The End

Well, my experience in India is beyond compare; and beyond words. I had such a fantastic time. Helping all of those unforunate people in the colonies wasI extremely humbling, and has really put things into perspective for me. I use to try as hard as I could to focus on what I had, not what I didnt have. Honestly, it never really worked. I always saw things that other people had, and envied them. Going to India and seeing the poverty there really changed my outlook on life. As I have said in a past post, genuine happiness comes from being around people that care about you. I've pointed this out to a few people in the last week, and they told me no one cared for them. No matter who you are, there is always someone out there that cares about you. But enough about that. I came home to a life of luxury, and my first thoughts were about how I truly do not need any of the things I have. At the Elephant House, we had many many things that most people do not have, such as an air conditioner, clean water, showers, plumbing, electricity, internet, fridges, beds, and washing machines. Here I have all the things listed above, along with many other useless things. It makes me realize how incredibly lucky I am. For example, right now I am typing on my computer, watching television, and lying in my bed. My stomach is full, I'm clean, and healthy. Where I was, people sleep on concrete floors, bathe every few days in a river, and skip meals for days just so they can have a television. Its crazy. The thing that makes you truly happy is seeing beauty in anything and everything, and the company of another human being. Thats all most of these people have, and they are some of the happiest people I have ever met. When I first was on the medic team, and I got my first glimpse of their disfigured limbs, I was repulsed. This feeling came from two things: they were disfigured, and mainly, that I was disgusted by their bodies. After a few minutes, I came to realize that I was looking into the eyes of some of the most beautiful people I have ever met. They are all so grateful of the care we provide for them, for the education we are giving their children; for everything. The first day I was on medical, I had an experience that I will never forget. One of the leprosy afflicted men in the colony came up and urged us all to fold our arms. He then proceeded to pray. The prayer lasted a few minutes, and was entirely in Tamil. Kim, the medical coordinator, caught a few words here and there: Bless you, Holy Father, Thank you. One thing that I was afraid of was the language barrier. It made things just a bit complex, but they get their point across using hand gestures and whatnot. I'm well aware of the fact that I was only in India a little over two weeks, but I can honestly say that I have grown up a bit; found out who I am in a way. I have found out the meaning of happiness, realized how fortunate and blessed I am to have been raised in the enviroment I was brought up in, and realized that everyone, no matter who they are, have beauty inside of them. People are not just obstacles, they are human beings. They arent there for your satisfaction or gain, they are here because they deserve to be. I apologize for my writing, I am going off in many multiple directions, and there is no flow to this. I am sort of just putting things down as they pop into my head. I love Rising Star. It's such an amazing organization, and has a fantastic support group. Please, check it out. Sponsor a kid. Get involved. You wont regret it.

August 27th

We got to the airport in Chennai rather early, and ended up taking off at 5:30 am. Our flight to London was only nine hours, and we got upgraded so that we could sit together. In the London airport we found out that our flight to New York (JFK) had been cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. Fortunately for us, we were rerouted to Dallas (DFW), and our plane actually departed a few minutes before our previous flight was supposed to leave. In the London airport we had a three hour layover, and we at a place called Yo! Sushi. Its a sushi bar where the sushi comes around on a track and you just grap whatever looks good to you. When you are done eating, the waiter comes and counts up your bowls and gives you the bill. The plane trip to Dallas was ten hours, and we were in a very cramped airplane. It was the pilot's last fight, as he was retiring after 32 years of working for the airline. At the landing strip, there were two fire engines that gave him an awesome salute by shooting water over the top of the plane. We then took a flight from Dallas to SLC, which was only 2 hours and 22 minutes long. Our luggage was lost in Dallas, and they expected it to come the next day, which it did. My grandparents on my mom's side came and picked us up. once home, I treated my hair for lice (even though you dont have lice, it is strongly recommended that you treat your hair, just in case), and then went to bed at around 2 am.

August 26th

Today was my last day on the medic team, and also the last day in the Elephant House. The bus ride to the colony was quite lengthy, but I had some pretty good company on the bus ride there. I cut off the bandages on people's feet, and we only saw about a dozen people or so. Fortunately for the ulcer care unit, about 3/4ths of them only needed their medication and whatnot, so we hardly had to do anything. One of the coordinators (Jeff) came out to medic for the first time in three months and washed feet. I think he was pretty grossed out by it all; I know that I was when I first went. We stopped for parota yet again, which was pretty awesome. I slept through my entire break yet again. I'm 99.9% sure that parota puts me in some sort of a food coma. One of my roommates woke me up before activity time, and I was extremely tired. I just sat there watching the kids play cricket the entire time. At dinner, we had chapati instead of the normal meal. Everyone stood up and told the group one thing that they learned on their trip. What I learned was this: Materialistic objects and money only provide comfort, not happiness. Genuine happiness comes from finding the joy in the little things, seeing the beauty that is in everyone and everything, and being in the presence of those who care about you. Phillip and I had drawn a lotus flower on the back wall earlier today, and the girls finished painting it right before dinner. It turned out much better than I had hoped. Our names and nicknames are on it, as well as the phrase "Roomba Super" in Tamil. After dinner, we went to a dance performance put on by some of the kids. The dance instructor, Emmy, did a wonderful job; as did the kids. We then went to our last family time. Roger, one of the older men on the trip, told the kids a version of The Princess Bride, in which Inigo is the main character. All of the kids, judging by how attentive they were, loved the story. I have a strong feeling that they are going to begin saying "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die." One of the kids, Steven, mae me a sign that says "I love you so much voluntree." Honestly, it brought tears to my eyes. Sorry for sounding so cheesey and lame, but this is how I feel: My heart really is in India. It resides in every single child, patient, person, volunteer, and all of Session Five, including the coordinators. It is in the trees, animals, land, culture; anything and everything that is India. We had a going away meeting in the Mango room, and Kim 2 put together a Session 5 slide show. We left at 12:30 am, and it broke my heart saying goodbye to everybody. Fortunately, I will see quite a few of them next summer when I return to India.

August 25th

Today was my day for construction. We kicked butt, seeing as we finished five bathrooms, inside and out. On the way home, we stopped for parota yet again, which is my absolute favorite thing to eat in India. After this, we went to the junction and bought some henna, which is super cheap. At activity time we played soccer, and due to the fact that I came to the realization that this was one of my last play times, I played my hardest. Before dinner, my aunt Dani gave me an amazing henna tattoo on my left forearm. Dinner was the same red rice and sauce, but I don't mind, I love it. At family time I was in another house teaching the kids how to make bracelets out of duct tape. They are extremely simple, and that is why the kids liked them so much. I ended up making a ton of them, and as the night drew to a close, kids from other houses began pouring in to get a bracelet for themselves. That night I laid down on the roof in the middle of a thunderstorm while listening to some dubstep. It was almost like I had my own light show. Nandri, Mother Nature.

August 23rd and 24th I Guess..

Today I was exhausted all day long. I got up at 8:30 am for Morning Conclave, which is just a meeting where the coordinators tell you what to expect in the colonies or in the school that day and any other important announcements regarding the group as a whole. Today, the Shatki group went out to a colony for medic, and their ulcers were by far the worst I have seen. We then went back home, where I slept through play time. At six we got up and went out for parota, which is sort of like a tortilla with this weird spicy green sauce. At family time, I played soccer with a tennis ball, which is actually quite fun. Back at the Elephant House we watched a Bollywood film called Three Idiots. Bollywood is India's equivalent to Hollywood, but is much better. The great thing about Bollywood movies is that they take you through a full scale of emotions. For example, in Three Idiots, it goes from singing about fixing this guy's science experiment, to finding the same man dead in his dorm room. Its very intense. The reason that this post is a mash-up of the 23rd and 24th is due to the fact that my friend Kylie and I stayed up all night long, and the days' events sort of got blurred together. Anyways.. I was on the education crew on the 24th, whichever day that was. It went really well and shockingly enough I wasn't tired whatsoever. Unfortunately, I was messing with my camera and messed up the settings and whatnot, so, being me, I hit reformat. It deleted every single picture that I had taken within the last ten days. Trying to be the optomist I have become, I realized that everyone else on the Agra trip had the same pictures I had, along with all the other pictures of me in the colonies. To make my day just a little bit worse, I was being unattentive and I fell into a concrete ditch type thing and hurt my leg. Later, at family time, Ashuk (one of the older kids) kicked it on accident, which made it erupt with a fresh wave of pain; which lasted about two hours.

August 22nd

We got back to the Elephant House today at 12:30 am. My first thought was "I'm back at home, I've missed this place." Home is where your heart is, and at the moment my heart belongs to these kids at Rising Star. Kim 2 saw us arrive, and gave all of us a huge hug.

Today I realized that school starts. I would much rather be here in India washing feet and painting outhouses than be stuck in a classroom. No offense Alta-goers. The paint that we used to beautify the ugly cement buildings is lime based, and really irritates the skin. Unfortunately for us, we didn't know this while we were painting each other with it, but we found out not very long after it dried. Quite a few people had allergic reactions to it, and according to Dr. Susan, the top layer of their skin has been chemically burned. After painting, we went to the art school in the leprosy colony, and their paintings are all amazing. They go for 45 US dollars, and I already have one picked out.

At activity time today (4:30-6:00pm) we played basketball and soccer, and as usual, the kids destroyed us. Afterwards, at family time (7:30-9:00 pm) I read all the boys in my house Hansel and Grettle.

On the way home, I ran across a snake. It was less than a foot long, was the width of a shoe lace, and was quite dark in color. I didn't exactly want to catch it and show someone, so its identity remains unknown.

August 21st

Today we ventured to the Lotus Palace, which is a architectural masterpiece. It is made out of white material (my best guess is that it is marble) and is very quiet inside. It was built as a place for worship and meditation, and is extremely spacious on the inside. We then went to a place that offers camel and elephant rides. I had my picture taken with a monkey in a fancy shirt, who was sitting on my lap. Then I rode an elephant with one of the other volunteers. It was such an amazing experience. Unfortunately, the animals are all severely mistreated, and I felt pretty bad taking advantage of such beautiful creatures. We then continued our marvelous bus ride (insert sarcasm), which was only bearable due to Kephren and Anna rapping at the front of the tour bus. 

August 20th

We went to the Taj Mahal today. Nothing I have ever seen is as exquisite as this building is. It has so much detail, and words cant even begin to express how amazing it is. The Taj Mahal was built as a tomb for the emperor's third wife, and his son imprisoned him across the river from it in the Agra Fort, which is almost as beautiful as the Taj Mahal. At Agra Fort there are a ton of monkeys, and they are very entertaining. After this we went shopping in Agra, and stopped off at this restaurant called Havemore, which is so delicious. They have this bread fish soup stuff that you eat with nan that is so good. Outside of the restaurant was a snake charmer, and he let me hold his cobra while he played his flute thing. It was exhilarating. The cobra had no teeth, but having a cobra stare straight into your eyes is not a happy experience. Nonetheless it was definitely worth the fear. 

August 19th

Today, at 3 am, we embarked on a two hour drive to the air port in Chennai, to fly to Dehli. From Dehli, we took a bus to the city of Agra, which is about six hours away if the traffic is good; and it never is in India. We checked into the Jaypee Palace, which is a five star hotel, and thankfully I slipped into the abyss of sleep very quickly. 

August 18th

Today my team was a part of the education group. Most of the kids can be very difficult, because they want to go play with their friends, but there was one little boy that made it totally worth it. His name is Manish, and he is adorable. We got through his division exercises very quickly, seeing as he is a very smart kid. He then had me draw Elmo on his hand. He laughed at my drawing, and then proceeded to draw Elmo on my hand as well. Then he told me he was going to draw me. Every few seconds he would look up at me, and then continue drawing me. For a third grader, it was pretty good. He gave me a huge hug after we were done with the session, and ran off. It really warmed my heart. He is by far my favorite kid here. Nagaraj is one of the more athletic kids, and he kicked my butt in soccer AND basketball today. Each Thursday is talent day, which is where you teach the kids how to do something cool. Today was Roger's day and he taught the kids how to make duct tape wallets, which is ironic because my talent will be teaching them how to make bracelets out of duct tape

August 17th

Sorry about all of the disorganized blogging thats been occurring. Stuff has been super hectic in the Elephant House lately. But anyways..

There are three groups: Cobra, Scorpion, and Shatki. Every day, each group is assigned a different task. The three tasks are: Medic, Education, and Construction. Being a part of the medic task force consists of going into the leprosy colonies and performing health care. This care includes taking their blood pressure, changing their bandages, washing their ulcers, clipping their nails, and take measurements for the special shoes that they have to wear so that they are able to walk efficiently. This work is extremely rewarding due to the fact that you know that you are making a difference. Construction is different in each session depending on what needs to be done. For example, Session Four constructed septic tanks and bathrooms throughout the eight colonies that the volunteers are actually involved in. This session however has mainly been trash duty. This work is extremely tedious, and your spirits are never very high  considering the fact that you know that within the next week just as much trash will have been accumulated in the area that you just spent a grueling two hours picking up. The education team goes into the school (which consists of the children of leprosy patients that live here on Rising Star campus), and helps tutor the kids. The children are very intelligent, and they completely outsmart me when it comes to math.  We leave at 9 am every morning to go out and perform whatever tasks have been assigned to our team/group. We usually get back to the Elephant House at 2 pm. We then have a two and a half hour break to do as we please. At 4:30 we go over to the hostel for play time with the children. We usually have a soccer game, with the teams consisting of the volunteers vs the kids. All of the kids here are extremely athletic. Play time goes until 6, which is when we return home for dinner. Dinner is always the same; red rice and currie. I love it though, mainly because the currie is very spicy. We eat on the roof as the sun sets, and we have a tradition of sharing your high and low for the day. Since everyday is so amazing, our lows are usually the same: It was hot today. We usually finish up with dinner and have all the dishes washed by 7, and then at 7:30 we head over to the hostel for family time. This is when we just hang out inside with the kids and read stories, play games, or just talk. Then at 9 we go home and just hang out until we eventually decide to go to sleep.  The only two animals around here that are friendly are Monica the dog and Lola the sheep goat. Monica, along with almost all other dogs around here, has ear infections and therefore whines when you touch them. Lola basically just walks around eating all the time, but allows for people to go up to her and pet her. By the way, a sheep goat is a goat that looks like a sheep. Its a Rising Star thing.

Tonight we had a dance party. We played lame pop music until about 11 and everyone danced like fools. Honestly, no one here can dance, but that doesn't mean that we didn't have fun. Everyone here is very energetic, and they are all really nice people. It hasn't been very long, but I already know that I have changed. Being here, around all this poverty, and all this joy just goes to show that money and materialistic items may provide comfort, but genuine happiness lies in that of having people around you that care about you, and being able to see the good in every situation you find yourself placed in.

India

Today we woke up and went to an LDS church located just outside of Chennai. I luckily dozed off for the first couple of hours. Afterwards we ventured to the Rising Star campus, which is beyond words. Its beautiful here. I share a room with five other guys, and their ages range from 20 to 44. Sunday I fell asleep at 4 pm and woke up Monday morning at 8:30 am. It definitely helped me get over my jet lag. We then went over to see the kid's school to see their assembly, which is in accordance with India gaining independence from Great Britain. There are tons of geckos and frogs around, and catching them is really cool.

Day One

Well folks the trip sure was long.. We went from SLC, UT to Chicago, IL, from there to Dehli which was a 13 hour flight, and from Dehli to Chennai. All together about thirty hours in the air, and quite a few hours stuck in different airports. We lost our luggage and are hoping to have it be returned to us fairly soon. Fortunately none of our valuables or necessities were in them. The first thing you notice is the heat. We arrived in Chennai at about 12 AM mountain time, and it was dark out. It still is swelteringly hot, and extremely humid. The next thing that you will notice is the smell. I honestly have no idea how to describe it. Then, at the same time, the crazy traffic and architecture hits you all at once. The cab drivers swerve in and out of traffic, are rarely even in a designated lane, and slam on the breaks and honk their horns about every five seconds. There is no noticeable order to the chaos, but somehow they navigate the crazy driving conditions like pros, which is pretty much what they are. The cars themselves are quite unique as well. The only manufactures that I have recognized so far are Toyotas, Hyundais, and Suzukis, however the models of the cars themselves are completely alien to me. The black and white cabs truly are something to marvel at, for they look like some movie prop that came out of old-school london. There are also scores of people that walk out into traffic without any hesitation at all, and miraculously they remain unharmed and unfazed. The architecture is truly an amazing sight to behold. It ranges in everything from elaborate hotels to mere slums, and features billboards advertising curd, IPhone 4s, and anything else under the sun. Unfortunately I did not sleep whatsoever on the plane ride, and have been up for a whopping thirty one hours. My eyes burn, my head is spinning, and im stuck in zombie mode. Tomorrow we will be traveling the the Rising Star campus, and hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures.

SURPRISE

Turns out my flight leaves tomorrow morning. Look forward to my first post from India tomorrow night!

In Three Days Time..

Well folks this is the home stretch for me. I leave for India this coming Friday (August 12th). I am extremely excitied for the experiences I will be introduced to. Its a completely different world, or at least I have been told, and in all honesty I am fairly nervous. A.K.A. I have been freaking out all week. I have all the supplies that I need for this trip, I am up to date on my shots, and I am taking medication for Malaria. Be sure to check my blog as often as possible, because I am going to try to update it with pictures, and daily journal updates. Thank you to all who donated, without you my dream would not about to become a reality. Thank you also to anyone and everyone that is supporting me.
                                                                                                                -Alex