Runny Noses and Germs

Well this first part of the blog is going to be just as it sound...all about having a cold in India.  I now am the proud owner of my very own cold!  I got it for free, in fact some one so kindly gave it to me.  Today I actually got kicked out of one of my classes for being sick, and spreading germs!  Well I guess that's life.  The whole campus seems to be down with a cold.  All you hear all day is sniffles, and noses being blown!  I am hoping that my ownership will soon be over. 

Besides that all is wonderful here!  I have been loving the fact that I know back home it is most likely still pretty warm, but here it is feeling like it would in late November back home.  I have also love the dorm girls I get to work with!  On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings I have to wake them up for school at 7 am...(me=not a morning person) the thing that is making the mornings worth it is every time I wake them up I get to share about the Father.  Not all my girls know who he is...so it is great to see them begin to learn more of him.  They are just little sponges taking it all in.

Classes are also going really great!  My play is The Diary of Anne Frank, and so far my students at loving the script...at first they hated it and thought it was going to be super boring. I have loved getting to see them walking across campus carrying their script already memorizing their lines.

The father has truly blessed me, and I can not wait to see what more he does for me!  If you talk to the Father please talk to him about my cold, and also just for organization for all of the staff and IGs.  I know that he has great and might things planned but we must wait on him to provide all that he has.

Full Swing

Well the world of Hebron School is in full swing.  It feels like I have already been here for a few months, but it has only been about a month.  I cna not believe how the time is moving here.  So to give a small update on how things have been...

The work load has not been as stressful as I had thought it would be before I came, but I have been told it will get worse as the semester goes on.  I am hoping that soon I will be moving so much that I do not even have time to rest in the day. 

Monday was our first day off, and we celebrated one of the other IG's birthdays.  We made scones and had a proper English tea party.  Then we went out on the town.  We even went to a garden made of thread.  There will be pictures on facebook soon, but I do not have them on my camera(you have to pay extra to take pictures, so we only paid for one person to take pictures).  The flowers were beautiful and completely made of thread, canvas, and glue.  They did not use any needles to make it either.  Then we went to a few other places that are just to weird to even try to describe in writting(ask me about it when I come home).

One thing that is very exciting is that almost all the staff have arrived.  All the IG's are here one more staff member is arriving tomorrow night and rooming with me for now.  Then we are just waiting on one more staff member to have a full staff. 

I can not wait to have all the things going like a well oiled machine. 

I also got to go to my first futbol match.  One of the other teacher had to explain the rules to me, and to make sure I understood why the ball was being tossed in from the side.  Our team won the game, and the school has been a buzz about it all.  They actually cancelled classes so that almost the entire school got to go to the game and watch.  I have loved being here, and can not wait to see what else the Father brings my way for this year.

So the First week down.

Well all the first week of school over. It went great!!!!!! I am for now in the mornings working with the Standard (St) 5 class which are kids about 9-10 yrs old.  We have 13 kids in class, and they are all angels.  I am also attached to the Sunshine Dorm these girls are St 5-6 so about 9-11yrs old.  They are great as well(sometimes challenging but wonderful)  I am also directing a play for half of St 9 (age 13-14 yrs old) so that is about 20 kids.  Then I am also teaching a drama class to the St 8 (12-13 yrs old).  

I am loving all the things I am getting caught up in.  I am also asking for more. So hopefully I will have more on my plate in the next few weeks.  I know it sound like a lot I am already doing, but it is mainly in the morning for classes and mainly in the evening for dorms so my afternoons are very slow.  

I have loved seeing some the kids transform just in the few days they have been here from shy to now talking up a storm.  I have also loved to see some of their wisdom at such a young age.  I told a story the other day to the dorm girls, and as soon as I was done one of the girls said "Hey I know a verse about that!"

 The Father has been reminding me daily of the idea of "out of the mouth of babes"  I can not wait to see more of what the father has for students and for me over this next year. 

A few things that you can be thinking about for me are directions for me. I know that this year is far from over but I do want to start asking now for guidance.  Also for plans to start falling into place for this whole year, and also for good rest for me(I have not been getting much good sleep).

Thank you to all of you who read this blog, and thank you for all your wonderful thoughts.

Tears, Goodbyes, and Laughter

Well the time has finally come!  The kids are all here.  The school has such a new life and so much more noise.(including the extra monkeys jumping on my roof all night)

The dorm I was assigned to is the youngest girls dorm on campus called Sunshine Dorm.  We have 11 girls around the age of 9 or 10.  That is were the tears enter the scene.  When I worked at Camp Nunny, I would see girls get home sick and remind them they would be going home soon so not to worry. Here some of these kids may not see their parents again til the end of the year.  So sometime it is very hard to encourage them. 

The goodbyes were all so sweet and touching.  You would see grown boys walking hand in hand with their mom, just holding onto that last moment together.  You saw some people just giving hug after hug, then some parents just gave a kiss and walked away.  At first the last one seems so harsh til you see the parents faces just covered with tears, and they had to walk away to be strong for their kids. 

Then there is the laughter that has filled our dorm.  Within 5 min. of all the girls getting there you would have thought that they had all been friends forever.  It is very sweet to watch the girls who have been at the school before look after to new girls.  They take the job very serious to care for each other.  In one of the classes I worked in today a little boy ran in and said Miss Mel one of the boys is missing...My mind started to race of what should I do...then he said well he was crying so maybe he is just homesick I will go look again and check on him.  The other teacher told me not to worry and let the older boy handle it.  Sure enough the new boy had been crying in the corner, and just needed a friend. 

I can not wait for the first full week of school.  They already have the kids in full swing.  My girls in my dorm already have homework or prep as they call it here.  They are all right now sitting in the dining hall with 2 prefect watching over them to make sure they get all their work done on time.  Tomorrow I get to meet with the kids I will be directing for Drama Week, and I am already having to cast tomorrow(I have 8 weeks to get a whole show together).  Then  next week I will start teaching drama lessons to some of the younger classes as well. 

Some things that you can talk to the father about are that the kids adjust quickly, that I will be prepared for lessons next week, and just for the staff as they teach not only basic subjects but also the subject of our Father.  Many of these kids have never met Dad so they are in as much need as anyone else. 

I hope you all have a great day, and know that I think of you often.

Lets get this party started right!

These last few days have been great.  I have really begun to feel like dad wants me in this country forever.  Just seeing how he is working and moving in this place is amazing.  I wnet to a new church today and the service was wonderful.  The music was lead by peple from all different ethinic groups, and the teaching was so powerful!  Just seeing the Father move in such mighty ways just spurs me on to look for his next big step in my life.

One thing here that just shows the fathes sense of humor here is the weather.  I woke up this moring and the sun was shining and it felt like an early spring day in Oklahoma.  Right now I am looking out the window and the sky is black and it is absolutely pouring rain.   I have been told in a few hours it will most likely be back to the sun and heat.

A few things that you can talk to the father about is on Tuesday all the student will arrive again, and classes start on Wednesday.  Some of these kids will be going from very far away, and may not see their parents again till the end of this year or longer.  As all the staff and student being to adjust just ask the Father to guide us when problems arise.

It's almost here!!!!!!

Tomorrow is the first day of work, and I am sooooo excited!  We will be working with all of the staff kids while their parents are in meetings.  I am getting to work with some of the youngest kids, and I love that!  We are getting to teach lessons from the book, do crafts, and play games.  I think we will have 17 kids in my group alone.  After this weekend we will have one day off on Monday(for Indepence Day) then the student all start to arrive on Tuesday.  Then classes start on Wednesday, and my duties as a drama person start Thursday!  I know that as soon as everything start things will get crazy, but I can not wait to have it all hit at once!  We have been very bored lately, because it is all just prep work and not actual work.  I can not wait to see all the smiling faces on Tuesday. 

Oh an update on the room situation...I am now staying in a room alone, and hopefully will be able to unpack soon.  I maybe staying at this room for the whole time or I may be moving to another room in the next few weeks.  I am just ready to be able to set up shop in my room, and then if I have to move then I will just repack later.

Please be talking to dad about this upcoming week.  It is going to be stressful for all involved!  Also just for good rest!

So much love for all

The last few days have been wonderful!  I have got to see the real heart of some of the workers here for the people of this city.  On Saturday we went to an orphanage and the kids were just all so beautiful.  If I could bundle them all up and take them home I would.  They sang for us and also taught us a song in the local language of Tamil.  Then some of us IGs got up and sang for them...some good old golden oldies from our youth.  Then on Sunday night we got to go do a soup run.  We did not have soup at all, but that is what they have always called it so there you go.  We went to the homeless sleeping on the streets and gave them a bun of bread and some chai.  It is not much but they would just smile as you gave them this. 

As this week began we have been doing training, and everything at school is in full swing prepping for the kids to arrive.  I have been asked to teach a drama class for some students once a week, and I have been picking my script for my group do.  I can not wait for them to arrive!  I know this is short, but the dinner bell just rang and I am very hungry.  Then tonight is a ladies night where we are getting some local clothes others have left for us and we are all getting wrapped tonight(in a saree).  I will have pictures soon, but I have not been able to find my cord.  I still have not gotten to unpack because we are in temp housing.  More to come!!!!

I'm not dead yet!

Hello all from ever so cold India...

    Well here is my first blog from India, and I am not really sure how to start.  There have been so many things that have happened over the last few days.

   So I guess I will start at the begining of the journey.  On Tuesday August 2nd I left for India feeling rather good about everything.  Made it to Dallas fine, and went to check to see if there was any seat closer to the front of the plane.  The lady at the counter then tells me that she does not even see me on the flight, and does not know how I checked in because I was not booked on the flight....this is when my heart began to race.  I looked at her with I am sure deer in the headlights look and just said "excuse me"  Then she realized she was looking at the wrong flight and I was really booked on the flight I needed.  So I get on board and find out that I am sitting next to 3 kids with no parents in sight.  Apparently they were going to London on vacation, and the parents were in 1st class and the kids got put in economy.  Well as you can imagine it made for an interesting ride.  All of them telling the same story over and over to me as they played musical chairs on the plane.  I only saw the parent twice the rest of the time the flight attendant was coming and going from 1st class to check on them at the parents request.  I finally get to London and have to RUN for the next flight.  I come around the corner to where I have to go through immigration and the line is huge. There is no way that I would be making it. So I grabbed a airport employee, and told him I was going to be late. So he put me in the line for 1st class and priority members.  I made it to the flight with 10 min to spare.  Once on the flight I slept.  I slept most of the flight, except when the girl next to me was elbowing me or the service cart was hitting me.  But on this flight I did get to see my first sign of the Indian people's kindness.  There was very large pregnant woman sitting in the row across the aisle from me. It was very obvious she was very uncomfortable.  So a man that had paid much more for his ticket offered her his seat to be able to have more room.  The rest of the flight were really uneventful.

    Then came the taxi ride.  It took us 2 1/2 hrs to get to the school from the airport.  The road was very curvy.  There was 36 hairpin turns that our drive did not feel the need to slow down for.  One really cool thing about the taxi ride is the random monkeys that were everywhere.  They were just laying on the side of the road hanging out.

    Once I finally made it to the school I was tired, in desprate need of a shower, and in very desprate need to brush my teeth!  When we arrived the kitchen was closed, but they opened up quickly to make me and my taxi buddy Liz some lunch.  After lunch we took a very quick cold shower(the hot water does not always work).  Then dinner then we passed out. 

     The next morning we woke up feeling much better, and decided to go exploring. We were told that we had to go see a movie in the town, because these movies are well known films they have just been cut like crazy so you may not really get to see all the vital information.  We were told that it was a very funny experience that all that come to India should have.  The movie was suppose to be Cowboys vs Aliens.  Well we got down to town and found it had changed to a Hindi film so not really worth seeing.  So we just walked around the town with some of the current staff and they gave us a small tour.  After we walked back up to the school(me huffing and puffing the whole way, because we are at 7500 ft right now), and just spent the rest of the night relaxing.  We had tea time twice that day one for morning tea and then after dinner tea. 

   The plans for today are to maybe go back to the market to buy some fruit, then later in the evening we are going to go to an orphanage to sing songs with the kids, and bring them some goodies.  I really can not wait to meet them, and just hug them all. 

   Well sorry for such a long blog! I will try better next timeto shorten things, but I just wanted to share my adventure with all of you.  Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures soon for you to see.

   Just a few things that you can talk to dad about are right now not all of the staff/IGs have visas yet so we are still waiting on those.  Next is just for getting used to everything and the systems the school has.  Last is just for unity of the staff as we all come together to work for a greater cause then ourselves.