Belated Birthday Party

While we were unpacking yesterday afternoon Kim surprised Derek and I with a plate of chocolate chip cookies with candles in them and sang happy birthday to us. Both of our birthdays are in the first week of May...It was such a sweet and thoughtful surprise and hands down the best belated birthday celebration. Jet lagged, slap happy, and a plate of cookies in India...doesn't get much better than that! 

 

Thank you for the super gift, Kim! Love you!

I'm back!

I made it! After 30 hours of travel, airplane food, popping ears, swollen feet, a numb rear end, and falling asleep in hilariously awkward positions I have finally arrived to my India-home-sweet-home. It is so good to be back and it feels like I never left! But the past 30+ hours of my life have been a complete whirlwind...I cycled through so many different emotions over the events of the traveling that I began to question my sanity...seriously! 

Everything started out smooth sailing. After saying goodbye to my sweet Mama, Derek and I headed through security where we saw Elder Holland walking on by...Yup, they have to go through security too. We thought it was cool that we saw him and carried on not really thinking anything of it only to arrive at the terminal and see him sitting at our gate. It just so happens that majority of the flight was of missionaries just leaving the MTC, so they were all surrounding him asking for pictures. As we walked up to the gate I offered to take a group picture...naturally I became a camera rack with all sorts of cameras hanging from my appendages as I awkwardly tried to maneuver them all in efforts to not drop or break them. As more people passed through the terminal, his fanfare increased and soon he was calling me his official photographer ...I was happy to help; he was a good sport to put up with so many pictures! Derek and I sat down at the gate and talked with Him and his wife. He asked where we were headed, when we said India we realized we were on the same flights all the way to Delhi! What a relief...we knew we were in good hands! It was a fun surprise, and great way to start out the summer. 

We met up with Kim Lyons in Chicago...The three of us were volunteers in the same session last summer and now we are coordinators together. Kim lives in Boston so we hadn't seen her since we left India last summer..it was a great reunion! Then began the very long flight to Delhi...15 hours to be exact. My legs were not happy campers. To try to avoid any blood clottage I whipped out my oh-so-attractive compression tights...holla. My bum goes numb so fast when sitting, so having to sit for that amount of time I was coming up with some unique ways to sit and/or sleep. We got pretty creative in our seating arrangements too..at one point I was laying on the floor at the base of our seats with my feet on Derek's lap. Every time a flight attendant would walk by I'd hide under the seat. That was the first time I actually slept for more than 5 minutes. The only down fall was it smelled like feet, but it didn't bother me too badly. I guess knowing what I was in for in India I was able to recognize that the smell of stinky feet is like potpourri compared to what my nose was about to behold! 

Everything was smooth up to that point. But once we got off in Delhi, things got weird. We had to re-check our bags and go through customs, which in India = chaos. Lines don't exist and thus organization is poor, so it got a little frantic. My flight to Chennai was on a different plane than Kim and Derek's, but we were scheduled to land within 15 minutes of each other. We set up the plan that I was going to wait for them by the baggage claim and then we would walk out into the sea of craziness to find our driver. Well we should get kudos for having a plan, but like most things in India...nothing went as planned. I made it to my terminal just in time to board the plane & everything was right on schedule. I even said to the guy sitting next to me how impressed I was that we were actually leaving right on time. That's when everything went a rye! After sitting on the runway for almost an hour the captain informed us that due to the heat lightning we would not be able to take off for at least another half hour and if it didn't clear up then our flight would be canceled. I was not in a good place mentally; the plane was hot, I started asking myself why I was even in India and if I could do it,  I didn't want to be there, and hearing that my flight might be canceled just took me to the breaking point. I was too exhausted. All I could think to do was pray. I prayed to feel comfort and for the strength and courage to replace my fears, worries, and selfish concerns with that love I knew I had for India and its beautiful people but couldn't feel at that moment. 

Finally after 2 hours of waiting on the runway, we got the clearance to go ahead and take off. When I landed in Chennai, I was obviously 2 hours delayed so I had no idea if Kim and Derek were there already or if I had to wait for them. I stood by the baggage claim for quite some time but no one was coming...I figured they probably landed before I did and were waiting out with our driver. So I decided to toughen up and brave the sea of Indians in high hopes of finding them. As I did so, I had a pit in my stomach as our driver was no where to be found, nor Kim or Derek. I went back and forth between International and Domestic pickup with my trolley of luggage and covered in sweat feeling so alone and not knowing what to do. I probably sound crazy to someone who has not experienced India, let alone the Chennai airport...but it is out of control, so unorganized, and no one speaks English. I was beside as to what I should do…Then I remembered I had printed out the emergency contact info from my volunteer packet last summer just in case. Praying that the numbers were the same, I turned on my phone not knowing whether it would work or not, and dialed one of the numbers on the sheet. Miraculously my phone worked, miraculously someone answered despite being 1 am, and miraculously it was just who I needed to talk to. Robinson is the new manager here in India and he told me just where to find my driver and that Kim and Derek had missed their flight up in Delhi and would not be arriving until 8 or 9 in the morning. So I went out into the sea of craziness again and couldn't find my driver anywhere. Just when I was going to turn around a little Indian man came out of nowhere saying, "Keem? Keem?"  with a little Rising Star sign in his hand. Ah! I was soooo happy to see him. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as we got into the car and headed home. His name is Shankar . He is a new driver for Rising Star. 

We got to Rising Star around 3:30. Ever since we started on the road home to Rising Star campus, I have felt nothing but peace & happiness. India is a wild place, and Rising Star is always well worth the traveling toll. So while I questioned my sanity in the process of getting here, I am happy to report that everything is in check and back to normal:)

India : Take Three

Today marks one week until I'll be hopping on a plane and venturing back to my home away from home for the third time, for a stay of three and a half months.  I am ecstatic at the opportunity to be the medical coordinator and to work along side my fellow coordinators to make this the best volunteer summer yet. But, to say that I am a nervous wreck would be the understatement of the century...I have been a brewing melting pot of contradicting emotions! I can't wait to get there, yet I am dreading leaving; I am so excited, yet scared and worried; I am so happy to spend my summer in a place that I love with people I love; yet I am sad to be leaving home and my family and friends. What I do know, however, is once I get there I won't ever want to leave...

I cannot wait to hold those kiddos in my arms again...to play soccer in our bare feet, jump rope until my feet are bruised, get schooled in basketball, and ganged up on in water fights. I cannot wait to see my friends in the colonies, meet new faces, and build new relationships. I cannot wait  for the volunteers and to witness their lives change.

When my friends and family found out I was going back to India this summer the common response I got was a well-meaning, "Again??".  As the day of departure has crept closer and closer I have found myself asking the same thing..."Really Kim, you are going again?". Yesterday I took on the daunting task of cleaning out and organizing my closet and my drawers. As I stood there in the middle of my room surrounded by heaps of clothing and an absurd amount of shoes, it hit me how easy it is to lose sight of what truly matters most in life. I thought about the kids and their one pair of shoes, one school uniform, and one set of play clothes and all the pure joy that emanates from within them. I thought about the person I am now and began to evaluate where my priorities had been, my relationship with my Father in Heaven and my Savior, and my relationships with my family & those I care about. I thought about the person I want to become and as I did so I realized that if any one needs India & its humbling ways...its me. Up to that point I had only been thinking about what I was sacrificing to go, what events I was missing out on, relationships I was potentially hurting, and how much I was going to miss home and my family. I have been so ungrateful and selfish in my thinking!  So as I stood in my room yesterday and brought my "woe-is-me-pity-party" to a close, I realized what a tender mercy it is that I get to go back to India again. I am grateful for the opportunity for a new beginning; to simplify my life, to be reminded again of what matters most, to learn from the children & people in the colonies, and to forget myself in the service of others. Ever since yesterday afternoon...I can't help but feel humbled, grateful, and beyond thrilled to go back...again.

Next post will be from India. Until then...let the countdown begin!

Thanks to Jared and my friends at Subway...

I lost half of me.
(these pants really are a part of my daily apparel here in India)

Bay of Bengal!

For our Saturday get away we went to Mamallapurum--a beach town about 2 hours away from RSO campus. I love it there. After an hour or so of "last chance" shopping, we headed over to the Ideal Beach Resort and played on the beach for the day. It was beautiful! We napped in our hammocks under a tiki hut and drank from coconuts and ate "Polynesian Pizza"... aka Hawaiian pizza. And of course, we swam in the Bay of Bengal! We had a blast. The beach always makes me happy, it was a perfect day.

Ideal beach is pretty Ideal.

Pure bliss.

Hammock time!

Yes, that is a coconut.

We love the ocean!

I'm free!

I love this girl.

LJ, Me, Carly.

Arumugam

There is a story behind this picture, as well as the painting within this picture.

Last summer a man from a colony, Arumugam, had fallen off of his bike a couple days before I had arrived in India. As a volunteer I heard very little about his condition and what was going on with him until my second to last day in India. I was supposed to be with the tutoring group that day, but one of the coordinators felt very strongly that I should join her in taking a check to the hospital so that this man could get his much-needed surgery underway. When I got to the hospital, the sight of him at the end of an isolated hall way, no sheets on his bed, and un bathed for 3 weeks broke my heart and all I could do was sit there and hold his hand as this sweet man writhed in agonizing pain. The nurse walked in a few moments later and informed me that he was very ill and was in need of a stat blood transfusion, but they would not offer him blood because he was "dirty" aka a "leper". So at that moment I held out my arm and said, "take mine."

This past Monday, I was sick and unable to participate in the day's work. My group was on construction and had the opportunity to go to the Bindu School of Art. When they returned, my heart began to race and I felt very strongly I needed to ask to see Kenzie's paintings. So I went into her room and asked to see them. She prefaced by saying she needed to tell me about one of them because it was so different. She told me when she first saw this painting she knew there was a story behind it, and wondered if it was a self-portrait or something like it. As she pulled the painting out of the envelope and I saw the brittle gray looking man painted in the middle, I began to cry. I knew who it was, it was Arumugam. It was painted in honor and in memory of him after his passing, by his dear friend and fellow artist. We got to go back to the same colony yesterday. Kenzie brought the painting back with her and invited me to be in the picture of her with the artist and the painting he created in honor of our friend, Arumugam.

I find it amazing how even though I exchanged very little words with Arumugam as I sat holding his hand at the head of his bed, that somehow, a whole year later, I am still connected to him. He is dear to me, and I do believe that he is near to me even though I cannot see his face.

Brown Eyes

Meet Resma:

Meet Amirtham:

They have stolen my heart.