Apparently 11 months and 12 countries wasn’t enough… Apparently God has placed India in the
books for me this year. So here I
am… I’m writing from Ongole, Andrah Pradash, India. I have the privilege of leading 6 college-aged girls as we
play and show love to 100 orphans in a nearby orphanage home.
Home seems like so long ago now and many time zones away… it
was just a little touch down with friends and family for 2 weeks, just enough
time to unpack, pack up again, and hit the road again….
First I headed down South to Atlanta,
Georgia for leader training. It was awesome to see 4 other O Squaders (world
race teammates), man I love you guys, and to look at an astounding butterfly –
wink wink to Jen and Kris.
Then drove 4 hours to, and within Tennessee.
This brings me to the point in the
story when I meet my magnificent Real Life India-AP girls. It was love at first sight when I
saw them… no wait… they saw me first and called me over to join their organized
semi circle on the ground.
We put our team-work skills and ingenuity to the test from
the get-go when we built a shelter with just 2 tarps and some ropes – a bunch
of hard-core Suzy home-makers at their finest. The 7 of us stayed dry and warm cuddled under the tarp. (It was no butterfly tarping design but
that may only happen with you Kimmy).
I like us.
Here’s a picture of us vision casting with paints and a canvas.
Bex, Carley, me, Kristi, Maddie, Cori, Franseca (left -right).
Meet the Team
This team is stacked! My new sisters are the finest, and oh-
I get to lead them.
Cori- Miss
Georgia, sassy Southerner, you paint smiles on faces all over the place and
cause rainstorms of laughter. You’ve
won before the green light signals go. Fear is your past, love wins, conquering the unknown.
Bex, your smile
is gonna change the world if your big dreams don’t first, plus you win the
Ongole’s classiest purchases award.
Your life is dynamically building masterpieces out of rubble.
Maddie -Hippie
meets Bohemian, most stylish I’m cool without even trying. Your writing will cause tears to fall,
pens to drop, and action to ignite.
Your love for these beloved ones could make a snail sprint.
Kristi – Your
quiet and tireless care for the kids shouts healing. Your insight will teem over. Your constant smile and easy-going nature is an anchor.
Franseca -Perseverance
is a weapon you know how to use.
Your humility and eagerness to learn places you on rich paths of
treasures, which you walk with feet fitted with the gospel of peace.
Carley – You laugh at the days to come as your
strength rises. Your faith moves mountains. You’re simple and stately; blessed assurance is
yours.
So after training camp, we crammed on a school bus and drove
about 2 hours to Atlanta airport….
Brrrmmmmmm
(little boy airplane noises) Atlanta – Newark 2.5 hours
Pause for layover.
Brmmmmmmm (more
little boy airplane noises) Newark
to Mumbai – 14:51 hours
Another Pause and delay for layover.
Again the-afore mentioned noises. Mumbai to Hyderabad
(capital of the province of Andrah Pradash).
Bbbrrrmmmmmm all
the way to Ongole – 7hours.
Days after embarking on our journey we arrived safely to our
new home sweet home.
Pleasant surprise:
Although there are a variety of smells here, offensive odors did not
assault me when I hit Indian soil like I was warned. Here’s to hoping my olfactory senses stay relatively
un-offended.
Indian firsts:
-Participated in a yodeling tutorial – yes there is documentation.
-I am often referred to as “aca”, meaning sister.
-Bobble heads are my favorite! Explanation: Bobbley heads are
what Indians do so frequently to indicate affirmative.
-Sweltering heat, minus sunny, plus wind.
You can follow my other teammates’ blog posts here as well: http://india-ap.adventures.org/
