Bindu Art School

The art school is such an encouraging place to visit! The colony that I am coordinating construction for is the Bharathapuram colony. It is the most developed and always so loving and inviting. I love the privilege that I have to be there everyday and to meet and engage with all of these sweet and beautiful people. Bharathapuram is a colony that has a barber shop, a small school for UKG students (kindergarten), a carpenter, a retirement home, and the Bindu Art School. The art school is a project of a man from Austria who provides the materials, the instruction, and the art teachers to teach the classes. The students are between the ages of 25-75 and before they create a piece, they are instructed to meditate for about 15 minutes to picture what they will draw, how, and what they want to express from the pictures.

All of the artists are leprosy affected, and all of the artists exhibit their own style. I love the days that we get to go to the art school and look through the never ending stacks of their expressive art. The special and unique aspect of the school, is that the painters paint from imagination. In the states, we have the Internet to see pictures and we have TV and often the ability to travel. These people do not have those luxuries (except everyone does have a TV.. its a reflection of the corruption found in the government. Someone running for an office promised a TV to anyone that voted for him- and they did, so everyone now owns a TV). The pictures of mysterious mountains, of nature with rivers and beaches, vibrant flowers, all of these are from their imagination. Some have had the luxury to travel, so they will describe and tell stories to the others who will draw and paint what they imagine it to be. Something unique about buying them at the school is that you get to take a picture with your artist after you purchase the work. It is always a special moment to put a face and personality with what you get to bring home with you.

The funds that are raised from the paintings goes back to the colony and its needs. The reason why we are building a community center is partly because of the funds raised from the art pieces being sold.I took my first group to the art school today, and I expounded upon what I knew of the art school, the peoples stories that I knew, and that one of the artists has a child at Rising Star. I let the group search through the stacks, while I explored deeper into the school. I found a man, who spoke decent English and he was asking me questions about America and how long I was able to stay in India. He said that he had seen me carrying bricks and cement to the houses and through the roads and how he was so appreciative of what we were doing. He is so very excited for the community center to be finished and provide a common meeting place for all of the colony members. He then grabbed my hand and brought it to his forehead while bowing and said that "God will bring many blessings for your work. You come, you build, and you still buy paintings. The money from the paintings helps build. And still you buy to bring home and we can live in America with you. You show us on your walls. God bless you..." I as so taken back by the mans gesture. This is a common way for Indians to 'give blessings' and appreciation, by putting your hand near their bowed forehead, but his words were ones I had not thought of.

We come to the colonies everyday to help and build. These people help by painting. We buy their paintings as well as help them to build. And this man was appreciative that we would tell others about him and his home by hanging these paintings onto our walls. How beautiful that all labor points back to the wholeness of a community.

Today one of the girls found a picture of a man who was painting a picture. One of the artists who is usually the translator because he understands the most english became very excited and said that this man paints the most beautiful pictures. Everyone loved him, and he passed away this year. So one of the artists drew a memorial picture of him. The artists who had passed away did not have fingers, he only had stubs for arms and he would fasten paint brushes to his wrists and create paintings that would reflect such Indian beauty. The man said that whoever bought the painting, needed to understand his story, so that it could be told as it hung on a wall.

Bindu Art School: http://www.bindu-art.at/

Crossing Borders to break down Walls

                                                        

Andhra Pradesh... Where to start... So Rising Star services about 12 colonies in the state of Tamil Nadu. Through research, talking, and going to leprosy affected meetings, Dr. Kumar and Padma have had hundreds and thousands of colonies brought to their attention that are needing medical help. Many have not seen doctors, and receive very little help and even attention for that matter. Dr. Kumar has been planning a trip to the state of Andhra Pradesh for nearly 1 1/2 years and this session that came in had just enough people for his plans to become a reality. The drive was 5 hours north and we had to cross into a new state (which is a FIRST for Rising Star) and we had our first encounter with the corruption of the Indian government. I am going to refer to a lot of 'laws' as rules, because these 'laws' change depending on who the person is and how much money is exchanged as to whether or not the rule is followed.


According to the state patrol, vehicles that cross the state line must show the original copy of their title and ownership.This r did not apply to rented vehicles and their drivers because they had some type of clearance Also, no more than 12 people are allowed to ride in a van, regardless of the amount of seats within the vehicle. We had exactly 24 people on our trip, including Dr. Kumar and our 2 drivers, so we were not worried about this rule. We had already rented a van (along with a new driver) to leave out from our small hidden village, but our 2nd van was driven by a Rising Star driver, and he did not hold the title to the vehicle. With this unexpected dilemma at the border we had to drive to the closest city and find a new vehicle to load into. Just so you know..it was AWESOME! :-) We are talking a pink giant party bus, with a tv, a random pole, flashing disco lights, and a shrine to 4 different hindu gods. It was impressive to say the the least. We had to also higher a bus driver, and on our way out of the city, he was honking to get a man to move out of the road. The man in the road kept mouthing off and starting to say things about the bus drivers mom (Dr. Kumar translated the event for us after). The bus driver jumps out of the party bus, punches the guy square in the face, shakes his hand out and mounts back onto his pink steed to drive us away.  We were all speechless and the only thing that broke the silence was Dr. Kumar's reaction of "This is why we love our Rising Star drivers."

We continued our drive, and were pulled over a few more times by the state police, once to see that Val, our bus driver who was no longer allowed to drive because we had to rent the party bus was told to get off because of too many people. It was funny to pull over, turn around and see Val standing on the side of the road for us to 'secretly' pick him back up again. So our anticipated 5 hour drive turned into a 9.5 hour drive to make it to our hotel. We were originally going to arrive at 9:00 am and make it to our first colony (that had 95 people) by 10, but we did not get to the city until nearly 2 in the afternoon with empty and hungry bellies. We were able to get some lunch, and I excitedly (or overly excitedly) ordered French Fries and an Ice cream cappucino.We then made it to our first colony and spent 5 hours solid testing blood sugars, blood pressure, cleaning/bandaging wounds and ulcers and meeting the people of these communities. 

The first colony was called Jyothi, situated in the thick of the green, mountain filled Tropical jungle with monkeys, and jaguars, complete with trees you could not even see through.  We heard stories of the jaguars, but we did not see any in the 5 hours that we were there. We were not sure how the people were going to react to seeing 20 white people who have become accustomed to loving and touching these people we so deeply care for. But as soon as we got off our respective vans, the peoples smiles were beaming and their hands were reaching out with such compassion and thankfulness. One of the men even went to their shaq store and brought out cokes and fantas for all of the volunteers. I did not drink any, but my favorite was the the closest one to coke that sported a "thumbs up" logo across its glass bottle. Near the end of our stay, the women brought us flowers and placed them in our hair. It is such a loving community to be able to live parts of our lives with! Since their was only 1 blood sugar kit, I was placed on the Diabetic testing with Laura Jane and Kenzi. Let me tell you, we got every single persons blood sugar there! Leprosy causes very thick calluses to form on peoples bodies, and often that place is on their hands, which makes testing blood sugars hard to do at times. We had a good system with my team though. I would check blood sugars with a straight needle, while another girl would use the pricker and we would share the meter between the two. We enjoyed our system, and Dr. Kumar was impressed that we tested every single persons blood sugar there, all 95. We found about 22 new Type 2 Diabetics and about 37 with hypertension.

Our 2nd colony we went to the next day was even larger than the 1st. This colony was in the slums in the middle of Tirupatia. Tirupatia has a VERY large temple in it that people will walk for weeks to come and just sleep on its steps. The temple has rituals of shaving off women's hair and we were not able to go, but it played a big party in the lives of those that lived within the cities borders.  At this new colony, we set up our clinic inside a building about 20 ftx12 ft, and managed to fit 23 volunteers, medical equipment, and waves of the 130 residents of the community. It is interesting how India works. In anything that happens that draws a crowd, whether that is riding a bus, a function, attending church, or even coming for treatment. Men always sit on the left side, and women always sit on the right. Families do not sit together, and women are assisted only by women or their spouse if he decides to do so. When we were setting up, a woman barely sitting on the steps next to her walker kept pointing towards me. When I sat down with her, she pointed to my feet and then to hers and spoke in Telegu (In Andhra Pradesh, they speak Telegu, not Tamil, so we had to have an interpreter for our Dr.). A man close by, pointed to my shoes (Chacos) and said that she wanted me to give them to her.


In Tamil Nadu, Padma has worked so hard with micro loans and teaching the colonies that they have means of making money and supporting themselves if they put in the effort to do so. Micro loans are provided to give them a start and this makes such a huge impact on the lives of those that are leprosy affected. In this new state that we were visiting, where we just broke through the border with a Dr. visit, these people have no understanding of how to support themselves other than begging. It is learned through generatians and it is done simply because it is what they have seen their parents do.  The line becomes where do people need help, and where does the help cause more problems. By giving shoes, it justifys the action of begging. By keeping, it leaves a woman who uses a walker barefoot around the streets of a slum. I kept my shoes, if you are wondering,  but it stayed with me and it is something that I am often reminding myself of.

" The line becomes...where do people need help, and where does the help cause more problems"

On our own in Chennai

We often travel through India in Rising Star vehicles driven by the Rising Star Drivers and with large groups (between 8-30) white people. Today, was a day of our own exploration. We were driven to the bus stop in Chingleput, our driver, Vamel found our right bus, gave us strict instructions on what we needed to do (women sit on the right side of the bus only) and gave us emergency contact information. He waved us off and we started our big adventure! The drive takes about an hour to get to the part of Chennai that we were needing to get to. And from that bus stop we had to find an Indian to help figure out what bus we needed to get on to make to the Spencer's plaza where the mall of Chennai is located. My camera died while we were there, so not very many pictures of the day. But the buses in India almost always have people hanging out of the door frames, holding onto the rail because the bus is so full.

There is no such thing as personal space in India. If you manage to get a sit, you spend the time getting bumped by bellies or I had a woman cuddle up next to me with your head on my shoulder and make use of it as a pillow. If your standing, you are constantly anticipating the screeching stops the drivers make. You will hear mixes of Tamil, Hindi, and English throughout the buses, or witness the long streams of lifeless stares that is most common on the bus as people zone out for their bus ride and just endure the journey to their destination.

We always managed to find someone to talk to, that would often be accompanied by that man personally walking us to where we were needing directions to go to. That is something that I love about Tamil Nadu. The nicest people live here. Literally.

The state of Tamil Nadu is known for having the kindest and most giving people. In India the way that people are greeted, is that you say your hellos and the next question is "Have you eaten?" The assumption is that if you have eaten then you must be good and feeling in good health. If you have not eaten, then something is not right and the initiator takes it upon themselves to prepare a meal and to dine together.

Much of our day was spent shopping, bartering, and being helped to our next locations. On one of our street walks, Kacy saw a man that reads palms, which we had talked on the bus about wanting to get done! She and I immediately jumped on the idea and it was worth the rs. 60 we paid! 

 He looked at my hand and he described past events that had happened (he talked specifically about experiencing a change in my family life) and described that my dads side of the family was very large and influential and very close with one another (True!). He talked about how I was independent and did not follow others in their directions, but I make my own path through out life. He also said in regards to marriage, it is something that does not act as a door in my life (meaning it is not absolutely open or absolutely closed), but more as a window that is open in my life and that If I find it, then it will be my own choice to pursue. He laughed explaining that it mimics my personality of not following a direct path but still creating my own. He also said that I would have a governmental type of job involving :commuting" (this specific word was hard with the translation) that I will work at until I am 60. I will have 2 boys and 1 girl. I will die soon after I turn 90 and at that time I would have 5 grandchildren. The sun is the planet that I follow, and my lucky #'s are 1 and 5 but #9 is not lucky for me.      

We were able to go shopping at FabIndia, the very popular store in India that is popular, especially among the volunteers! It is like an Indian version of a Pottery Barn mixed with an cheap Indian Anthropology. They have lighting and home furnishings, as well as jewelry, chitigars, pants, and salwars! The manager spoke English, so she actually set us up with a rickshaw that could drive us to a grocery store, and a store we had heard about from some friends. We were amazed when we got to our new location! A part of Chennai that no one knew existed! We are used to the trash filled streets, followed with piles of sand, skin and bone cows and sarees beautifully decorating the woman. Here we found trees, and sidewalks, a store that was indoors with back lighting to her jewelry. A massage parlour, and an outdoor restaurant complete with mood lighting and... COFFEE! :-) The restaurant had watermelon soup, feta cheese, the people all eating were dressed in western clothes and western modest skirts with hair flowing down their shoulders! We all sat down and were amazed that this side of Chennai even existed.

I imagine I feel very similar to a person of royalty who is always having things done for them and having someone available to transaction and translate for them. But today we had the opportunity to leave that net of safety, to travel 2 hours north to the largest city in Tamil Nadu, experience the bus routes, bargain, find food on our own, and manage to make it back to Chingleput where our Rising Star driver was gladly waiting for us to take us back home.

Session 4 day 1: Adventures in Construction

Today is the first full day of session 4. The new team has arrived and as small as our last group (the tight knit group of 7) was, this has been an interesting change of pace. We welcomed in 16 new girl volunteers, 2 guys, and a family of 4. It is fun to be able to watch them form their perspectives of India and to see how they view their vast difference of the India culture to that of the quick pace in America. I think it is an honorable thing to be able to watch a person's view of life suddenly change and take into account how different lifestyles are lived and yet still accepted.

I am a person who does not like sudden drastic changes, yet at the exact same time, after the change has occurred, I am often thankful for where the experience takes me. I was asked to become a coordinator for this session, and I happily accepted the offer. With that being said, I am now the "Coordinator of Construction" and will be able to take teams out throughout the week to different colonies and to help build a community center at one colony, and perhaps bathroom's at another. Jennie at first was going to go with me and help on my first day as a coordinator (the person in charge) but she ended up getting sick this morning and I went out as the leader of a team solo. I had anticipated that I might have started off by myself and I honestly did not have any worries or concerns with how the first day started.

Each volunteer groups are split into different teams, 1. Medical, 2. Tutoring, & 3. Construction. The team members will stay the same throughout the session, but their jobs will vary from day to day. So today I had team Shakti, which is Tamil for Power. And power they had! It was so amazing to work with the group and to get to know them, all the while throwing bricks from a 6.5 ft. stack and moving it to where the builders could finish cementing the bricks and build them into an outer wall for the community center. We took fun action shots (the workers kept insisting that we throw the bricks to save time) and even though we were hesitant to throw at first- we developed an awesome system that got the job done while also being fun amusement for the Indian's.

We also had a man approach us while we were working at the colony, and I knew by the way that he dressed and the manor that he held himself that he was a visitor to the colony. I approached him, with the Tamil greeting of "Vanakum" with my fingers touching one another in the shape of a house directly below my chin. This is the manor that you greet someone with much respect and an encouragement of welcome. He quickly started to spout out English words that he knew and pointed to the sun exclaiming " Tamil Tamil Tamil Sun hot Tamil Tamil Tamil" **Tamil are words in their language that I have no clue what they mean)** I called a water break after listening to him talk for a few minutes, attempting to understand his explanation that the sun was hot and the shade was better and it was a good time for rest. As we walked to the car to get our water bottles, a group of about 19 men and women dressed in very crisp red Saree's and mens tunics walked off the streets and towards this new man (who had explained he was a d river of a VW whitebug that he kept pointing to). A man dressed in red approached us who spoke English farely well and explained to me that they were from a Tamil Temple 65- Km away. They came to the colony to help and to bring blankets and pillows to those affected with leprosy.

The red dressed temple people beamed with excitement and wanted to express that they had helped and that they were people with good intentions. This act was huge for them. Bigger than I think anyone can imagine coming from this culture. The Hindu caste system is the one that declares those affected with  leprosy as being untouchables. But to have one temple working to make a difference for those lives is amazing.

The world changes everyday. People change everyday. Life brings new perspectives and new opportunities everyday to make a person's life different.

The constant thought here at Rising Star and in India is:

Did I do enough to make the change that needs to be seen by others that can cause a ripple big enough for the world to change.

Everyday, we are reminded with an enthusiastic "YES." We touch those who are untouchables, we work for and under the direction of a community in need, and we teach as well as love children who were raised as beggar's, never expected to advance in life.

Dedication Day

I took a break from blogging since this past week, and took in some much needed down time and self reflection. It was was the end of Session 3 and the beginning of Session 4 this past weekend. We were able to celebrate with the Dedication of the volunteer hostel (which the kids call Elephant house), dedicating the opening of the new section of the school, and also the "Grand opening" of the dining hall for the kids to have a place to eat their meals! We are really excited about this last one because right now, the RSO cook, Padmine (Pronounced Pad-Mean-E) is making the meals for the 182 children in a room no bigger than a 10 x 5. I have seen 3 burners, and barely any storage room. Needless to say, she is extremely excited to move into the dining hall where she will have more space, storage, and a common area for the kids to sit and eat opposed to now on the volleyball courts where they eat sitting on the ground.

We had Padma come to the dedication, who is a huge move and shaker for Rising Star here in India. She is the daughter of a former president and her heart is with those who are affected with leprosy. She speaks boldly and truthfully and stands much for justice to be taken. She started the micro loans that are happening in the colonies now where the people are able to buy animals, open stores or barber shops, open anything that forms a a means to where they can sustain themselves and make a living. Padma wants to see those affected with leprosy off of the streets and to not earn their living by begging but instead infuse them with a sense of ownership for what they can earn. 

At the Dedicaton, Katie and Shilo, who are both volunteers who are amazing at Dance and instructing were able to spend nearly the last month teaching 4 dances. They kept it as close as they could to the Indian form of dancing and movement and the intricate ways that they weave their arms and use bells on their feet to keep rhythm was great to see!  The kids also performed a march at the school, ribbon cuttings, and many speakers came to encourage and reflect on how much Rising Star is changing history.

The volunteers were able to dress up in Saree's, which is like wearing a dress in America, only everyone here wears Saree's because I was told somewhere that once a woman is married that is her new traditional clothing opposed to Chitigar's that we as volunteers often wear. But with the help of the house mothers, we were able to look more Indian and gain much approval from the house mothers. It was a fun experience, but I cannot imagine being clothed in so much material in this heat. They are more comfortable than expected though, and I hope I can wear another one while I am here!

The kids decorated the campus in preparation for the dedication, and they made so many streamers out of coconut leaves! It was incredible to watch, and all of the flags that were hung up on campus were hand glued by all the children. The boys also laid out the lanes on the track that we built last week. AND saturday was parents day, where the parents were able to travel, some for a few days, in order to come and spend the day with their children that they get to see maybe a collective 3 weeks out of the year. The parents would beam with pride when we were talk about their children, and they all sat in the mango grove just hugging them and showering them with what little gifts they were able to bring along.

All day, the kids beamed, the parents radiated their proudness for their children, and I got to be an on looker to see such a special moment in a hidden mango grove in the heart of Tamil Nadu in the country of India.

Guests at a Hindu/Seekha wedding

In India, to be of a white race puts you as the highest caste system in the Indian society. It causes a lot of disputes, racism, and unfair profiling. When talking with Brother Bassa today, one of our tour guides, we were talking about the treatment that we have received, and the constant invitation of people wanting to take pictures with us, or to hold their children, or even to give away their personal belongings to us. He explained, that even though he is a very successful and well established person in his city, he is denied a lot of services and opportunities because he is Indian. We told him also, that we had attended a wedding the night before and how accepted and loved we felt from people we had never met before.


He replied, saying that if he and I were to walk into a Hindu wedding, and even if I am covered in paint and don't know a single person at the wedding, I will still be able to walk in and be encouraged to participate. He on the other hand, can be sharply dressed, perhaps know 1 or 2 people out of all of the guests and be denied entrance. I asked how often that happens, and he replied "nearly every day of my life." Since he is a tour guide, he goes to places with white people fairly often, and he is allowed to go into places that if he would try and enter alone, he would be immediately turned down- no questions asked.

It makes me sad that a culture puts so much weight on that. We have those issues in America also, I am well aware of that. But, it is taken to such a higher standard here in India -the mantra is as if whites can do absolutely no wrong.

After explaining that sap box, I want to elaborate on this Hindu/Seekha wedding that we attended last night at our hotel in Agra.

The event was amazing and such a beautiful way to celebrate the communion of marriage. We do not own Saree's (nor could we figure out how to wear them if we did!) so we wore our Chitigar's, which is like street clothes here. All the women at the wedding had AMAZING silk Saree's and wearing all types of sparkles, gems, bangles. They all looked so beautiful and festive. We arrived in the middle of the groom's party and we stood as close to the wall as we could so we could observe what was happening and try to figure out who the bride/groom was. We saw another white female at the party who was wearing a Saree and had long blond hair. We eventually made our way to where she was standing as we watched a Indian drum circle parading and dancing up and down while certain members of the wedding party were charaded and dancing in the middle of the circle. Bali is a style of Indian dance, and the women who were part of the drum circle were wearing such elaborate outfits and moving so gracefully with their bodies and hands. We found the groom- who was wearing a red turban with a decadent veil of silver chains coming down to cover his face. The blond girl (who was from the states and was staying with a friend of hers from college who lived in India) explained that before we had arrived, the grooms face had been covered and a turban was put on to indicate that his personal part of the ceremony was about to start. It takes nearly 2 or 3 hours for the actual turban to be fixed in place and then have his face covered. Suddenly, the friends parents came running over to where we were standing and grabbed our hands, explaining that we had to dance. She led us to the middle of the drum circle and the women dancers grabbed our hands and began moving back and forth- instructing us how to dance Bali. We were all so unsure of what was happening, but quickly became at ease at the pace and the beating of the drums! It was like a festival where you just move and experience life one moment at a time, trying to take in everything that you can.

We danced for about 5-10 minutes before exiting the drum circle and everyone started to walk out of the room, and fromed into a moving trail outside towards the road of the hotel. We followed the moving crowds, and at the end of the trail, the groom had been placed in a very decorative carriage, along with the youngest male cousin on his side of the family. People were approaching him and giving gifts, congratulating the still veiled groom, and then leave to line the path that they were to take back to the hotel. The dancers led the procession, parading the groom so that all the guests could see him being pulled by a white horse carriage. Dr. Kumar had told me last week that the grooms are paraded around their home towns during receptions, its done as a manor to parade the groom but also so that the townspeople can keep him accountable in that they have to speak up in case anyone has been to his wedding before.) These weddings can last from 3-10 days and the actual wedding ceremony is done at the very end of the set number of days allotted to celebrate. The dancer's/drummers soon after starting their procession, again grabbed us to continue dancing in the middle of their circle. A girl explained that the more people dance within the circle, the happier the marriage is believed to be. Therefore we danced the whole way back to the hotel and witnessed the two families placing ropes of jasmine around the necks of their equal counterparts. The grandfather of the bride would place the flowers on the grandfather of the groom (and vica versa) the dad of the bride would place the flowers around the neck of the father of the groom (and vica-versa). This happened for nearly 30 minutes. Then we were all released from a small room into a larger one lined with hundreds of dishes to eat. Pita, hummus, Italian, Lasagna, breads, desserts, Mango Ice cream, Jelibea (amazing!) rices, sauces, soups! We were all encouraged to eat, while the groom sat on a couch on a stage and either was presented with gifts, rituals, or conversations with close family members. While we ate and observed everything that was happening for almost an hour, the bride finally appeared and she was escorted by about 4 or 5 people who were holding something that resembled a square canopy above her that contained woven ropes of jasmines. The groom walked down the steps of the stage, excitedly grabbed her hand and brought her onto the stage with him. We all watched with anticipation, as ropes were placed around their hands, boxes of smoke were swung in front of them, chants, music, noises, and ritualistic movements were perfomed. The bride and groom then sat down on the couch and spent the remainder of the evening taking pictures with all of the guests at the wedding.

Festive, fun, and something that was so impactful! It was not a complete Hindu wedding, but it is one that we have refered to as a HIndu/Seekha wedding. Both rituals were apparent, but they appeared to be somewhat blended.

We were later told that if a foriegner is present at a Hindu wedding, then it is considerd a sign of good luck and will actually raise the standing of the couple who is getting married (Kind of like their social status is raised). We were encouraged to take a picture with the couple on the stage, which 3 of us did, and the bride and groom were so amazingly dect out in beautiful jewelry, gowns, and India fashion. The wedding had about 400-500 at it, and that amount was significantly small compared to many Hindu weddings that can have the upward amount of 2,000 people attend.

A day well spent

We adventured to the Taj Mahal today! We were up by 4:30 and made it to the Taj by 6:15. Our tour guide, Miten did an amazing job explaining the history, the perfection of the symmetry, as well as knowing places that will produce the best pictures. Miten has also had the privilege to give tours to many ambassadors, actors, Julia Roberts, and prime ministers/presidents.

 

The Emperor and his wife conceived 14 children in the 16 years that they were married. Only 6 of the children survived childbirth though and with her last delivery, she became severely ill. The Emperor asked what he could do for her or if she had any last requests. Her only 2 requests is that he would always be merciful to their children and that he would not marry again after her death. He then asked what he could personally do for his wife- and not i regards to any one else. She explained that she wanted him to build a monument that would let everyone know how truthful their love was. It took 22 years to build the Taj, and the Emperor died 13 years into the construction of the monument. Every single aspect of the Taj is perfectly symmetrical except for the grave site inside the main building. The wife is in the center, and the Emperor was placed to her left. It was decided that it would be better for them to be buried together than to be separated due to symmetry. Also- the legend of the black Taj Mahal that was intended to be built is actually a world famous rumor that never had any roots.

We enjoyed hearing the history- but our fun really started when we were done with the tour and able to take pictures! The photo session was SOO much fun with jumping pictures, hand stands, cart wheels, and clapping from passerbyers (or even crowds)! It was great being able to sit on the back of the Taj also and look at the river and to feel the breeze on our faces.

 

We went back to the hotel to enjoy an amazing breakfast!! Which also had ice cold coffee that tasted amazing! (First coffee in nearly 3 weeks!). I left my swim suit in the states also, not realizing that I was going to need it for our weekend trips. When I talked to the tour guide about buying one at the market, he said that "swim costumes" would be for sell at the hotel fora bout RS. 400 ( = $8 U.S.). Sarah and I adventure to the place that had the "swim costumes" and we were excitedly suprised by how original they were!

We then had an adventure of riding an elephant! It was soo awesome! The elephant even got up in the middle of us "loading" onto the ride and it was really cool being able to get that close to such a huge animal. The owner had even painted with some chalk material onto the elephants head creating a crown look. It happens to be that riding an elephant was something that Sarah has on her bucket list- so she was EXTREMELY excited through the whole thing!

It was deffinantly a fun and full day. We are also going to end it at the hotel by attending a Hindu wedding! Apparently, being white, makes us almost "good luck" to have at a Hindu Wedding so we get to party all night!

Hindu weddings are all about how many people you can have at the their weddings, and often consist of having 2,000 + people. They can often last up to 10 days also- but it depends on how long the Hindu's want to spend with their celebration. I have been told that they consist of a lot of food, pictures, and go late into the night. The actual Wedding ceremony will take place on the last day and starts before the sunrise. Tonight, at the hotel, there are 2 different weddings! :-)

Within the past week, we have managed to go to a late night Hindu Festival in the village near Rising Star, worked in 3 different medical clinics, tutored the children for 2 days, travelled to New Delhi, saw the Taj Mahal in Agra, and about to go to a Hindu Wedding!

What a beautiful and amazing week!

July 2nd- Welcome to New Delhi & Agra

The day started at 3:30 am on Friday- and within the past 12 hours, we have traveled by a plane, a terrifying bike rickshaw, 2 different travel buses, and we finally made it to Agra. The day was so quick and so many things happened that we either unexpected or established by our tour guide. One of our drivers, T.J. (the one who drove me to the hospital) started his college program this week- so he is no longer with Rising Star. Because we have only been using T.J. or Veil to drive us around Tamal Nadu, we are being exposed to new drivers- but none have the personality of T.J. or Veil. A new guy- who did not even say one word - drove us the 2 hour ride to Chennai where we boarded an Indian plane, called IndiGo. Because the height difference is so dramatic from Americans (and 2 of our girls are 6 feet tall) it was really tight and no one could mange to get comfortable. Between a little boy kicking the back of a seat, constant movement in the small aisles, people constantly moving their seats up and down, and exploring hands that would ALWAYS manage to touch my head, needless to say it was not a comfortable flight. We made it safely to New Delhi though and we instantly were found by our tour guide. We were given a quick tour of New Delhi, shown the presidential house, which is currently occupied by India’s 1st Women President! We also were taken to a large market to find spices, food, shoes, sari’s, temples, and all the while being driven by a thinly framed man on a bike operated rickshaw. It was like a theme park run away cart! Casey and I were partnered up and we were tossed from side to side and up/down for nearly 2 hours trying to cruise through the tight market roads.

 

It is Friday, and Friday’s for Muslims are equivalent to a Christian’s Sundays- so the masques were closed for tourists to view and the men had a call to prayer 5x throughout the day. We did climb 4 flights of a street building though and were able to look over the edge of the rooftop to see inside a masque and observe the cleansing techniques before prayer and different types of prayer poses. It was really cool to see!

I was taught how to make chai tea from Assam leaves, and also instructed how to make green tea ice cream by a spice shop owner, so I am excited to get back to the states, eventually, and try it out. Hopefully I can keep the instructions in my head for another month! I also took some type of digestive spice from the restaurant that we ate lunch at. It is a popular after meal spice that consists of a small amount of white licorice and some green leaf looking things that are good for digestion and settling upset stomachs.

The markets are notorious for being unsafe and a high amount of pick pocketing occurs. While looking at a bangles shop, one of the girls either misplaced her money belt or had it taken out of her pursue. It was not discovered thought until after had finished eating our lunch. Upon returning to the store- there was no sight of it. We had stopped by an ATM before going to the market, so a lot of cash was left in it- but even thought we searched throughout the shop and the shop owners personal areas- we could not find it anywhere! The tour guide felt horrible, and kept apologizing to her. We never did find it, but the tour guide let her borrow his phone to call home to cancel all of her cards. Thankfully, her passport was in a different zipper- so she still has that form of identification on her.

After the market, we spent the next 4 hours on a private bus ride to the great city of Agra, where the Tahj Mahal is located. The driving is very similar to Chennai (which is similar to the rough parts of Mexico), so there is a lot of sporadic honking, light flashing, and weaving that happens. I have yet to be annoyed with the horn honking until our ride to Agra. It felt as if every 5 or 10 minutes, a honking competition would break out, and these horns are high pitched and not taken well in large doses. But we made it to our awesome hotel and we managed to have our rooms upgraded to suites, so we are enjoying the use of western toilets, overhead showers, and the anticipation of elephant rides tomorrow and seeing the Tahj Mahal at 5:30 a.m.

I have to be honest though, I do already miss Rising Star. I miss knowing the drivers, the fashion of the people in Tamal Nadu, and the small sleepy villages that line our route to and from the colonies. In Northern India, it is much cleaner, but it is also much more westernized and men will wear jeans, t-shirts, and polo shirts. The women are even more so covered, being closer to the middle east, but the fashion is not something that I am attracted to like I am in south India. I also miss hanging out with the kids in the evenings- and the loving anticipation that they all hold for us to be part of their lives.