Delhi with the Madre

At the end of the Thanksgiving session (that Mom was here for) we took a little excursion to Delhi and Agra. Since I took almost the exact same tour last year, I'm not going to go into too much details (if you want to know more about that trip go here or here) but I will highlight the parts that were, exciting/different/noteworthy from the first time around

As always with weekend Delhi trips with Rising Star, we have to leave campus at 3:00am. Unlike most Delhi trip, it was pouring down rain, we had no power, and from Delhi everyone was leaving to go home so we had to load all the luggage into the car in the pouring rain. It was a fun start to the trip. We got to Delhi without any problems and started our tour. On our first day in Delhi before we drove the 5+ hours to Agra we...

Took a bicycle rickshaw tour through Old Delhi--you really are putting your life in your hands when you travel with these guys.

Saw Humayun's Tomb, which inspired the architecture used for the Taj Mahal. It was an amazing building and so cool to see the similarities and differences between this and the Taj.

The whole gang on the steps leading up to Humayun's tomb--we had tons of fun together on this trip.

We went to a huge beautiful mosque right near the market in Old Delhi. They made the foreigners (even though we were in modest chuddidars) wear these crazy robes while we were there as a sign of respect. While we were at the mosque, a woman jumped into one of the fountains and had to be dragged out by a couple men. She was very obviously crazy and had to be carried out of the mosque.

Before heading to Agra, we saw Gandhi's memorial. This was something else that I had not seen the year before and was very excited to get to see this time around.

After we finished at Gandhi's tomb, we got in the bus and started the journey to Agra. We were all exhausted and about halfway though the drive got a little loopy. Our driver (who was awesome) turned on some Punjabi music and the "party lights" in the bus and we had a huge dance party on the way there. It was definitely a great way to pass the time on he trek to Agra.

The next morning we got up bright and early to see the sunrise at the Taj. This building is absolutely astounding and it was really cool to be able to see again. Of course, because it's the Taj, we took tons of photos:

With Mama at the Taj--we had so much fun together on this trip!

Our amazing guide Ramesh--not only did he have great clothes but I think he knows more about the Taj than any other person ever.

We got into the Indian spirit

Just a couple Indian dancers, nbd

After the Taj we went to the Red Fort and did another tour there. Again, it was stunning.

Outside entrance to the Red Fort

As we were shopping after all of our tours, we saw a snake charmer....it doesn't get much more stereotypical than a snake charmer with a cobra in a basket and a boa constrictor around his neck.

At the end of the night on our way back to our hotel, we came up behind a Hindu marriage processional. Our driver, being awesome, took us out three at a time to take part in the procession! Northern Indian weddings are TOTALLY different from southern Indian weddings. In the south, things are a lot more traditional and very formal--never too much dancing and hoopla. In the north, however, it's a serious party. Wedding festivities last for FIVE DAYS and there is tons of music, drinks, dancing, and just general celebration. When Anne, Melissa, and I joined the processional for our turn it was one of the coolest things I have done in India. There were tons of colors and lights and music. We ended up near where all the women were and they immediately grabbed our hands and started dancing with us and showing us some dance moves. The energy in the group was through the roof and it was so awesome to be a part of.

The processional from afar

The DECKED OUT horses pulling the groom's carriage.

For the processional, they hire men to carry these huge lights the whole walk to the marriage hall.

The end of the processional--so many colors!!

The next day we headed back to Delhi first thing in the morning and we were literally in the car all. day. long. We stopped on the way and rode elephants and camels, which is ALWAYS fun. I have ridden an elephant a few times now but I can officially say now that I've ridden a camel! Yay! It was also fun because I got to ride an elephant with Mom (after some convincing) and she ended up really liking it :)

Melissa and I on the camel

Last stop before the airport was the Ba'hai Lotus temple. We didn't go inside but Anne got this beautiful picture from the street.

The whole trip was so fun and it was so sad to say goodbye to Mom at the airport and end the fun. We had a spectacular time and I can't wait until we can travel together again :)

Vanakkam

Dance

Agnes De Mille once said, "To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful." I have never witnessed this more than tonight.

This coming Saturday the kids all go home for Christmas break, and with the departure of the kids we also lose Anne and Diana--the current dance masters here at Rising Star. As the dance masters usually do, they had a big party with the LifeDance kids to say goodbye. Unlike previous parties, though, this one had a big performance attached to it. Deepenraj (who is basically a future director) got everyone on this kick of making up their own dances. Ashok and he made up three dances for themselves, the rest of the boys in LifeDance made up a dance, and the girls had a dance. They had all been keeping their dances secret until this party when they would perform them all for each other. Let me tell ya...these kids are some talented little devils. The girls' dance was AMAZING and they were dancing bigger and more confidently than I have ever seen them dance before. The dance with 5 of the LifeDance boys (also known as the "circus dance") had tons of lifts and jumps and flips and was also AWESOME. But, the highlights of the night were definitely Ashok and Deepen's dances. Like I said, Deepen is a future director so he and Ashok went all out with lighting, costumes, the whole nine yards. Their first dance they came out dressed in matching white button-downs with tennis shoes and jeans. When they walked out you would have thought Justin Bieber had just crashed a 13 year-olds birthday party--every girl their was screaming and fawning over them (including Anne, Diana, and myself). They did a Michael Jackson dance as well as another dance that they had Anne edit the music for and everything. It was seriously so awesome how creative they got with it.

The last number Deepen and Ashok did went above and beyond. The other boys turned off all the lights and they came walking out in new costumes. They started the music--Thriller. One of the other boys turned on a flashlight and shined it on the floor--mood lighting. Ashok turned around and he had a huge bat/stick and a crazy Halloween mask. Then Deepen turned around and started dancing and he had painted his entire face! They were decked out!! They pulled out all their best Michael Jackson moves and were killin it! In the middle they even pulled out some Axe body spray and sprayed it in the air for fog effect--this ish was planned OUT! They would even sneak right up to the audience and scare us for added effect--it was all ridiculously amazing. To top the night off Anne, Diana, and I, as well as a couple other volunteers that are here, all did a dance to "Celebrate" for the kids and surprised them--so basically everyone was dancing, celebrating and having a good time (much like the song says).

Ashok and Deepen in their Michael Jackson costumes: definitely swoon-worthy

You cannot deny that this is ridiculously awesome.

Deepen and Ashok in their "Thriller" gear...needless to say I'm a little scared

The dance masters and the LifeDance team--Anne and Diana, you will be so missed!!!

After we wrapped up the party and the kids were all back at the hostel going to bed, Anne, Diana, and I all went back to the school for a little dance sesh of our own. The upstairs lobby of the school (where LifeDance does most of their performances) is the perfect space to dance and let go. It's open air, you're looking out over the beautiful campus, you can see up to the stars...it's a blessing to be able to go there and dance. The three of us put on a few songs and let it all out on the floor. There is no better feeling that letting yourself go and completely surrendering to the music and your own feelings--as Martha Graham said, "Dance is the hidden language of the soul," and our souls had a lot to say tonight.

To bring it all home to my original quote: from the kids to our fellow volunteers to Anne, Diana, and I, we were all larger, more beautiful, and more powerful tonight because of dance. I have never seen most of the LifeDance kids dance as hard as they did tonight. Their spirits were radiating with light and exuberance. To witness the confidence and power in these kids when they dance is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have seen since I have been here. The insecurities and societal pressures that plague most tweens and teens were gone and all that was left was self-expression and dance. To get in front of all your peers and perform a dance that you made up takes A LOT of guts--and these kids hit it out of the park....it is just another reason why the kids at Rising Star are a cut above the rest. :)

Vanakkam

Chrisma Chris!....also known as Secret Santa

So one night Diana, Anne, and I were all in Venilla Mary's house dying our hair with henna (it's awesome and all natural and I totally recommend it). Anyways, as we were in there doing our henna hair, the sixth standard boys in her house were in chatting with us. We were talking about Christmas when they started talking about Chrisma Chris. I was obviously intrigued and asked what it was. As they started explaining it I quickly realized it was none other than Secret Santa! We were all really excited that we had the same traditions in America and India that we decided right then and there to do our own little Chrisma Chris with the boys. We all put our names in a pile and decided that everyone had to make homemade gifts for whoever they drew and we would exchange the next night.

So it worked out really well and Anne, Diana, Venilla, and I all drew the boys' names and they drew our names. We went to Venilla's house the next night and laid all the gifts on Venilla's bed. We then all went into her room together and found our own gift and figured out who had who.

I got Nagaraj so for his gift I made us friendship bracelets. I also made him a card with a picture of him as a movie star and an acrostic poem with his name--he's tryin to keep a cool face but he was stoked.

M. Vignesh got my name and he made me an AWESOME card complete with some sweet drawings. On the inside he said he loved me cause I liked his dancing and his "moves". He's a great kid :)

I knew Nagaraj liked his gift when he asked me multiple times to explain the words in his acrostic poem to him--he really wanted to make sure he knew exactly what everything in the poem meant.

The whole gang with our Chrisma Chris gifts--it was an awesome night.

Besides being totally awesome in and of itself, Chrisma Chris was great because I teach all of the boys that did it with us and to see them still rockin their friendship bracelets in class everyday makes me very happy and filled with Christmas spirit :) Nothing better to kick off the Christmas spirit than a little Secret Santa.

Just another little Christmas spirit treat...

Anne and I made Christmas Stars to give to the teachers and staff--it was basically the best Sunday afternoon activity ever making 40 Christmas Stars :) We wore Santa hats when we delivered them and told the staff that they got a Christmas Star because "you are a shining star!"

Vanakkam

Many Happy Returns of the Day

"Many happy returns of the day" is what everyone tells you when it's your birthday in India. The custom is to shake the birthday person's hand and give them this well-wish or something similar to it; it's their way of saying 'happy birthday'. My birthday in India was (just like my Thanksgiving here) unique and unforgettable. I started the day by watching the sunrise while walking/jogging the track with Anne, Diana, Sharmilla, Venilla, and Poongodi. How can a birthday go wrong when you start the day off watching a beautiful sunrise?? From there we went home and un-did everything we had exercised off by eating a big breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bananas that Anne and Diana were amazing enough to cook for me. Let me take a moment and sing the praises of these two lovely ladies. They went above and beyond to make sure that my birthday was awesome. When I woke up to go running I was greeted by a giant happy birthday sign on one wall, and notes of all the things they love about me on the other wall. They also stayed up late the night before making me a FABULOUS headband. They are seriously both so awesome and I can't thank them enough for making my birthday so special. :)

The wonderful birthday breakfast

Wall of "Love" notes that Anne and Diana made 

With my birthday sign in my birthday outfit before heading off to teach.

When I got to school, I was greeted with 200 children singing happy birthday to me during their morning assembly.  After assembly, literally every child that passed me stopped and shook my hands and wished me 'many happy returns'. Kids and teachers were walking to into my classroom to shake my hand and wish me happy birthday. Somehow (even though she didn't know it was my birthday) Kala had flowers ready to go and made another girl take a clip out of her hair so that she could clip the flowers in my hair. After my first class, I met up with Venilla and she gave me one of the most thoughtful presents. Everyone here knows I don't have my ears pierced and they all think I'm crazy. So to make sure that I looked good on my birthday, Venilla went out and got me a pair of very nice clip-on earrings! It was such an amazing gift because of 1) how thoughtful it was and 2) the fact that she doesn't have much yet she was willing to spend her time and money on a present for me. 

With beautiful Venilla

One of my favorite parts of the day was when I was walking back to school to drop off some books and I heard my name being called from the school (the kids were at recess). I turned and little Rosemary was calling to me and beckoning me over. I went to her and I got bombarded by tons of kids and handshakes and love notes. Nothing makes you feel more loved than kids--they are not embarrassed or ashamed to show their love and excitement. The rest of the school day I was continually met with handshakes and well-wishes and love from nearly all the staff and children. Another great moment was when I walked in to teach 6th standard and they had drawn a big picture on the chalkboard that said, "well-wishes on this birthday." Almost every kid in that class had also stayed in during recess to make cards too--it was great. Later that night when I was teaching prayer I got sang to again by all the kids...and this time I was there to hear and see it. The kids at Rising Star are just the cutest most loving kids around.

This picture is like Where's Waldo...can you find me??

The kids singing Happy Birthday during prayer

After prayer I had dinner with Pam, Lyndsey, Anne, Diana, and Celina. Padmini (the cook at Rising Star) made Idlly, one of my favorite dishes, as well as french fries and chapati (another of my favorites). Pam was also amazing and made a cake for me, so I even had a birthday cake in India! After dinner I went back over to the kids and they were STILL making cards for me! I got so many cute notes all day long it was astounding. 

Reading some of my notes to the girls before bedtime

Still working on cards at the end of the day

Such sweet, sweet kids!!

All of my wonderful birthday notes and cards

A random sampling of all the love

They were all so precious

Overall, my Indian birthday was amazing--marked with birthday notes, handshakes, "many happy returns", and my favorite of all........

tons of birthday kisses :)

Vanakkam

Welcome to India Kathy Bunker!

Kathy Bunker came to India! Oh happy day!! I ran around campus the whole week before she got here telling anyone that would listen, "My mom is coming! My mom is coming!" Basically my excitement for her arrival rubbed off on the kids so by the time she got here everyone was anxious to meet her.

Mom came with the Thanksgiving volunteer session so she got to partake in the volunteer experience while still seeing everything I do at Rising Star and my day to day routine. Here's a quick run-down of our week's activities:
Sunday: Meet up with the group at the Marriot and driving out to Rising Star. She got to meet the kids and housemothers and they were all SO EXCITED to meet her. The first kids we saw were boys from Venilla Mary's house. When they saw us they ran across the field to meet us and when they got to us they all stuck out their hands to her and said, "Welcome to Rising Star!"--it was precious. When we went to the hostels that night the kids came running out of their houses to meet her. She was instantly the most popular and wanted person on campus.
Monday: out with the medical team at the Bethel Nagar colony. Mom oiled the patients feet at ROCKED IT! It is a hard job and is not for the faint of heart and I was so proud. :) That night we went to the kids again and had an awesome time.

Mom with a very grateful leprosy patient

waiting for the patients to come

Mom working with Navamani at the oiling station

working hard with the leprosy patients

Tuesday: we stayed in at the school and Mom got to see me teach my classes. It was so fun to have her in class with me and watching me teach...and the kids were on their best behavior. That night we went to the hostels as normal and Mom got to come to the class that I teach to the housemothers. The class went awesome and Mom and the housemothers even had a great little chat after the class.

Mom with Sangeetha during family time

Mom and sweet Thrisha

Wednesday: Another school day going to my classes, watching Anne and her dance classes, and just spending time with the kids. An especially fun moment was when we went to the UKG dance class with Anne. The kids were absolutely adorable and they were over the moon that Mom was there to watch them.

Mom with Jessy at lunch

dancing with UKG

Thursday: see Thanksgiving Post
Friday: Last day at Rising Star and at the school. Same school day as always BUT this time we had the privilege of seeing UKG put on a little show for us. Gracy (the UKG teacher) had asked us a few days before to come and watch the kids recite the poems they had memorized. We told them when we would be coming and when we got there they were ready for us. They had two chairs set up for us and they did a welcome song before reciting their poems about a dozen times for us. It was one of the cutest, sweetest things I have seen in all my time with the kids at Rising Star. The best part of it was that after each poem three or four of the kids would run out of their sits and hug Mom and me before starting the next part of the "show". It was seriously a highlight of the week. Another great moment on Friday was having Thanksgiving left-overs with Vikram. He was going to come to Thanksgiving dinner but he couldn't make it. Instead, her came over for lunch the next day and he and Mom and I all ate Thanksgiving left-overs and shared again what we were thankful for. It was awesome to be able to share a staple of American culture (when we were explaining Thanksgiving to Vikram he hit the nail on the head and said "Oh, so it's a food festival!").

The Welcome dance that UKG performed for us

Reciting the poems that they have been memorizing--so adorable!

Friday night we left for Delhi (which will be covered in a whole other post) and that ended Mom's fun-filled week at Rising Star. It was seriously such a blessing to have Mom here for Thanksgiving. To be able to show her and share with her all of the things I love about being here in India at Rising Star was also such a treat. I love that now when I tell her about the kids and staff she can put names with faces and can imagines all the different places around campus. It was an incredible week. :)

More to come soon!

Vanakkam

Happy Thanksgiving!

This past Thanksgiving was definitely one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Besides the fact it was great, the sheer unique-ness of the day was unlike any Thanksgiving I've ever had before.

We started the day by going to the Bhadallapuram leprosy colony. This is one of my favorite colonies and to be able to go there on Thanksgiving with Mom was an amazing way to start the day. Since it is monsoon season, a tremendous rainstorm met us at the colony and we went through most of medical in almost complete darkness. Once we finished medical we had some time to look at paintings in the art school before heading back to Rising Star. Nothing reminds you more of what to be thankful for than spending Thanksgiving in a leprosy colony treating the leprosy-afflicted.

Our view of the river (aka road) outside the hut where we met with the patients

 Mom did awesome working the blood pressure station

The lady may look angry but she definitely was not

Nithya, Shaunkar, Mom and I at the blood pressure station--we had oodles of fun :)

looking at paintings at the Bhindu Art School

When we got back to campus after medical, we had a little time to rest before we had to start cooking for our Thanksgiving feast. Despite being in India, Jim and Pam still wanted to have an American Thanksgiving. They bought a turkey that was flown over from the United States and all of the long-term volunteers were in charge of a dish. For some reason in India, no one has ovens--it's really weird. Mostly we make due with microwave convection ovens but for the turkey that just wouldn't work. Jim had planned ahead of time to ground-cook the turkey. He wrapped it in banana-leaves and foil and had a pit dug on campus. Everything was off to a good start on Thanksgiving day...then the monsoon hit. Before he knew it the pit was filled with water and all he had to show for his meticulously-laid plans was one uncooked turkey. Jim, though, did not let this stop him from helping all of us to have a fabulous Thanksgiving. He cut up the turkey and used every microwave/convection oven on campus to cook the turkey. Dr. Susan was a tremendous help and went to her house (about an hour and a half away) and brought her personal oven back to Rising Star to help with the turkey cooking process. While all of this was happening, Mom and I were hard at work cooking our assigned dish: mashed potatoes and gravy. We made our dish without difficulty and got all dolled-up in our nicest chuddidhars to go to dinner. Everything turned out wonderful and the meal was fantastic. Somehow we managed to pull off an American Thanksgiving in India. :)

Our beautiful Thanksgiving table

The thing I was most thankful for was to have Mom with me on Thanksgiving.

With Jim and Pam--without them the amazing Thanksgiving never would have happened.

Thanksgiving picture...indian style (they never smile in their pictures)

After our delicious meal, we were in the Green House settling down to watch White Christmas when Melissa ran in soaking wet and told us all to come dance in the pouring rain with her. Obviously we all immediately ran out the door with her up to the roof of the Elephant House where we danced in the rain and rejoiced in the fact that we are all living in this beautiful country. When the rain slowed and we headed back inside, we all ended the night by putting on our nighties and snuggling on the couch watching White Christmas. It was the perfect end to a perfect Thanksgiving :)

There are few things better than dancing in the rain 

Mom braved the monsoon to be our photographer--thanks Mom!

Let the rain come!

With the long-term girls: Anne, me, Melissa, Diana

As is tradition at Thanksgiving dinner, we went around the table and everyone said 3 things they were thankful for. The things I am thankful for this year are: 

• My mom being in India with me for Thanksgiving week and my wonderful family back in the states--they can't be beat.
• The opportunity I have to be here in India working at Rising Star. Even though at times it's hard, crazy, and stressful, it is an amazing place and I have learned things and met people here that have changed me forever.
• The beautiful people and children that are with me here in India. As mentioned above, they are truly some of the most astounding people I have ever met. Their resilience, compassion, power, grace, selflessness, humor, and love will forever be an integral part of my life.

Vanakkam