Observation Deck I:nvestment

Hello all! I know it has barely been 24 hours since I last blogged, but I feel there is a lot to share.

Yesterday, after everyone woke up from their naps, we took Julie out shopping to buy her kurtas.  We only made one stop, at Reliance, because she found enough there.  It is important for us to purchase the customary clothing so that we stand out less.  We already stand out enough as it is, so walking around in our "western wear" as they call it here, would just draw more attention to the fact that we are foreign.  Wearing the traditional clothing of Hyderabad makes it appear as if we might actually live here - and being residents makes us less of a target than being tourists. Not only that, but by showing respect for the customs and culture of the area, we are more likely to gain respect from the locals. We have already had many Indians thank us for wearing the customary clothing.  Julie found some really cute things.  I am grateful that the clothing we have to wear is comfortable and cute.  I will probably still wear it when I get home.

We stopped for a quick lunch of samosas and limca before heading to the Mekalas, mostly just to say hi.  Sarah also wanted to look through some of Josephine's old sari's for her sister and sister-in-law.  Josephine sells her old sari's to us for around 500 rupees.  It's pretty much a steal since that equals about $8 USD.  Guys! That's $8 for like 9 yards of fabric.  That's less than a dollar a yard!!! Mine only cost me 450 rupees, which was great, because I will have to pay extra to get the bodice made.  I chose to buy mine new rather than used so that I could have a top made that is long enough to cover my mid-drift.  Traditionally, the bodice for a sari is a crop top, but I wanted to embrace the culture of India, while still easily remaining modest.  I wanted a sari because we have been invited, as I mentioned before, to a wedding next week so I will want to have a sari to wear to that - as a sign of respect for the formality of the event.  It will be good to have in case we receive other formal event invitations.  They are also nice for church, because sometimes a kurta just feels too informal.  While we were visiting, Josephine cut us up a mango to eat, which was so refreshing on such a hot day! Josephine's son Melvin helped Sarah figure out a good, cheap plan for our trip to Hampi and Goa in a few weeks.  Even though we are here for service, it is nice that we get the weekends to enjoy the culture and country around us.  While the work we are doing in the slums is wonderful and life changing, it would be a shame not to experience such a rich culture as we have all around us in India - which can also be life changing.
 
That evening Sarah, Julie, and I went to go see another Telugu movie.  Of course, we don't speak Telugu, so we didn't actually know the name of the movie we wanted to see and ended up going to the wrong one! It was kind of hysterical in an almost terrifying way.  It was a movie about (from what I can guess) a guy who could see ghosts.  He would have the ghosts go into people's houses and make them look haunted and then he would come and "exorcise" the home and make BANK doing it.  Then he meets a scary ghost guy who looks like himself that convinces him to rob a bank...or something.  I think that particular ghost was the devil.  Anyway, we left at intermission because it was confusing, and weird, and a little scary.  We tried to get into the other movie, but the theater was full.  It's a pretty funny story and we are still laughing about it.

This morning we went to church.  We were the first ones there even! Well, except the missionaries.  Sarah and Julie accompanied the hymns.  I would - except I only know like 6 hymns.  So when one of them pops up for sacrament meeting, I promise I'll be up there playing!  The missionaries spoke in sacrament meeting and did a wonderful job.  Sunday School was very interactive and very inspiring.  During Sunday School, Sarah and I decided that we should do group scripture study and group prayer with the girls here with us - or at least just the two of us if no one else is interested.  We've been trying to keep up on our personal study and prayer, but it would be good to strengthen us as a team if we did it together as well.  Since it was a fifth Sunday we had a combined meeting - it was even combined with the young men and women.  Bishop gave a powerful lesson about supporting your leaders and showing respect for the savior.  We touched on how we need to serve the Lord even with our busy schedules.  After church, Sarah, Julie, and I continued to teach piano.  We actually got a chance to have the class members pluck out the right hand of "Be Thou Humble" from the simplified hymns.  They are all doing very well! While Sarah was working with individuals on the piano, I had the opportunity to talk with Elder Singh.  He is from New Dehli and is the only member of the church in his family.  I was so glad to get the opportunity to get to know him a little, since he is being transferred to Bangalore on Tuesday.  In speaking with him, I realized how blessed I am to have received so much support from family and friends for this trip, and I would like to take this opportunity to let you know what your support and donations have done/are doing.

My fundraising goal was $3000 USD, that covered a rough $1500 plane ticket and the $1500 HELP International program fee.  The program fee I paid to HELP pays for a lot of things here in India.  This money goes towards paying rent on the apartment where we are staying so that we have somewhere safe and comfortable to live.  Our apartment is modest - definitely not the fanciest or most expensive apartment in Hyderabad (as evidence of the moat or the only 3 hours of running water) but it is a gated community with a guard posted at the front gate 24/7.  This helps to ensure our safety while at home.  It bought furnishings for our apartment so that we have our mats to sleep on and buckets to fill with water for daily use.  The program fee also covers dinners Sunday through Thursday and breakfast Monday through Friday.  Starting this week we will have a cook coming in to fix us dinners so that we can avoid expensive restaurant meals.  Breakfast usually consists of cornflakes, or another cheap cereal, and/or eggs which we can buy around 2.5 dozen for $2 USD.  We do not get juices or fancy cereals or anything too expensive.  We also use this money to buy purified water so that we can safely stay hydrated in this heat which is nearly always in the triple digits (Fahrenheit). Another thing our program fee pays for is travel to and from our projects, as well as our pick-up/drop-off at the airport.  It pays for international health insurance in the event that we should need medical attention.  Throughout the week, we often have to pay some of these expenses.  The way it works is that we pay out of pocket for our travel, groceries, etc. and in a designated receipt book, write down our spending.  HELP reimburses us on Fridays for what we have spent towards what our program fee covers or for anything we need for our projects - such as sewing supplies, machine repairs, etc.  While we strive to keep our living situations cheap and modest, it all adds up - and in actuality costs more than the $1500 per person we have paid.  The regular HELP International program fee is nearly double that amount.  Our group has received a special rate for which I am unbelievably grateful.  Had we not, I don't think I would have been able to afford coming, even with fundraising.  I was so blessed with the number of people who donated and bought things from me that I actually was able to raise $3400 USD, a full $400 more than my goal - which was a beautiful tender mercy since my flight had to be delayed and the difference in cost that I needed to cover was $400.  I raised EXACTLY enough money to cover my program fee and plane tickets.  And that is because of all of you! You brought me here and I am eternally grateful.  I know that it seems like a lot of money to have asked for from others and I am astounded that I know so many generous individuals.  Without your help, I would not have been able to come.  Because of school expenses, living expenses, etc. - the program fee and plane tickets alone would have broken me.  Miraculously, and due to your generosity, those base expenses have been paid and I have been able to use my own savings to pay the rest of my expenses, such as immunizations, my passport, my visa, my lunches, my weekend meals, etc.  I also had to use my personal money to buy all of my Indian clothing.  I was originally told that my program fee would cover this, but because we received such a discounted rate, we had to cover our own clothing.  I did my best to buy cheaply, often choosing the more simple kurtas to avoid unnecessary spending.  I understand that this is not a vacation and that other people's money was used to bring me here - kurtas, however, are a necessity.  I chose the best deals I could.  Most of my kurtas were on sale.  I splurged for one dress which is designated as my Sunday dress, since I feel the tunic look of the kurtas is too informal for the house of the Lord.  I made sure to pick outfits I would wear again so that I get my money's worth.  While my spending may seem extravagant to some - we have to remember that I am spending rupees.  The exchange rate is extraordinary.  To one US dollar there are 63.75 rupees.  I came to India with only $200 USD of my own personal money and have not even spent that.

I cannot express enough how grateful I am to all those who donated and purchased items from me to help fund this trip.  Your generosity is blessing the lives of those I am able to serve.  We are implementing programs here that will completely alter the living conditions here in India.  Looking around I sometimes think that there is no way to fix Hyderabad, let alone all of India.  There is SO much that needs to be changed and it would be impossible to come in and make those changes all at once - and so we do what little we can.  Christy is heading a wonderful program at Spurti (the boys' hostel) about respecting women.  It is her goal to mimic a project she read about that took place in Africa, where by teaching boys at a young age to respect women, the rate of rape in that area dropped significantly.  In the sewing classes, Sarah, previously Isabelle, now Julie, and myself are giving these women skills to start their own tailoring businesses and hopefully help them get out of the slums and poverty.  India is the 3rd most poverty stricken country in the world.  We take for granted so many things in our lives - like money.  Think about your donation to my trip.  What did you donate? $25? $100?  Here in India, $25 is nearly 1,600 rupees.  $100 is over 6,000 rupees.  Do you know what that could buy?  Sometimes we worry too much about where our $25 is going, when there are people here in India who are worried about where their next meal is coming from.  Some of these people don't even have some of the basics I have always considered a necessity.  One of the projects we will be doing in the next week or so is teaching the women to make reusable menstrual pads.  The women in the slums do not have the money to buy disposable ones - some don't even have the money for undergarments.  Their lives are so dismal and desperate and I have been given a wonderful opportunity to come and help them.  You have all been given the same opportunity to help, through your donations.  And I KNOW these women will be eternally grateful.  I am eternally grateful! While I came with the intention to change the lives of these women - they are also changing mine.  Though they have so little, they are eager to learn and share and help all that they can.  They have beautiful infectious smiles and the longest, thickest hair I have ever had the pleasure to envy.  They are kind, accepting, and service oriented.  They have so little, but they just want to give and give and give.  I wish we could all have this same attitude.

Though I have only been here for a week and a half, I feel like it has been a year.  And not in a bad way either.  It feels like a habit already.  Every day seems natural and like something I have been doing my whole life, which makes me feel that is is something I have been meant to do my whole life.  Before this opportunity came up, I felt my life was at a stand still.  I was stuck in so many ways and once this chance opened up - it opened so many other doors in unrelated ways.  I have been given a chance to change who I am and how I view the world.  I am eager to remain conscious of how lucky - how RICH - I am.  I hope that this trip will make me richer in spirit.  I hope your sacrifice, and your contribution - your investment - can help you feel richer in spirit as well.  You are so blessed.  You are so generous! You are all wonderful, beautiful people and I am lucky to know you! You are blessing the lives of people you don't even know and that is true charity.  You will be blessed for your generosity.  I will personally pray for your heavenly reward for your contribution to this trip!

Elder Singh has a beautiful smile and a beautiful testimony.  He has a kind heart and a loving, effective way of sharing the gospel.  I am proud of my new friend and the sacrifice he has made to leave his family and serve his God.  I admire his drive to do what he knows is right, regardless of what his family thinks or says.  I am grateful for the members in his home ward who support him where family does not.  I am grateful for members all the around the world who contribute to the missionary funds so that Elder Singh, and other missionaries like him, can have the opportunity to serve.  I am grateful for all of you.  For your support of me and this cause.  I can never repay the kindness and generosity you have shown me.  I am blown away by how many people rallied together to help me get where I am - and in just a few short weeks, I am already different because of it.  I will never again take for granted running water.  Or cold drinking water! I won't complain about Utah heat as long as I live (unless it beats the 115 I have experienced here).  I will happily keep the rules of the road, because I am afraid for my life every day when I ride in an auto.  I will be grateful for a job that pays well and gives me enough money to support myself and to buy the necessities, but especially the luxuries.  You have all helped me get to this point.  YOU have made me a better person, not India.  India is not the reason I came - you are.  And I thank you again, from the bottom of my heart and the deepest confines of my soul for your investment in me.  

Observation Deck I:rreplaceable

So Wednesday night we had a lady come and do henna for us.  She is new to Hyderabad and has only been here just a few days.  It was really fun to sit around while she and her friend decorated our skin.

We put in "The Lego Movie" while we were getting our henna done.  I have to admit, it was funnier this time around.  I didn't really care for it the first time I saw it.  I kept that fact pretty quiet because everyone and his dog and its fleas seemed to be OBSESSED with it.  I still don't LOVE it, but I appreciate it better.  So the lady charged us 150 rupees per side of hand.  So my two hands, one-sided, cost me 300 rupees.  Christy got both her hands done, double-sided, and her feet! So we gave the lady some pretty good money.  For those of you still trying to figure out the conversion rate, I paid about $4.75 USD.  I think we all slept a little restlessly that night trying not to ruin our henna and/or get henna crumbs all over our beds.  I know that I did at least.  I woke up around five and went into the bathroom to scrub it all off so that I could put my hands under my head without it scratching my skin up.  The floor was a crazy mess for the next day as all our henna flaked off, and even now I think we are still sweeping the odd bits up. 

Thursday I didn't end up going to the girl's hostel like I though, instead I went to kids camp, which is exactly what it sounds like.  It was a two week program where for two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays we just played games with kids from the local village.  Monday will be their last day with this project.  Technically Thursday should have been the last day, but Monday is International Kids Day, so they're going again to do a big celebration with the children.  Kids camp was fun because we didn't have to worry too much about teaching or organization.  We had some puzzles for them to do, like I said, kids here LOVE puzzles.  We even laminated some pictures they had drawn and cut them up so they could have their own personal puzzle from a picture they created! That was really fun for some of them.  One little girl just wanted to cut up all the pictures and not put them back together.  We ended up hiding the scissors from her.  Haha.  Some of the kids tried to help put together a puzzle that had like 750 pieces, but that was too hard for them - they prefer the 35-50 pieces puzzles. Another good portion of kids spent some time drawing. I sat with a group of girls and colored with them.  They were fascinated by my drawing, which literally was one of those drawings were you scribble all over the page and then color in all the empty space with random colors.  But they all wanted me to scribble on a page for them to color - or the scissor girl who just wanted me to do the whole picture for her.  She was a trial for me that day because she doesn't speak one word of English, so communication was practically impossible.  

There was one little girl, Krishnaveni who really attached herself to me.  I drew a picture for her and then I was her favorite.  Haha don't I just know how to win the hearts of children? (I do, ask my nephews - Jamison will openly tell you that we are best friends) Towards the end of our time at kids camp, the kids started playing a game with the colored pencils that was basically pick-up-sticks.  It was fun to see the way they used what resources they had.  It was also fun to see that the way children play isn't all that different from country to country.  On our way back out to the street to catch an auto, Krishnaveni held my hand and walked the whole way with us, it was darling :)  You can see here here, hanging on my arm: 

Scissor girl is also here in the photo, she is the one of the right in the "Hi-Yah" shirt.  Here is another photo of Krishnaveni and her friend whose name I never knew.  Krishna is the one in the green.

That afternoon I spent a lot of time listening to an audio book.  Yes, Janie - the Cinderella one!  Haha, Janie makes fun of me every time I bring it up, because I have been telling EVERYONE about it.  It was seriously the most predictable book EVER.  I had the whole plot figured out by like the second chapter, and there were 38 chapters.  EXCEPT I did not predict that it was the first of four books...so if I want to find out what happens conclusively, I'll have to get the other three.  

That night we went to dinner at a members house. It was someone from the ward we are attending that Janie's brother knew from when he served his mission here.  On our way out the door to catch an auto, we caught a glimpse of a goat herd! 

When we arrived at the landmark the man had given us directions to, we stopped to be tourists for a bit.  Here, you just have to give the auto drivers a landmark, there aren't any real addresses or street names to go by, so they find there way around by well known landmarks.  We stopped at the Sri Lakshmi temple to be picked up.  While we waited, we took a look around the temple.  It was SO colorful! 

Then we walked the short distance to the home where we were having dinner. The house was beautiful and the food was delicious! There was even BEEF.  So satisfying. He was telling us the story of how he met his wife and we were so baffled by it.  Isabelle even kept bringing it up the next day.  They were connected by a mutual friend, but not in person.  He called her and she didn't answer - because in India, you don't talk to strangers.  Blind dates? Not a thing.  Arranged marriage though? Haha.  But this is the church we're talking about so it's different...anyway, he tried calling her several times and she wouldn't answer.  He would try and talk to her on facebook and she would get offline.  So finally he backed off and a few months later - she called him.  He drove out to meet her for a few minutes at the place she worked one weekend, and then they got married.  Like, that's it.  No dating, hardly any talking, barely met - BAM. I couldn't do it.  But then Sarah told Isabelle and me this story about her great great uncle, or someone, who wrote a letter and sent it to the next town over from where he lived and merely addressed it to "The Prettiest Girl in Town." So I guess it was up to the discretion of the mailman...and he delivered the letter and Sarah's great great uncle and the prettiest girl in town got married.  For real.  Anyway, after dinner it started raining and the autos won't drive in the rain because the streets get flooded, so we were stuck for probably half and hour waiting for an auto.  Christy and I made friends with the neighbor's dog while we waited.  Finally the rain stopped and we headed out.  Sarah and Janie stayed behind because Sarah had a skype interview for some fashion/sewing show that she didn't want to miss.  Christy, Asia, and Lauren went to the store, and Isabelle, Courtney and I went home.  I facetimed with my mom that evening, which is always nice.  I love being able to not only talk to her, but see her too.  And my baby! I love when Lionel comes into the room and Mom is able to hold him up for me to see.  I can't wait to bury my face in his fur when I get home.  

Early Friday morning Lauren, Christy, Asia, and Megan left for the jungle.  They are going out to visit a tribe someone in the middle of nowhere.  I had the option to go, but since I don't have any sort of malaria protection, I figured I'd be safer to stay within city limits.

Friday was Janie's last day with us.  SO MUCH SADNESS.  She is headed to Bangalore where she will meet up with her husband, which is fun for her but depressing for us.  She and Courtney came to the first part of sewing with us and then headed home so that Janie could pack.  We are going to miss her spark and energy so much! 

For sewing on Friday we tried the split classes with beginners from 11-12 and 2-3, and advanced from 12-1 and 3-4.  It was so much better!  A lot for manageable for sure! The first basically just did hand stitching the whole time because the machines were being fixed.  It turns out that they have been getting jammed up because sometimes when the ladies try to get the treadle going, they end up doing it forwards, and then backwards, and not being able to keep the consistency in direction jams the threading. Urmi, one of our partners on the project, helped to fix the machines so we had five that were up and running by the second class.  

Everyone seems to have a really good hold on how to run the machines, which is good.  Our afternoon classes were much smaller than the morning ones.  In fact, no one showed up at 3:00.  A few of our advanced girls came at 2:00 instead because they suspected that no one was coming for the 3;00 class.  So because of that, we got to leave a little early, which was good because it was SO HOT and I was starting to feel sick because of it.  As we were leaving it started to rain! The rain cools things down a bit, which is nice.  As we were driving home in the rain, we encountered another herd of livestock! This time, cows.

When we got home, the power went out a couple of times, which was sad because Courtney was trying to facetime her husband. That evening we let Isabelle decide what we did because she was leaving Saturday morning.  She was offered a spot in a small business seminar/workshop thing...Haha, I'm not exactly 100% sure - what I do know is that it is a summer program that will be very beneficial to the business she has back home, so she decided to go home early to take part in it.  Sometimes I look at Isabelle and I think "What am I even doing with my life??" She is only 20 and already owns her own business!   All the girls I've been working with are so amazing it makes me feel inadequate.  I can't believe how blessed I am to have been chosen to work alongside such accomplished girls.

Anyway, Isabelle wanted to go to The Coffee Cup.  We laughed a little that on her last night in India she wanted to go to the most American place in Hyderabad.  But Courtney and I had never been and were dying for some American food, so we didn't object.  On our way out to catch an auto there was a beautiful sunset! Nothing in comparison to the ones at home, but still beautiful.

This photo was taken from next to our moat.  I have not had the pleasure of explaining the moat to you yet, so let me go on a tangent for a moment to do so.  Lauren jokes that they found us an apartment with a moat for extra protection.  I buy it.  I wouldn't want to cross the moat for ANY reason.  Sometimes when the autos drive next to the moat, I imagine that scene from the pioneer movie Legacy, where the covered wagon falls into the rive and they're all trying to climb out and they lose all their things.  We have all experienced the anxiety of nearly toppling into the moat - which if that happened, I'd be flying straight home to a hot shower.  The best way we can come up with to describe the moat is that it is an open sewer that runs in front of our apartment complex.  Yes, that's what I said.  I originally described it to my mother as a dirty black river, but sewer accounts better for the smell.  Please observe:

Yes, that water is opaque gray sludge.  If there were a miracle way to transport smell through this blog - I would,because I feel certain that none of you understand.  We joke that we know when we've reached home because we can smell the moat from the street.  

Anyway, we caught an auto to The Coffee Cup, but we didn't know what landmark to give them to take us there so the drive was interesting - including one exciting incident where we full on drove on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic.  The Coffee Cup is this adorable, totally Americanized cafe that pretty much takes you out of India when you're inside.  There's American  pop music playing and the menu is not Indian at all.  I got a delicious creamy chicken and spinach pasta that I can't wait to eat the leftovers of for lunch today! So.  Good.  After dinner we went downstairs to the Ice Cream Cottage, which is equally as adorable.  First off, it had this giant hobbit door! And a tree that literally is growing through the wall of the building.  The lights in the Ice Cream Cottage are mason jars.  Like, Pinterest would be PROUD of this space.  

We all got double scoops of ice cream, and everyone had at least one scoop of the oreo ice cream.  I had oreo and sweet cream in a chocolate waffle cone.  I kind of want to go everyday.  It was DELICIOUS.  Of course, it wasn't regular ice cream, because dairy products are not a thing here.  Cows are holy remember?  So we drink buffalo milk or something and the same is used to make the ice cream.  It has a little bit of a different consistency, but was still good.  The milk on its own is weird and I don't really like it, so I eat my cereal dry.  Which is fine, I do that at home sometimes too.  Anyway, as I was eating my non-dairy ice cream, it occurred to me that my little nephew Gregory, who is allergic to dairy, could live quite happily in India! He wouldn't have to ever check ingredients on things, because there just isn't dairy ever. And it's not even gross.  I always though dairy substitutes would make food taste weird, but nothing (except the plain buffalo milk or whatever) has been gross.  We were all very happy with our ice cream.  See?

After ice cream Isabelle wanted to go find some jewelry pieces she could take home for her mom and sisters.  As we were walking down the street we ran into the Elders! They don't wear tags here, so it took us a minute to realize, but once we did we stopped and chatted for a minute.  One of the elders is from New Dehli and his trainer was from Payson! Small world.  As we went on our way we saw a henna station set up in front of one of the stores and found out that we got horribly ripped off the other night.  Remember what ours looked like? If not, refer to the beginning of this post.  And that cost me 300 rupees.  Now check out this:

And he only charges 50 per hand.  And I think that's both sides, too!  This girl was getting her arms and hands done for her wedding the next day.  So exciting!  The fun thing for the girls here, even the members of the church, is that the nearest temple, I think, is in Hong Kong - so they still get to have the crazy awesome traditional Indian wedding!  We are actually going to a Hindi wedding next week.  I can't wait! 

We did finally find a store with affordable jewelry.  Courtney and I waited outside while Isabelle and Sarah went to look.  While we were waiting, two guys on camels rode by! It was crazy.  

Friday night I finally had a pillow to sleep with! Haha. I had failed as of yet to buy myself one, but sweet Janie left hers for me! So comfy. 

Early this morning, Melvin (a ward member) took Isabelle to the airport.  He dropped her off and picked up our newest team member Julie.  Julie will take over helping with the sewing classes and teaching piano etc.  And we're expecting our new photographer Lauren next Sunday.  While we are excited for our new team members to be here, we're sad to see the others go.  Isabelle and Janie will be missed so much!  The good news is that when we all get home from India...we're all going home to the same place.  I'm the only one outside of the Salt Lake area, and even then I'm only an hour away, so yay! 

So far this morning, I have done my laundry which consists of washing my clothes in a bucket on the back porch and then carrying them to the clothes line on the roof.  I actually probably need to go collect them soon.  After laundry and some other household cleaning, we had french toast and eggs for breakfast.  It was so yummy! It's just four of us right now, (Sarah, Courtney, Julie, and me) because the other girls (Lauren, Asia, Christy, and Megan) are still out on their safari.  They won't be back until tomorrow afternoon.  Right now the other three girls are napping.  In this heat, we all nap a lot.  Later we will probably take Julie out to buy some kurtas.  While we're out we plan to maybe do some jewelry shopping and go get my sari top made.  It has been a very relaxing weekend so far and I look forward to continuing it. 

Observation Deck I:mpertinent

Tuesdays we don't have sewing or jewelry making so everyone went together to a boy's hostel called Spurti.  It was about a 40 minute bus ride away.  The bus we had to take was so crowded! Now, I know what you are all picturing when I say crowded, and you are wrong.  I mean CROWDED - like people hanging out the doors and off the side of the bus - crowded.  We had to stand the whole ride, and it was packed.  We were shoved so close together and the man who collects payment kept walking up and down the bus to charge people, but it was so crowded he kept having to push his way through and he was by no means gentle about it.  He always made me move to the other side of the aisle so he could pass - but there just wasn't room, so I was practically sitting on some poor Indian woman every time.  On Indian buses, women always sit in the front and men always sit in the back.  It's kind of funny because before I came people always told me how horrible it is here for women and how they receive no respect.  In some aspects, I can see how that is true, but I think you will find that anywhere you go - even in America.  But it is not as terrible as everyone believes.  For example, the buses.  Although, when it gets as crowded as it was the other day, it intermingles a little more than normal.

At Spurti, we started out by discussing how they need to respect women like their sisters, their mothers, their teachers, etc.  Then we had them draw pictures of their sisters.

If they didn't have a sister, we told them that we are their sisters and so some of them drew pictures of us.  Sarah was a popular model because of the way she wears her hair in a tiny ponytail right on top of her head.  They also thought she looked Chinese and were excited by the aspect of her knowing karate.  Unfortunately, she does not.  I was so flattered that a few boys chose to draw me.  Here is one such picture:

This is what I actually looked like that day:

It was so cute though, and some of them were pretty good little artists.  After that, we helped them to math.  Thankfully, it was simple addition and subtraction, so I could easily handle it.  The way we taught was to give them a handful of little laminated numbers, they would pick two at a time and add them together, and then subtract the same numbers.  I helped one little boy who had a hard time realizing that in order to properly subtract, the biggest number had to go first, but that in addition it could be in any order.

Photo courtesy of Janie George, instagram @janie.photo

After they had filled their worksheet with the equations, they would all run to show Lauren, who they called "Lion." It was hilarious.

Once Lauren had checked them off, they were allowed to work on a puzzle.  They loved the puzzles and once they had finished one, they would take it apart and just do it again.  The adorable thing is that it was a challenge each time.

One little boy showed us the temple they have there at the school.  It is in a little locker where they can all say their prayers when they put their stuff away in the morning.  They made it themselves and inside is a little Mickey Mouse with a bindi.

Photo courtesy of Janie George, instagram @janie.photo

A bindi is the dot, or jewel, on the forehead that you often see Indians and Hindus wearing.  They boys were even sure to give us each one.  After we left Spurti, Sarah, Isabelle, and I grabbed a quick lunch of sweet corn samosas at the train station and waited around to catch the train to Secunderbad station.  We had to wait for quite a while for our train to come.  At one point, we heard the train whistle and got so excited we jumped up and ran to the end of the platform, but it was only two diesel engines with no cars.  A couple of Indian boys laughed at us over that one.  Finally our train arrived and we were on our way.  From Secunderbad station, we took an auto to a nearby market that is akin to the fabric district of L.A.  First we had to get some more bobbin cases for our machines, since we had three or four break.  Then we went to get some water and ended up buying ice cream bars too.  They were so good! Much needed on a hot day.  After we finished eating our ice cream we headed off down into the market to look at fabrics.

Our first stop was a sari shop where I picked out fabric for a sari of my own! In the shop we went to, you take your shoes off at the door and then the rest of the floor is covered in cushions.  They take you to a corner somewhere and you sit on the cushions and tell them your price range and they just bring out sari after sari for you to look at.  The way they come is just in the nine or whatever yards of fabric, but with an extra meter on the end that I will take to a tailor and they will cut it off to make me a custom blouse.  I'm so excited! I picked out a beautiful blue and pink fabric with embroidered flowers.  I promise to post pictures once the top has been made.  The man at the shop gave me a really good deal since he recognized Sarah from when she bought 3 saris from him.  He charged me only 450 when it would normally have been 750.  And in American dollars, that's seriously like only 10 bucks.  Go me! We saw a lot of fabric shops and rug shops.

Isabelle bought some nice fabric pieces and Sarah got a scarf.  I found some fabric that I LOVED, but it was upwards to 2,000 rupees a meter, so I couldn't quite bring myself to buy it.  Maybe I'll go back towards the end of my trip if I'm still wanting it, and just splurge.  The honest and embarrassing truth is that it was white fabric that I would want to use on my wedding dress.  Yes, Mom.  I know I already have 6 yards of lace that I said I was using for my wedding dress, but that is for the skirt - I would use my India fabric for the bodice.  And no, world - I am not even dating right now, so don't get too excited for this wedding dress.  Our last stop in the market was to buy straight pins for sewing.  The men at the shop were making conversation with us and it was so funny.  One guy asked us if we were married and when we said we weren't, his coworker explained that he keeps asking people because he just got married himself a week ago, so marriage is on the brain. We congratulated him and Sarah asked if it was arranged or love and he laughed and said "It was arranged, this is not America."  Then we asked if he liked her and he bobbled his head and we asked if she was pretty and he bobbled his head, but his coworker said yes, she is very pretty.  It was funny.  And it kept us occupied on what was in front of us, which was good because behind us across the street was an open, public urinal, so...yay.

We took an auto home and it was so scary.  He drove so fast.  This video does not do it justice, but I promise it was frightening.

Of course, once we got home we learned that our ride was nothing compared to the other girls'.  Courtney, Christy, and Janie went straight home after Spurti.  They tried to catch a bus, but apparently got on the wrong one and the money collector literally shooed them off.  So they grabbed and auto, but he would only go as far as ECIL, the local bus station, because Kapra, the area where we live, is too far away from his base.  So Janie called Sami and asked him to meet them at ECIL.  Then, on their way to ECIL they were in an auto accident! Another auto rear-ended them.  Then the auto drivers just yelled at each other in Telagu for like 10 minutes.  So finally they got back on the road and to ECIL where Sami came to pick them up.  This part is my FAVORITE part of the story.  So Sami spent so much time talking that he hardly looked at the road and was driving SO SLOW.  He kept adjusting his mirror so he could look back at Janie while he was driving/talking.  At one point he asked her if she had any kids and she told him no, not yet.  Then he pulled the auto over to show them pictures of his three sons.  Then he asked Janie if her husband was still alive. He is, and she told him so.  Then Sami told them that Muslims can have more than one wife and it has always been a dream of his to have an American wife - and he asked Janie if she would come meet his family! Janie told him no and he said he was very disappointed in her.  Then he kept asking her if he could go back to America with them, or drive her to the airport on Friday.  Finally they got home and he told them they did not owe anything for the auto ride.  Janie ended up just putting some money on the seat next to him and walking away.  Then after they were inside (doors locked) he called and texted.  He said he was at the gate and could he please have a photo with Janie? Janie then told him that this was inappropriate and that he should never contact her again.  Janie thinks it is the funniest story, but I think it's a little terrifying.  I mean, it is also funny - but terrifying.  Luckily, everyone is home safe and sound and not the second wife of a Muslim.

That evening we went to the home of some people in the ward for a birthday party.  Sarah and Lauren stayed with the Macalas while they were apartment hunting before the rest of us arrived.  It was their daughter Monica's birthday on Sunday, and we were celebrating it that evening.  It was such an experience! Monica blew out her candles before we sang, and then while we were singing, she cut some small pieces of cake.  She then fed a piece to her mother, who in turn fed a piece to her.  This was repeated with her father and her cousins.  Then we had some good food and taught them to play heads-up.  It was so fun!

When we got home, I drew up a sloper for the kurta pattern we were going to be teaching in sewing today.  Then I made a little mock-up to show the girls.

This morning I facetimed with Emilee.  What a blessing it is that I have internet and do not have to go an entire month without my best friend.  It was so fun to be able to see and talk to her.  Then I headed off to teach sewing.  I have sort of been assigned to the more advanced girls in our classes.  Mostly because I am the one who knew how to draft a sleeve pattern, so since that was the project the advanced class was working on, that is how it went.  It was a little crazy today because we had some new people show up, and we still have some broken machines.  We pre-cut the petticoat mock-ups for the beginner girls so that they could start sewing immediately, and then I took the advanced learners into the back room and helped them cut out the kurta mock-ups.  We hoped this would help get everyone at a machine within a reasonable amount of time.  It mostly worked.  Unfortunately we had a problem today because Sharin showed up and wanted to work with me, but I was working with the advanced girls, and Sharin is actually technically too young to even be in our class.  I tried to get her to go sew with Sarah, doing the simple beginners project, but she only wanted to do what I was doing.  In the end, Sarah had to declare that younger than 16 was too young and they needed to leave.  They of course didn't, but they were a little less in the way.  The biggest problem we have is that everyone is so...eager to help? Controlling? I'm not really sure which it is, but they often will take over for each other, so some girls aren't getting the experience they need to learn because others will see them struggling and just take over.  Or like with Sharin and her friends, they are not allowed in the class, so they hand around the sewing machines and try to cut the threads for people or throw the wheel, and while they think they're being helpful, they're taking away from the self reliance we are trying to teach.  The second class of the day is smaller, but also younger, so it was a little less crazy but had it's own challenges.  We have decided that instead of doing two two-hour classes, we will do four one-hour classes instead.  Hopefully that will make it less crazy and give everyone more opportunities to be on a machine.

On the way home, it started to rain! The thunder was CRAZY.  Monsoon season should be here soon, but the rain was not too bad or too hard today.  Tonight we are having a lady come over to do henna on our hands! Yay for culture night! And tomorrow I will be going to a girls hostel.  To my teacher friends and darling mother - good luck with the last week of school! Enjoy!