Lohri!

Hello Everyone,

This week at the orphanage was great!  The only downside was that Violet left, it always stinks to say goodbye to the other volunteers because we all get very close after living together for a few weeks.  Another volunteer, Sarah, arrived on Monday and she will be here until next Sunday.

On Wednesday Dayana, Sarah, Violet and I spent Violet's last afternoon in Faridabad treating ourselves to ice cream and a nice lunch at an Indian/Chinese Restaurant (it seems like every multi-cuisine restaurant is Indian/Chinese).  The food was great and it was nice to relax.

Thursday was a very special day because it was Lohri.  "Lohri, is celebrated every year on 13th of January. It is a festival celebrating fire.  At this time the Earth starts moving towards the sun marking the auspicious period of Uttarayan. First Lohri is very important for the newly wed and the new born babies as it marks fertility. At night, people gather around a bonfire and throw puffed rice & popcorn into the flames. Prayers are offered to the bonfire seeking abundance & prosperity. People make merry by dancing & singing traditional folk songs."

Special food was prepared for all the meals and the girls dressed up for the event.  After dinner a band arrived and the girls taught us some beautiful dances. Once the musicians left we all gathered around a large bonfire and everyone sang traditional songs.  Halfway through the festivities I was asked to sing and anyone that knows me knows I cannot sing to save my life.  Luckily Sarah sang 1/2 of Lean on Me with me (we were told it was a great honor to be asked and we should sing, hopefully next time they will give me a little warning!).  The next big event at the orphanage will be Republic Day on January 26th so I will make sure I have a song ready in case they ask.  The eight girls in my English class are going to sing the Indian National Anthem in English at the event and I am really excited. 

Here are some photos from the event!

They passed out peanuts and popcorn as a treat!

                                                                           Playing Twister!


I miss and love you all.

Allie

Newest Photos!

Violet and I on New Year's Eve

Last day at Morning Star School

Pics from the Orphanage

Out to lunch with friends!

Finally at the Orphanage!

Hello Everyone!

I am finally at the orphanage! I arrived on Tuesday and I love it here.  I apologize for the very long delay between now and my last post but my computer crashed and I had to have it repaired!  Since I last posted I went to Delhi for New Years Eve and had an amazing time with another volunteer, Violet.  We walked around Connaught Place and took several hot showers at our hotel (we had to boil water at our home stay in order to take hot bucket showers, so a real shower with hot water was a treat!).  We spent the entire time just relaxing and had a quiet dinner  in the roof top restaurant at our hotel and fell asleep by 11:30pm.  If I could I would go back to that hotel every weekend.  They had an amazing breakfast that Violet and I devoured for 1 hour as the staff laughed at how much we could eat (sometimes you need a break from bread and rice and they had pancakes!).

After spending four weeks at the slum school I decided I was ready to move to the orphanage.  My last day at the school was sad and it was difficult to say goodbye to the children, but I was thrilled to be moving to the orphanage so I could be around the girls all day. Working at the school was rewarding but after school I had far too much free time.

At the orphanage I share a room with Violet and Dayana, another volunteer from Spain that has already been living here for 3 weeks.  There are 88 girls that live in the orphanage and they range from 3-25.  All the girls are wonderful and are so nice to me.  Most of the time they shoo me away when I try to help with chores and tell me: no didi (no older sister), but I try to help out as much as I can.

A typical day at the orphanage begins around 5am, sometimes 4am.  Girls wake up to bathe, clean, make breakfast and get ready to school.  I have been trying to wake up by 5am so I can help with breakfast (I failed this morning).  I get up and try to quietly get dressed in the dark so I don't wake my roommates and I head down stairs to help prepare breakfast.  I have to throw on a hat and gloves along with my jacket because it is about 40 degrees in the morning and the inner portion of the orphanage consist of a courtyard area and you have to walk outside to reach any other room in the orphanage and the cold air penetrates all the rooms (it is not bad as long as you wear a hat and gloves in the morning and at night and it is definitely not as cold as it was at the school in the morning).  Breakfast begins at 7am and prayer is in the dining area at 6:30am.  I love attending prayer before breakfast and dinner with the girls because the sound of them chanting in Hindi is beautiful.  After a breakfast of chapati and potatoes  I usually head back upstairs for a nap and wake up around 9:30 so I can play with the girls in the park (I learned how to play cricket!), we also read stories, and I teach an English class to about 8 girls (I think more will join).  I also help with the sweeping and preparing lunch and dinner if they let me.  The girls love cards and story books, especially fairy tales, and they come to our room at night and we play and read with them.  By the end of the day I am completely exhausted but I love it!

I also decided that I am going to take a week to travel during the middle or end of February.  I think I decided on traveling to Patna to see my Great Uncle Father Dan Rice's grave, then to Mumbai, and finally to Goa so I can sit on the beach for a couple of days.  I think I convince Dayana to go with me and maybe we can recruit a few more volunteers!

I love you all and miss you so much!

Allie

Recent Photos from Teaching and Christmas!

Feeling Well!

Namaste Friends,

I am finally feeling better and am able to eat food that is cooked in the traditional style (no more boiled rice and veggies only!)  This week was somewhat sad because I had to say goodbye to Pei Qi and I was told that no new volunteers would be arriving for at least a week, but likely Violet arrived yesterday.  Violet is also supposed to be working in the orphanage and we will move there together on January 9th.  I will be spending another week in the slum school which I am very happy about because I have come to love teaching the children there.

Besides attending school, I also spent a great deal of time this week with Merry and Cherry, my two Indian friends that live down the road.  They have been so kind to me and I am not sure how I could ever repay them for their hospitality.  Both them and their father constantly invite me into their home and treat me with refreshments and I truly enjoy all the conversations we have. 

Two other exciting events occurred this week.  Yesterday, a couple that is friends with my host family took me to purchase a removable network card for my computer so I can get internet everywhere!  I am now able to skype and call everyone at more decent hours and update this blog more frequently. 

Finally, I have some fun plans for New Years Eve.  Violet and I are taking a taxi into Delhi tomorrow and staying at a hotel on Friday evening, so we get to spend Friday and Saturday exploring the city a little more.  We are both excited for restaurant food and hot showers (this week the water was out at home and I am not even to tell you how many days it was before I showered!).  We love being here and living with our host family but it is always nice to go into the city for holidays.

I love you and miss you all!  Have a safe New Years.

Allie

Christmas in India

Hello Friends!

I am sorry for my lack of communication over the past week.  I hit a little road bump in my trip and ended up spending 3 days in an Indian Hospital because of a stomach infection and dehydration...not fun.  They released me yesterday and I am feeling better so hopefully when I am off my diet of all boiled food I will not get sick again.  Due to my stint in the hospital my move to the orphanage has been delayed and I will stay at the slum school for at least another week or two.  Apparently the orphanage I will be moving to is a good distance from the hospital and it is better for me to stay where I am at the moment.

I am starting to get a little homesick since Christmas is tomorrow and I keep thinking about all the family traditions I am missing, but my host family is having a Christmas dinner so hopefully I will be distracted.  Today Peiqi and I went out and purchased Christmas gifts and it was nice to see this one pastry shop we always go to really decorated for Christmas.  They placed a medium sized tree in the corner of the room and decorated it and both Peiqi and I took a picture next to the tree. 

This week I am hoping to make it to school everyday and avoid any more medical mishaps!  I am slowly adjusting to life in India and I am hoping as time passes it will only get easier.  Everyone here has been so welcoming and that makes it easier to be away from all my loved ones.

Please have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  I love and miss you all!

Allie

I Made it to Faridabad!

Namaste!
I am finally living in Faridabad.  I arrived late Sunday evening after a long day traveling to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.  We left Gurgaon at 6:30 AM and did not arrive in Agra until 2.  The trip should have taken four hours but we got stuck in traffic and there were points when I driver just shut off the engine for 15 mins at a time. 

The Taj Mahal was absolutely breath taking.  I have over 100 pictures from that day and I will post some here and the remainder on Facebook when I am able to make it to a cafe with wifi.  Gaining access to the internet here is even harder than in Gurgaon.  I will have to take a taxi to the mall to use my computer and post photos, as well as skype and I will only be able to do that on the weekend. 

Right now I am living with a host family and not in the orphanage.  I will not be going to the orphanage project until after Christmas because the slum children project had less volunteers.  The family I am living with is wonderful and I have enjoyed the project thus far. My local coordinator palced me with the family because they celebrate Christmas and he thought 5 months in an orphanage might wear on a me.

The slum children school was started by my host family and it is a wooden, open sided structure that is covered with a tarp to keep the rain out.  In the morning we have breakfast around 7:30 and walk to the slum school around 8:30. In the mornings it is pretty cool and the weather is only going to get colder as January approaches.   The children are so cute and range from 4-12 (around kindergarten to fifth grade).  Peigi and I correct their spelling and math exercises and try to explain the difference between addition and multiplication to children at very different levels.  In the afternoon we teach english to the children and school lets out around 1pm.

I have the afternoons free and I have been walking around exploring the market.  There is actually a bakery in the market that makes delicious (swaadist) cakes and Italian pizzas (both of which I have tried).  I am hoping to discover a cafe with wifi closer than the mall so I can keep you better informed.

Oh...Cool tidbit for the day. I rode to school on a motorcycle today.  I was terrified because the roads are crazy and there was no helmet involved but it was fun.

Sorry for the jumpy stories! The limited internet time is not conducive for creative writing.

Love you all!

Allie