so proud!

When I first arrived in Kolkata, many things were a shock to my system-- the dirtiness of the city, smells, pollution, the sheer number of people here, etc.  It was difficult at first, but over time I have adjusted.  Now, I feel way more comfortable and am able to move with the flow of life as crazy & exhausting as it may be on some days.  (Even now, my mom is visiting and she keeps insisting that there is a certain smell in the air of burnt trash or something.  I still have no idea what she's referring to.)  Among the many things I've had to get used to, the mass amount of poverty was one of the things that I think I just couldn't wrap my mind around.  I knew I wanted to do something, but I was at a loss at the "how".  

Over time, the Lord was faithful to provide a place for my teammate and I to teach English in the slums.  We did this is our free time and mostly with the intentions of building relationships so we could point these people to Jesus.  We have had many chances to do that and have seen steps toward life change with some we are working with.  Even more, the kids and families of this slum area have become dear friends.  I love these people. 

 In August, we were asked to oversee a card making income generation project that would potentially bring in some money for the kids.  I was super pumped because this meant that I could be all artsy and junk and it was a chance for these kids to get to work for money.  So, I'll spare you the details, but after time, we developed a pretty good looking greeting/Christmas card if I do say so myself.  It is a simple design and it involves old saris from a local market in the north.  And the kids are really good at it!

I heard Louie Giglio say one time, "I can't do everything, but I can do something."  I am a firm believer in this statement, and I have come to see this is my "solution" toward the problem of poverty in Kolkata.  Doing what I can with where I am right now.

I get excited when I think about the future of where this could possibly go.  There are talks and hopes of it becoming something more, but right now we are just selling locally.  Recently, we had the chance to set up shop at a local Christmas Bazaar.  The cards did well and many people said they were beautiful!  When we told the kids that many cards sold, you could tell a sense of pride and amazement welled up, huge grins came across their faces and we all clapped and smiled at each other.  I'm smiling now just thinking about it...Wonderful things are happening in the slums of Kolkata.

Here are a few pictures from the local Christmas Bazaar we went to:

 
Our set up for the day.

 A look inside the basket full of cards the kids made.

 A few of the cards.

Kayla, Shaina and I.  Many thanks to Shaina who told us about the Bazaar and let us share her table!

 Most of the kids in this picture are involved in the project.


i am second.

I recently stumbled upon the website to back up the "I am Second" movement and watched a few of their videos.  I haven't had the chance to watch all the videos [partially because my internet often takes 30 minutes to load them and most of the time looses connection], but the ones that I have watched, I've been really encouraged by.  I always find honesty refreshing.  These peoples lives have really been changed by the power of Jesus Christ.  There is no way to deny it.

Click here to watch a few of the videos.


hippo chips!

There are a buncha nasty tasting "snack foods" here in India.  I mean NASTY.  It's so hard because the people who bought it are being so generous and usually they bought the snack just for you.  So, you really can't refuse.  And India's version of hospitality is like none I have seen before.  Notice, I said "version".  Where I am from, I would feel so terrible if someone ate something I cooked even though they didn't like it.  Here, I don't even really know if that enters their mind... the fact that I might not like it.

Needless to say, I'm always excited when I find a snack food that I actually enjoy  They are few and far between or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places, but one of the really good tasting snacks is called "Hippo".  We call them "Hippo Chips".  As an added bounus, each little bag of chips has a little rhyme on the back of it about fighting hunger that is super funny. 

Here are the rhymes from the two little bags that are in the picture:
(You need to say it in a 'hippo' voice.  I think I channel the whale from the movie "Elf" when he says... "byyyeeee buuudddyyyy"--I think it helps.)

"Hello, me hippo.
Hippo make lots of Hippo delicious baked munchies for everyone.
Hippo feel bad you work, work, work and not eat on time.  Hippo like you keep Hippo munchies handy.
Look, Hippo care for you.  Hippo say, 'don't go hungry'.
Hippo think hungry people less happy.  Hungry people more fight.
Hippo believe world will be better if nobody hungry.
So, Hippo try."

"Hello, me Hippo again.
Hippo happy you join Hippo mission to fight hunger.
But now Hippo need more munchies to fight hunger.
Hippo say mouth round, stomach round, world rough. So, Hippo makes munchies also round-round.
Hippo say hunger give world hard time.  Eat Round-Round munchies and give hunger hard time.
Because what go round must come round, ho ho ho!"

Tell me you're not smiling!

oops.

This may or may not have been our water filter for the past year and a half.  Given, we did change the actual filter in February.  That was when the little installation man told us that the whole thing had been broken for the past year we'd been using it.  Oops.

Turns out, the little thing on the left is supposed to be a UV light to aid in the filtering process, I guess.  Welp, turns out we are more hardcore than we thought.  :)  

The last picture shows our new filter!  Yay!  We got it after our friend went back to America.  After he left, we got his filter AND his furniture-- langniappe!  

Yay for clean water!




jesus is better than island getaways.

As fun as island getaways and whopper meals and starbucks and beautiful sunsets and fun times with friends and large asian markets and amazing phad thai and fruit smoothies are. Jesus is better.

I've found nothing else like him. He has gripped my heart and changed my life forever. I'm thankful for Jesus.


unexpected fun

When I was was a kid, my siblings and neighbors used to play outside for hours. We'd run barefoot all over creation climbing trees, swimming, playing soccer and when night came, we played the amazing "travel hide and seek". I must confess this is still my favorite pastime. Running around barefoot in a shorts and T-shirt playing some kind of sport or doing gymnastics feels so free. I love it.

Making the transition to a huge city where grass is a rare sighting and women are usually expected to be in the kitchen has forced me to dream of the days when I can get out and run again. Needless to say, when a few of the volunteers told me they had a football and frisbee, I was all over it.

Last Saturday night, we went out to throw the football before dinner. We threw for about 30 minutes and then decided we needed to head in. It was getting dark and we were beginning to get hungry. As we were walking in to go eat, one of the guys lobbed the frisbee my way for one last past. Welp, the wind got it and went sailing over this 10-ft tall wall.

My first thought--"I'll climb the wall!!" No problem. It was a concrete wall about 6 feet high, and then on top of that, there was a fence-like railing of about 4 ft or so. Once you got on top of the concrete part, it was about a foot wide, so it was easy to stand and climb over the railing on top of it. And there was a small ladder like structure on the outside making it pretty simple to just hop on up there.

Well, my first attempt, I found a water spicket. I stepped my foot on it and was going to pull myself up, but I immediately got a jolt--- I got electrocuted!! I stepped back and noticed some open wires. I was kinda surprised, but just decided to move to another place to try.

The guys and I walked around a little bit and found a place where we all began to climb up. The guys were being very gentlemanly saying how they should do this because they are guys, but I was just too excited to get to climb a wall! I thought-- "hey, we can all do it?!" So, I began to climb and a few seconds later, I'm over the wall. I guess the guys decided to just let me do it.

I told them I could see the frisbee and that I'd be just one minute. I'd have to jump down a little bit and walk over and go get it. It was not one second after I let go of the wall to jump down that I felt the ground beneath me give way. Yes, friends-- the surface I was willingly jumping into was liquid. You see, it had a nice little film of green (muck + lilly pads) on the top and it was dark outside, so it appeared to be grass. Oh but no. It was a huge pool of water!!

My first thoughts as my feet hit were-- "SEWAGE. I AM FALLING INTO SEWAGE!!!!" But the good Lord spared me. As I became completely engulfed-- I think it was about 5 or 6 feet deep-- I realized it to be nothing more that just a big pool of dirty rain water. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. And that's what it tasted like, too. I would know because I inhaled some of it as I went under.

Immediately after falling in, I pushed up off the bottom and, as quick as I could, hopped up on another concrete ledge. The boys were on the other side and said it sounded like I had fallen into leaves or something, but knew something was wrong seeing that I came up soaking wet and yelling for a towel. We all just laughed. When I realized I could just walk along the ledge and grab the frisbee, that's what I did.

One guy ran to grab me a towel and the other two let me hide behind them as we walked back into the complex. When the security guard saw me, I just said... "I fell into a puddle.", and kept on walking like it was completely normal. Who knows what they think of me!?

I think I said in an earlier blog post that you never know what kind of adventures await you in India. That proved to be true Saturday night. Who knows what else I'll get into before I leave here.

thailand for the weekend

There are many days when I miss the perks of America. Things like frozen yogurt, fresh salads or maybe freedom and comfort come to my mind when I think about home.

But I will be reunited with these things all too soon. Now is the time to enjoy the perks of living in India. So, for now, I enjoy really great meals at nice restaurants for only a few dollars, wonderfully cheap phone bills, learning (because I have to) to cook from scratch and getting the chance to hop on over to other countries for the weekend.

Yup-- this time next week, I'll be in Thailand. Why you ask? Ohhhh... because there was a summer sale going on and it sounded like a good idea. When is Thailand ever not a good idea? I really love it there-- wonderful markets, peaceful people, no stares or horns, amazing food fo cheap(!), and beaches!! Yes Lawd!

Friday can't come soon enough.

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