Namaste

Here are some other random pics from the trip, enjoy!

Pieces of God

Like I mentioned, the trip I am on is a school trip- completely unfaith related. Today, however, was one of those moments where I was truly blown away by God's unfathamable hand. 

I was sitting at dinner with some 5th and 6th grade girls having our normal broken English chat about nothing inparticular when out of nowhere one of them says "do you believe in life after death?" We then dove into this incredible conversation about Christianity, Jainism, and Hinduism; about what each consists of and why. The girl that had start ted the conversation then told me how she prays but there are so many gods that she feels that she is speaking to no one, and that her religion does not believe in life after death, but "how can that be? Life can't just end?" Then she asked me to tell her the story of Jesus :) I know for a fact I could never do the story justice, I just hope I got all my facts correct! It's just amazing to me that 5th and 6th grade girls were so immersed into figuring out their faith. I know God uses me to plant a seed and I continually felt myself just smiling at the awe of the situation. 

If that wasn't enough, when I was doing my devotion, the scripture was Isaiah 6:8 "then I heard the voice of the Lord saying 'whom shall I send and who will go for us?' And I said 'here I am, send me'" ahh Jesus, you seize to amaze me :) 

Elephants

This is our dear elephant friend Bhul Bhul. She carried out large butts o the top of the amber fort.. And I'm pretty sure she loved it as much as we did :)

For Better Or Worse

Meet Deepak and Abira. These two were our life savers while at the school. They are incredible people that were our "go-to's" for any and everything we needed or wanted. Abira treated us to chicken and pizza and both of them always provided food when we felt deprived, and wifi when we could go no longer without it. The only fault I found was when Deepak made us all beat root juice... If you've never tried it, spare yourself! 

Jaipur Literature Festival

The group made a special trip to Jaipur for the annual literature festival. This is an incredible event that brings over 200 authors, editors, and speakers. There are many different sessions throughout the span of 5 days on any and every topic you can imagine! I absolutely loved this experience and certainly soaked in mug knowledge!

Taj Mahal

There have been some really incredible festivities on this trip! To begin our tourist portion, we got to visit one of the 7 wonders of the world- the Taj Mahal- or as they pernounce it, taj mahela. For being one of the 7 wonders of the world, I didn't think it was quite what it's cracked up to be, but don't get me wrong, it was certainly incredible!

Anabuti 2

With vast differences from Anabuti 1, this is Anabuti 2. This school is designed to give students coming from slum areas an education. This school pays for all the school fees, uniforms, supplies, as well as lunch and 2 snacks throughout the day. The students coming to this school must be entering 1st grade and at this level their main goal is to teach the students about hygiene, balanced foods, study habits, clean language, and basic survival skills. Seeing some pictures of the places they live is heart breaking. The school makes it mandatory for the parents to drop off and pick up their child from school and teaches parents about involvement. It's really an incredible program!

Going into the classes however, I have never seen such rude, disrespectful, craziness. That includes schools in the US! I so badly want to be sympathetic towards them because of where they come from, but is hard! The teachers in the school have not implemented any discipline and really have no authority. I was expecting this to be my favorite place, but really, at the begining I just couldn't wait to leave each day. By the end, I had fallen in love with the kids :)

They teachers will randomly leave the room and we are left to teach for sometimes up to an hour or two but it's just madness. We get there at 8am and leave at 4. This has absolutely proven to me that teaching is not for me! That is waaaaay too long of a day! 

Anabuti 1

This is the school I am staying at called Anabuti 1. This is a boarding school for wealthier families, and one of the most beautiful campuses I have seen. They have incredible facilities with grades from 6-12. The boys and girls are separated for everything and they are forbidden from having boy friends or girl friends. The students are not allowed to have cell phones, watch TV, eat any junk food and they have a curfew of 9. With these conditions, I too would be a much better student. They all wake up at 530 for yoga and exercises, eat breakfast and head to class from 8-4. All their meals are made by the school and the students cannot have any food from the outside. After class is over they have an hour writing time that is recquired, then an hour study hall. Still after this, the students are up very late studying. The school recquires "hobby classes" like the arts, and organized sports. All of the students are extremely disciplined and polite. 

This is the dining hall- we all sit on the ground to eat meals

This is our attempt at slow cyclng

Getting There

Traveling always makes for some pretty great stories, but getting here was just the absolute weirdest situation. From Delhi we took a 14hr train ride to Jalgoan where the school is. Around the time the train was to arrive we all grabbed our things and moved towards the door. Well turns out, we were still an hour from our stop and once we got up from our spots, other people took them over... So we stood on a moving rickety train for an hour. If that wasn't bad already, we were standing right next to the squattey potty which in the 14 hours the train had been moving managed to acquire literal shit all over the floor. Needless to say, we were sick in more ways than one. 

When we arrived at the station, a man came to us and said "I am from Anabuti school, there are 5 of you, we go" and proceeded to lead us to the van. We rode for an hour until he dropped us off at the school. Some men took us to our room and then waved goodbye. After sitting in our rooms for an hour, a man came and said breakfast was ready and took us to the dining hall. We ate and then managed to find out own way back to the room. After sitting for 3 hours, still no one had come to talk to us. At this point it was getting a little strange, so we called a student that came on the trip last year. After talking with her, we discovered that we were not even in the right area. The people at this place had absolutely no idea who we were, but had heard of the school. Upon calling the school, we find out that they also didn't know we were coming. I am not sure what the heck miscommunication happened but eventually someone came to take us to the correct place. I think they were under the impression that we were coming a different time maybe. The language barrier is larger than the gran canyon which made it all the more difficult to relay the situation. But, as always, it all worked out :) 

 

Ohhhhhh India

Ahh there is nothing better than a nice breath of fresh smog. Some general notes about India: it's very polluted, there are many people, many things smell like fecal matter...which is probably exactly what it is most of the time, there is trash everywhere, public transportation is not ideal, but not as bad as I was expecting, the way they nod their heads make them look like bobble heads, the language barrier is bigger than the gran canyon, and the food is spiiiiiiicy. General note about myself, my insides are constantly on fire!!! 

India? Don't mind if I do

The excitement hasn't quite kicked in... I'm more stuck in the surrealness of it, but tomorrow I will be traveling with 12 other Augustana students to India! We will be volunteering at one of the slum schools for 3 weeks and on the fourth week we will have the opportunity to see the sights. That will, of course, consist of seeing the Taj Mahal. It just hasn't quite hit me that tomorrow I will be in a new country seeing yet more wonders of the world that God has created! 

Other than this incredible trip, let me catch you all up on my life as of now...

I have decided on a major and knowing me, I can imagine that all of you will say that it's very fitting. I am doing an interdepartmental major or rather, a "build your own". You choose 3 different departments and pick and choose 4 classes from each to create the best fitting major; so I have chosen education, religion, and international studies. With this I am hoping to follow wherever God calls me into mission work and whatever other unimaginable things He's got in store :) 

I am really enjoying being an RA in the dorms! My floor is awesome and the job has made for some great stories thus far . As of now I am hoping to continue with this job next year as well. I am also teaching swimming lessons on campus and work as a student ambassador giving tours of campus through the admissions office. 

Also this year I have been trying to get more involved with my faith, to find more community. So at school I have joined campus outreach which goes to surrounding churches in Sioux Falls and leads youth lockins, and I have joined a bible study at my church- both of which I love! I have struggled with finding friendships and relationships with other students strong in their faith, but I'm  finding that it is true for all ages. I think we tend to shy away from bringing up faith in conversation, especially with our friends, but the friendships where that's possible make them all the more cherished. I've had a hard time finding someone whose striving to be as open about it as I am, but slowly I've been plugged into some pretty incredible relationships :) 

And no, to all of you wondering, I do not have a boyfriend! Not many guys I've met are super thrilled with the idea of living abroad as a missionary...kind of a deal breaker for myself. Haha 

That's all I got for now, I can't think of anything else riveting in my life to tell! I'll be posting soon, from the wonders of India!