Rising Star: Day 2: Jungle Adventure

Today was A LOT of travel.  We got on a bus at 645 am and drove to the middle of the jungle passing all sorts of fields: bananas, papaya, and lots of other stuff I don't know the names of.  We passed by a village that had a huge dam straight through the middle of it.  The driver and a translator we picked up told us that the dam removed 125 families from their homes because it flooded the good growing land they were on.  This was pretty interesting to hear because the exact situation happened in Haiti in the biography I am reading for class. It is interesting to see how things we may view as improvements also have negative impacts we have to consider. Weighing the balance is the difficult part.

   We drove over some crazy terrain and I was super glad I had taken my motion sickness medicine.  It was pretty crazy but Rising Star has these two buses that all of us call the Super Buses.  They can do anything!! And on the back of them it says Medical Squad - On Duty.  Pretty cool huh!?

   We were dropped off and had to jump on rocks to cross a couple of rivers.  We hiked through the jungle for about 20 minutes to a very remote village.

   We were the first medical team that had ever come to their village.  We set up a clinic on mats that the villagers brought us and laid out in the shade of a big tree.  It is hot here.  I have never experienced this type of humidity and heat.  You are never dry.  You are always sweating and have a film of sticky dried sweat on you that just makes you feel dirty constantly.  Although this is the case, I forget about it most of the time and don't pay attention to the heat until someone mentions it.  It is so pretty here, especially the village we were in today.  It was green! Just like the midwest but cooler because it is India jungle!     Not only was the landscape pretty but the people are beautiful!  The little children that follow us everywhere and call us "auntie" are adorable and the adults have a kindness in their eyes that just lights up their whole face.

   When we arrived in the village and set up the clinic some people came but not as many as we were hoping.  Apparently there was a political rally and the politicians were giving away free stuff so that was were the majority of the people were. Indians love their politics.  Most cement homes have painted icons on them and depict what political party they follow.  The most common ones are two leaves, a sun rising over mountains, scissors, and glasses.  I'm not sure what each means but it is interesting to see how they are grouped by location.  Near Rising Star it is more common to have the leaves but the further we got away the more suns we saw.  I want to look into this further and see what they really mean.

   The people are so gracious to guests.  They always find something to show their appreciation.  Today a man and boy came and started dropping coconuts into a pile, then the man pulled out a machete and started shucking the coconuts so that we could have the coconut water.  They had first brought us a big basin of water for us to drink but we can't exactly drink that so this was the next best thing.  I'm not a big fan of coconut water, it isn't sweet like fake coconut, it is a little sour and bitter.  The flesh of the coconut is pretty good though so we strategically drank some and dumped the rest and had him cut upon the coconut for us.  That man has some real talent.  Incredible precision.
   We got back on the bus and started the 6 hour bus ride.  We stopped for some dinner at a Vegetarian Restaurant (most places do not serve meat here) and ate some lunch/dinner - the first real meal we had all day.  Indians use only their right hand to eat their food, no utensils, and certainly not the left hand (that is for sanitation reasons - let's just say, we always bring toilet paper with us everywhere we go).  We watched our awesome bus drivers (Anon and Veal) eat and figured it out.  Scoop with three fingers and use the thumb to push it into your mouth.  Simple!
   The drive was long and tomorrow we are going on an overnight trip so it is time for a shower and bed.
I'm tired but loving my time here!

Rising Star Day 1

Today was awesome!  Long and exhausting but great!

   We all woke up early cause we couldn't sleep and ate our cereal with boxed milk.  Sidenote: the boxed milk makes it extra soggy - use sparingly

We got ready and put on our traditional choudidars and loaded up the vans.

We headed out to a leprosy colony and set up a clinic.  Bri and I worked the assessment and documentation station so we had to assess the people (ears, eyes, skin, arms, legs, etc...) and write it down so the doctor could focus their care and prescribe accordingly.  This is a lot more difficult than it seems.  They don't speak English.  I don't speak Tamal.  We eventually learned a few words that were very important like valekida - pain, sali - cough, etc... just by using some sign language and lots of head nods.  It was pretty impressive and awesome that two people from completely different worlds can connect in a hot and humid cement room in a remote village of Chennai.

   One man especially really affected me.  His name is Moorthy.  This poor man was so gracious while being in a lot of pain.  He has open sores all over his feet and hands that cause him a great deal of pain.  He tried to cover up his tears but you could tell he was miserable.  He was especially moved when I made the simple gesture of just touching him on the shoulder.  These people are used to being shunned and untouched.  Their country rejects the science of Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) and continues with the traditional belief that it is a curse for some wrong going either in this life or a previous one.  Moorthy kept bowing to me over and over with such humility and gratitude in his eyes.  After I was done with his chart and sent him to the next line for the doctor I still couldn't stop thinking about how amazing it was that I am here and I am helping people who do not receive any help from anyone else.

   After we were done one of the boys in the village that goes to Rising Star brought us to his house in the village.  We were invited inside by his parents.  Their house is a small, two room, cement floor, and thatched palm frond roof shanty very similar to all the others.  We were offered drinks and food but told them we had just eaten a big meal.  These people are amazing.  They have absolutely nothing but are so willing to share and serve with everyone else.  Another boy, Peter (who took a liking to me because he likes to say my name) took us to his home which was a larger cement home with three rooms.  Again we were welcomed.  These people may not have much but you can definitely tell where their priorities lie.  They value religion and family above all else.  Most are hindu and each village has a small temple or place of worship.  They are willing to sacrifice to have those sacred things to them.

  We then loaded up the vans and had a great time again. We all decided on spirit animals and mine is apparently a "de scented skunk".... why??? I asked and they said it was because skunks are really cute but they have some flare... what that means I'm not sure.

   We got back to Rising Star and had PB sandwiches and fruit for lunch at about 3.  We loaded the vans again and headed to another colony to socialize with the people there.  There were about 6 people there and it was a ton of fun!  There was a man there with a ton of energy and led us in singing and dancing.  He was so nice and his wife Mary was elegant and beautiful.  Another lady, Seroja, was tiny, mayber fifty pounds, and crippled from leprosy and years of abuse from her husband.  She is so Christ like.  She loves Christ and has pictures around her home of him.  Each day she saves some rice from her meals to feed the birds.  Her life revolves around feeding those birds and I was so impressed with how clean and neat her home was. Every home I have been in has been clean and well taken care of which is surprising because the country is filthy.  There is no waste management program so trash is everywhere.  Often, you see fires along the road because they light the ditch on fire as soon as it gets too full of trash.  They make their own waste removal happen.

   Another woman there was very short and beautiful.  She was so happy we were there and spending time with them.  She kept holding my hand and giving me hugs.  These people are so used to being 'untouchable' that any form of affection, even a smile, brings them great joy.  Although it was a long drive, it was well worth seeing how happy it made them.

  We drove home and ate dinner as usual, on the roof with banana leaves for plates.  We usually have rice and a spicey sauce with fruit, cucumber/green pepper raw salad, and these flat rice crisps.  Very good but often too spicy for me.
   It was a great day despite dealing with frequent power outages, hot and humid weather where you never get dry, squatty potties, bucket showers, and spicy food.  This is an amazing opportunity and I hope I am touching these peoples' lives as much as they are touching mine. 

A Fresh Start

What happened after Mumbai: we got on the plane safely and sat behind a huge scary man. The flight went well and we arrived in Chennai. The man from Marriott was there with our names on s board so he got us in a van we drove about 45 minutes to the hotel. We were silent on the trip- just taking everything in. It was a bit frightening to see the slums at night time. It was also very sad to see how poor everyone is. The houses are nothing more than Little shanties and what buildings there are are all run down with broken windows and doors. It was pretty scary to see what people were out at as well. I certainly wouldn't want to be out at all past sunset. We got to the hotel and Marissa (another girl from our group) took care of everything and got us in our room. The door closed and me and bri breathed a huge sigh of relief. We had made it! On our own. I'm glad we had each other. Doing that day alone might have been the end of me.

We took showers - careful not to get the water in our mouths! Even in the super nice hotel the water is still not drinkable. It is really frustrating. Simple things like brushing your teeth is difficult. You have to use bottled water for everything.

I read some scriptures out loud so it would save us some time to get to bed faster. I was in 3 nephi 17. I read about how much Christ loves us all and how He tarried with the people. I read about angels encircling the children and that is when I cried for the first time in the last 48 hours. I know I was blessed and protected. I know the Lord helped us along the way and placed people to help us on our journey. I know prayers are answered because mine surely were. It was a scary and intense situation but we survived and made it but only because the Lord listened and helped us.

After we calmed down and were ready for bed, I ran to the toilet to throw up. The malaria meds we have to take make me really nauseous and I had been so stressed that I couldn't and didn't eat all day. I think throwing up was both because of physical and emotional factors at this point.

Then bri runs over to throw up. While throwing up we both start laughing because really!? After all that our bad luck streak continued and we were now taking turns throwing up. Awesome. We eventually got to sleep

This morning was a fresh start. we woke up and went down to breakfast where we finally saw everyone! It was when Cheryl and Karen gave us hugs that the final sweep of relief came. We now had someone else in charge and we were safe. It was so good to see everyone. We had eggs and French toast, fruit, juice, and donuts. Everything. Our final meal.

A girl in our group us pretty sick so we delayed going to Rising Star until later. We all packed up and put all our luggage in one room and headed out to the city. Our first rickshaw ride... Awesome!! And super scary. Traffic lines mean nothing to these people. Our driver was the craziest of all. We call him "super driver". He called himself that once so it became his name. These rickshaws are like a moped with a box around it. Crazy ride for sure!

We fit four girls in one rickshaw - tight!

We walked around a street with shops on it. We bought some scarves and chudidars - everyday Indian clothes. It was fun to be with everyone and experience the normal lives of Indians. There were many beggars that followed us and it is hard to say no but handouts aren't the answer. We have one girl in our group who just graduated and came last year to rising star so she has served as a sort of guide. She said the women with children she turns away because if they make money off of it their children will never go to school and will be taught to beg but the women who are trying to sell something, those are the ones you try to support.

It was a great day and we got some lunch from a restaurant called the Sea Shell. We had traditional Indian chicken butter Marsala with Naan (a flat bread) and rice. It was very spicy but good over all. Then we got back to the hotel and loaded the buses to rising star.

The bus trip took about two hours and we had a blast! It was really good to get to know some of the girls better. We arrived at rising star and it is awesome. We got settled, ate dinner more rice with spicy sauce/curry, and were oriented to the program and rules. I took a bucket shower and now it is bed time.

It was a great day, hot and sticky, but great. Tomorrow we are going to the leprosy colonies.

I'm excited to be here and think it is going to be an awesome experience, hard, but worth it. I'm so grateful for the blessings I have received so far and know that I am never alone,

Pray for me! Love you all!

Getting to India

It is a horrible no good very bad day. And when I say very bad I mean VERY bad.

At the moment I am sitting in the Delhi airport with just Bri and Rachel while the rest of the group is in Chennai. How did this happen? it's a long story for a long day...

London: we get up we get ready we are checked out and then we go to use the printer in St pancras' business center to print our boarding passes but it does not work. We filled everything out and hit print (several times so I hope it wasn't sent somewhere else) and nothing happened. We asked the very nice concierge to help us out and he does... Just very slowly and thoroughly (helping us check boxes and reading every line). Eventually we print them at the front desk and rush out the door. We are behind on our schedule and it's a problem so we have to skip going to platform 9 3/4s which was a bit of a bummer but we made our plane so that was a plus.

We get on the plane and fly to Istanbul... super random but definitely an adventure. We had to go through security again because the plane lands behind the security line = time consuming and pointless in my eyes. We eventually find our gate after some gross bathroom experiences and we see that our plane departs an hour later than planned.
Also in security we had to pour our clean water into a trash bin. We are really thirsty by that point so Bri decides to go ask a man at a cola shop to fill up our water bottles. As he is about to turn on the water he says "unclean?". NO! Not the water we want. So we decide to buy a coke just for some refreshment and the tag says the price in euros, pounds, and something else we didn't recognize and we happen to have some left over pounds from London so we thought, "perfect!".... He didn't take pounds.

We were getting a little discouraged at this point so we pull out UNO. UNO is now our happy place. Soon we were in much higher spirits and we could forget how many eyes were looking at the "blue eyes".

I've never been a minority before and in a completely unknown place like that, it was a little scary. I was intimidated and anxious about the whole thing. I'm very grateful for UNO and as Bri put it "time flies when you're playing UNO!" We started boarding in no time and our positive moods were only slightly damaged when we had to board a very very full bus with mostly Indian and Turkish men in order to get to our plane.

Our flight to Chennai was moved up 6 hours so we were really tight on time so we talked to one of the flight attendants about it, trying to get some help with getting out faster but she was not a very happy person and turned us away. No one on that flight was very nice.

During that flight the plan was to do homework but with the mood we were in it just wasn't going to happen. Instead we picked a fantastic funny simple movie called Ramona and Beezus. It was hilarious and we laughed the whole time. Dinner was nasty but I ate as much as I could then drank water and ate the roll. We tried to sleep for the next 4 hours but I'm pretty sure we got a total of ten minutes between the two of us.

Then we landed and the race began. We ran and pushed and shoved our way through people, got through customs, got our bags, exchanged some money and asked a billion people to tell us where to go. We thought we were in the right place: the ticket counter of Spice Jet airlines outside of the airport where it said domestic departures (because you can't enter without a ticket and our professors had our tickets). ... We waited. We were early so we kept waiting. A nice guard man came to ask if he could help us. We were apparently in the wrong terminal. We had to run to catch a shuttle... They told us it was ready to leave but we sat there for 15 minutes waiting for more and more people to get on and then he had to go around collecting money from everyone, fortunately since we were transferring we got a free pass. Then we left and along this long road we had to stop and pick up every police/guard/soldier we saw walking. By the end there was about ten to fifteen on the bus, with VERY large guns, all staring at us. A little nerve wrecking? I think so. We finally arrive at the terminal and we go to the ticket counter and they say there are no tickets. We continue to explain over and over again what happened then they finally print out our group's ticket and we run through to check in. I then heard the most beautiful sound in the world, my name being yelled by a girl in our group. Beautiful. She then went to the check in desk with us and took charge apparently they had everything ready and set but they wouldn't let us in because it was "too late". Our flight didn't leave for another 25 minutes. They yelled, we yelled. There was a really nice airline worker man trying to fight for us. A mean lady said no. Then Maddy left to ask Karen (our professor) what to do.... Bri turns to me and asks "did we just get left?" in one of the saddest voices I've ever heard. True fact: we got left. But in all fairness they had to catch the plane too. So we go back to the ticket office and they tell us our group ticket is nonchangable. We need to buy a new ticket. ....I think I said the word seriously out loud. We go back to checkin desk guy and he starts fighting for us again. The answer is no. We go back to the ticket office to buy new tickets. At this point we only know that we have to be in Chennai (all the way across this foreign country) by the next morning or the bus taking us to the middle of the jungle would leave without us and that would be difficult to deal with.  After many attempts to find tickets there are none from any of the airlines. The last airline in the airport had tickets to Mumbai which is about half way to where we need to be - closer is closer - so we try to purchase them. The credit card wouldn't go through so after moments of panic we have to use a different card. We finally have our tickets but the plane leaves in 8 hours so we wait. We finally let ourselves have a bit of emotional time but Bri reassured me and I reassured her. I knew we were strong enough and smart enough and being protected so all would be well.

While walking around I felt someone kick me in the hind area. I was a little concerned for sure. I turn around and it is Rachel from our group. Looking a bit flustered. She had boarded the plane and was taken off by security for having a "metal cylinder" in her checked bag. She pulls out an otoscope and they apologized but she has missed her plane now. She had a flight leaving at the same time so we all waited together.

What did we pull out?? UNO! Of course! Our happy place. It was a very long wait and I'm pretty sure people were taking our pictures and video recording us at some points.

We got on our flight. Actually slept!!! It was lovely. We sat next to a very nice girl, what a blessing.

Got to Mumbai. Yep we are now on the west coast of India. Crazy. Again we have to go back through security and when we do the lady guard sends us back out bc our gate isn't there. Someone sent us there bc our gate was not posted yet so we went through security with all the pushing and shoving of not following proper line rules that is so common here at the wrong place. Being two little polite girls means it takes a long time to get anywhere. We are getting better at pushing though.

So we go to the new place she sent us and go through security...again.

We find our gate and camp out. We are NOT missing this flight. I think we were almost taken as chumps for a bit by some girl trying "help" us get wifi. She was sadly mistaken, something fishy was definitely going on.

Yes.  We played UNO again but you can definitely tell by this time we have had it.

Right after I typed that sentence above, our flight number disappeared from the board. Gone. It's getting close to being time to go so that was a little scary. I went and asked a worker to help us and he was great. Went off and looked it up then came back and told Bri to stay at this gate  - when he came back he started talking to Bri - thinking it was me....apparently all 20 year old white girls look the same when you've never seen one before - I don't blame him :)

Now we are sitting here just waiting. We will get into chennai at around 9 where there will hopefully be a driver waiting for us... hopefully. If there is not I am not sure what we will do.  Here's to hoping and praying that nothing else goes wrong!!

Side note: there are many very kind people here who have tried to help us as much as possible. Even though things haven't gone as smoothly as I would've liked and we all have very different customs, there are good people everywhere. I'm grateful they are looking out for me and I know some things have happened for the better and people have been sent our way.

"keep calm and carry on!"

London: Day 3

It was a day of unfortunate events, that turned into a pretty good  day!

We started by taking a train to Windsor Castle. 

It was a great idea and plan!  .... the castle was closed.

It was closed because the Queen was there with Prince William and Kate! Even though it was bummer that we couldn't go in it is still pretty cool.

The castle was amazing and HUGE! The castle from yesterday seemed tiny compared to this one. 

Police men and camera crews were everywhere and we couldn't go in so we explored the town around the castle and it was great. 

We found a little ancient church so we went inside and looked around.  It was as beautiful as ever and it even had a painting of the last supper from around 1600!

We think this chair is where the Queen sits when she is town... neat huh!?

We found an "Ancient Well" as well!

We got some delicious fudge and ate it on the train back. 

By this time the train made me sleepy and I needed real food but we had to get on a bus and it was a LONG ride so this picture is what Bri says describes the situation perfectly. 

We went on a bus to Camden Market to get some Fish n' Chips and scarves, wallets, and trinkets of all sorts, but it had changed drastically from how Bri knew it last year so it was really difficult to find our way around it.  We eventually got everything we needed and got out of there as quickly as possible.  It was a bit crazy in that market.

We ate our Fish n' Chips on the Tube and some lady got really disgusted with us... it was only a little humorous. 

We went to the Inns of Court - the law center - just to look at the outside of it and it was magnificent!  Ginormous!  I really like archictecture apparently.

We then went to the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square!!

Turner is my absolute favorite but we also saw Monet, Renoir, Rubens, Van Gogh, etc.....
It was really awesome and I'm so glad we went.

After that we went to Buckingham Palace.  Another huge enormous beautiful building.  Seeing all of these buildings full of so much history makes me a little sad that America is so new that these types of things just don't exist there.

We ate dinner at Bella Italia and had our last supper before going to India.  A salad, bruschetta, and pizza!  Delicious!  I know I am going to crave pizza for the next three weeks so that is what we decided to have.  Good bye pasta, cheese, ice water, lettuce.  I will miss you.

After dinner we went to the grocery store to stock up on some candy for both India and good old USA.

Now it is bed time and I have to pack to get ready to leave tomorrow.  I do not want to travel tomorrow at all but I know the experience on the other side will be great.  I hope I am strong enough to do all I need to do.  I miss home and my comfort zone, but I am so grateful for the opportunities I have to get outside my own little box and experience new things and new places.

Pray for me!

Quote from the UK to help me along my journey: "Keep Calm and Carry On!"

London: Day 2

Wow. It was a crazy full day but I saw so much of London!

Woke up in my cloud-like St Pancras Hotel bed, got ready, and ate a continental breakfast of fresh fruit, bread and cheese, and juice.

We went to Picadilly Circus and this is the view (our first Harry Potter site of the day - 7th movie)

We also went on Charring Cross Rd which is Diagonal Alley for all those Harry Potter fans - honestly it doesn't look like much, but we WERE there!

We then went into Tesco (a really common little grocery store here) and got the best chocolate bar ever- Cadbury Caramel bar. I paid with exact change!!! I'm practically a Londoner now ;)

Of course, we had to take some telephone booth shots!

We continued down The Strand and found the Australia House or Gringotts Bank.

Across the street from the Australia House was a small chapel that we decided to peek into and it was amazing. It was St. Clement Danes's cathedral and it is beautiful!

The benches each had a family's name on it and I think me should put the Ure crest and name on the second to last pew of CL ward building. I think we earned it.

The building was destroyed in WWII but was restored and dedicated to the soldiers. 160,000 names were written in the books displayed around the chapel in 9 volumes. Pretty cool.

We each lit a prayer candle.

It is a beautiful building with stained glass windows and ornate architecture. A cute old lady was there making sure each prayer cushion was there and the hymnals were ready.

We walked along the Thames River and across the Bridge to find the South Bank where we saw artists, book sales, graffiti pits, street performers and a ton of people dressed up like different characters.  They all creeped me out so I stayed far away.  

Then we made our way (after getting lost a few times) to Borough market. It was a whole bunch of food stands: fresh breads, chocolates, cheese, sausages, bratwursts, and pasteries. It all looked and smelled amazing but Bri and I decided to just get some fresh bread and cheese to eat along the way. Really good stuff!

We then went across the Tower Bridge. Gorgeous! The Thames may be a dirty smelly river but the bridges over it and the buildings along it make up in beauty what it lacks. It seems that every bridge has a caramelized peanut vendor who is making the peanuts in a big wok looking thing. They smell and taste amazing!
About ten minutes after we got the peanuts I see Bri has a dark smudge on her lip and I tell her this.... she looks a little sly and responds "it's probably because I put my face in the peanuts" ... The peanuts are in a plastic little water cup!!  How did she possibly accomplish that?! 

On the other side of the bridge was a castle! My first castle!

Apparently a prisoner escaped through here, climbed across the moat on a rope and swam across the Thames to freedom.

This same castle had lions until the 50's! Lions are my absolute favorite animal so London is a great place for me. Lions are everywhere because they are a symbol of royalty. I love it!

We then took the Tube to St. Paul's Cathedral. Impressive.

It was an excellent day to go though because it was a catholic holiday so there was no entrance fee! Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside so all we have are outside pictures. Inside was incredible. Gigantic dome ceilings depicting Paul and the apostles. Apparently the end section of the cathedral under the main dome is dedicated to the American soldiers of WWII because they sacrificed a lot to protect the cathedral and maintain it during the war.

Our Harry Potter theme continued when we went over the Millenium Bridge (the twisty designed bridge that gets crazy twisted in the 6th movie)

Of course we had to take a wizarding duel shot!

Over that bridge is the Globe theater where Shakespeare's plays were and are preformed. It was a real disappointment when I found out we couldn't see a play here. For the looming Summer Olympics they are doing a special 37 languages 37 plays and the next English play is in June. Sad, but at least I was able to see it!

This evening we went to the Queens theater to see Les Miserables. Fantastic! The children in the play were amazing! They gave me chills for sure.

Seeing the city at night was definitely different. There were lots of street performers (some with some real talent) but I could tell that getting into trouble is a lot easier so we hurried home to get some sleep.

I'm sad I only have one more day here.  There is so much to see and do and I'm finally getting more comfortable and confident in this new place.  It has definitely given me more confidence going into the India part of this adventure, but I am still nervous for what lies ahead.  I like my hot showers too much!



Some Random Pictures:

yeah....we don't know why this was occuring...