Trying For Something

Every night at dinner we do highs and lows, which is where we all stand up and say the high and low point of our day. This parallels the way I feel about India in general. There seems to be no in-between. You are either participating in some of the most meaningful experiences of your life, or witness to some of the most devastating. I have been reading “Eat Pray Love” while I am here (I know, how annoying am I to be reading this while in India?) and my favorite quote from this book so far has been “This is a good sign, having a broken heart, it means we have tried for something”. Even though it is difficult to witness some of the scenes in the colonies, or to hear some of the children’s heart wrenching stories, it means that we care, that we love the people we encounter, otherwise we would feel indifferently. We are here trying for something.

To give and receive love from a person who has been dealt the cruel hand of leprosy will forever leave it’s marks on our hearts and theirs. These people have been outcast, and disregarded, but they get to share themselves with us, which gives them back their worth. This kind of love is so rare; it is like discovering a new part of your heart.

We get to see the children at their best, learning to read, and help them to have a feeling of accomplishment. When you see them have that “ah-ha” moment, there is no greater success. The work we do with and for the children will have the greatest impact. India has taught me many lessons, some of which were expected, many of them were not. We came with the intention of giving back, to be able to come home and tell our friends and family of our work and experiences, but India has it’s own plans. We receive more in gifts of love and kindness than we could ever hope to give, and the experiences we have here can never fully be shared with those who have not visited this place and met it’s people. I will take away much more than an elephant inside an elephant, or lice, or intestinal parasites, I will bring home memories and relationships that will be with me the rest of my life.

தி க்ரியடேஸ்ட் லேச்சொன் எவர் லீர்நெத் இஸ் ஜஸ்ட் டு லவ் அண்ட் பே லோவேத் இன் ரெடுக்ன்

Pictures of Delhi

Delhi Trip

This will be a post that I am sure is incomprehensible due to how tired I am, but I need to update, it's been almost a week!
We went to Delhi and Agra this weekend to see the Taj Mahal, it was incredible. The weekend was packed full, and I think it is catching up with me now. I met a man on our flight from Chennai who travels back and forth from New Jersey to Delhi and Chennai every couple of months for business. I asked him how he got through those flights, as it just about killed me getting here, he said that " You just learn to get really drunk really fast". When we arrived in Delhi we went straight to old Delhi and took a ride on bicycle rickshaws through the really narrow, really crowded marketplace and spice market, I thought I had adjusted to the sights of India, and has stopped staring at everything in wide eyed wonder, but Delhi threw me right back into amazement. The bus ride to Agra (where our hotel and the Taj Mahal are located) was about a six hour bus ride from Delhi, and we arrived at about 11:30pm, and needed to be up by 4:45, so that we could see the sun rise over the Taj. (It turned out to be overcast, so this didn't matter, but at least we beat the really big crowds). The Taj Mahal is made entirely out of Indian Marble, with precious stone inlay. We watched some men do this work later in the day, and it is understandable now why the Taj took 17 years to build. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, and I even sat on the Princess Diana bench attempting to look at forlorn as she did. To think that this mausoleum was a testament of love makes you realize how special it truly is, and how much Seth better mourn me after I die. ( I am expecting a tomb of equal grandeur).
We did some shopping, ate at Hindu McDonald's! (Number one here is a Mc Veg, I kid you not) and then some of us decided to be delighted by the talents of the local Dancers at a show depicting the very romanticized version of the love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. I couldn't take pictures during the show, but there was a lightshow Taj Mahal rave at the end that you do not want to miss. As Shannon one of our other volunteers so accurately stated, every time something came out of they hydraulic lift from under the stage, she pictured herself throwing her rupees into it, It was a very magical evening to say the least.
Sunday we got to sleep in a little, gorge on brunch and head out to catch our Elephant ride before taking off to the airport. The ride reminded me a little more of the depressing circus scenes in Dumbo than of the crazy carnival in the streets scenes of Aladdin that I pictured, but I now have pictures to prove that I have been atop an Elephant, and I will just brush away the feelings of depression that accompany it. We are back into the swing of things here for a few more days before we leave on Friday, and then I have two more days in Chennai before coming home a week from today!

A very bipolar post

There are things that happen here, that even though I don't want to, I know I will forget. So this post is just a few little things that I will want to remember, but that aren't significant enough to stand out against all of the other stories that will come out of India.
1- We have a pair of brothers here who are named Joseph Stalin, and John Kennedy. John Kennedy was kicked out of the school for bad behavior, and Joseph Stalin is one of the best behaved boys in school, go figure.
2- Instead of the license plate game we try to spot three men who DO NOT have mustaches, because the mustache is a mystical thing of beauty, and EVERY man seems to have one. Or if you can't find any clean shaven men, then you see who can spot the most men peeing on the side of the road.
3- There was a torrential down pour a couple days ago, and it just happened to pick the evening when I wore the white churidar. Indian wet t-shirt contest.
On to the last few days, yesterday I worked construction, which was difficult but rewarding, getting to actually physically see the progress we have made. Katie one of the volunteers who has been here all summer said that the Indian workers can move a lot faster than us, but we provide them with entertainment through our struggling to lift one brick, as they carry 20 on their head. Perhaps it is because of this, or because I have finally adjusted to the time difference, but I actually slept until 8 am, this is a miracle, because usually I am up between 5:30 and 6:00. We started to watch a Bollywood movie last night, but I am an old lady and had to cash in my chips, early, so I didn't get to finish it. Today we got to go into another colony, one that was much smaller than the first. There was a woman there who was missing both of her feet and most of her hands. She had broken her hip about 6 months ago, but the hospital does not want to replace it, so Dr. Kumar has to go back every couple of months and do battle to see if he can get her a new hip. Her grandson has to carry her everywhere, and she is in constant pain, you can tell by the look on her face. We were testing for diabetes today, and Javier was the unlucky volunteer who was charged with poking the patients to get a sample of their blood sugars. This grandmother was the last to be tested, and we could not get blood from her, Javier tried her fingers and even her palm, but nothing came out. My heart broke as I watched, it was a situation where if I could have taken her pain and made it my own I would have. There is so much suffering here, and these people handle themselves with perseverance and grace.
We also spoke with a young woman who had graduated as a lab technician, and who could speak the most English out of anyone in the colony. She showed us her diploma, and even her marks in school (she graduated at the top of her class). She also shared with us that she was married, and that her husband did not want her to work, so she stayed home. The remainder of my heart broke in half again. Katie asked her if she was happy, and the young woman said that she was, and that she liked to be able to help her mother after being away in school for 20 years. The social worker in me told me that if this is what the she wanted, and it made her happy, then I needed to butt out, but the woman in me wanted to scream. This is 2010, and this beautiful, intelligent person did not work because her husband didn't want her to. I have to take a breath and remember that I am in a new culture, things here will never be the same as they are for those of us living in the states, nor should they be. Nevertheless, I hope that the work I do here will someday help little girls at this school to grow up and use their talents, to share what they have to offer with the world, and to never let another hold them back. Sorry to end on such a bummer, but it is a scenario that is all too common in the world, and I don't want these two ladies stories to go unrecognized.

Two picture posts in two days? Ain't you lucky!

Here are some shots of our day trip to Mamalappurum. I have many more, but it took about a year to upload these, so this is all for now. Today is a slow day around here, many of the other volunteers went into Chennai for church, so Rien and I took a walk into the village, when we were walking back to Rising Star's campus, we came across the rest of the volunteers who did not go into town, and some villagers at the local temple, they gave us some sweet mush and dark garbanzo beans, and then put the red marks on our forehead, I think this has something to do with Indian Independence day, which is today. There is a festival going on in the village this afternoon which we will try to attend, not really sure what to expect, but I have a feeling it will differ slightly from the Stadium of Fire.

Malalappurum

The entire city coated itself onto my sweaty face, as evidenced by the gray brown steaks of filth on my churidar (India top). This is proof of a day well spent. Today we went to Malalappurum, it is a beach town about two hours south of us, it is more of a tourist trap than any other town I have visited here, and we spent the day visiting ancient temples and bartering for goods. I had a couple of churidars tailored and took about a million pictures. The restaurant where we ate lunch was so delicious and my lunch of coconut vegetable curry and Pepsi was the equivalent of about $2.50. I got some sweet gifts for many of you out there, so look forward to Christmas, because I am planning on killing two birds with one gift. My favorite parts of the trip by far though are the bus rides, I cannot take my eyes off the window, this country fascinates me, it is another world over here quite literally. Last night was a little rough as I had heart burn like I have never experienced in my life, and for those of you who know my gastrointestinal system, you know that I am no stranger to reflux. I couldn't sleep, and even after a Pepcid and 5 hours of hypnotic induced sleep, I still had a belly of fire. One of my roommates looked up how to naturally cure heart burn, the internet's suggestions:
Avoid spicy and exotic foods.
Not happening, so I have just resigned myself to the fact that I will feel like my stomach and esophagus are eroding for the next two weeks, if you could taste the curry, you wouldn't judge. The temples are beautiful and unbelievable, carved into stone and sitting right on the beaches. I will post pictures tomorrow, but for now, I need to colapse. Nalliravu.

These pictures at the top are of the kids that are here at the school during their hour of playtime everyday, the concept of play for children is very foreign here, children are expected to either be working or in school. These kids wake up at 6:00 am their day is structured until 8:00pm. It is so incredible to watch them play, because it is a universal language, if you just saw the shadows you would not be able to tell that these children come from the terrible poverty and hardship that they do.
The picture of me is with one of the patients at the colony, and below that is an artist from the colony. Their is an art school that was started to help the villagers make a living, and all of them have learned to paint, even though most of them are missing fingers.
The next shot is of the outside of our volunteer hostel, I know, I am spoiled.
The final shot is just outside of our hotel in Chennai, this picture does not even come close to capturing the energy of this city, but I had to at least give you a glimpse.

Gettin' here continued

Not sure why Blogger wouldn't let me edit the above post, I had saved the what I had written last night, and wanted to finish up today, but I guess I will just have to write a new post.
So, after we got to the hotel, I tried to take a nap for a few hours before I needed to meet up with the other volunteers, and I got my final real shower (by real I mean not with a bucket), and went downstairs to meet the crew. We all piled onto the un-air conditioned school bus and headed out for Rising Star. I have never taken such an amazing car trip in all of my life, I didn't want to talk to anyone for fear that I would miss out on the action of the city. There are shops crammed next to huts, next to office buildings, people are EVERYWHERE, and tucked into all of this are alcoves where they have set up Hindu prayer conclaves. These are of course my favorite structures, because of their use of color and sculpture. I was mesmerized, there is no comparison to this culture in the US, and while I am typing this I realize how little justice I am doing describing it.
We arrived on campus and were given some time to settle in. The facility is so much nicer than I imagined, and we have AC in our rooms, which may seem like a luxury item, but when I tell you that I have peed exactly one time in the now 36 hours that I have been here, even though I have consumed enough water and Gatorade for a horse, you will understand why. We met the kids, who are adorable, and refer to us all as "Auntie". I spent a good 15 minutes watching three little boys show me cartwheel after cartwheel, before each turn yelling "Auntie, watch this!" Jenny, out volunteer director, bought all of the female volunteers Jasmine to put in our hair, as is the custom, I did my best to find the longest strand to bobby pin, but even with my efforts the kids made fun of me. "Auntie, why do you have jasmine in your hair if you don't have any hair?". We eat dinner on the roof of the girls hostel every night, and the food is delicious, and so far, all vegetarian, compared to camp where the food was usually deep fried and full of meat. All of the volunteers are assigned to a "house" where each night we visit and help the kids with their homework and read stories. I of course ended up with a little girl who needed help with math homework, which just proved that my quarter ass public education does me no good. It took me a good ten minutes to remember how to do multiplication of more than three numbers. The worst part being that the little girl was frustrated, and I felt as though my efforts were for not, because in the end the only thing I succeeded in doing was making a little girl hate me, because I made her do math homework.
Today I got to go to the colony for leprosy patients, it was a humbling experience. We visited a facility that is actually translated to "Old Folks Home", and I helped wash the patients feet and hands that had sores and calluses. This was one of the most intimate experiences I have ever had, and is proof that even though you do not share a language with someone, you still share connection in your basic humanity. This particular colony was a really nice one, and many of the people that live there have houses instead of huts, and there was less garbage in the streets there than anywhere I have seen so far.
One last thing I forgot to mention, our toilets here are "squatters" which means that you squat over a hole in the ground that flushes. Just a thought for you to ponder as you sit upon your royal American thrones.

Gettin' here

I arrived safely in Chennai on Wednesday August 11th at 4:30 am. The trip was realitvly smooth, except for the fact that I wanted to puke my guts out the entire 9 hours from London to Chennai. I met up with two other volunteers on the flight, and we cleared customs and gathered out luggage together. I told them that they were more than welcome to go in on my hired car from the hotel, so we left the airport in search of the ever luxurious sign with "Brunstetter" on it. I felt pretty important. Until we walked outside and were met by throngs of people, flanking either side of the walk way, and no "Brunstetter" sign in sight. Ryan, one of the other volunteers bartered with a driver to get us a cab to the airport, and away we went. I had to mentally detach myself on that car ride, or surely I would have had a panic attack and died, the drivers here are MAD, but after a few minutes, you realize that there is a method to their madness, and we probably look just as crazy to them with our obeying of lane lines, usage of turn signals, and lack of livestock wandering the streets of major cities.