Mamallapuram

Each of the two weekends we're here on campus, we go somewhere exciting.  This weekend was Mamallapuram, next week is Delhi!  Stay tuned.  When we first got there, we had the opportunity to look at some old stone carvings, and do some shopping.  There were lots of stores, and lots of eager salesmen.  So far, I haven't seen any salesman more persistent and persuasive than an Indian salesman.  I went around with a group of girls (seeing as there are 12 girls and 3 guys), and collectively got everything from jewelry to shoes to clothing.  I got a shirt custom made... as in from straight fabric to a finished shirt... in and hour and twenty minutes for 450 rupees (about the equivalent of $10).  It was pretty incredible.  After our shopping spree, we went to an Indian beach resort.  For Indian standards, it was really nice.  I went swimming in the Bay of Bengal... it's not every day you can say that.  On our way back, we stopped at a restaurant and had parotha.  One of the other volunteers described it as a croissant tortilla.  I thought that was the best description; it's flaky, and buttery, and delicious.  They served it with a little egg omelet.  So for a full meal, I paid less than $1 US dollar.  Awesome.  Once we got back, we went over and watched a movie with the kids for their movie night.  That basically meant we were couches for them, while they watched "Meet the Robinsons".  They were given a choice between two movies at the beginning, and the voting consisted of who yelled the loudest.  It was so much fun to see.  This week has been wonderful.  It's late, so I'll post some pictures tomorrow after church or something.

Friday Already!?

This week has flown by!  It's just been a rush of new and exciting things, and today was no different.  We went to the same leper colony as before for construction, only this time we were moving 200 to 300 lb cement rings and caps to build septic tanks.  It was pretty amazing.  There were only four of us again, and we stacked 6 rings in a hole; one on top of the other, and put on about 8 or 9 caps to other tanks that had already been built.  It was hard work, but I'm in a great group, and they make the work fun.  For playtime, we did another game of soccer... it was lots of fun, and lots of sweating.  I think the best part of my day though, came at family time.  Tonight, more than before, I really felt like a brother to the kids in my family.  Especially to Gokulraj... today he sat me down, and asked me if I'd seen Narnia before.  I told him I had, and he proceeded to explain that the girl and the boy kissed in it.  For those who don't know... public displays of affection are a big no-no in India, as in some people get beaten or thrown into jail.  It was just cool that he wanted to tell me that.  Then another guy... gave me a paper wallet thing he made with a couple little drawings of Spider-man on.  And later, when I was sitting in a circle of 5 boys, I realized that I knew all of their names... that was really exciting.  The only thing that depresses me is that it's already been a week, and there are only two left.

Uncle! Uncle!

Today has just been a good day.  Since we were on tutoring today, we went over to the school before classes started and watched them do the national anthem, and other school announcements outside.  We then commenced our day, spending one on one time with students for 40 minutes a piece.  I think we each got through 5 students during the day.  During lunch time, we had the option of eating with the kids.  It was really cool... their cafeteria has open space instead of windows (as many buildings in India do).  All the kids sit on the ground, and eat their meal of rice with a vegetarian sauce, and vegetarian side with their fingers.  I got the kids to teach me the proper way to accomplish this.  It does require a certain amount of know-how, and it was kind of fun.

For play-time with the kids, a bunch of them wanted me to swing them around by their feet... that's not something I'd done before, but apparently they like it.  Pretty soon, another game of soccer developed (it's happened every day so far), and so I joined in.  Our dinner today was similar to most nights; red rice, vegetarian sauce, fruit salad and fish (the fish is an uncommon thing).  But the best part of the day came when family time rolled around.  Before I came, I was asked to prepare a "talent class", where I decided I would make hoop gliders. (If you don't know what they are... look at this: http://www.eweek.org/site/pdfs/English/Hoop%20Glider.pdf )  I pre-cut the strips of paper, and brought the straws and tape along.  I gave a brief demonstration on how to build them, and then let them loose.  I maintained some sense of sanity and order in the room, by keeping possession of the tape, so that it didn't get used up quickly (which was a good thing... I really did run out about a half hour later).  I had a crowd of at least 5 guys at a time around me asking for tape:  "Uncle, tape!", "Uncle! Uncle!  Tape here please!", and "Uncle!  I more piece.", over and over for at least 20 minutes.  I was worried that because I didn't have paperclips to put on the front to help them fly better, they wouldn't like them very much... but I was so wrong.  They quickly started adding wings, putting pipe cleaners on that they'd found somewhere, and just throwing them around.  It was lots of fun.  I really feel like they enjoyed it.  Luckily, only a couple of the older kids discovered near the end, that the straws could be used to blow paper wads at people.  Once we all got back from our "families", we played a couple rounds of mafia.  It really is a great group of people I'm with.

The school's morning conclave.  It's hard to tell, but they're all lined up in nice rows.

Busily working...

Some of their finished products.  I guess mostly for my sake, the one second from the left is Anbarasu.  I think the one on the left is David.

And finally, we have Viren and Basha wielding their straws.

Beautiful India

Today was another great day.  Our group was assigned to medical (we alternate between medical, tutoring, and construction).  Our job involved driving to the Chennai hospital, and basically being company for the patients we brought.  They've been cured of leprosy, but still bear the shortened fingers and toes... and the only reason they're allowed at the hospital is because a doctor that once worked for Rising Star now works there, and I guess has talked the hospital into allowing the leprosy-afflicted to come on Wednesdays.  As I was sitting there while we were waiting to be seen, I realized just how beautiful and amazing the Indian people are.  It is such a different country, and everything seems backwards to what I'm used to... but they are so happy, and are willing to give so much; even when they have so little.

As far as the hospital goes, it apparently is considered one of the nicest in India, (I'm told it's where the celebrities and politicians go.) but in America it would be shut down pronto.  There's no A/C, so it's pretty warm, it's much too dirty according to our standards, and it seems to be falling into disrepair.  But it's also interesting because their hospital is everything.  It's a doctors office, an eyeglasses shop, a pharmacy, a hospital, a psychiatry clinic.  It's really interesting.  But I've come to realize just how important it is to do what we were told to do on the very first day, to "look through India eyes."  If you look beyond what we've grown up to expect, it is a such a beautiful place, with wonderful people.

Hot Dog

So yesterday I wore a shirt some of you know, that has a hot dog on the front of it.  The kids all noticed this, of course, and now sometimes refer to me as 'Hot dog'.  But today's title has to do with more than just this.  Our group was on construction today... so at 9 am we headed off to one of the leper colonies.  The one we went to is one that is quite well off, as in it has mostly permanent houses (not the grass huts).  I also learned that not only lepers live there... some family members live there as well.  Anyways, because they are doing alright, they can afford to build bathrooms (a small square cement building with a traditional Indian squatting toilet.  So the four of us (our other group members are coming later this week) moved 260 cinder blocks to 4 different locations.  It was exhausting, and even though I drank 2 liters of water there... I drank another 2 at home because I started getting chills and a headache.  It is amazing how hot India gets...

After we finished, we went to the snake-charmer in the village.  Apparently he drinks cobra venom every day so that he can handle being bit by one.  He brought out the cobra for us to take pictures of, and most of us held a couple of the rat snakes he had.  This led to a conversation later with Gokulraj about snakes and frogs when we were at playtime.  It's so fun to talk to the kids.  For family time, one of the kids asked me to draw something, and once I drew that one... everyone wanted me to draw something.  I ended up drawing a dragon, a dinosaur, a lion, an elephant, and some character from a book they had.  Apparently I'm a "drawing master".  They would all sit behind me and comment on how real it looked.  I think they're easily impressed.  And now for some pictures!

Here we have the cobra with two of the rat snakes being held by the snake guy.

Here's me holding a snake... the snake charmer was joking with us that we should hold the cobra, too.  I thought it sounded like a good idea.

The Rising Star Kids

Today my adventure with Rising Star began... at 10:00, the vans came and picked us us from Chennai (apparently we're a small group -- only about 13 of us).  We headed south, and as we did the city died away.  We passed through several small villages where people lived in grass-roof huts with doors/openings not more than 3 feet high.  I'm pretty sure the last stretch of road onto campus would normally be classified as 4wd only anywhere else, but not in India.  Somehow the vans survive each time.

After getting a little settled, and having orientation, we got to play with the kids for almost 3 hours.  It was the coolest thing.  They all refer to the guys as 'uncle', and the girls as 'auntie'.  The boys are crazy.  At least most of them want to get on your shoulders, and then once they're up there, they won't get down.  I was also asked by nearly every guy if I would let them take a picture or video with my camera, and then afterwards they always want to see it.  It was awesome.  I started pushing some of them on the swing set; it was like a full-time job!  Once I started pushing another one, someone else would yell, "Uncle, uncle... push me!"  By dinnertime I was pretty worn out.  Our dinners are served on banana leaves... pretty cool.  After dinner, we had "family time"... boys and girls are divided into 4 "families" each, and a couple of us are assigned to a family.  I tried to learn some of their names, and so I'll attempt that on some of the pictures I post.  I experienced my first bucket shower in India... it's amazingly refreshing after a long, hot day.

This is me being attacked by two "unnamed" kids... at least until I can remember theirs.

If I remember right... this is Gokulraj.  If the picture doesn't give it away, he's a pretty funny guy.  He's also quite adept at using my camera.

My First Day in Chennai

Today turned out much better than I expected.  I had envisioned being completely unsure of what to do (since India is VERY different, and I knew nothing about Chennai), and doing things around the hotel.  Lame, right?  Well lucky for me... after I woke up as late as possible to have the included breakfast (and maximize sleep), the group of volunteers from the session that just ended showed up at the hotel.  This is where I met Lex and Heather... both pretty awesome people.  They let me tag along as we shopped in a couple of "malls" in Chennai. I was taught some of the tricks to bartering... something you should do for almost everything you buy.  They explained that you need to negotiate a price with the drivers of the auto rickshaws (again the bartering thing... they can overcharge you if you don't agree beforehand).  I'll have to put up a picture of one sometime... maybe even a drive in one).

And now for some pictures!

This is a pretty good representation of most of Chennai.  Pretty run down, and crazy as ever.

Here we have one of the many stores in the outdoor mall area that sells loads of shiny things.

And finally we have Lex, Heather and I.  Lex goes to BYU-I, and Heather is a school teacher.

The Past 24 Hours

It is difficult to put into words all of the things I've experienced in the last 24 hours.  It all started when I got on my plane from Washington, DC to Dubai.  7,000 miles and 13 hours later, I arrived for my transfer flight.  And just in case any of you were wondering... Dubai has an excellent airport.  On the way in I was hoping to see the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest tower), but all I saw of it was it's shadowy figure in the haze above the city.  Just 2 hours later I was on my way in another Boeing 777 (a really big plane) to Chennai, India.

Finally, after leaving at 10:18 on Thursday night, I arrive at 3:00 am Saturday morning.  I'm pretty sure I've slept 2 hours in the last 36.  To make my first trip extra exciting, I got stuck at immigration because I couldn't find my confirmation code for the hotel I was staying at.  So I got to sit around and wait, until realizing it was in my pocket.

If that wasn't exciting enough, the trip outside the airport was even more crazy.  As you exit the airport, there are walls of people just sort of staring at you.  Luckily, I'd gotten a driver from the hotel to be there to pick me up.  I just feel bad because by that time it was 4:00, and he'd probably been waiting there an hour.

It would have been wonderful if I could have video-taped the drive to the hotel.  Apparently in India, lanes are of little significance, horns are used to communicate position rather than looking at mirrors (hence lots of honking), and red lights don't seem to mean much (I'm pretty sure we ran at least 8 on the way here).  It was crazy, and a little scary, but it was awesome!  But I'm not even entirely sure what time it is right now, and I'd better get some sleep... See ya!

All Shot Up

Today I got my immunizations taken care of: typhoid in one arm, meningitis in the other, a prescription for daily malaria pills, and hopes that I can avoid some of the other nasty diseases available to me in India.  But more than being worried, I'm getting excited to get over to India, and to be a part of something bigger than me... even if it's only for 3 weeks.