And we're back!

We made it! Our team has returned to the States - we arrived early this morning. It was a long flight and I am glad to be back! I'm trying to stay awake and adjust to the fact that the sun is out when my body is used to being asleep!

It's been a few days since my last blog and a lot has happened! After the tearful goodbye ceremony on Tuesday night, we woke up a little earlier on Wednesday in preparation to leave Carmel on an early bus ride to the Bangalore airport. We had our usual coffee/tea, our last daily chapel service (which closed with a very moving version of the Our Father, sung with all of us, students, team members and staff, holding hands in a big circle around the chapel.) We had breakfast and then began a lengthy goodbye process. I have to admit that it was about 20 minutes too long for me.  I did once last round of hugs and got on the bus with a few of the team members while others lingered. I took a few goodbye pics from the bus and soon we were off. It was really hard to say goodbye - I remember watching the children wave as we drove out of the orphanage gates - it was emotional for all of us and many tears were shed. 

It was a long ride to Bangalore but once we got there, we found a nice hotel with a couple of restaurants to choose from for lunch before our flight to Delhi. Our first non-orphanage meal, many of us opted for the pan-asian/chinese restaurant for something a little different.  It was so delicious and a great change! I really did enjoy the food at Carmel - the chef who cooked all of our meals used to be an orphan himself - he and Backi and Freena (the couple who run the orphanage and school) grew up at another orphanage years ago called Bethel.  It had some administrative issues and Backi (an accountant) and Freena (a teacher) got married and eventually started the Carmel Matriculation school and orphanage.  The chef who cooked for us these last two weeks, Samuel, left the orphanage after finishing school and went to culinary school.  He now works at a restaurant in Bangalore which caters to Westerners.  Each year, he comes to Carmel for two weeks in January and cooks for the team members. And he really is an amazing chef! However, it was really nice to have a break from our usual Indian cuisine (reduced slightly in spicy heat for our delicate Western palates!  I was worried about the spicy food, but I actually think I have a higher threshold for tolerating spices after this trip.) After our lunch in Bangalore, we headed to the airport for a short flight to Delhi. We arrived at the Ashok Resort Hotel a little bit before bedtime.  I had a beer (Kingfisher) and some fries with some teammates, took a long, hot shower (my first real shower in 10 days!) and went to bed. 

The next day we got on the bus again (we spent a lot of time on the bus during this trip, especially the last few days!) The sight-seeing part of our trip had officially begun! We went to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal - it was truly spectacular!  I've never seen anything like it and I doubt I will again!  This amazing structure is a tomb for a queen, built in the 1600s by her adoring husband.  It is made of a special marble called Makrana and inlaid with semiprecious stones like jade and lapis lazuli. It took 20,000 people to build it. It was unforgettable. We then ate a very late lunch and went to a marble factory that handcrafts all kinds of items out of the same gorgeous marble and inlaid stones as the Taj Majal. Our tour guide was fantastic - he was great at telling us interesting facts about the Taj and really took care of us - the hagglers on the street were particularly intense in Agra and he really helped us deal with them. But he couldn't protect us from the horrible traffic we hit on the way back and it took at least an hour longer than it should have to get back to the hotel.  We finally arrived at 12 am - I know I headed right to bed and I'm sure others were may have done the same. It was a really long day, but so awesome!

The next day was more sight-seeing. We had a tour guide this day who gave us a lot of information about the Hindu way of life. We went to a ruin of a mosque in Delhi (made out of the remains of a Hindu temple that Muslims overtook.) The tall tower at this sight is called the Qutab minar. We also went to the Gandhi museum where Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life.  Our last stop on this last day was a six-story shopping center called the Central Cottage Industries Emporium, which sells goods from artisans all over India.  There was also a lot of traffic this day due to the rehearsal in the morning of a Republic Day parade on the 26th. But we did get to see the beautiful boulevards of New Delhi, the former British section of Delhi. We headed back to the hotel, grabbed a bite to eat and left the hotel for the final time, on the bus, for the final time (hooray!) and went to catch our flight home to the United States.  

Will write a bit more tomorrow! Can't stay awake any longer! :)

Goodbyes

Tonight we had a farewll ceremony. The day was great but the night was
teary for everyone. We leave early tomorrow morning for Dehli and I
will have lots of time to write more on the long trip there... :' (

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Another full day!

Somehow we are in our second week here and time is slipping away! We
only have one more full day left here: tomorrow (Tuesday.) Already the
kids and some team members are getting sad as our departure from this
beautiful place and the beautiful people who live here gets closer and
closer. I keep trying to live in the present and really enjoy the
moment, but the cloud is there, nonetheless. We leave on Wednesday
morning and head to Delhi for two days before we get on the plane back
to the States.
But today was great! I stayed on the orphanage campus with a handful
of people and worked on the wall they are building aound the perimeter
of the campus. (The rest of the team went to the school.) Sections of
the wall are brick and others are cinder block. I was told that
eventually they will stucco the whole thing. But it was really good to
do some physical work and help the in a different way. In the
afternoon, we all went to the school for a Science Exhibition. Some of
the 7th graders put on a science fair-type program. It was great to
see what they are studying and they worked so hard. This evening there
was another cultural program, but this time it was mainly the kids who
are enrolled in the school, but who live at home with their parents
instead of at the orphanage. It was truly fantastic - the best we've
seen so far. They did a lot of traditional Indian dancing, which was
gorgeous, as were many of the costumes. Some of the little kids spoke
as well - telling stories and reciting verses. They were so amazingly
adorable. *t the end of each little speech, with their sweet tiny
voices, they'd say "Thank YOU!!!" After dinner, Ackie, a charming
character on our team, requested that I sing to him looking down on
him from the guest house "veranda" (a little porch-like common area on
the second floor of the guest house.) It drew a crowd and by the time
I was finished there were about 20 people who gathered - kids and team
members combined. I'll never forget it.
I will truly miss this place and the love that fills it. The people
I've met on this trip are inspiring and warm and fun and kind and
generous and loving. I am so grateful for the experience and
opportunity of this trip. Thank YOU!!! :) :) :)

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We're on India time

We were warned before coming here that Indians don't follow time like
Westeners do. They are on what we have started referring to as "India
time." It is now understood that when something is planned to start at
a specific time, it will start at least a 1/2 hour later than the
scheduled time, if it happens at all. This mindset results in a very
laidback people, as you can imagine. But it all works out, and it does
so at just the right time.
An example of this unpredictability are the construction projects that
were planned for this trip. The awesome playground for the kids was
put together when we got here (though there was a simpler version we
put together on the school campus,) and Freena and Backi's family
living quarters' expansion was put on hold for other school/orphanage
needs. So, predictably, plans have changed! (Tomorrow, we are working
instead on the wall surrounding the campus and some yardwork that
needs to be done at the orphanage. And of course, spending some time
with the kids in school.)
Today we just hung out here; playing volleyball and other games,
singing and reading and face painting. We heard the story of the
orphanage and their wish list for the future. This evening we had a
singing program. Different groups sang for us and we for them. At
dinner we had french fries, which all greatly miss! Off to sleep!
(Ta-ta!)

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Eating under the stars

Today was one of my favorite days so far! But first, a few more things
about yesterday: there were monkeys everywhere, the bus' brakes
overheated on our way down the mountain and we sat on the side of the
road feeding the monkeys until we were sure the brakes were working
properly. It has been said that the driver, when we got safely back to
Carmel, had 3 shots of whiskey and passed out from the worry and
stress of the drive! Anyway, today, as usual, we were up before the
sun. The last three days, many of the children were off from school
for the Pongal holiday (like our Thanksgiving.) But school was back in
session today (they go to school six days a week, normally.) We went
in the morning to our last 4th standard class ("stnadard" is their
term for grade) to do a presentation on Hershey, PA, Milton Hershey
and the orphanage he founded. One of our team members lives in
Hershey. He put this lesson together and a few of us helped him with
it. (We did this lesson with the first 2, 4th standard classes on
Tuesday.) Others did crafts with the kids. Right before lunch, a
bunch of us went into the town of Dharmapuri to shop for Sarees, a
traditional outfit worn by the women here. It's a process, and I'm
glad Freena, who runs the orphanage and school, and one of older
students, Priya, went with us. Once you choose the material for the
outside wrap, you choose a long skirt to wear underneath and material
for a midriff shirt to be tailor-made for you. Freena has a tailor who
is making the shirts for us. We went back to the orphanage for lunch,
and in the afternoon went back to the school for a "Sports Program."
It started with some martial arts and formation exercises
demonstrations and then it was basically like field day - they had fun
little games prepared for our team like balance the lemon on the spoon
as you race across the field and musical chairs (which I came close to
winning!) Then we had our daily afternoon tea (one of the many
remaining influences from British rule) and headed back to the
orphanage. Later we ate dinner under the stars on mats on the ground
with the children. I wish we ate like that every night! There was a
fireworks display and ice cream. One of the many gifts of this place
and the children is that it helps bring out your inner child and the
simple joys of being one.

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21 Hairpin turns

Well, it turned out to only be 20 official turns, but if it were up to
me, I would have labeled at least 5 more turns as officially
"hairpin." We took about 15 of the children and our whole team up to a
hill station called Yercaud. It was a 3-hour bus ride up a mountain
that wound and twisted and included 20+ hairpin turns. We were warned
that if you were prone to motion sickness, this could be a
particularly tough trip and to take dramamine. As it worked out, no
one on the team got sick, but two of the girls did - one on the way up
(the one sitting on my lap, of course!) And one on the way back.
(Luckily, the girl sitting with me let us know that she was about to
spew, so we were prepared when she did! The other girl was able to get
off the bus before getting sick.) Besides the long treacherous bus
ride, the day was great - at the top of the mountain we went to a
rose/flower garden, had a picnic and did pedal boat rides in the lake.
Now we're back and I'm sooo ready for bed! Xoxo

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Semmandakuppam

Or as my NY roomie calls it, "I-want-a-coupon." It is the name of the
closest village to the orphanage (right across the street!) We walked
through it today and talked to the people in the village, took
pictures and gave them little gifts - sweaters, hats, candy, hair
ties, etc. While most of the people were very poor, there were a few
that were more prosperous. I thought all of it was very beautiful and
touching.. As in the orphanage and school, the people were so
hospitable and generous and eager to share their way of life with you
- inviting you to their homes, offering food and introducing you to
everyone in their families. Once we returned to the orphanage campus,
the rest of the day was very restful. We were served a traditional
Indian meal at lunch. Our plates were banana leaves and our utensils
were our fingers (right hand only; According to Indian culture, the
left hand is used for "other things"; you can imagine me, a true
lefty, trying to eat this way! I went through a lot of napkins!) I
definitely took advantage of the downtime today and took two naps
(which I really needed to help me get over a cold I have)! We also
spent some time just playing with the children - there are some
American board games here and. they love to teach us their own games
and some of the Tamil language. More tomorrow! Xoxo

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Day trip

Today we took a trip to a water park with some of the kids! It was
great and ended with a holiday treat - the next few days in India, the
Hindu religion celebrates Pongal, which is a harvesting feast like
Thanksgiving. They hang lights everywhere like we do at Christmas, do
intricate and colorful chalk-like drawings by hand on the streets and
make foods like we had today - sweet rice made from the sugar cane
they grow everywhere. They crush the sugarcane and boil the rice in
stoneware jugs over an open flame. -it's delicious and we ate it off
of banana leaves. Now I'm off to bed - Happy Pongal,

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Academics and art

Today we got to see specifically what the kids learn and work on in
school. All I can say is that the 3-year olds do cursive! Not to
mention learning the 26 letters in our alphabet, and the 80 letters of
the Indian dialect they speak here, Tamil. One of the teachers painted
my wrist and hand with Henna too! Very cool! We walked home from the
school to the orphanage and got to see a lot of native culture
including a woman making rope out of the husk inside of coconuts. And
beautiful art work hand-designed in preparation for an upcoming
harvest celebration. This evening the children put on a dance
performance! It was really entertaining! In all things, you can see
the pride that is part of anything they work on, from food, to school
work to the arts. Off to sleep after another full day! Xoxo

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What a day!

So much happens in one day - each one feels like two! Today we
dedicated the playground (the materials arrived early and it was
already built when we got here!) It was so much fun to watch the kids
(and the adults) run in and enjoy the slides, swings, monkey bars, and
seesaws! We later went to the school which is actually a mile down the
road. There we were greeted by about 800 students waving and yelling
"Hi!" Then we had a little welcome ceremony and then spent some time
in the classrooms singing and talking with the kids. We came back to
the orphanage for lunch and organized the 20 or 30 suitcases full of
gifts and toys for the kids and some school supplies and art projects
we will do with them, probably tomorrow. Then we went back to the
school where the teachers were preparing us some really delicious
indian food - balls of fried potaotes, onions and dough and some
really sweet desserts. The food kept coming and it was so hard to say
no! I ate so much that soon after we returned to the orphanage, I took
a long nap and was too full to even try to eat dinner! But the day was
so full and playing with the kids kept us very busy so I will have no
trouble going to sleep tonight! Love to all!

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Amazing!

We finally made it to the orphanage - it's called Carmel. The bus ride
here was long but we got to see sooo much of the country. Some things
we saw a lot of as we traveled: palm trees, motorcycles (often with
two to three people on them, and only the driver wearing a helmut,
sometimes) free roaming cows of course, stray dogs, and women wearing
beautiful saris. As we got further out into the country we saw even
more palm trees, groves and groves full of them, and the most
beautiful countryside with rocky hills, lush green fields and lots of
sugar cane. People waved to us as we drove along. We finally turned
down a small lane and a few minutes later, we saw at least a hundred
kids lined up along the path to the school, just waiting for us. As
soon as they saw the bus they started singing and playing music. I
definitely got teary-eyed as soon as I saw them! It was a
heart-warming welcome! Some of the people have been coming here for
years and some sponsor at least one or more of the kids, so the kids
remember them and were especially excited to see the people they
recognized. As we walked up the path, we shook each child's hand and
they greeted us by saying "How are you, auntie? How are you, uncle?"
(Boys lined one side of the path and girls were on the other.) Some
asked me what my name was and told me theirs. It became a game later
for them to ask me if I remembered their names (at this point, I lose
that game a lot!) They love getting their pictures taken and to.take
pictures of us and each other. Then we had a little welcoming ceremony
- some of the kids gave each of us a large, gold-colored necklace and
a few of the little girls did a welcome dance. We were individually
introduced to all of the kids and there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony
for the brand new computer center. Then we had a little more time with
the kids and had dinner. Now it's definitely time for bed, but after
today, I can see why people keep coming back here year after year -
it's absolutely amazing!

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One more leg left!

Just arrived in Bangalore! It's absolutely gorgeous here! The sun is
shining and the temperature is perfect! The flight here was great - I
wasn't sure what to expect of that flight but it was totally fine! We
got to try some Indian cuisine - not bad! We just have one more leg of
our journey left - a four hour bus ride which seems like the perfect
time for a little nap! Xoxo

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Request

Hi Everyone!
My internet access has been discovered and the team members are
curious about the this weekend's football scores! They've asked me to
check, so if anyone knows and could pass iit on, that be great! It's
morning here and we're on our way to the airport - the smog here is
intense - looks like dense fog (even last night you could see how
smoggy it was!) Enjoyed my last hot shower this morning at our hotel
in Delhi! Now it's onward to the orphanage!

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We made it!

We're in Delhi! We arrived at around 9:30 pm Delhi time on Saturday
and after gathering about 60 pieces of luggage and going through
customs, we got on a bus and headed to our hotel in Delhi. The plane
ride was great - had a window seat and no one sat in the seat next to
me so it was pretty comfy for a 14 hour flight! The bus driver and his
assistant gave us leis made out of real magnolias that smelled
amazing, special slippers for going into the temples, bottled water
(always good to have here!) and a towlette. Very hospitable! We're
spending the night here and then leaving early tomorrow and taking
another plane to Bangalore and then a four hour bus ride and then
we'll finally be at the orphanage! I"m exhausted but so glad to be
here and looking forward to the orphanage tomorrow! Love to all!

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The day is here!

This morning, all my nervousness from last night has died down and
mostly I'm just so excited to be going!I'm all packed, I just need to
pick up some pictures that I got printed out for the kids at the
orphanage. Apparantly they love to see where you came from, who your
family and friends are and what your life is like. I'm so looking
forward to meeting them! Well,I'm off to go finish getting ready! A
Super Shuttle van is coming to pick me up @ 2:30 to take me to the
airport! I'm meeting the team there at 4 pm and the flight leaves @
8:40 pm!(Continental Flight 82.) Thanks to everyone whose love and
support helped make this happen! I'm so very grateful! Love to all!

Time is ticking

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brennan Gilroy <brennan.gilroy@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2009 01:43:01 -0500
Subject: Time is ticking
To: go@blogger.com

Here goes! My first blog about my trip to India! Somehow after all the
dreaming and planning and waiting, the day has arrived and I'm almost
on my way! I'm excited but nervous - this is the most unfamiliar
territory I've ever adventured into and admittedly all the unknowns
scare me a bit..butI am trying to focus on the why's of this trip -
the kids we're going to help - and THAT is truly exciting!