.bangalor.

What I love about being here and working our tails off is being able to take a break every few weeks to go on weekend vacations around India. First stop. BANGALOR! After a 10 hour bus ride and no sleep, we finally made it to beautiful Bangalor. It's so interesting how different one city in India is from another. Bangalor is really green and just full of life! We spent out first day settling in, shopping, swimming and eating out at TGI Fridays. You all know how much I love that restaurant and to be honest....I was a little disappointed. The Jack Daniel's sauce is a little sad tasting. But it's all good! The next day we headed to Mysore! This is a city just 4 hours outside of Bangalor. We went to Mysore palace. This is where the emperor lived and where people would come visit. It is BEAUTIFUL!! Best part of this visit? Riding and elephant AND a camel!! Two items on my bucket list have been crossed off! It was unreal standing next to such a beautiful animal...the elephant that is...the camel was....well interesting looking. haha But it really was so rad standing next to animals that I only see in movies and pictures. Riding them was an experience! The elephant was way fun! Eric and I rode the camel and it was actually quite uncomfortable. When I got on the camel I thought "hut hut!" from Prince of Egypt...but I don't understand how they could ride on a running camel. It was painful just riding one that walked around. Man I still can't believe I rode these amazing animals!! India has been too good to us!

Still in shock!

The elephant even posed for the camera!

Me and the roomies!

Hut! Hut!

Mysore Palace!...so sad we couldn't say pictures inside because it was BEAUTIFUL!

.G.L.O.W.

Our second project that we started working on this summer was G.L.O.W. Girls Leading Our World. This was an opportunity for us to teach some girls in the slums self esteem, goal setting, maturation and hygiene classes and many other things to help them feel confident with themselves. I wasn't sure how successful this project would be. Only because the first 2 classes didn't go as planned and the girls were younger than we had anticipated. But looking back on this project I found that the girls taught us more than we taught them. My favorite lesson was the self esteem class that we taught them. We compared your self esteem to an apple. Having negative thoughts about yourself and others is compared to dropping an apple on a hard surface. Slowly, the apple is getting bruised. However, due to the apple peel, we aren't able to see those bruises. When you cut open an apple you will find a star shaped center. Everyone is a star inside no matter your circumstance. We taught the girls to speak kind words of others and yourself. I loved the looks on their faces when they understood what we were talking about.

We then asked the girls to write down 3 things that they love about themselves. As I went around taking a glance at their lists I found an incredible pattern. Almost every single girl in the group said: "I want to help poor people." and "I love my India." This really hit home for me. These girls have nothing and yet they still want to help those who are less fortunate. They are so proud of their beautiful India. This is a country where the citizens love and cherish it. I love that. I love how much love is shown from these girls. They want to succeed in life. They want to change the world. They want to be special. And they are. I will forever be grateful for our G.L.O.W. girls.

Hooray for good self esteem!!!

.summer.camp.

Our first project we started on was our summer camp up in one of the slums in Hyderabad. Day one came and all 5 of us volunteers were beyond stoked and ready to start the work!
We were planning on having about 50 kids there between ages 5-11. Turned out that we have about 70 kids on our first day and a good number of them were toddlers. We didn't mind though! We had an absolute blast! We had lessons plans made and everything but due to the number of children and the chaos, we ended up playing A LOT of games and dancing around A LOT. We were also able to throw some lessons on the ABC's, 123's, colors and fruits. I honestly loved being there.
*Funny story...so on day one of summer camp we arrived not really knowing what to expect. We walked into this one roomed church building with all of the children sitting there boys separated from the girls. The children were so confused when 5 Americans walked into the room. Eliza, Eric and I just started playing with the kids and running around with them. After a few more minutes of confusion they found what we were doing to be rather fun. When it came time to separate into groups with the volunteers we asked the kids to pick a volunteer. Most of the boys ran to Eric, half of the group ran to Eliza and the other half ran to me. I had kids wrapped around my legs, stomach and arms. This is when it hit me. This is happening. I'm in India. Let's do this.

I met some pretty amazing children who I wanted to take home so badly. I loved spending a few hours a day for 2 weeks with these beautiful children. It made me really excited to be a future teacher. I think I found a new kind of love for children. These children have nothing and yet they love so unconditionally. They are so humble and happy. Being up in the slums for this project was an eye opening experience. You see slums in movies and pictures, but physically being there was something else. The homes were made of tarps and cinder blocks. The roads are super bumpy and dirty. Although it was a slum, it was a beautiful place to be. The love that came from the people made being there a beautiful and positive experience for us all. This was a perfect project to start an amazing summer with. Very humbling. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

This is Divya. One of the brightest and smartest girls I know.

This is Angel....she truly is an angel.

We taught them how to blow kisses...they love that!

This is my little Vanilla. She stole my heart the second I saw her.

Putting their hand prints on posters for their school!

Blowing kisses with my Vanilla!

Okay....This is who I call the "Wild Child". The second I saw her I wanted to be her friend. I had been calling her the wild child because...well she's wild and a typical little 4 year old! I later found out that he name is Nora...I still call her my "wild child".

SUMMER CAMP 2013!

I miss these children each and every day. I know I'll see them again. They will always have a special place in my heart!

.hello.

I sincerely apologize for slacking on keeping my blog updated of my journey here in India! I have everything all ready to type up and post! Get ready for some sweet pictures and some amazing stories. I am safe, happy and trying to stay healthy. I really don't want to be anywhere else in the world right now and I am truly blessed for this amazing experience. Shout out to Mama Tammy and Papa Larry for supporting me in this incredible journey. I love you guys! More posts comin' atcha!

.week.one.

I can't believe that it's already been a week since I got here. My mom wasn't lying... TIME FLIES! We spent our first week getting all situated and preparing for this coming week's projects. I was hoping to get into the slums and start on our projects on day 2, but Ben told us that he wanted us to actually enjoy India and not be worn out on day one wanting to go home.

Last Friday, we spent the day running errands. Before I go on with more details, I need to tell you about the streets and stuff. THEY ARE CRAZY!! It blows my mind at how many people are here. We ride in these things called "Autos". They are a thee-wheeled cars that are their taxis. There are usually about 3 lanes in the roads but it gets turned into 6 because no one follows traffic laws. There autos weasel their way through cars, buses, you name it. SO many people drive. It's unreal. I haven't seen the sun nor any clouds yet...the air is SO bad.

They have a store here called Q-Mart that sells American goodies. We got some groceries for when we are wanting food from home. We also exchanged money and got some other things. We had lunch at a place called "The Chocolate Room". For those of you who know me very well will know that I LOVE CHOCOLATE! We went in there and saw that they had a lunch menu. We had lunch there. Bad idea. I ordered a salad and everyone else ordered there wrap things. My salad was nasty. It was smothered in BBQ sauce and some other unknown dressing. The chicken had this weird texture that I couldn't move past. We all regretting ordering food. Julia and I split an Oreo Milkshake. Their milkshakes are actually really good here! That was by far a good choice. After a long trip home, all of the volunteers met together and read about India. Heck! We are so stoked. We read some interesting facts about holidays. There is something called "Friendship Day". August 13th. The day before I leave. It's perfect! A couple named Brandon and Sirisha came over to say hello. They were both Help volunteers a few years ago and were in town to visit family. We took the night to celebrate my birthday! Since I celebrated my birthday on an airplane, Ben thought it would be fun to go do something well...fun! We went to Pizza Hut for dinner. Goodness it was so good! For 150 rupees ($3) I got a soda, potato wedges and my own pizza. THREE DOLLARS! Don't worry mom...I didn't eat the crust. We were planning on going to a movie after but we were all so worn out so we went home to bed. I was super happy that I was able to have some sort of a birthday. And in INDIA!!

Saturday was a fun day too! We were able to go shopping for some Indian clothing! Sirisha came with us since she knows where to get the good stuff. Eliza and I bought churidars. They are so comfy and beautiful! Jenny, Eliza and I also bought these sweet Aladdin pants! Such a find! The area that we went shopping around is called a General Bazar. It was a Saturday and so everyone was out to shop so it was crazy busy and crowded. We headed home to get some sleep. Around 3:00 AM, Eliza and I both woke up. Let me tell ya... we were WIDE awake. We sat and talked for a bit and tried to fall back asleep. Around 4:00 I heard this yelling outside. You know in the movie "The Other Side of Heaven" how when someone dies, the whole town and family mourn and chant? That's what it sounded like. "Eliza, I think someone just died." I said...Eliza said, "No...he's praying!" I guess some people here wake up at 4:00 AM to pray. It was so loud and really cool! The praying only lasted for a few minutes. Next thing you know, it's 7:30 and I am still wide awake. Darn jet lag.

Sunday came and I was so happy. We got ready church and all I thought in my mind was, "I'm going to church...in INDIA!!!!" I was so excited to go to church!!! The church building is BEAUTIFUL! It is surrounded by a big white wall and gate with a guard and everything. The second I walked into the building, I couldn't hear the crazy streets or anything. It reminds me of the NYC temple. The members of the ward are so welcoming and loving. We were surrounded by beautiful Indians wanting to learn our names and shake our hands. Sacrament meeting was beautiful. I have never felt the spirit so strongly in my life. I look up at the piano and there is a white missionary! During the meeting, he got up to give a talk and I'm thinking to myself, "I know this guy...how?" Then I remember that Aubrey had told me about a year ago that one of her friends got called to India, english speaking. We both thought it was so cool because it's a crazy foreign country and to be able to just speak English is awesome. The missionary was her friend! Elder Head! I just laughed and laughed. What a small world? I introduced myself to him and he told me he remembered me. We got a picture together. So Aubrey....here's your amigo Elder Head! What a guy!

Word got out that I play the piano. I was asked 4 different times within an hour to play/teach a lesson. I played "The Spirit of God" for the relief society and the whole time I was thinking "Thank you mom for making me stay in piano lessons for as long as I did....cause this is pretty neat." After RS, I was asked to each a young boy part of a hymn that he was struggling with so he could play it in priesthood. He was so eager to learn. I was also asked to play for the stake choir for the upcoming stake conference. That night Ben and I headed over to the church for practice. The members there were so eager to sing and be there. They kept wanting to go over the music over and over again. It got tiring but I was just happy to be there and help out. It was an amazing first Sunday in India and I can't wait have more!
Our other roommate, Meera flew in early this morning so it has been fun getting to know her! She's a hoot. I freaking love her.

Monday-Wednesday were spent meeting with partners for our projects this summer. I am so excited and ready to work. We also spent time shopping around for Sares. We were invited to an Indian wedding this weekend which is amazing!!! We found Sares for about $200. I was really sad because that's expensive and I REALLY want one. The next day we went to a store and found out that they were only $18 there. STEAL OF A DEAL! Plus they had a sale and Eliza and I figured out a way to get them super cheap. How cheap? $7 each! I am so happy! I can't wait for this wedding.
The partners we have been meeting with are amazing. I am the team lead for the LEPRA/MV Foundation for the leper colony projects. This is a dream of mine and I can't wait to take on this project. Ben knew to put me as the team lead because he knew how much I wanted this. We meet with MVF tomorrow!

Some of the projects we will be working on:
-GLOW (Girls Leading Our World): This is a project to help the teenage girls here learn leadership skills over in the slums.
-Painting Murals: We will be painted murals in 4 of the schools in the slums. This will be one of my favorites!
-Borewells: These are pipe systems/wells that provide water for the slums. We will be building about 5 of these.
-Summer camps: We will hold a summer camp while students in the slums are out of school. This will help them stay out of trouble and we will be teaching them games and fun activities.
-Leper Colonies: We will be working in the leper clinics. I seriously can't wait for this project. I am just dying to get over there.
-UVU Scholarships: We will be on a scholarship board to help decide which students to get scholarships to. This is a huge opportunity and I can't wait to be apart of this.

Some fun facts about India:
-The people here do a thing called a head bobble. It means "yes" "okay" or that they are agreeing with you. It's confusing because when I am asking an auto for a ride, they bobble their head and it looks like they are either confused or not wanting to help out. I am actually starting to pick up the head bobble...it's hilarious.
-The Auto drivers can say no to you if they don't want to take you to places.
-Food here in Hyderabad is SUPER spicy.
-No one responds to ambulances when their sirens are on.
-Women don't shake men's hands unless the man offers it to you.
-Everything here is super cheap. It is 54 rupees to a dollar. A typical meal here is about 150 rupees.
-The women ride side saddle on the vespas/motorcycles.
-The cows just roam the streets.
-Water here is dirty unless it's bottled and mineral.

More to come! Love you all! I am missing family and friends, but I don't want to be anywhere else in the world right now. We start our projects on Monday. Ah! I can't wait!!!!

.india.2013.

I didn't think that this blog post would ever happen. On December 5, 2012, I made the decision to go to India. On May 14th, I was on a plane on my way to India....well Atlanta actually. I had a hard time saying goodbye to family and friends. A really hard time. I felt every sort of emotion possible. It was scary. I told myself I wouldn't look back at my family after handing the TSA man my passport and flight ticket. As soon as I handed him my information, I started crying. It would have been so easy for me to turn around and run back to my family but I know they would probably run away from me just to make sure I got on that plane. I looked back at them and they stood there with big smiles on their faces....and some tears..hopefully. I met Eliza Dowdle at the gate and we just hugged. She could tell I was struggling so her positive attitude and smile helped a ton. It felt nice to have a piece of home there with me.

The flight to Atlanta was long. Well only 4 hours but it felt super long. I started feeling anxious and scared again. I had to go to the bathroom to say a prayer. I knew that those prayers were going to be happened A LOT. We made it to Atlanta. Again, the feeling of wanting to go to the gate desk and ask to switch my flight to SLC came over me. I made phone calls back home and my parents were able to comfort me and reassure me that I needed to be in India and that there were people there waiting for me. I got on the plane as bravely as I could. Eliza and I weren't able to sit by each other. This flight was 14 hours. I "slept" for 9 of those hours and did...well I don't really remember what I did for the remaining 5. But it was a miserable flight. We made it to Dubai. Dudes...the airport is bizarre! It is beautiful! I had never seen anything like it. They had these UFO things hanging from the ceiling and palm trees lining the gates.

I got on Facebook to talk to anyone who was awake. I was able to talk to friends and family. Aubrey and Trent were online and they really helped me remember why I was going to India. I was able to get my mom to get on facebook and nothing is more comforting than a mother. I felt like I needed to get off the computer and go sit by Eliza. Literally 2 seconds after sitting down, a little Indian girl came over and started talking to us. Her name was Neha and her mother's name was Sirisha. They were both from India but were currently living in Atlanta. Turns out they were on our flight to India so they sat and talked with us for a few hours. It was such a blessing. Sirisha have us some insight on India and some advice. It was so comforting and helpful! I began to get a little bit more excited.

We boarded the plane. I will say this....chivalry is dead here. Eliza and I literally got shoved while getting onto the jet way. It was...interesting. After a 4 hour flight to Hyderabad, we made it! Ben (our country director) and Jenny (a fellow intern) were there to greet us. What a relief to be done with plane rides! It was May 16th. 2 days of traveling was exhausting. We took a cab to our apartment.

I will say one thing....we are spoiled. There is AC, internet (well...hopefully will be soon), water, beds and the whole shabang. It's not a 5-star hotel but hey! I heard the crew over in Fiji don't have AC or internet. Eliza and I share a room. The heat in India is beyond intense so the AC is nice to come home to.

I love our group. So far we have Ben and Julia (both country directors) then me, Eliza, Jenny and Eric. We all get along so well and are just loving it here. We spent the rest of the day getting some food, unpacking and just relaxing. Eliza and I were able to catch up on some sleep and relax.

I can't wait to start working and getting to know my home for the next 3 months. I already love it here and I am looking forward to immersing myself in the work and culture.

More posts to come with facts and stories!!

...

Tonight was kind of an incredible night. I was able to spend it with the English family. I love being there. I love how they welcome me with open arms and how much love I feel at that home. I was having a hard time tonight with some anxiety and not feeling so well. Trent offered to give me a blessing. It was such a powerful blessing and I knew it came straight from Heavenly Father. I left their home feeling at peace and I had a smile on my face. I will forever be grateful for tonight.