Last Blog Post And A Final Thank You

Here I am in America, sitting on my soft bed, in my air conditioned house, with normal American toilets and NOT EATING RICE. I have so much to be grateful for. And now that I'm home, what am I going to do with myself?

I'm going to mesh my India experiences with my everyday life. I'm not just going to stow them away as "memories". I'm going to continue to practice patience. I'm going to love unconditionally as the little children at Rising Star love and I'm never going to forget the love I received from all the Indian people I was surrounded by. I'm going to try to be positive in all things. I'm going to simplify my life. I'm going to work hard. I'm going to remember India forever because its beauty, its culture and its people will forever be in my heart. I give a final written "thank you" to everyone who has supported me from the beginning, the middle, and the end. But I will always be grateful to you and I won't forget the sacrifices that were made to make this experience possible. You made this trip about us, not about me. I've been able to portray most moments I've had while in India on this blog but the only way someone can completely understand India, specifically Rising Star Outreach and the work that is done there, is by experiencing it themselves. So I encourage you to get involved somehow if you find yourself in the position to do so. 
Thank you so much for enjoying the journey with me!

Namaste. 

And last but certainly not least, little Mary. My little friend.

The End is Near

At this moment Kirsten and I are sitting in the Elephant House, on our bunk beds, in our lonely room that we now have all to ourselves, having a blogging catch-up party while jammin to Put Your Records On on repeat, listening to our "pet" lizard, Sergio, make weird noises, while dealing with a bug invasion. 

Shall I explain? I'm still at Rising Star! The session ended on Thursday night but Kirsten and I had a change of plans. Originally we were leaving for Hyderabad Friday morning but Shyam (Grandpa) had a family emergency so he had to go back to Mumbai early. We're meeting him there on Monday to finish our trip there like we planned. So we cut one city out of our trip and we get to spend more time at Rising Star and I am so thankful for that. But that means all the other volunteers are gone which is why we have a room to ourselves. About the bug invasion? It's been raining like crazy the past couple days and the bugs just love it and decide to come out of hibernation and attack our faces. So we've become expert bug killers (sorry to all you bug activists). So we've been hanging out with the coordinators and a couple volunteers that are still here.

But let's backtrack. Before everyone left on Thursday we had a sort of a free day and did things we've been look forward to doing: pearls and paintings. Rising Star has a facility a little ways away where REAL pearl jewelry is made by people who have leprosy. They have their own little business and their work is beautiful. 

Then we went to an art school where all the painters have leprosy and though the paintings are better than anything I could ever create, they aren't Picasso either but it doesn't matter. Think about it. These people are trying to make a business for themselves to be self-sufficient by painting beautiful  colorful paintings and some of these people don't even have hands. Or fingers. Or they have very poor eyesight. And yet they are expressing themselves and creating these wonderful works of art. The idea of it is just amazing so we of course raided that place and made some purchases. This is the painting I bought and this is the man who painted it:

That night we FINALLY did one of my amazing ideas that no one ever wants to partake of. You see, in the past I've had a plethora of wonderful ideas such as going down the stairs on mattresses, building a fort, making a music video, and playing sardines. Well the time finally came that we took action and played sardines around the Rising Star campus. And it was really fun so YOU'RE WELCOME EVERYONE. We used the whole campus but played smart by using flash lights and our spidey senses to avoid any snakes and scorpions that tend to wander on our path. Almost everyone played and of course, we dressed for the occasion. It was good fun and it was so funny because Kirsten and I were walking in the school when next thing we know, Padmini, the cook, was right behind us telling us where the person was hiding and she played the rest of the round. You probably had to be there but just imagine this older Indian lady, dressed up in a saree, walking around when it's pitch black at night...and playing sardines. It was awesome. Padmini's a rockstar.

THEN we had a french toast party. French toast is a delicacy here. I was introduced to french toast with nutella on it and then syrup. Good stuff. 

THEN we played games and did fortunes until most of the volunteers left for the Delhi trip at 2:45AM. We all stayed up, said our goodbyes and sent them on their way. It was hard to see the other volunteers say their goodbyes to the kids because I haven't had to do that yet. But...I got some good crying pictures of everyone. Saying goodbye to the volunteers wasn't very fun because saying goodbye just isn't easy. We've become so close in such a short time. But the good news is that basically all of us live around Utah and staying in touch will be easy peasy. Plus I just want to see everyone in real life. Rising Star isn't real life, it's like this little heaven on earth where life is simplified. I'll never forget my experiences I've had here and the friendships I've made all over India. I'll talk more specifically about that in my last blog post as an overall 'What I've learned" sort of thing. 

Every session at Rising Star paints a mural on this wall so our charismatic group outdid ourselves and made a crazy, unique mural that honestly, only we understand. I wish I could explain to you what it means and why we painted what we did, but it probably wouldn't make sense. Everything we did is significant to our session. So here are some pictures of the process and the "finished" product (we'll probably be fixing it tomorrow because the sharknado looks kinda like a poopnado...): 

Call us the Michelangelo's. 

Then we ate dinner on the roof of the elephant house which we never do, so that was kinda cool. 

And today, Saturday we went to Pondicherry, a city like 2 hours away. Weekends are our group travel time. It was a crowded city. We went to a bazaar and let me tell you, the bazaar was bazzar (that one's for you dad). I have never smelt so many smells in my entire life concentrated in one area. It was not the most pleasant experience but it was definitely an experience. It smelt like fish, flowers, dirt, cilantro, wet dogs, and all kinds of food mixed into one. My nose couldn't handle it for very long but it was like the epitome of India and it was very cool to see. Then we went to a legit Italian restaurant owned by this guy who's from Italy. It was so refreshing and much appreciated. Then we walked around a bit and went to eat again (of course) at a really nice french bakery. Yummy, yummy. Lots of good European food today. Good job, India! As long as it's not rice, I'd love to eat it. I also asked an Indian guy selling drums to teach me how to make this one cool sound on the drum that everyone always makes. That maybe wasn't the best idea because we attracted a crowed but once again...it was definitely an experience. 

My future Indian husband. 

Also two things worth mentioning: 
We got two prize winning photos because two of the most fearsome creatures showed they have a soul. Lola and Dirgadevy. Lola is the pet goat and Dirgadevy is this interesting child that one one can quite comprehend. But no worries, I whispered them. 

She's SMILING. Never happens. 

Lola. 

Now I need to go to sleep! So goodnight everyone, until next time!