Day 92:
Caught up on blog in the morning. Had
8th and 9th standard combined. It was a big
class but went well! They had some really creative ideas! Wrote notes
to the housemothers and watched Anna paint one of the pillars by the
greenhouse gate. For LifeDance that evening, the first half of class
was just LifeDance. We warmed up and I tried to take some group pics,
but that didn't work so well :) Then let them run any dances they
wanted to. The second half of class was an open class that anybody
could come to. I taught the Bollywood “line dance” I came up with
and they really enjoyed it. They just followed and learned. Then we
just made a circle and had a free dance where anyone could go into
the middle and we would follow them or watch them. I will miss that a
lot! I absolutely love just watching them free style. Shows so much
about their culture and who they are. Dance tells a lot about people.
I gathered LifeDance at the end, said a few final words, and gave
them all a treat and note. After dinner, we had the student talent
show. It was lots of fun! Gosh I love these kids!! There was lots of
singing, dancing, and skits. Went to M. Vignesh's room for storytime
again and just made up stories on the spot and about how India was
winning the semi-finals for cricket! The power went out for about 20
min. tonight so Jamesen, Kaylee, and I went to the roof and looked at
the stars. You can see so many stars here!
Day 93:
Got up at 4:15 and said goodbye to
Jamesen who is leaving to go on an adventure to an island on his own.
Sad to see one of our foursome go! Got up at 6:15 and left for
Chennai at 7 am. Got to hang out with Anna all day, it was fun! We
went to a Hindu temple first. It was really cool! There was a lot to
see and it was really interesting to see all the different ways
people worship in this religion. We went to the Pondi bazaar after
and walked around, got some lunch, and then walked down to Mambalum
for some shopping. We had fun playing “Frogger” to get across the
streets :) Went to the last half of playtime when we got back. These
kids make me so happy! Found Vino, my LifeDance president, and she
did some henna on my arm for me. She did it free hand in about 8 min.
and it was amazing! Did some last min. packing and went to movie
night. It was a Tamil movie, it was long, but just so good to be with
the kids. I was nervous about having to say goodbye to them. I felt
like I couldn't hold them, touch them, look at them enough. Tried to
sit with different groups. Went back to the hostel with the kids and
had to say goodbye. I was doing okay until my dear Angel, from
LifeDance, hugged me. Then I lost it and couldn't stop. I went to the
top floor of the girls hostel and hugged them all. They were all so
sweet and told me not to cry and to be happy. They have to say so
many goodbyes, they are so wise for their ages in this way.
Especially hard to say goodbye to my dear Theerthi. Finally pulled
myself away. Went to boys hostel and said goodbye to those that were
awake. Watched “Recess” and ate chocolate cake with Kaylee to
cope :) Hard, but good day.
Day 94-95:
Left by 7:15 am for church with all of
my luggage. Fast and testimony meeting was good as usual. Primary
lesson was okay. Lots of distractions today. We read lots of stories
and gave out treats. The branch president thanked Kaylee and I for
teaching primary and we said goodbye to our church friends, Daniel,
David, and Vijay. Kaylee and I then went to Vennila Mary's home for
the day. Said goodbye to Anna, Lily, and Dale. Vennila was so sweet
and welcoming! We spent some time rearranging bags, she fed us lunch
and dinner, we chatted, played games, made cookies, and read a book
of her life story. She is an incredible woman who has been through so
much! Left for the airport at 11 pm. So glad we got to spend the day
with her! In the Chennai airport, we ran into a man we had met at the
beach one time at Mammallapuram and he recognized us! So we sat and
talked with him before our flight and during the layover before our
next flight. I was so tired and actually slept a lot on the first
flight. It was 10 hours long. Had a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt. The
second flight at 8.5 hours. There was a lot of empty seats so got to
sit by Kaylee. This flight felt very long though. Made friends with a
Norwegian man that we talked to on our next layover. Last flight was
3 hours on a tiny jet. We had beautiful views of the mountains on the
way in! Many ups and downs on this long journey home! Glad I had a
friend to do it with! Mom and dad greeted me with balloons—they are
so cute :) Kaylee's whole family came and surprised her! I showed mom
and dad everything I had gotten in India before bed.
It still feels weird to be home at
times. There is toilet paper in every bathroom, I can plug things in
without an adaptor, I can brush my teeth with sink water and hot
water comes right out of the faucet. Sometimes when someone turns out
the lights I think the power has gone out. I can walk to church. We
are so blessed in America to live in such a land of plenty! Yet, many
things are also the same. The Spirit can be felt anywhere and the
Gospel is true everywhere. People are people everywhere and children
are always children. Everyone is a child of God.
What an incredible journey it was! I
learned so much and I became a better and stronger person. I made
many weaknesses into strengths and made many strengths even stronger.
I learned more about independence, humility, sharing, patience, a
greater sense of motherhood, the power of physical touch, dedication
to the most important things in life, leaving regrets behind, and a
greater passion for humanitarian service. I learned a greater respect
for other cultures and religions and can now learn new names much
quicker! I learned to become instant friends with everyone I met, how
to be more observant, and be happy with who I am. I can now more
easily go with the flow, make my situation positive, and be more
spontaneous. I now even enjoy spicy food, and will eat tomatoes,
peppers, and watermelon by themselves! :) I know my life will forever
be different because of this experience.
As my henna is fading and I am almost
finished taking my malaria pills, I feel as though the last bits of
India are slipping away. However, I know many things will never leave
me. I met so many of God's beloved children and created unending
friendships. I have a journal, many pictures, and videos. Many things
remind me of my time in India and I know that this will continue to
happen. And most importantly, I have my memories. And these I am
eternally grateful for. I take away with me, overall, a greater and
deeper understanding of love and its power. Even as I settle back
into daily life, I know that these children and this experience will
never leave me because part of my heart was left in Tamilnadu, India.
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