things again-my tolerance for spice has greatly improved in the past weeks, I feel more confident stepping out onto a busy street, and I’m slowly increasing my knowledge of the Tamil language. I spend a good portion of my time in the ISP office working on various projects, trying to make things run smoothly, and helping the students process their experiences.

I always love riding in autos!

I feel like every day is a story here, so I’ll just try to mention the highlights of this week:

- going to a nearby restaurant and getting the Mint Lemon Daisy drink which I have missed ever since I left India. So now I’m making up for it and have got it 3 times this week!

- spending time with my students and developing closer relationships with them. They are all so different and unique and I’m really enjoying hearing their stories and watching them experience India.

I missed Dinnesh so much!

-I got to go visit Cottolengo home where I did my internship while I was a student here! It is a home for mentally and physically handicapped people so I was curious if any of them would remember me. When I came in, shouts of “Aka! Aka!” echoed from around the room and brought tears to my eyes. I wandered around greeting the familiar faces and meeting some new people. When I found out that I had been hired for this job, I was especially excited to see my boy Dinnesh who I spent a lot of time with before! We used to play this game where I put a block on his head and then made a sound and he would tip his head down and I would catch the block in my hand and he would just crack up every time. I wondered if he would remember the game. So I went over to him and put a block on his head and just started to make the noise, when he tipped his head down dropping the block right into my hand! A light came into his eyes and he laughed his precious laugh!!! Definitely one my most favorite memories so far!

-making new Indian friends and growing those relationships. I'm trying to be more intentional about getting to know other people outside the batch since I'm here for a longer time. I have been blessed to be welcomed in so warmly and I love learning about how they see the world.

-On Saturday I took one of my students to the nearest Indian hospital for her fever. We were both kind of dreading the visit and we did end up spending a large portion of our day waiting around there. We spent an hour and a half waiting for the doctor, then she had to get blood work done. Then we were supposed to come back in a couple of hours to pick up the results. We came back and got the results, but the doctor wasn’t in for another hour to read it! Anyways, we made the most of the experience laughing at the unique decorations and trying to find our way to the different offices labeled in Tamil. But now I have navigated an Indian hospital and will be more prepared for when the next student is sick!

The boys at the orphanage

Not expecting to sing 'Jambo, Jambo Bwana' in India!!

- After church today, the youth go to an orphanage to visit a bunch of little boys whose parents are in prison. Of course the language barrier is always a challenge to know what is going on, but the little boys were so cute and fun to play with! We played one game where to win your team had to yell the loudest…of course they really liked that game! I’m excited to go back next month to visit them again!

-At this orphanage the kids started singing a song. Immediately I realized it was a tune I recognized: 'Jamb, Jambo Bwana'! But they had turned it into a song about God, just set to the same tune! So strange when your two worlds collide!

-Here's to another full week in India! It's been sinking in today what an awesome opportunity this experience is to live for a year in India. I'm very thankful and excited for what is to come!