Days I Will Never Forget

I will begin by telling you all about yesterday and what a fun day that was. I did not write because I was too tired and exhausted from my day doing absolutely nothing requiring hard labor, but sometimes I have noticed myself getting tired just because. Weird right? Well, I went to the colony with the Bindu Art School again to visit my old friend with the broken hip. For some reason he was in low spirits and by the look of it when we came in did not want to be seen, cared for, touched, or even looked at. We brought him food, but he said he did not want to eat. We brought him water, but he did not want to drink. He said he was full from milk. I looked over to Paul and asked him to translate if he was happy, which he said he was, but all the emotion given off by him did not look like it. I asked Paul if I could bathe him, and at first the man said no, but after a few seconds he shook his head and said ok. Kristin, Nicole, and I all bathed him, and as we bathed him we sung a few hymns we knew hoping he would regain his happiness. I don't know why he seemed so melancholy. I asked myself several questions hoping I could come up with an answer, but nothing came. Was he lonely because he wasn't with his friends? No, his friends came and saw him when they had time. Was he humiliated or possibly embarassed? I think a part of him was whether we came or not, and the humiliation and embarassment he felt would probably be of one I could never fathom. He was more so the first few times we came, but after a while he seemed to let it go. Every question I could think of I had an answer to it, but these answers were probably not ones he would give, for mine were just from a few minutes of contemplation and hypothetical assumption. I finally thought about one question I did not want to know the answer to, for it was too depressing to think about. Had he lost hope thinking it better to give up? From the looks of him it seemed the question was rhetorical, but I did not want to believe it. Nicole looked to Kristin and then to me softly whispering, "Do you want to say a prayer for him?" I felt a little bit overwhelmed, but in what seemed to be one motion, I slowly bowed my head, closed my eyes, and put my hands together. Thoughts were moving at a thousand miles per hour; words were uttered I was not forcing to say. I felt as if I was learning to run before I knew how to walk. I prayed words of comfort, so he would not feel alone or abandoned, I prayed for strength, so he might be able to do certain tasks better, and most importantly I prayed words of hope, so he might feel happiness and joy in however long he has left. Words cannot describe how overwhelmed I felt praying to this man, but somehow I knew he would be happy. After staying there for what seemed like two minutes, we left to go back to the campus where I got to talk to Padma. She was there speaking with Ron and Joyce, but also glad Nicole and I went to visit this man, so she wanted to catch Nicole and I to appreciate what we had done. I did not know Padma tried to get people to come visit him to a point of offering a thousand rupees, which is about twenty dollars, to go visit. I thought Ron and Joyce one day felt it was great if Nicole and I went, so for me to be appreciated felt great, but I was more honored to have the opportunity to go. Padma told me out of any experience so far she has had in India it would be this one she would always remember. She gave me a hug and told me she was very proud of me. I have never felt more honored in my entire life than I did in that moment. It came time for Padma to leave and a few of us came along because we had to make a few errands in Chennai. It was great talking to Padma about her life and RSO's success and how she is excited about its future. It also was very cool to see her many awards inside of her home. Today was a very quiet day. We had three new volunteers come, which is nice because now we have more people to add to our group. I hope it is not so quiet anymore. One of them was Sharon Thompson, who apparently remembered me from when I was little, but I had no clue who she was, but we talked for a little while and she seemed really nice. Today I really just spent cleaning and organizing things around, so not a lot really happened. Dinner was Chappathi, which is one of my favorite meals here in India. It is this huge tortilla looking bread thing similar to parotha, but has more of a thicker consistency, and you wrap it up like a burrito with this chunky sauce with rice. Sorry my description is not too great, but it is the best I can do. It is one of those things you just have to be there for, so come to India and try it! I promise you will not regret it! Well this is what is happening out here in India! I hope all is well back home! I miss and love each one of you! I love the people here and I love what I am doing! Please try to be great in everything you do and count your blessings everyday because I know for a fact each one of you is blessed beyond what you may think! I love you all!

A Mark, A Brand, A Statement

I had a very calm and rather relaxing day as I had the opportunity to assist Nicole tutoring kids, go on a walk listening to my ipod pondering about life and opportunities I would love to have in the future, look out at the beauty of India admiring its serene feeling along with its picturesque views, and go out to eat parotha with everyone. Tutoring kids can be a handful as I have mentioned before, but today was not. I tutored Karthik, one my favorite kids, which is Mani's son, who is one of our drivers and in charge of our land. I know I am not supposed to have favorites, but Karthik, to me, is one kid I connect really well with. It is not his huge smile or how smart he is, for all the kids have adorable smiles and brains to cure cancer, but it is his example to all of the other children making him more special in my eyes than any other kid. Everytime I look I see him helping another child. Karthik always leads by example, but not in the self-righteous way thinking he is better than others, but in a positive way making others better. He does not use his age as a way of belittling other children, but as a helping tool showing others his maturity. Karthik, to me, is a perfect role-model for other children and I know through his example others will want to become just like him. I am proud to sit here and tell you about Karthik because his example to the children has significantly impacted my views of how I want to represent and carry myself throughout the future. "The children here can be a guide to you and each child has something to offer if you just let them in." These were words spoken by Amy Antonelli at a devotional one night here at RSO. Amy is an amazing women and someone I look up to immensely. Everytime she speaks at RSO I feel as if her words reverberate thousands of miles, and all of India hears what she pours out from her amazing heart. I figured this out slowly, but surely by letting the children teach me instead of always trying to teach them. It always amazes me how much children teach me. I never thought by looking at a child so much could be seen, but it is the same with anyone we admire or look up to. If we watch them closely there is always going to be something interesting. After tutoring, Nicole asked me if I wanted to come along and walk with her through the village. She said she always takes walks back at home listening to her ipod just pondering about life, and so, I came along. Walking through the village we greeted many people with Vanakkam, tamil for hello. It was great to see smiles as we walked through. It felt so serene listening to music as I walked looking out into the beauty of nature God created. In the horizon, clouds were swiftly moving together to form one huge ominous mass of violet-gray. Behind us, clouds remained in its clear blue state seen on a perfect day. I felt as if I was in a painting depicting armageddon. Earth itself was not ending, but the beautiful picture nature sometimes paints can be beyond beautiful; awe-inspiring is an understatement describing what I had seen. I always enjoy taking time for myself pondering on life's mysteries and how truly blessed we are to be living a life of great opportunity. For dinner all of us went to Uthiramerur for parotha! How great is it to eat a meal less than a dollar? I would have to say FANTASTIC! After dinner we all had ice cream, which in India is so good! I always get the choco bar, which is chocolate on the outside and vanilla laced with dark chocolate inside. I would have to say today was a great day! I saw more of India's beauty, learned to view people around me and myself in a different way and I noticed how blessed I truly am to be living life. Life, to me, is a privilege and opportunity not a right. How we decide to live it is up to us. Do we want to go about it just walking through the motions not getting anything out of it, or do we want to make a mark, a brand, and a statement to the world letting each person see the light all of us possess? I know I want to make a positive statement to the world leaving behind a legacy full of greatness becoming better when good is not good enough. I leave these thoughts with you, so you, like me, can ponder them and search for the answers you seek. I miss and love each one of you! I love these people and the work I am doing! Continue to do the best you can in all aspects of your life!

We All Can Do Great Things!

Well it's been about four days since I have last written and I am anxious to tell you guys about everything. Friday, which was the 28th, was a very interesting day. From the time I woke up to about 6 in the evening it was pretty calm, but when I had the chance to go to Uthiramerur again it got very interesting. Entering the small town of Uthiramerur eyes cannot help but look at a huge tower that stands high casting its eyes down upon the people. During the day this tower, which marks as an entrance to the temple behind it, stands shining in the sun, but during the night is when its true beauty can be seen. Standing tall as a pillar in the night its lights in each one of its crevises glows lighting a path to an ancient temple still used for people today. One of our teachers is a very devout Hindu. She wanted to come with us, but to go pray, and of course we tagged along because we were curious. Inside the temple were many locked cages of what looked like Hindu Gods. At each one our teacher would stop and pray. I just did the usual indian salute of respect by putting both hands together and bowing my head. I felt I could at least respect the Gods, but worshipping them was too much for me. The priests inside wore white skirts wrapped around them like towels and all of them had prints on their foreheads as respect to their Gods. It was a great experience to be inside an ancient Hindu temple and to be a witness among people as they worshipped. After the temple, I had parotha for dinner. Since I come to the diner often I am now known as a local and the cooks always greet me with a warm welcome. Saturday the 29th I had another chance to go visit the old man with a broken hip. I came with Radhika and Nicole to not only check up and take care of him, but this time hoping I could learn more about his earlier life and who he was as a person. I could not believe how hard his life was. He had been married, but his wife died trying to give birth a long time ago. He said he was fine and doing well after the loss, but it was his accident that changed his life forever. He was on a bus and had fallen off breaking his hip. I could not imagine the pain it would cause me breaking my hip and never fully recovering. The hospital he was in saw no hope for him and threw him out with nowhere to go. He obtained leprosy at some point in his life as well. All these moments in this poor man's life slowly ate away his hope. I made sure he would regain it. It was great seeing this man smiling, laughing, and living like he should have been. I hope I get another chance to visit him before I leave here. Sunday the 30th was Swathi's engagement, which I did not have the opportunity to go to because I was in bed all day feeling pretty awful. I knew my time would shortly come when I would get sick here, and I guess being here for a month already was long enough. The rest of the day nothing too exciting happened. Monday the 31st, which was yesterday, happened to be a rather cool day. It felt nice to have cool weather for a change. I am still preparing everything for my new project, so yet again I am left with nothing else to do, but during the kids' playtime I am helping them learn a different sport. Each day I spend thirty minutes with the kids teaching the basics of whatever sport I decide for that day. The kids are great and love to learn anything new! Today was also a cool day and I loved it! I wish India was like this everyday! I got the chance to teach another family home evening lessson, but this time it was on goals. I had three rows of dominoes laid out each one different than the other. One row was divided by a gap and could not connect to be a perfect line, another line had one dominoe jutting out making it again a not perfect line, and the last line was completely perfect. I told three different stories about kids who had goals. One kid wanted to do well on his science exam, but decided not to do his homework. I had a kid knock down a line of dominoes. The line still had a few left and I explained how we need to do all the small things in order to make our goals come true. The next story was about a girl wanting to become a dancer, but decided she did not want to practice. I had a kid knock down another line watching all but four dominoes fall down. I explained to them we still have to practice if we want to become great dancers. I explained to them the importance of doing the small things again. Finally, the last story told was about a boy who wanted to finish all his homework so he could play outside. He checked every subject twice to make sure it was all done. I had another kid knock down the final line watching every dominoe fall. I told them once you have obtained your goal you will feel better and want to continue to make new goals. I explained the importance of never giving up and even though we will get discouraged it is still better to keep pushing forward. Learning from our mistakes is where we truly become a better person. The kids loved the lesson and I felt great to give it. I think family home evening was a perfect way to end my day today. Eventhough my last few days have not been too eventful I want you all to know there can always be lessons taught as you go about your day. Sometimes I have noticed small things I do end up being some of the biggest things. Somedays we are too blind and cannot see opportunities crying out at us, but if we truly look I bet we could find a myriad of opportunities. My mother once said, "You do not have to be great to do something great, but if you have love anything great is possible." I did not fully understand what she was talking about when I first heard her say this, but now being in India I think I have come to understand what my mother was trying to teach me, and for that I am truly grateful. Mother Teresa quotes, "It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving." With love in anything we decide to accomplish the outcome will always be greater and more meaningful in our lives than simply doing them. I hope each one of you can share love to someone who is in dire need of it. Mother Teresa quotes,"There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives - the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them." We all know what it is like to hurt from not being loved and we know how badly we long for love in those times, so why not share love with people that truly need love and give them the feeling we at times desire. Open your eyes so you are not blinded from opportunity, open your minds so you may be mentally ready, and most importantly open your hearts so your love is not locked away, but ready to be given. I pray for each one of you back home and I miss every single of one you guys! A day does not go by where I do not think of you! I love what I am doing here and I love these people! This work here is truly amazing!