No Problem

No Problem, is the new mantra I have adopted since being in India. As we drove the two hours back to the city of Chennai, someone asked the driver what happens if you run into someone else car his reply "No problem, you keep on driving." I had to laugh at this, because its true so many times in the trip we had to just look at each other and laugh and say "It's India". On my journey to the airport we took part of a Bus strike, and were stuck behind a bus for 15-20 minutes, before my driver finally weaved his way out of the cars pile up. And I had to just laugh and have faith and we would still get to the airport "No problem". I was surprisingly calm through all of it, knowing I was leaving India I didn't want to miss any experience. Including that of being part of a Bus strike. It was something I had never seen, I watched as the three buses driving (right) in front of us slowly turned all different angles and stopped. We all looked at one another and were very confused. I thought maybe an accident was in front of us or even a cow herd was crossing the street. Because even this is possible in India. Our driver got out after a minute or two of waiting, and turn to us saying "wait here, I'll be right back" in his cute little Indian voice. Not sure why he thought he needed to say wait here, I was not about to get out of the car with motorcycles flying by me right and left. He came back and explained that the bus driver's were striking... this was kind of difficult to explain because his English was very limited but he very patiently kept trying till we understood. We did eventually get to the airport after avoiding several more car pile ups as the buses were striking all over the city. Once we got there and stood in three very long lines we were at our gate...just in time for them to tell us it was delayed and that they didn't have the information now to tell us when we would be leaving. At this point it was much more difficult to say it but I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe and said "No Problem". My flight did eventually leave and I was rerouted and even got to visit Denver. I met several nice people on my flights and even shocked the Indian man sitting next to me when I started watching the Bollywood film on the flight. He then said "soon you will be telling me you're marrying an Indian man." I then said "I wish." This man lives in Denver and offered me a home cooked Southern Indian meal anytime I'm in Denver. Then on my next flight the lady sitting next to me saw the tag on my bag said Chennai and began talking to me. Her and her family had also just traveled back from Chennai and were probably on all of my same flights. Even though they also had a different connection originally. They live in Washington but recommended I go to Chennai Mashala- which happens to be the very restaurant my dad recommended before I left. She told me the Owner there also speaks Tamil, so I'm excited to go in sometime soon.
Several people have asked me if I'm a changed woman since India. And I think in many ways I have been changed but they are all small things. Like I may be able to handle a little more Indian spice than before. I now feel I could take on any airport in the world. I'm now not afraid to barter. My English may be more broken than before I left. :) I can now understand almost any Indian accent. I now have lots of new wonderful friends.  and I think most importantly I now have Indian eyes. But I'm still the same Martha looking through them.

We finished our wall the day before we left and it looks amazing. It reads India Is... in the middle and then we all put around it the things that make up India. Heart is what Ryen put in the very middle, except it's in Tamil so it actually says Irudhayam. But this is so perfect. India is Heart, and it has certainly stolen mine. I loved everything everyone wrote so I'm going to list them.
India is...
What you will make it to be.
The BEST
Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin (haha- names of two brothers at the school)
Divinity
CTR (also another long story)
"This Boy"
Humility
"No beating"
Hot
Incredible
"Opium to my Ears" (longer story)
Vanakkum
Art
Color
Forgiveness
and Lice :)

I want to again Thank everyone who made this possible. I loved every minute of India. And will someday go back...hopefully sooner than later. Rising Star is an amazing program, and I'm so grateful to have been a small part of it. I hope I have been able to accurately portray my experience, and the love I have for these children and then Indian people.

Nandri (Thanks in Tamil) for reading.

All my love.
Martha Davidson

This Boy.

Tonight I sat in a dark room full of boys with wide bright beautiful eyes, and watched them watch TV. For the past three nights I have brought my laptop to the boys- Balakumar specifically. He has come through on his promise and finished his homework every night. So tonight since it was our last, I wasn't about to inforce that only the boys who had finished there homework could come. Because then I wouldn't get to see any of them but Balakumar. But surprisingly enough several others had actually finished there homework as well. So we all sat down around my little computer with horrible sound and watched The Suite Life of Zach & Cody. They LOVED it. They sat there and watched a tv show, they couldn't hear, and couldn't really understand even if they could hear it. They sat with wide eyes and laughed and laughed. I decided more boys could see if I kept the laptop in my lap, but flipped it around so it was facing out. So I watched the faces of these boys, while they watched probably one of there first tv shows. Television is a part of my daily routine almost- as sad as that is. I watched them all with their open mouth stare- trying there best to figure out what was happening. And then all in unison they would bust into laughter, afterwards speaking in Tamil- discussing the funny thing that had just occured. Hari, has THE best laugh. He likes to pretend like he is this tough guy, but when you can break through that he has the best smile and laugh you will ever see. I had to upload this picture- regardless of the additional hand in the photo, because this is his Tough guy face. And its hilarious because he is doing it while showing me his newly painted pink, red, and orange nails. And the second photo is his smile.

After watching part of the TV show I turned it off- much to their dismay. But we wanted to play with them, so then we had a dance party. And Hari danced for us. It was hilarious. Did I mention his full name is Hari Krishna. I basically love this kid.
The night continued as a party but then it was time for the little ones to go to bed. And I had to say goodbye to most of my little boys. I gave Aravindraj and Peter one last big hug. And then turned to my big boys. I love the little ones but I really got to know Basha, Hari, Balakumar, Ebkenezar, and Krishna. So parting with them was much harder. Kala then came in the room and gave each of us a necklace. I love mine and have been wearing it everyday since then. Then the boys gave me a puppet one of them must have made in talent class. It was so nice of them. And I had held myself together up until I said my final goodbyes and Basha and Balakumar (my two favorites) came up and gave me the biggest hug ever. I held them tight as I knew the tears  were coming and I didn't want them to see. I quickly got up and waved goodbye as I walked out of the room.   I said "goodnight and I love you" one last time, and did the heart hands we had just taught them. They all did heart hands back and I lost it. We walked down out of the boys hostel and then I realized I still needed to say goodbye to Soniya. I tried to contain my crying long enough to go say goodbye but that didn't work at all. I probably scared poor Soniya, But I managed to tell her how much I love her, and how smart I think she is. Gave her one last big hug goodbye and then walk out. As I was walking away I had just passed the corner I heard my name so I went back and Soniya was standing there waving out the window. It broke my heart and I felt like I was abandoning her as I waved back and then kept on walking. I know they have done this so many times now, so I know its more me feeling abandoned then them.

That night we had a devotional like thing, where we all went around and shared the one thing we have learned from Rising Star. I knew after crying earlier that night, I wasn't going to be able to handle this little gathering. And I was right, I cried and barely could speak audible words as I told the group the thing I learned was how to love. And not just love, but to love so freely and whole heartedly. I have learned from these children that you can't live with your heart being guarded you have to let people in, and let them change and affect you. Even if its only for a short amount of time. So that is my new goal. But it's so much harder when its not little Indian children that I'm letting into my heart. But I'm trying world.
I love Rising Star and I love my life.
Thank you everyone who made it possible to meet these children...it is something I will never forget.

Martha

Baby, Baby, Baby ohh

Tonight I brought Justin to India...well mainly to the boys in my house at Rising Star. Yesterday I promised Balakumar that if he finished his homework I would bring my computer and we could look at more pictures... So  he did- because he is the most amazing child ever. And then they wanted to see videos. It then became a major distraction for everyone who still had homework so I had to put the computer away. Balakumar came up to me today during playtime and said "I'm almost done with my homework- only one more thing. You bring computer this evening." So of course he finished his homework, in record time I might add. And I brought my computer again, but this time we went up to where all the little boys, who don't have homework sleep. And then I showed him more pictures and this time we watched videos. Except the only videos I have are a few music videos and some tv shows. And watching a tv show in a language you don't understand is never fun, so we watched Justin Bieber videos. They LOVED them. But after I ran out of those they thought all my other videos were boring. haha.
Then just when I was leaving Balakumar said "Auntie Martha, wait" and so I did and he handed me a piece of paper with his name at the top, and below it has a heart with has the words "for Martha" inside and around the heart there are lots of stars. Its basically super adorable and for sure tied for the best thing I have gotten while in India. I also got a bracelet from Soniya, she made me one and I love it. I'm only afraid of loosing it.
India is wonderful as always.

Here meet Balakumar.

Really not sure why this is my only photo of him. But it is. I'll work on this.

But for now goodnight/ good morning for all of you.

Tomorrow is my last day here at Rising Star so I'm going to try and be very awake for it.

Love. Martha

India Is...

Yesterday we went to the Bindi Art School. Which is in one of the leprosy colonies, Bharatapuram. Yesterday I woke up and debated with myself. I really wanted one of the paintings, but they are 45 American Dollars, and I just don't have any money- and I have already spent $200 on the trip already. So I decided no I wouldn't get more rupees out of the ATM. So we went and were bombarded with paintings. They brought us stacks upon stacks of paintings. And so we stayed there for probably close to two hours just pouring through painting after painting. It was beautiful. Each stack was from a different person in the colony, and each had its own unique flare. I knew it wasn't a good idea to look through them, since I didn't have the money to buy one. But I started by just looking over peoples shoulders, but then I just got sucked in. And grabbed my own stack. I then saw the first one. It was an abstract painting, but still had body's in the painting if you were looking for them. It reminded me of clouds, which often look just like clouds but if you sit there long enough you can find an Elephant, or a car. It was also so colorful, the color just spilled over the page. It was beautiful. I showed it to everyone around me hoping it would catch someone else eye like mine. Lots of people said they liked it but none really picked it up. Later I walked over to the table and Sarah is showing a different group of people the same painting. Finally Rachel picked it and added it to the pill she was debating between. I was relieved, if I couldn't get it- at least someone else would. But then I found another one. It was of a Sunset and was filled with amazing color, and had a silhouette of two people sitting on a dock. It was so beautiful. I just sat there for probably 10 minutes looking at it, wishing somehow money would just appear next to it- so it could be mine. But no money appeared, but I do believe that I sat just long enough to keep the image of the painting with me for quite a while. I slowly got up, and walked out of the school. It broke my heart way more than I thought it would to leave it behind. I think it was because I met the artist. He actually did both of the paintings I loved. His hands and feet were calloused. But his smile was brilliant, and his creativity was untouched by the leprosy that has so much affected his body. Watching the people explain the art work was beautiful. They were so proud they would hold up there paintings high for the photos. It was all beautiful and I loved it. Even though I left the painting there, I'll still have the memories of the people who made them.
Today we did our "Wall" in the back of the elephant house, each session has painted a section of the wall in there own special way. Today we decided to do India is... as our theme and we all have a ray of sun to fill with what we think India is. I'm going to put color. I love riding around India because I'm always entertained with either the color of the sky, the plants, the clothing or the houses.  It's all so beautiful.

This is my favorite doorway in Old Delhi- the purple and green were beautiful.

Well I'm off to playtime with the kids.

xoxo Martha.

Inspired

Dr. Kumar is great/ amazing/ wonderful/ kind of just adorable. He is the doctor here at Rising Star. He takes care of all the children here, as well as all the leprosy patients. So he has a ridiculous number of patients and visits them twice a month. A while back- I meant to blog about this forever ago. But then life happened. So the day we went to do medical we first went to the Preschool at one of the colonies. The children are so adorable, but were all terrified of Dr. Kumar and all of us. But as soon as they got the children to go to him, he had a way of calming them. Which was very impressive. After the preschool, we went to the colony where he showed us the self-care program he has established. Since leprosy patients have such major wounds that have gone on so long without treatment, they have a lot of work that needs to be done. And so Dr. Kumar taught them all how to treat themselves. The wounds have such big callouses that they have to scrap/ sometimes even cut away the dead part- for the new to heal. Dr. Kumar has so many patients that he keeps them all organized through pictures. And since we were at a small colony on this day, and only had 5 patients he showed us the before of the wounds we were now cleaning. And they were all amazing. after months of self care they were amazingly better. 

One of the Preschoolers. SO adorable.

Today I had the experience of washing the feet of a man who had just helped me get the water to wash his feet. Even when we come to serve them, they end up serving us so much more. As we were behind his house getting water from the pump. He asked me my name and I asked him his. It was an amazing feeling to really try and communicate even though our ability to was so limited. This man's smile was brilliant. I wish I had thought to take a picture. But being caught up in the moments is something I rarely do...so I'm also cherishing the fact that I'm just looking with my own eyes instead of always through my lens.
After we were finished we all got back on the Bus, and started driving home. Dr. Kumar then gave us the privileged of hearing his life story. So I'm hoping it is okay to share here.
Dr. Kumar knew he wanted to be a Doctor from a young age. He was only 10 or 11, when his Grandfather got very sick, Dr. Kumar visited his Grandfather everyday. And one day when he was there visiting his grandfather he had a Heart Attack, and when Dr. Kumar went to go find one of the two doctors they were both busy with more crucial patients. When one was finally able to come see his grandfather it was to late. Dr. Kumar watched his grandfather die. Weeks later Dr. Kumar returned to the hospital to visit the doctor who had come in and tried everything he could. And then asked why his Grandfather had to die. The Doctor explained that there are never enough doctors, so they had to prioritize and since his grandfather was older the children took priority. Dr. Kumar explained that even though his Grandfather was old, he was still a person. That day Dr. Kumar decided he would be a doctor- so he could save real peoples lives and make a difference. Dr. Kumar studied very hard so he could be in the top of the top of his class. Because only the very top were able to get scholarships from the Government. After his many years of schooling, he started working in a Hospital. And as he puts it, he forgot why he wanted to be a Doctor.
During his break from his schooling and his next contract, Padma (the amazing woman I really can't do justice telling you about right now) convinced Dr. Kumar to come help Leprosy patience's only for a month. And once he got here he remembered why he wanted to be a doctor. And he has been "still doing his month- for several years now" as he puts it. Such a funny man. He then told us to figure out what we want to do in this life and do it, and then never forget why you're doing it.
This has kept me thinking all week about this. So this is my goal. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do, but I need to decide and be ready to fight for it.

xoxo Martha

Agra, Delhi Mini Vaca

This weekend I went on a crazy adventure.
2hr bus ride to Chennai airport.
2hr wait for flight
3 hr. Plane ride on Spice Jet to New Delhi
               First I would like to marry the flight attendant we had. He was super adorable.
               Second it was amazing that even Indian air is bumpy. There was the most turbulence I have ever experienced on our short plane ride. It was almost amazing.

2 hrs in Delhi- Going to Gandhi's assassination spot. There was a surprising about of peace and calmness here. Considering the tourist sight it has become. I loved all the quotes and getting a better feel for the impact this one man had on the world. He is such an inspiration.

Then we did a bicycle rick shaw tour of Old Delhi.
               This was amazing. We went through the market with these tiny streets, where no cars are allowed. We also went to the Spice market- which was amazing. Even being someone who knows nothing about cooking or spices. It was still fantastic. We also got to tour one of the oldest Jain temples, and were given the tour by one of the Jain priests. He explained a little about there religion and it was great to hear it all first hand.
During all of this I decided to take a rick shaw with our tour guild. So I could really hear about what we were seeing. And it was probably one of my best decisions of the trip. We were all really tired from the night before so most people were sleeping on the bus when he was explaining all the neat things we were driving by. But I was listening and excited. So he was like "I like you, you actually want to be here." Even though I know everyone wanted to be there. They were just to tired to fully express it.
But since our tour guild is a member we talked a little  about the church and specifically dating with in the church in India. Flirting here consists of boys staring at you, and girls not responding. "Love marriages" as the children here call them, are not the norm. So dating isn't really an important thing here in India. But with in the church we have been counseled to date many people before marriage. Which is pretty much unheard of. But our tour guild had what he called a "both" marriage. He dated many people, but always liked her so then their parents arranged it. He was a Branch President a while back. And he encouraged his youth to date, no flirting but to date each other. The new Branch President is more traditional and discourages dating, but the Mission President is fighting him on it because it is what the Prophets have counseled us to do. So that's interesting, having such a cultural against religious issue.
I'm really not sure where I stand on the subject. Because our "Love Marriages" have a much higher divorce rate then the arranged ones here. But who knows who is happier.
In the Spice Market my flip flop broke and I was walking around the muddy streets of Old Delhi bare foot for a while. Which was interesting, but totally fitting. Since so many people here never wear shoes. I later got a pedicure at the hotel for something like 7 dollars, from a very nice man. haha My feet have never felt so clean.
We then did lunch/ dinner at Pizza Hut which was some of the best food I have ever had. :) We may have overwhelmed the restaurant with our party of 17 in the same area. But it was worth it. Did some great people watching here. Lots of teens on group "dates".

After this it was back to the bus. 5 hr buses ride to Agra.- this was just a little bit painful.
Check in to Hotel
Sleep.
5:15 up and ready to go to the Taj Mahal.

This man decided he wanted to be in my photo.

The Taj was amazing. You really can't get the majestic power of it from pictures. To keep pollution down we had to get into an electric bus, and then walk the rest of  the way to the Taj. We were among the first to go in. The Taj Mahal is more than just the white building everyone believes it to be. Its actually a huge fortress of buildings, and the white building is just the Mausoleum. Before going through the second get Neithan told us the background story...So I'm going to share it here. Mainly for my memories sake.
The Emperor who build the Taj had three wives. The second wife was the love of his life, and she is the woman buried in the Mausoleum, along with the emperor. The other two have burial spots at different entrances. The 2nd Wife is the only one who bore him children, she had four sons, and two daughters. She died shortly after giving birth to the third, who also died. This was a sudden and shocking death for the Emperor, and it is believed that in her last moments. She requested only two things from the Emperor first that he take care of her children and her parents, the second that he would always keep her close to his heart. So he then build the great Taj Mahal as a Mausoleum to her name and the love they shared. Later after it was built one of his sons decided to overthrow his father and lock him away so he could rule. His fathers last request was that he be held in a place where he could see the TajTaj and the river next to it. This is considered the greatest love story of all time- to the Indian people. Even greater than Romeo and Juliet because these two were married. And only after marriage does the true and full love grow and form. So I thought that was beautiful, and just makes the Taj Mahal so much more beautiful.

This is the tower his Son locked him in.

The Taj Mahal is breathe taking, seeing its magnitude in person was an unreal experience. We kept saying to ourselves "Oh no big deal, we are just at the TAJ MAHAL!!!" It was great.

We then went to the Agra Fort which is also just an amazing structure/ many structures. Every detail is amazing, and even had some pretty sweet history. We got to go inside the Harlots chamber. The Emperor had an amazing number of them, in the hundreds. And they each had rooms all around a courtyard with a bath in the middle. The Emperor was the only male allowed within the walls, even his guards during this time were female.

We then went back to the hotel for breakfast, swimming, and my pedicure.
We then went shopping at a store called Maxx, it was awesome and so colorful.
Then dinner at McDonald's- where many people got Veggieburger. I got a chicken burger.
Then half of us went to the show- while the others when off for more shopping. The Show was awesome. It was the story of the Taj Mahal, and it was great. I have learned that everything in India is just over the top. And I love it. The introduction to the show said something to the effect of "This will be the most spectacular thing you will ever see..." So that was great. They had so many special effects it was great. But the dancing really was just amazing. We got headsets with the translation of the show, so that also kept me very entertained.
Then we went out to dinner, and since I was in North India I got all my favorites. (Butter Chicken, Naan, and Sweet Lassi.) Since I had drank a little bit of salty Lassi at breakfast and almost threw it up.
We then finished the night at the hotel's Disco-tech. It was so fun. We just had our group and a few other Gentleman who were drinking at a table in the club. We were later joined by an older Indian couple who were so hilarious. I loved it. The wive taught us some moves, then we would teach her some. We even had a cha- cha line going at one point. Dancing is so much fun when you are with so many confident and silly people. I loved it.

Sunday
Eat another delicious Breakfast

and then the Elephant ride. For 200 rupees which is something like 4 dollars. The Elephants name was Malu and it was so crazy. We just pulled over to the side of the road on our Bus got out. And then suddenly and Elephant was walking up to us. It was great.
The Back on the Bus for 5hrs.
Plane ride for 3
Bus ride for 2
Home -its weird that in such a short amount of time Rising Star has truly become our Home. We even all missed it- even though we were gone for only a few days. Its going to be hard to leave this place.

So Much Love from India. Martha

Unga Peranna

My mom just got on my case for not blogging. So here we are.

The title is Tamil for "What is your name?" And is just so fun to say to the children. Because at first they respond and then they realize its weird I'm speaking Tamil. One house mother, even gasped from shock and said "Oh you speak Tamil?" I quickly assured her this was the only phrase I knew. And I'm so glad I learned it because it is a phrase I used- probably 10-20 times a day. When we first got here that is all the children said. "What is your name?" times 100. And then I would ask them so times that, 100 by two. So the phrase has kind of got old. So saying it in Tamil is so much more FUN! It also doesn't help that I can't say more than 90 percent of there names, and b. I have a horrible memory. I have learned like 5 of the children's names. And even those it takes me several seconds to remember.So my goal is to know, like really know and remember for the rest of my life 10 names. By the time I leave. Katie one of the session directors who has been here for 3 months knows all of them. But she also learned them in like 3 weeks. So that super impressive. Since the school has about 150 children.
Yesterday we did tutoring again. And I have either really good readers, or ones that can't even focus enough to look at the page. So it was a hard day. But it was so rewarding to hear some of the children actually sounding out the words. It made me so happy.

Also I got  to read with one of my favorite children here Basha. He is also in my family so we hung out later that night as well. He is so bright. But struggles with reading. But he has improved so much even in the last week I have been here. Yesterday during our 40 minutes time together he read 2 and a half books. Given these were picture books but they had 30-40 pages. He was stoked. He went up to "Ma'am" (which is what they call the VP of the school) and showed her the book he had finished and the one he was going to start. It was a beautiful thing to see.  Basha is special to a lot of us here, he just has a contagious smile. Selena, which is "Ma'am's" real name, told us how just a few weeks ago while Basha's mother was here she wanted to take her children out of the school. She said something to the effect that she doesn't need her children to become doctors or teachers, just being able to read is enough for her. And Selena  pleaded to let them stay, so she has left them in school for now at least. Their mother (Basha and his sister's) is one of the few who still go out and beg. Even though those with children coming here are not allowed to continue begging. But their mother knows she gets more begging when she has the children with her, so she wants to pull them out of the school. Which just breaks my heart that A. she would do such a thing, and B. that she has every right to. So seeing him excel in school is extra important to me now.
Yesterday we had a mini Birthday party because two of the children's sponsors  came for their birthday, and brought them new clothes and cake. It was so cute, we all sang and then the children hand delivered cake to all the other children before eating some themselves.
My favorite part of the day is always with the children. If its running around the playground or taking "photos" or just sitting there watching the boys interact. It's all so great. Every night when we are in our families we either help with homework, or read with them, or sometimes I just sit in the room while the boys are all huddled in a circle telling each other stories and just being boys. Every night I sit there and listen to them talk in Tamil and wish I spoke it as well. Every once in a while I can get one of the children to translate what another is saying. But most of them have this unspoken code, to not ever tell the white people what they are saying. haha.
But anyways last night Basha sat down with me and retold me one of the stories of one of the Gods (which I honestly can't remember). But it was just so adorable. Because they have these super long comic books that tell the stories of all the Gods, but none of them read them. Only look at the photos, and get the story from that. So Basha would flip between the pages telling me the story, and I would ohh and aww. And he told me like 3 different ones. It was great. Also this was all while my Henna was drying. Our house mother Kala called me over last night and drew the most beautiful henna on my hand. It took her about a half an hour, and I just sat there almost in a trance watching her carefully do different patterns on each finger- then all over my palm.  I love it.
Then today I woke up late, walked outside and it was drizzling. And rain is the most beautiful thing here. It  makes everything more beautiful. Except the new walk way in front of the volunteer house. It is called the pathway of hope, donated by many David Archeleta fans, and fans of Rising Star. But it is made with these smooth stones so when it rains it becomes the "pathway of death" which is the running joke. Because it becomes so slippery someone is bound to fall and hit there head every time. Not that I know of anyone who has, but it has funny things carved on every stone. Like "Crush Poverty" or "David is Love" or "Dave the Day." Or there is really awesome things like "Hope" and other inspirational things. But those are the fans of rising star- not David. But David has done a lot of great things for rising star, so he does deserve some credit. :)
Oh also Rising Star is selling Christmas Cards as another way of raising money. So if anyone would like me to get them a package- they want us to bring them to the states so the shipping doesn't cost a ton. Please let me know I believe they are 20 dollars per package. The cards have art done by the children on them, and they are just beautiful. So let me know!

All the love in the world.
Martha

Bollywood in India!!

Really my life could not get any sweeter!!! Tonight (I'm going to work backwards through the day) we watched an awesome Bollywood movie all bundled together in the Mango room. We didn't get to finish it, because we are all sleepy babies here. But we are having installment 2 tomorrow night. Can't wait. I am easily sucked into movies and tv show's but throw in dancing and singing and I am SO there. So now I'm a mix between being super tired and really wanting to sing in dance. Story of my life- totally kidding this never happens.
Then earlier tonight I had some really good quality time with the boys in my "family." One is just my favorite because he is always so excited to read, but he isn't very good at it, so this one on one time is so important for him.
Dinner was SOOO good.
Our talent class was pretty crazy, I haven't found a microwave the children can use so I decided to join forces with Sisi to teach her dance class. But even the two of us couldn't tame the 12 little ones we had. It didn't help that we were in a tiny room that made every whisper into a loud scream. But we survived, even though I had to play the mean teacher and punish all the children. We have been told because we are white they will not respect us very much as authority leaders. They recognize us at the fun loving, pick up- spin around, kiss and tickle white people. Which we are.... but it makes it difficult to get anyone to take you seriously. I even made a little boy cry, but I didn't cave to the cuteness. I made him sit for the rest of his time out time. But I'll admit it was difficult.
Had a super wonderful bucket shower.
Did a little (very little) shopping at the Junction. Not sure what the real name for it is, but that is what we all call it. I got the stickers that people wear on there forehead. I got a bunch for like 20 cents. So I had to. So Indian party when I get home and everyone can wear one. Everyone who reads my blog is invited!!!!
At 9am we left for the Leprosy colony, it was a drive to first get the nurses and doctor and then out to the colony. But just looking out the window- never gets old. I still love it every single time.
The Colony was amazing. We pulled up and started unloading medical supplies right away. Then the people started arriving. It was a strange organized crazy. And I loved every minute of it. I didn't even feel the heat till I stopped working. Me and Brittany were on Diabetes duty. We had to prick there finger- I shouldn't say we since I made Brittany do all the mean work. Then I captured some of it in this sweet tube and put it into a reader. The only hard part was finding a soft enough area to prick that would give us enough blood for the test. And seeing there faces wince in pain. Pain and happiness are pretty universally understood. And I pretty much love that about the world. My favorite moment from the day was working with this one woman who has  absolutely no fingers left. And we were trying to find a non calloused area of her palm and we couldn't. So I turned to the doctor and asked him where he would do it. And then the woman said something to him in Tamil and he translated it to us. She said something to the effect of "You help me grow fingers, and I'll tell you where to stick me." I love that she could have such a sense of humor about this extreme difficulty that she has been living with. It made me think about my own life, and when I need to have more of a sense of humor.
Today was great in the colony I only wish I had more time and could go back. But that will probably be the only time I go there.
Make food.
Wake up.
Okay well its 12 here. So I really need to go to bed. Since my body is used to going to bed at like 10.
But lots of love. Lots and lots of love. Its all that I feel here and I love it.

xoxo
Your grateful friend.
Martha

p.s. I meant to add this to my last post. But that didn't work. So here it is.

Sunday

I'm not making a ton of sense right now, I woke up really early for church in Chenni. So I apologize in advance for the short and maybe difficult to read blog post.
This morning woke up at 6:30am, left Rising Star at 7:30am, had a real life- Fast and Furious driving experience, got to church at 9:20 just in time for church at 9:30.
Church was wonderful, there was a violin accompanying the piano for sacrament. Everything was in English, and the talks were given in simple truths. It was beautiful. There are three Branches in Chenni as this one just split only a few months ago. And the growth is amazing. Today a girl was confirmed a member, and two more were baptized after church.
The thing that stood out to me the most in church today was a really simple thing. As the missionary confirmed the Sister he said something to the effect of "Heavenly Father needs you to seek him." And the more I thought about this I realized that is really all Heavenly Father asks of us. He only wants to help, he just needs us to get to our knees and ask for that help. So that is my short testimony tonight. To seek your Heavenly Father get to know him, and let him bless your life and those who are around you. I know my Heavenly Father loves me, I am  his daughter, and I will return to him one day. I also know that these people in India are his children. And he loves them so so so much. He put Becky and all the people who have made Rising Star possible-on this earth so they could help these children.
Today we didn't get to spend a ton of time with the children but I love going to their prayer time. They say a prayer together then they sing songs and I love looking into individual faces as they sing. When they are singing and they catch me starring at them there faces light up with a smile- which in turn makes me smile.
We were talking about how none of this really feels like service. We are only doing small very small things while we are here. But the benefits I'm getting from it are Huge.
So I hope that I can convey properly the amazing work the sponsors and you all have made possible. It really is changing the world- even if it is just the world of one child.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday. I sure did.
xoxo
Martha

So Sleepy.

I'm now a day behind (since I fell asleep last night) so I'm going to try and quickly catch up...but without missing the details.

So yesterday was Saturday and we went to Mamallapuram, where there is lots of shopping, ancient temples, and Ideal Beach. So that is just what we did.
The Temples were neat, but without a real explanation the sculptures weren't very meaningful and all looked the same. Mixed with extreme heat, we decided to do these very quickly. Then off to shopping! Shopping was actually way fun. Because I wasn't afraid to Barter prices. We also were all dressed in the Kurtas which made people take us more serious. And even though I didn't get as good of deals as I could have (I later found out). I still feel like I was pretty successful. For instance in the first shop, the man outside told me a good price for a bag, and said he had more inside his shop. So I went in and started looking at them, and the man inside told me a different price- higher. I quickly told him the better price the man outside gave me and he laughed and said okay. So I knew from the beginning I was going to have to be demanding. Then one of the professors that is traveling with us asked him "how much?" for the same bag. And before the store owner could answer I told her the price I had gotten it down to, and he shook his head at me in disapproval. Whoops.
So I felt like I got some good deals. But I'm also already out of rupees. So I might not have been as good at bartering as I thought I was. But I also did feel bad for many of the store owners as we were their only customers for the day. So that might have also had something to do with several of my purchases. But since we were their only customers we spent more time in each store, and spent time getting to know the store owners. One just graduated from college and opened his own store. He is from Kashmir and had to leave because of all the craziness going on there. He told us just a day earlier there were 8 deaths in the area he used to live.
Then in another store, Brittany and the store owner had to go find a credit card machine, so we waited in the store with his worker and talked. He told us he was fasting for Ramadan and that it was "easy". haha We then discussed how us American's could never do it. haha That made him laugh. But then we did share about how in our LDS religion we do fast for two meals once a month. And he thought that was cool. He later also told us we made him miss his prayer, because he was told to stay and watch us in the store. I felt so bad but he said "no, no its fine I will pray after." Sooo hope thats like a normal thing. He then told us he was stopping school and also had to move away because of all the violence in his hometown (which I don't remember where that is). Then he randomly through out that he "Likes Obama" and that we have a very good president. I agreed. :)
Oh I almost forgot the adventure of getting my clothes made. They have many tailors in this town so you just go into their shop pick out the fabric and style- they measure you on the spot and then make it same day. Actually in like 3 hours they made clothing for 3-4 of us. It was impressive. And its all in this tiny shop. Which made it all the more exciting. I made him agree to make me two kurta tops for 600 rupee's, which is like 12 US dollars. So that was a good deal in my mind. But Jenny later told me I still got ripped off. Then I got pants for another 800 rupee's since they were Linen instead of cotton. And I got special ordered pockets and everything in them.
After the shopping we decided to do the Adventure of getting to Ideal Beach. Which is a very nice (for India) resort. Which cost about 74 dollars a night for the nicest beach front condo. So thats pretty sweet. But to get to Ideal beach you need to take a Rickshaw.

Warning Mother: if you don't want to know skip down past this paragraph.
So we (four of us girls) stop and ask one of the rickshaw drivers if he can take us to Ideal beach. He then asked us "what Ideal beach?" was one too many times. So I decided we needed to get someone else. So another guy pulls up, and I ask Can you take us to Ideal beach? And he said yes 80 rupees. (less than 2 dollars). But we were already told by Jenny it should be about 60, and the guy previous had also agreed to 60. That was of course before he even knew where Ideal Beach was- but anyways. I start arguing with the guy and say 60 rupees and he says "No this is expensive diesel gas" So I said then we will go with this other guy. And the rickshaw driver points out the other rickshaw is from Chenni(which is about 3 hours away). So I decided he did have a valid point he probably did know this area better, so I said fine 70. And he said no 75. And finally Tricia decided the .10 cents we were arguing about wasn't worth it. So we all get in, a 3 person rickshaw. And he drives off. He then pulls up to his gang of Rickshaw drivers (who knew that was even a thing) they talk in Tamil, but he repeatedly points to us. And then we keep driving. My first thought was that he was probably telling his friends that we were in a bigger group and more people would be wanting drivers to the same place- but then Trica decided to freak us all out. And points out he is driving in the opposite direction we thought the Beach was. So then we ask "We are going to Ideal Beach right?" And the driver laughs (probably because he understood more English than we gave him credit for) and says "No we go to P..(something)." Then explains it similar to a bar. So then Tricia really starts freaking out, and my motherly calm in stressful situations kicked in. So I then tried to get him to admit he was going the right way and that he was just messing with us, but he just kept laughing and telling us we were going to a Bar. But because I know my Heavenly Father loves me and wouldn't want me to die in India. I just calmly told the Driver I knew it was only a 5 minute drive to the Beach and that he better get us there in the remaining 4 minutes. He then said "okay, okay I joking." And sure enough a minute later we pulled into Ideal Beach Resort. Where he then asked if we would need a ride back. And before anyone else could said yes- since we kind of did. I said "nope we have a ride". We then paid him the 75 rupees. And walked away. :)

Once we were at Ideal beach we quickly changed into out swim suits and jumped into the pool. And had a lovely afternoon complete with Cheese Naan, Orange Fanta, and boys from Minnesota. We then got Jenny to let us just take the bus back with everyone and quickly go pick up our clothing before we left.
The day left me surprisingly drained and I fell asleep at 9:30 and was out until Michelle had to wake me up at 6:30 for church.

Auntie!!

"Auntie, auntie, auntie" is my favorite thing in the world to hear. Auntie is what the children call all of us. Which is just so adorable, and I've wanted to be an Aunt for like ever. And was always jealous when the poly kids would call people auntie. But now its my turn. I now probably respond to Auntie just as fast- if not faster than my name. Which many of them also know because of Soniya. They say "you martha?" and after I say yes they say "you Soniya's sponsor?" and once again I say yes...and Love it!
(also side note-sorry in advance if I repeat myself, I tend to do that a lot, and with blogging everyday its bound to happen a few times).
But (the story above) happens everyday. And I just love it. I wish everyone could come meet the child they sponsor. I mean obviously they really care about the child if they are sponsoring him/ her. But it just a deeper level for me now. I need to see her be successful in school, to get that education that will in turn get her an amazing job. Also Jenny (who is a session director- who has been here all summer) and a group of us were talking about the children's futures. Since they are the children of leprosy patience many many people will not hire them. However rising star has already established several connections, that have promised to hire the children from rising star if they get good grades. Jenny also explained how amazing this is. These jobs are with company's like dell, and other people who have outsourced to India. So with these jobs the children would be making WAY more than the doctors or teachers in India. So these are very coveted and high ranked jobs.
So when you call a help line several years from now and get someone from India, just remember before yelling at them that they might be a child from rising star!! One of my children from Rising Star. So just don't do it. I'm sure they are trying to communicate the best they can with you, and you will eventually work out the problem.

Anyways back to me being in India. :) haha
Today I was in the group to do Construction. Jenny explained to us on the trip there that us doing the construction is much less of a money saver, than it is just the importance of having these leprosy patience see that us (as the highest class, as white people) want to come and work for them. As they are below the untouchables in India's unofficial caste system. Just to have someone not walk to the other side of the street is a blessing to them. It was so wonderful seeing all their smiles, even if some of them were because they were laughing at all of us weak girls. One lady pointed to my RED face and then to the sun, and said "very hot" I smiled and said "just a little." We worked really fast, or maybe just Jenny says that to everyone. However I got very tired very quickly. Which made me disappointed in myself. But we did finish, which is good.
Well wow I have so much more to tell you about today. It was basically a super epic good day.
We do highs and lows every night at dinner, and everyone struggled finding lows. Which is great!
Okay so I will now more quickly tell you about everything else.
Today the children had a special dance recital. Katie who is another one of the session directors she has also been here all summer. Has been teaching the children dances. And so today they performed and I cried. I felt like the proudest parent in the world. They just had these amazing smiles smeared across their faces the entire time. And Katie had them dancing to Micheal Jackson, and just all these adorable moves. At one point she had the little boys doing sit-ups to the song "We will Rock You!" It was THE most adorable thing I have ever seen. I seriously had tears in my eyes the entire time. Not really sure how Man In The Mirror becomes emotional. But I think its when there are 12 little kids all dancing there hearts out, and then a room full of people (none of which are their parents) but all love them so so very much.
Anyways I have no good pictures from that- but there are many blurry ones on facebook for you to look at.
Then it started to Pour, and it rained for like an hour and a half straight. So we cancelled talent classes, and we all had to walk back to the volunteer house in the rain. And since we were already soaked, and we have something similar to a swimming pool in the middle of our house. We did the most logical thing, and had a dance party. We learned a dance to Jai Ho, and we jumped in all the puddles, and just lived up the fact that we were in India, dancing in the rain. Then Sisi and Katie had a slow motion dancing contest and it was Amazing. haha Loved every minute of today.
We also had a delicious dinner.
Then of course we got to spend some more time in our Families tonight. Not sure if I already explained our families. But basically three of us have been assigned a "house". My house has boys that are pretty young most being in 3rd standard. One in 5th and one in 8th. (Oh by the way standard is just like grades). But they are all just so cute. And the one boy in 8th standard did three dance numbers today, and was SO good. anyways I'm about to fall sleep...so sorry if this last bit doesn't make any sense. Here are some pictures to make up for it.

Meet Soniya!
Isn't her smile beautiful?!



Also just another cutie, he hung on me the entire play time yesterday. Just love him to pieces!



This is during my reading tutoring- he was just soo cute that I couldn't resist taking away from his valuable learning time to have a mini photo shoot. haha I mean really look at him!



Also sorry this is so much longer than I planned. I will write less tomorrow- promise!

xoxo Martha

Day 3? wait now I'm confused how long have I been in India?

I now feels like a second or third home. Not like a vacation home but like a "I love these kids so much, we must be related sort of home." Yesterday (its now Thursday Morning 7:30am) I was on tutoring duty. I was super excited, and a little nervous. Because the night before's math didn't go over so great. But we were focusing on reading today. Most if not all the children's reading skills are several grades below what they should be. But hello...this is their second language and they don't have people constantly speaking and reading to them. I think back to when I'm home with Bridger, he gets so much one on one time. And has picked up speaking very quickly. But these children only get the one on one attention they seek out from the volunteers. The Assistance Principle of the school was telling us all about this, and mentioned that the students that speak better, and read better are the students that are more outgoing and hang on the volunteers. So they also encourage us to speak to as many children as we can, and to go seek out those who are playing by themselves.
So for tutoring we had 20 minutes one on one sessions with the children. Which only allows for 6 per person in a school day. But because there were also 6-7 of us volunteers we were able to read with lots of children. And there will be another group tomorrow. It's so nice to feel needed. And so awesome to have a child learn something from you.
Its difficult teaching them to read because they haven't been taught to sound things out, they spell out the word like C A T and then say Cat. Instead of using the sounds the letters make. So I would sounds something out for them, and they would just laugh because they didn't really know what I was doing. haha It's fine.
Play time was so much fun yesterday. We played chase, and then we played a little house, and then I took like a thousand picture of these boys jumping off of different things. It was great.
Well off to another wonderful day in India.
Today will be filled with sweat, and manual labor. Can't wait to haul Bricks!



xoxo
Martha

Surreal finally being at Rising Star!

Today started with a headache. Probably due to the major lack of sleep. Then we went to Breakfast, where me and Sisi were treated like Royalty. The chef personally gave us a tour around the buffet, and everyone was just so overly nice. But I was feeling sick, so I could only eat the yogurt and a "vanilla muffin." Sisi then had the brilliant idea to get some Sprite in me. So we went up to the executive lounge (thank you dad), got a sprite- yes at 8 in the morning. And people watched. The Marriott is on a busy street, and the driving is fantastic. Crazy, but totally made me want to get in a car and try it. Don't worry I'm not allowed to drive anything with a motor while I'm here. It was a 3 hour drive out to Rising Star, but flying through the city on a bus is a surprisingly great way of seeing SO MUCH. I took probably 100 pictures...probably most if not all are blurry. But I also can't wait for you to see the bus. Its awesome. I would upload photos but I drained the battery. We then got to Rising Star and my room feels fantastic with AC. And our new outfits are super legit, they are called Kurta's. I love them so much. I also learned how to use a squatter (sp?). Then it was off to meet the children. It was so fun meeting them all, I probably got asked 100 times today "what is your name?"
I then had a child walk up to me and say "Martha?" And I was obviously shocked, and said yes. She then said "Did you know that your Soniya is here?" Excitedly I said yes, and asked where she was. The girl then ran off giggling. So I waited while the girl went and found Soniya, it was so wonderful to see her big smile. Just that alone is worth the heat and bugs. But then she gave me a big hug, we then talked about her studies. She is in Standard 8. Which is like grade 8, and she is one of the oldest here.

Obviously not everyone can afford to sponsor a child. But there is a whole board of photos of children that still need sponsors. So if anyone is looking for a life changer you should talk to me and I can pick out one of these sweet children for you.

So after this "Play time" is done, they then say prayers and sing songs. They have a Rising Star song, and its overly adorable. We then had dinner which was good. We eat on Mango leaves, which is thought to be more sanitary. I trust them.We also eat dinner on the rooftop, which is awesome! And we got to watch an epic sunset while we ate. We then got into our families. I was placed in one of the boy families. Our jobs are to help their house mothers, read to them, help them with their homework, and then put them to sleep. First off all the boys sleep on the ground, which is just so humbling.
Also I need to re learn my math. The boys have been taught a different way of doing multiplication than I was, so I couldn't decide if I needed to learn how to do it their way, or teach them mine. I ended up doing a little of both. And when we finally finished this boys homework, he looked me right in the eyes and sincerely said "Thank You, Auntie." And practically made me cry, right there on the spot. I could just feel that he was actually so grateful, and it made me realize how I am never as grateful as I should be. So once again I'd like to say Thank You, thank you all for making this trip possible. And allowing me to have even just one moment like this.
Hugs and Kisses from India.
Martha

p.s. I only have 10 actual work days here. So I have to get some rest so I can give it my all in the few days I have left.
On the packet we got on arrival it says "Leave it all here in India" So thats what I'm going to do.

3 plane rides later...

The Adventure Begins, it is now Wednesday the 11th. I left Monday. Other than my body being very confused time zone wise, I have been extremely comfortable. Highlights of the trip over here would be. One last delicious meal with my mom, forgetting my headphones at home, being on the flight with Bob Cook to Seattle, sitting with the adorable Germany family, and very nice (after bad first impression) lady from Norway, eventually finding Sisi, almost missing our flight to India, waiting for baggage-stressful, meeting Sisi’s wonderful friend of a friend, who gave us the Royal treatment on our trip to our hotel. (They even had a sign with Sisi’s name on it). Watching a dog sniff around the car, and going through more security at the hotel, checking in at 2am, not being able to sleep till the morning wakeup call at 7:30am, and finally taking my last beautiful shower for at least a while.
But I think the most amazing things have been flying somewhere between Greenland and Iceland during Sunrise. This was a once in a life time opportunity, and I almost missed it. Luckily the little boy sitting in front of me opened his window right at the perfect time. I opened it my window to find a beautiful pink sky, and Ice Mountains below. I really can’t actually describe it, it was just breathe-taking. There were Icebergs below, reflecting the Pink sky. I took pictures but I’m sure those won’t do it justice either. The other highlight is just the many people I met on my journey that were just so nice, and helpful. Standing in line at Immigrations, Sisi and I met two nice Indians. Both with encouraging smiles, and helpful hints. The thing I have been told to do through this whole thing is to just Be in India, and soak it all in. So I’m ready. We just got our wake up call, and Sisi and I are already for the day. So I think we might go explore the hotel. Hope all is well at home.

Xoxo Martha

Less than a week away...

Passport...check
Visa...check
Plane ticket...check
Immunizations...check
Indian Rupees ...double check!

Really what more could I need. :)
My mother just came and gave me the 100th hug this week (its Tuesday). And just said she has to hug me everyday in case I don't come back.
I'm honestly not worried...yet. I know I'm going with a great program and of course I know my Heavenly Father is with me always. I have always been one up for trying new things. But never this big, or this new. But I just can't wait.
Well I just thought I would check in here while I'm in the midst of getting ready.
I can not say Thank You enough (but I'm going to try) to all those who have made this Adventure possible.

My next post will be from INDIA!!!!

Love,
Martha in Portland

From the very beginning...

My journey is several months away, but I'm so excited. I couldn't help myself but start this blog already. I figured I'd share a little bit about my getting there. The neat part about this opportunity is that we have been sponsoring a little girl from this foundation for several years now. And I might even get to meet her. Her name is Soniya, and she is beautiful.
So to make this possible, I need lots of help, not only from my parents but from friends and family. I need money donations to fund not only my trip, but to make the service possible. Rising Star Outreach allows children of those who have leprosy to have a chance, in this world. They teach them many things including English to allow them to be more successful in this ever changing world. Please go here to find out more about this wonderful program.

http://www.risingstaroutreach.org/

I'm excited and scared to begin this journey. I'm used to Oregon rain, and any change in climate and temperature is difficult for me. But that is exactly why I need to do this. I need to go beyond myself, and serve people who I don't know.

In case you were wondering about my Blog title, This is what a Salwar Kameez looks like, and this is what I will be wearing most day. Hope I can rock it like this girl. :)


Your friend,
Martha Mae