Day 17 - 29Jul2012
Today was Sunday and I woke up super early to get ready for church. I asked one of the house mothers to tie me in a sari for church today. It was a process! The sari is so much fabric! The belly shirt goes on first and then the sari is tucked and pinned all over the place. Say goodbye to going to the bathroom...literally! I had to ask to have the sari tied higher than usual so it would cover my garments. Usually, the entire stomach is uncovered so you can see it from the side. It was really fun to get all dressed up. The little Rising Star girls loved seeing me dressed up too. Seven safety pins later, I was ready. I even put on some makeup that I borrowed from my roommate!
India has definitely rubbed off on me. When I first got here, if I felt a bug on me, I'd quickly slap it to get it off of me. Now when I feel a bug, I take time to look and see what it is first. If it is a non-scary bug, I brush it off without killing it. If it is a scary bug, it deserves a little harsher treatment. ;) I do the "ok" head bob on a regular basis. I can handle eating with an ENORMOUS number of flies flying around me and landing on me and my food. Smells go unnoticed. I can sleep while driving in the middle of the crazy traffic without a worry in the world. And cows? What about 'em? They are everywhere. Isn't that just normal? And the heat...I know it is hot, but I don't dwell on it anymore. It is amazing how your mind and body can adapt to a new environment.
Today was Sunday and I woke up super early to get ready for church. I asked one of the house mothers to tie me in a sari for church today. It was a process! The sari is so much fabric! The belly shirt goes on first and then the sari is tucked and pinned all over the place. Say goodbye to going to the bathroom...literally! I had to ask to have the sari tied higher than usual so it would cover my garments. Usually, the entire stomach is uncovered so you can see it from the side. It was really fun to get all dressed up. The little Rising Star girls loved seeing me dressed up too. Seven safety pins later, I was ready. I even put on some makeup that I borrowed from my roommate!
We drove the two hours into Chennai to attend church services. My chapel at home is five minutes away. Just another reason I am so blessed. Three missionaries spoke in sacrament meeting. Two of the missionaries were from India and the third was from Washington state. Everyone spoke in English. The Rising Star members doubled the size the of the branch. The members were extremely friendly and helped some of the other girls out when they had issues with their saris. My sari was too pinned to move so I was just fine. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true in India. That is really all there is to say about it. Very cool experience.
After sacrament meeting, we went to Spencer's Mall for a brief shopping day. The mall was really cool! And, as always, we were a spectacle. EVERYONE wanted to see the white girls in saris. A few men even made eyes at us. I bought a few chudidars to wear in Delhi since I won't have the nice Rising Star closet with me there and I didn't really bring any outfits from home besides construction clothes. The mall had Pizza Hut and you'd better believe we got some. I found that I could find better prices at the mall than on the streets. We shopped at the J. Crew of India - FabIndia. I wish we had had more time to spend at the mall, but it was soon time to head back to Rising Star.
The kids of Rising Star put on a talent show for us tonight. A few of them sang and other presented their drawings. It was really cute to see how excited they got about it. The volunteers even performed a song and dance. It was one of those moments that I just had to forget that I don't like being in front of people and just go all out because they're just kids. They loved it. After we performed, the talent show was over. The dance director put some music on and the kids went CRAZY. Some of them can really bust a move. My camera died before I could take any pictures of the mad dancing skills that I observed, but it was fun nonetheless.
I played that crazy version of the card game "War" that I mentioned a few posts ago with the boys during family time. They cheat! And Ranjith actually slapped me when I beat him to the slap. That is such a habit for these boys and he quickly apologized. I'll miss those little boys.
India has definitely rubbed off on me. When I first got here, if I felt a bug on me, I'd quickly slap it to get it off of me. Now when I feel a bug, I take time to look and see what it is first. If it is a non-scary bug, I brush it off without killing it. If it is a scary bug, it deserves a little harsher treatment. ;) I do the "ok" head bob on a regular basis. I can handle eating with an ENORMOUS number of flies flying around me and landing on me and my food. Smells go unnoticed. I can sleep while driving in the middle of the crazy traffic without a worry in the world. And cows? What about 'em? They are everywhere. Isn't that just normal? And the heat...I know it is hot, but I don't dwell on it anymore. It is amazing how your mind and body can adapt to a new environment.
On the other hand, my roommates and I keep getting sillier. The weirdest things are funny and the inside jokes abound.
Day 17 - Complete
Firsts/Realizations: I don't fear change, I fear being stagnant.
No comments:
Post a Comment