October 14/13 - Lane

Today I got to go in to the grade 4 class.  First of all the period we had spelling and we read about Puru the Brave.  I was reading Alexander the Roman King.  After the period we had Math.  We learned decimal points.  After Math period it was break.  We played cricket and I was pitcher.  Then as we were playing, Prim, jumped on the roof above us as we were playing.  Then the bell rang and then Prim got down.  When we got in it was Hindi class.  It took me at least 6 tries for each word.  Well the teacher wrote them out for me and I can practice them now.  And that was my day at School in Shanti Nikatan.

October 11/13

Today...
Was a slow day.  The kind of day you have to mentally muscle your way through.  We were down to two painters with lots of work, lots of cutting in paint, slow progress.  That did change however, after school.  We are painting inside the girls dorm now.  Today we were painting the common room.  They have Chai here and do homework and everything in this room.  So once the girls got home from School, it was on. "Didi, I can do that"  We went from two slow painters to 6 plus 2.  Erin and I had to run around after them with the drop clothes, just to save the floor.  It was so great to have them.  They got so much done.  And it was nice for them to help out in the room that they use, and have a chance to talk about school, and life.  Now don't think for a second that it was quiet and clean.  There were 6 girls painting and that means there were 10 girls watching/standing around.  We finally shut it down when one girl got a paint roller in the face. Good thing it was not the oil paint.
Stories from today:  As I was cleaning up the painting project from yesterday, the teacher came in (sorry, cant remember his name) and we chatted a bit about the school.  He wanted to know if we would be out of the rooms by today or tomorrow.  I said we would be out by tomorrow, but maybe that did not matter because it is Saturday tomorrow.  He said that in the Christian province of Misaram (SP?) they do not have school on Saturday, but here in the Hindu state of Himachal Pradesh they have school 6 days a week.  He said it was because the Hindu's are so driven, that they have school 6 days a week, and because they want to fit in and not draw attention to themselves, they also have school 6 days a week.  He then said "It is ok, we only have them while they are juvenile so we want to spend as much time as we can teaching them before they leave"  He is referring to grades 1-4.  I am amazed that they feel such urgency, they have four years.  But it just goes to show how seriously they take their job here at Shanti.  These staff constantly amaze and humble me.
After work, we had a coffee date at Thanga's house.  We had been at his home last year, before the birth of his daughter.  And so we went off to see his home now one year later.  We took our baby gifts over.  Every time we talk with Sing Singi (the baby) she bursts into tears.  So her Mom had to spend the whole visit in the other room.  You never can anticipate what a kid is going to do, that is true everywhere in the world.

October 9/13

So much has happened, and yet I have not had one moment to write it all down.  Even during the last post I was typing while the bags were marching out the door onto the bus so I just dumped something down and ran.  We have been very busy, as expected.
We had the pleasure/honor of attending a wedding for one of the Graduated boys from Shanti.  I say "boy" but he is now a man.  He invited the whole team to come to his wedding.  It was not what you think of "Indian Wedding" It was a ceremony and then a reception.  We had flown in that morning and had a bit of a strange and restless day, waiting around for our rooms to be ready in the hotel, Jet leg, seeing Delhi again.  So needless to say we already knew we would be tired at the wedding, but none of us expected to be "that tired".  Before it began, there were team members asleep, with drool.  One guy put his head down on the pew in front of him and fell asleep.  And to make matters worse, it was more than 35 degrees, and the service was on Hindi.  Oh how we fought the urge to sleep, and we did not dare close our eyes when they prayed, we would never have opened them again.
We took the train the next morning and got another eye full of India.  Wow, the things you see from the train window.  It really gives you a glimpse into the lives of the people as they live next to the tracks.  So many people living in such poor conditions, it really breaks your heart.  It is amazing how they flock together to live and occupy such a small space.  So many of them are living in slums, and tents.  It is hard to watch but also needed as a reminder of how life is for so many.  It just makes the lives the kids have at Shanti Nikatan so much better.  To see where they would be had they not been able to come to the home, kind of smacks you in the face.  To see the contrast of the slum and the home is amazing.  Shanti is as wonderful as we remember it.  It actually feels like coming home.  We both gave a sigh of relief when we got here.  So much better to have Lane here, even though he did really good while traveling (only one melt down).  It feels like a safe haven.  It is so lovely and the kids are so happy to welcome us in again.  Lane is very popular with the kids.  They all want to touch him, and he got to sit with them during the Welcome program.  He has done so well.  We had warned him that they would all want to touch him, and we were right.  Everyone puts their arms around him, and everywhere he goes there is a trail of Hindi speaking kids.  So fun to watch them try to sort each other out.  He worked on his school work for a bit this afternoon with ten kids watching over his shoulder.  One day soon he will join a grade 4 class at the home.  The highest grade they teach at Shanti is 4, so he can brush up on some old work.
Today I spent the day painting, and Scott spent his day on the ditch digging crew.  His road building experience is coming in handy, that is for sure.  There is a group of engineers here for the next few days so they have been working together on that very difficult project.  Scott is glad he brought his work boots, even though they weigh 7 pounds.  After work tonight I got to try my hand at cricket.  Who knew, I actually hit a few balls and got some points, beginners luck and also the girls are so gracious, " Didi Didi, you go again.  Your not out yet" when clearly I am.  But we had so much fun, hooting and screaming.  We got the rules of the game all in Hindi of course, so maybe I was not as good as I thought.  But so much fun.  Tomorrow I want to play more games, and paint, and spend more time with my family on the other side of the world.

October 9/13 - Lane

What was your favorite thing about today, and why?
My favorite thing about today was going in the Jeep to the home.  So, when we were driving, James answered his phone then a truck was on the wrong side of the road and then we just missed it.  Right after he finds out it was a wrong number...
and that was pretty freaky, but cool
What was my least favorite thing about today?
What my least favorite thing about today was having to paint the roof of the school house.  In 2 min your neck hurts so bad and you also just had to keep going.  Also brushing all the chips from the roof with a broom.  It took a long time.

October 8/13 - Lane

What did you see out of the bus window today?
Today on the bus ride I saw the burnt trees.  Then I heard James telling about the forest fire. Then I heard the older boys and the army were trying to put it out.  Another thing I saw was lots of dogs and cows and monkeys.  This is why it is different then home.

We have arrived

We are sitting in the lobby of the WMCA.  We are all cashing in on the free WIFI. We have arrived in Delhi...  After Hours of flying, and trying to sleep sitting up, we are deposited safely into our hotel.  It is close to 40 degrees.  We are heading for a Delhi tour soon and We have the pleasure of celebrating the wedding for Jaame.  We are very much looking forward to that.  We will keep you all posted
 

Here we go... again

We are days away from our return visit to India.  The journey getting here this year has been less difficult.  We did not have to change gears quite as much this time.  We have decided to take Lane. That fact thrills me and makes me want to throw up all at the same time.  I bounce between excitement that he gets to do this with us and "What the heck were we thinking".  I am really excited that he gets this opportunity at such a young age.  Scott and I will never be the same after last trip, so we are hoping that maybe it will change the way Lane sees the whole world.  It is really hard to come home and think that this is all there is.  That the world revolves around you.  Because, Clearly, it does not and there is so much more.  As we have been thinking over last trip and trying to process some of the things we have seen, we have come to the conclusion that there is no answer for some things.  Some of life does not have an answer.
 It is as if I am walking around with a question in my hand and have no place to put it down.  ie) why do they do that? I thought human nature was like this? What, how... did you see that monkey on the power pole?
So much of life is lived outside of my home.  So much hurt and evil has been going on for far too long.  It says in the book of James, that if you know the good you ought to do and don't do it, it is sin for you.  So there you have it.  We have left people we have grown to love on the other side of the earth.  We have heard their heartbreaking stories and can no longer turn a deaf ear or look away.  We have nothing to give but our small amount of help, our breaking heart and our love.  We really hope to encourage, but are inadequate. We really hope to help, but are inadequate.  We really hope to show God's love, He is adequate.  When we are weak he is strong.  And it is with these thoughts and promises we turn around and subject ourselves to 18 hours of flights.  We will go, and trust God to do the rest.