Pics from India!

Hey guys, this is just one of the many pics taken while in India; check out the rest on My Picture site!

Home Sweet Home!

First of all, Happy New Year! Thank you for all of your prayers and support throughout my time in India. I am happy to be home, but I do miss the children that I built relationships with, and my most awesome team that I served along side. The trip was awesome, even though I was sick for most of it. We arrived in Dheli on the night/morning of the 19/20. When first walking off of the plane the smell was definitely different, and what seemed like smoke or fog was in the air. The smog in Dheli was so thick that you could never see the sky during the day or night. You could also be outside for about an hour, blow your nose, and have black in your tissue. Disgusting, I know.
We stayed in Dheli for 2 days at the Westend Hotel, which was a nice hotel in India, but still very different compared to what we consider a Westend here in the states. While in Dheli, we did some shopping, visited the Dheli orphanage, and a lepor colony. We were able to love, not only on the children at the orphanage, but on the lepors who have no one to touch and love on them. It was pretty amazing.
The day leaving Dheli, we had a long trip to Jaipur. Jaipur is beautiful, with lots of older ruins like castles and walls that are at the edge of the mountains. We stayed at Jaipur Palace that night, which was a beautiful hotel, and left early the next morning to visit 5 different orphanages on our way to Raipura in Kota. Raipura was the orphanage that we stayed at, and we arrived their late on the night of the 23. The kids were waiting for us, and when we arrived they swarmed. I found out really quickly that they love cameras, especially digitals.
The next morning I was really sick, and was only out for about 2 1/2 hours. While outside, some boys attached themselves to me right away. Their names are Jeevan, Nannu, Gondu, and Thamauson. They became my buddies for the rest of the time in Raipura. We played duck, duck goose, and they showed me their room. I love those boys!
The next day I was still really sick, and was taken to the hospital with 2 others that hadn't been feeling the greatest for a few days. It was a fun experience, and it was interesting because the doctor does not touch you at all, you just explain your symptoms, and he tells the pharmacist what medicine to give you. The best part was when I got to ride on the back of a scooter back to the orphanage.
During Christmas Eve, the kids put on a big production of dancing and skits. Then we go Caroling from room to room in each hostile, which there were 4. They dance and have a couple people dressed as Father Christmas (Santa). I was only able to go through about 4 rooms and had to be walked back because I was about to pass out.
Christmas day, the kids put on another performance, and then we had a big lunch for all of the special guests that were from all over. They had an elephant and camel for the kids to ride, but I had to go lay down because of being sick.
Then next few days I started to feel a little better, and was able to get out with the kids. I love "tucking" the kids in at night. I would go to my boys room in the small boys hostile, and read them scripture, which was also read in Hindi by their room leader. Then we would sing songs, and sometimes I would bring a bedtime snack! I also met some girls the last 2 days, Pooja, Jyoti, Manisha, Rohini, and Piya, who did some Henna designs on my hand and arm, loved playing with my hair, painted my nails, and taught me some Indian dances. Believe it or not, the boys also loved playing with my hair too! I also cut some of the girls hair why I was there, which they thought was so great!
We were able to go into Kota to get some Indian dress, Saurees and Pinjabees. They turned out beautifully, and we were able to be dressed in our Saurees the last night for our dinner with Sam Thomason (founder of Hopegivers and Emmanuel). I just found out yesterday that I ate monkey at that dinner. I thought it was chicken, actually everyone thought it was chicken!
That night it was really hard saying goodbye to the kids, and when we finished, we had about 4 hours before leaving for the train.
I slept for only an hour because we were leaving at 4 in the morning, and we were supposed to have sleeper cabins on the train. When we reached the station, we found out we were in the cars that had seats. We were all disappointed, but tried to make the best of it. We had a lot of Indians staring on the train, and we all found it interesting that the squatty and toilet dumped right out onto the tracks. Yeah, talk about unsanitary!
Once we arrived back in Dheli, we did some more shopping at the market, and headed for the airport. It was a long flight home, but as soon as we landed in Chicago, we all hit up Starbucks, Cinnabon, and Mcdonalds. I am definitely in more appreciation for the air we breathe and the sky I have to see. As Americans, we have no idea how blessed we are as a country. I pray that I will be able to return to India again, maybe even this year. If anyone wants information on how they can sponsor a child, please email me at pwbarbie@gmail.com and I will send you info. Thanks again for your prayers and support, and I will have pics up soon for everyone to see!