Lice!

Sunday was definitely an amazing day for me! Kala (Carl's house mom from last year) wrapped me in a sari for church. She is such a great person! A week or so ago I was at family time with Gracey, my house mom, and Kala somehow heard that Carl's sister was at Rising Star. So she had one of the other volunteers come and find me so I could sit and talk with her. She ended up giving me these beautiful orange bangles in the end too! The people of India are so loving, I just can't help but smile when I'm around them. 

Anywho back to the story of Sunday haha. So after I came home from church (which takes 4 hours round trip to get to. I'm telling you these people have dedication!) I went over to Kala's to ask when she can give me henna on my hands and feet. And she ended up wrapping me in her BEAUTIFUL red sari! She went all out on me; earrings, bangles, and a necklace!

Since I'm in a boys hostel, I really don't know any of the girls. Let's just say all the girls know me now! They all were saying, "You look super! Your sari is beautiful! Is that yours?" haha they are all so adorable! Then I preceded to explain that Kala wrapped me in her sari. They were all very jealous and then began to ask Kala, "When can I wear your sari's?" 

It was nice to be able to get to know the girls a little bit better. However, all the girls have lice. And guess who has it now?? Yes, I do. It itches real bad, but I guess my trip to India wouldn't be complete without treating my hair for lice at least once right? haha. 

Yesterday was definitely hard on me. We had to say our final goodbyes to the kids.... I definitely promised myself that I wouldn't cry in front of them. And I kept that promise! I balled as soon as the last kid left the dining hall. I couldn't help but think of little Enokelee running up to me at playtime with his cute smiling face snuggled in my arms. Or playing hand games with the Priya and Gracy. I've become so close to every single one of these little ones. They definitely do a great job at showing you their love for you. And if I don't bring back anything else from this experience but love, I will be thoroughly happy! 

the reason!

 The first couple of days at Rising Star the main question everyone asked each other was, "What made you come to India?" . It's a very valid question and I would like to share with everyone what made me choose to leave my lovely home with air-conditioning, and come to sweat and humid India! About 10 and 1/2 months ago my brother, Carl, had just come home from India. He absolutely loved it! There are no words to describe the light and glow that came from him whenever he showed all our families and friends the pictures and retold the humbling stories of all his experiences. (especially the stories about the adorable children) There was something in him that changed, and  he showed me a few journal entries that he wrote while he was in India that inspired me. It gave me a little bit of hope. And that hope went a long way! It was hope for a better Emily. An Emily that could help others without feeling remorse for their situation or circumstances. I ultimately chose to come to India because it changed Carl, and I was hoping for the same.

 Today, I'm happy to say that I felt that little bit of change in me!

 My only fear of coming to India was doing medical in the leprosy colonies. It's not the blood or the ulcers for me. It's the 'feeling sorry for what these people have been through' that kills me. However, yesterday that wasn't the case at all! While I was washing this lady's feet, I look up for a second because she got quiet. When I did so, I see her kissing her hands and putting them on my head. She was blessing me. It was the sweetest thing someone has ever done for me! I did not feel sorry for her, but I was grateful to be the one helping her! I felt special to have the opportunity to feel all her love through her actions.

 The people of India (adults and children) have so much love! They are the happiest people I have ever met, like they come running just to see you or to hold your hand. Like yesterday we went to this Hindu temple after medical, and we were taking pictures by these stairs. So all of a sudden I see these kids come running in our direction, RUNNING! I waved at them frantically, and they all came to me. They wanted to touch me and hold my hand and walk with me. These kids were so loving! One of them pulled out her arm next to mine and said, "white skin is super!" I just laughed and said "Indian skin is roomba super!!" she laughed and took my hand to go up to the temple. She did not leave my side the whole entire time! Even when I had to leave, she was right next to the van waving :) 

 I had education today so basically I tutor kids and read with them during their school time. It can be a lot of fun, but you have to be super patient because some of the kids do not want to be there. But lunch is always the best part about education days! I always have several kids shouting my name and asking me to sit with them. One of the boys was looking at my CTR ring and asked me what it meant and I explain that it meant 'Choose The Right'. And he was like, "No, no! It means 'Cook The Rice'" hahahahahaha! I guess that's super fitting for India, considering we eat rice twice a day!

 I love India! I love the people especially!! They are the reason that I'm definitely coming back next summer :)

This Is India! (T.I.I.)

I AM IN INDIA! WOOHOO! The past couple of days have been amazing, India has been quite a culture shock to me. However I think the most interesting was my journey..... 

 After traveling for 25 hours straight, with 2 layovers and barely any sleep,  I got through customs (which was shockingly easy) and was at the baggage claim. They said people have lost their luggage before but I didn't think it would be me. Boy was I wrong! I'm pretty sure my luggage didn't even get out of the states. Meaning, i only have my backpack! (good thing I packed another pair of clothes) Then after the hour long process of filling out the paperwork for my luggage, I went out of the airport to find no one there to pick me up. I've got the luck I can tell you that, haha! I continue looking around just hoping and praying that they were playing hide-and-go-seek with me or something. Nope, it just turned out to be Friday the 13th is all! In the end I finally got to the hotel and found out my reservation was cancelled for some odd reason. (I'm sure you think I'm kidding, and I wish I was, but I'm not. I promise! Haha) By this point all the workers noticed I was super tired. So they drove me over to the Radison, where Carl met me about an hour and a half later!! That's where my bad luck ended, because Carl is the best! I haven't seen him since the middle of May, and I've been deprived of my anna (Tamil for older brother) 

Instead of writing in paragraph form I'm just going to have a checklist of what I've done so far:
-Have had a REAL Friday the 13th
-Ate with only my right hand on a banana leaf, on the floor
-Had DELICIOUS Indian food (made by a friend we know in India). Southern Indian food is so super good!
-Rode in a Rickshaw (a small motorized vehicle)
-Went shopping (bought an Indian dress, pictures will be up soon!)
-Met the coordinators of Rising Star Outreach!!

So far, India has been an amazing experience for me! Carl was laughing at me the other day because I started saying something like, 'When I come back next year...'  and he was like, 'Emily, you've only been here for a day and you're already planning to come next year?!' Well of course I'm coming back to India next year. I mean I haven't even started volunteering at Rising Star Outreach and I absolutely love it here! Love. Love! LOVE!!

Eskay (one of my dad's friends from India) invited us to a Brahmin Hindu wedding. I'm super lucky to be able to go to a traditional Indian wedding, and I'm super excited! So that's what Carl and I are doing today. Then tomorrow we head to Rising Star Outreach! WOOHOO!!! I'll post pictures later this week :) 

Oh! And the title of this post is the name of my brother's blog, but it fit so well so I used it :) And you should really read his blog! It's: Www.carlhashey.blogspot.com

i'm the traveling world!

Holy guacamole! I am very excited about this summer! First foremost, a week after my junior year I have the opportunity to visit Western Europe with my school. I am like beyond happy that I am able to do this. I will be visiting Rome, Florence, Venice, Austria, Paris, and London. I will be away from June 12th to the 27th! While I am away I will blog every couple of days about the places I've visited and the amazing time that I will have there. 

INDIA! This is the greatest opportunity that I think I will have yet to have in my life. I am so ready to love the people and the service that I am providing for them. Especially the change that will come over me while I am there. In India I will be volunteering in a Leprosy Colony for 3 weeks. The service that I will be doing includes: educating children (the kids don't have leprosy, but because their parents or grandparents had/have the disease they are cast out from the "regular" scene of India.) construction, and medical (which is what I'm most scared about, but I know that I can do it). My brother Carl went last year and convinced me that Rising Star Outreach is a wonderful volunteer program. I could tell that India and the people there, really changed him (in a good way) and I decided I want to be able to serve with him as well. He will be volunteering from May 17th until the middle of August. (Dedication to the maximum!) I am so grateful that he was able to go and that I will be going back with him this summer. I will be blogging about my experiences in India as well while I am there.