Day Sixteen

Thursday:
Well today was the day of the strike. Nothing different happened except that there were less cars out. There were few autos and no busses that we saw, but there was still some traffic. I wondered if I would end up going to to English Classes or not, but we went ahead and braved it and I got to go. I was so thankful that I was able to go. It has been nearly a week since I have gotten to meet with them since they have been working on College admission papers, so we did very little. We did a little bit of a review of what we finished with last week, finished reading out story we began and then I shared some pictures of my family, friends and home life with them! It was such a fun time and they absolutely loved getting to look at pictures. They requests that we do more of that tomorrow, so as a grand wrap up of our English Classes tomorrow will be a total day of fun and relaxation! I am so excited to spend just a few more hours with them. I am hoping to take them a little surprise tomorrow and then hopefully find them each something when I go shopping this weekend to take them next week. I have loved getting to know each of them and it really makes me sad to think that tomorrow is the last day we will get to spend time together in English Class. I am so grateful for the opportunity God gave me to be able to develop relationships with some of the girls here. They are girls that will forever be in my heart! Stephany made chicken burgers for dinner tonight and they were actually really good! So good that I will even make them in the states! WOW! :) I also got to play with some play dough with the girls tonight and that was just a lot of fun! After dinner we all went down and went for a walk around the neighborhood it was just a really neat time to get to see a little bit more of the city and right around where I am living for now. I also got to experience Indian Tea! It was actually pretty good. I debated back and forth for a while whether it was tea or coffee. It looks just like coffee but it tastes like tea! I was so confused!! Anyhow, it was a lot different from tea in the states, but I enjoyed Tonight Tony and Stephany and I are going to have a little game night, so that will be a good way to finish up today. I am just loving being here. I cannot believe my third week is winding down and I only have ten more days to spend here in India. This week has gone by really slow for some reason, but at the same time time as a whole is flying by. I cannot wait to experience the rest that God has in store and to grow and build the relationships God has given me here.

My Play Dough Masterpiece! 

Day Fifteen

Wednesday:
So today was the day I got to go to the Palace! The girls slept until nearly 9:45 this morning so that allowed for a very quite morning! Stephany planned out such a fun school day for both of the girls today and I was so glad to be able to help! I should have taken pictures.. (I will next time...) First it started with singing some songs and then we got to work on some patterns, matching and cutting! The final activity we did was a little science experiment to teach about the primary and secondary colors. It was super cute and definitely something I will use in my classroom one day! :) For lunch we went to KFC. I was a little nervous since that is one of the places I don't typically eat in the states, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was way nicer and tastier than at home!! It had a little bit of spice (I am starting to grow to like a little spice) and was absolutely perfect! Following lunch Tony dropped Stephany and the girls off and then took Brad, Krystal and me to the palace to meet a group of people from all over the states. Since I had already eaten I just hungout and got to meet some of the girls who were on the team and then we went to see the palace! It was so much different than I was expecting, but then Krystal reminded me, "You are in India." Oh yeah... The outside was beautiful and we got to go on a tour of the inside for 200 Rupees ($4). They told us we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the palace so Krystal, Brad and I just put our cameras away in our bags and went inside. Once we got inside they made us run our bags through the xray machines (like the ones at the airports) to make sure we didn't have anything bad in it and they saw the cameras and made us go all the way back and check them into a locker before they would allow us to enter in. The problem was that we had already checked our shoes into the shoe holder (not allowed to wear them through the palace) so we had to walk back barefooted and WOWEE was the ground hot! I got some blisters on the bottoms of my feet.. Ouchy! I also got to go to a coffee roster today. It was neat to see the beans and such! Cannot say I would want to work in there, but it sure did smell good! I only paid around four dollars for a pound of coffee. So it is fairly cheap!
The baby birds we have been watching hatched! That is some exciting news! Rebekah could hardly wait to tell me when I came home from the Palace! So we went down and saw them this evening and they were so so tiny and waiting mouth opened for their momma to return with some food! I will try to take some pictures of the birds. Tomorrow is the day the strike is supposed to happen so it looks like we are going to have a day at home all day. We will see what ends up happening. 

Day Fourteen

Tuesday:
This morning started very slow for myself and for everyone else here. Sarah ended up getting sick during the night and threw up so she went to the doctor today and found out she has an ear and throat infection and then she threw up again this afternoon. Poor girl. I really hope she starts getting better and that nobody else comes down with what she has. I went today to go teach English again and when I got there the girls were filling out some college applications so I was told they would be done within 20 minutes and I was asked to iron in the meantime so I ended up ironing for about an hour and then was told that the girls would not be meeting today. I am hoping to be able to meet with them tomorrow, but I was told that they were probably going to still be doing applications tomorrow too, so that may not work out... We will see. I am excited for tomorrow though because I am going to get to go to the palace in the morning with Brad and Krystal! That will be really exciting. Thursday we were told that we should not go out because there is supposed to be a nationwide strike about the gas prices. I am anxious to see what will really happen.. I am hoping that it won't be bad because I was looking forward to meeting some national partners on Thursday, so we will see. My headaches are starting to come back so pray that they hold off until I leave India atleast... I have had them two days in a row now. I really hope that I don't have them tomorrow too..
This is a pretty short post and I apologize for that, just not a whole lot to say today. I will post again tomorrow night and talk about the palace and such!! :) 

Day Thirteen

Monday:
This post will probably be a little on the short side as I am already in bed and ready to go to sleep, but I knew I would forget stuff if I waited until tomorrow. One thing I realized I didn't post yesterday was we drove by the temple yesterday afternoon on our way back from church and I could not believe the amount of people that were there and the amount of smoke that was coming out of the building from their abundant burning of offerings to their "gods". It breaks my heart to think about that many people being so utterly convinced of one of the biggest lies that has ever been told! Heartbreaking! One thing that has been made very clear to me though is the lost in my own neighborhood and family. It is so sad to see people you love being ruled by lies. I just wish that people would realize what the "ULTIMATE sacrifice" is! Anyways, so today Stephany began school with Rebekah so I got to spend a little bit of time today just me and Sarah! It was so much fun! We got to do a little bit of our own kind of school! (tonight during her prayer she prayed to God thanking Him for the school we got to do together :).) Way too sweet! There was a lot of potential things that were going to happen today, but Sarah got a fever (I think she is doing better so thanks to those who prayed) so we pushed them to Thursday. So Thursday I am going to get to go meet some of the national partners here. How exciting! So today we ended up canceling English Class since I thought I was going to be gone. So instead I took a nap and Stephany and I made cookies for my Bible Study tonight! Bible Study was a lot harder than I expected, but it went well. The translator rambled a whole lot about I am not sure what since I cannot speak the language. Stephany said she was most likely just stating what was said in many different ways which is very common in this culture she said. Just have to remind myself that God can use anything to do His will.. I took them milk and cookies and they thought it was the funniest thing because one they don't drink just milk, let alone milk that has not been boiled. so funny! Krystal and I had them try it "american style" by dipping the cookies in their milk. haha Guess I shouldn't tell them that we drink our milk cold!! They think that if you drink cold stuff you will catch a cold. so no ice in drinks or anything like that. They like everything atleast room temperature. The one thing that made me smile was that the girls that are in my English class came and were upset about not meeting today and were excited to be meeting again tomorrow. YAY! :)
Well off to bed for me!
Miss you all!

Day Twelve

Sunday:
Today was week number two of going to church here in Mysore, India. It is absolutely exhausting to go to church here. I am feeling a huge desire and need to be fed by the Word and the chance of it happening here at church is slim slim slim! Church is conducted in English. The pastor speaks in English and then someone translates it into Conada so they go back and forth in conveying the message. However, they both speak so quietly that it is nearly impossible to understand and make out what is being said... I really have no idea how Tony and Stephany manage to go each week. I know they are in desperate need of being fed themselves, but man is it exhausting to go to church and sit and just wonder what you are doing there because there is impossible to get anything from it... With that said though, today was a little on the hard side compared to the other days... And I am so glad to say that I will be worshiping with my church home in about 10 minutes. One of the first things I said to Stephany as I walked out of the church this morning is "well I will be watching the service back home tonight." Sunday's are hard for me because I miss worshiping with my church family and I miss my ABF class.. I am so thankful for technology and that I am going to get the opportunity to tune in tonight as they worship!
Following church we came back and had a lunch together and then got to take some naps (which were MUCH NEEDED!). Tonight we got to go out and have dinner. I actually really liked what we had, but I am not so sure that it is something you would consider "Indian". Stephany said it was something that would be probably a little more "middle eastern" I think is what she said. I forget what it was called but basically it was a thick tortilla with some grilled/roasted chicken in it. I had one with vegetables (raw) in it and one with just chicken. It was really yummy and had some really good seasonings in it. We then got to get some ice cream! YUM! I got some Mint Chocolate Chip on a cone and it was good, but man was it minty! After a while it started to taste a little like toothpaste... Not quite as sweet as the mint chocolate chip in the states!
I also experienced the grocery store for the first time! WOW! Okay, so last week I kind of experienced it because I got to help get fruits and veggies after lunch last Sunday, but veggies and the grocery store are really totally separate. It is so so so small and I swear they were blasting the heater in there! There were so many people everywhere! I have no idea how people grocery shop like that! One of the things that made me laugh was that one of the sales associates there opened up a bottle of nail polish on the shelf and painted the girls fingers with it. Something you would never see in the states!
Well I have about a minute and a half until service so that is where I am headed! More tomorrow!

One thing I will not miss is having to dress like a genie when I go to church! Here is just a little sneak peak.. It is not the whole outfit..

Day Eleven

Saturday:
Wow! Days are really counting up fast! I cannot believe the week has already finished and we are already in the weekend! I am one day away from finishing a second week and beginning my third! WOW! Today was a really relaxing day for me and I LOVED it! Even though I am only going out for two hours a day it is exhausting! More so than the two hours that is exhausting, I think it is the worrying about are the girls learning, are they enjoying coming each day or hating it, and so on.. So to have a weekend is wonderful. I starting reading Alice and Wonderland yesterday and finished it today. It was a really good book, I was surprised! Come to find out in the same book is the sequel Through the Looking Glass so I tried reading it, but it is not as intriguing as the first... I am out of books to read of what I brought with me so I think I might borring Stephany's "Don't Waste Your Life" and read that. She said great things about it..
Well tonight Tony and Stephany went out on a date so I am getting to keep the girls and it has been a blast! They went out to dinner and then snuck back in without the girls knowing in order to be able to watch some movies that don't consist of Dora the Explorer, My Little Pony, and The Bernstein Bears.. All great movies, but boy do they get old! I am so glad that I have gotten to spend some time with the girls and that Tony and Stephany got to get out of the house for a little while! We did a lot of reading tonight, had a gourmet dinner of peanut butter and jelly (one of the only meals they will actually eat...) and some Peach Dumpcake and Icecream for dessert! We also broke out the fingerpaints! I will post a picture of what we all painted! The culture here refers to people that are older than you as "Auntie" and "Uncle" so it is safe to say that they have one great "Aunt Kaylie" ;)! We also did a lot of doll playing and reading and now they are in the bath and we are fixing to go through the bedtime routine. I LOVE that they do this: They take the bath, come out brush hair, take vitamins, brush teeth and then they all get on the couch together, read a story from the Bible, say what they are thankful for that happened that day and then they pray together. Following all of that they head to the girls bedroom and they sing some praise and worship songs and dance around the room and then Tony will rock one girl and Stephany will rock the other and then the girl that Steph rocked Tony will lay in bed and the girl that Tony rocked Steph will lay in bed. I am so excited that I have gotten to be a part of this family while I am here and I am so excited that I get to be involved in this nightly routine. There have been many things that they do that make me think, man I want to do that when I have kids or when I get married and this nightly routine is one of them!
Well it is time for the nightly routine, so Goodnight (or goodmorning) to you all!

Day Ten

Friday:
I was way too sleepy to post last night, so here goes trying to remember everything that happened yesterday. I have really been struggling with trying to figure out what to teach in my English Classes each day.. Who knew teaching English would be so hard!? So yesterday I spent some time trying to figure out how to make the class better.. I felt like class went so much better yesterday too! We "read" a few stories and by that I mean, we looked at the pictures and described what was going on in the stories. We also got to just sit and talk for a little while. This is hard because they know limited English and I know no Conada so it is a challenge, but we are slowly getting to know each other better and better which I love! I have been riding the motorcycle with Carla and Lenae to the Hope Center, but yesterday Tony was able to drive me there so no scary motorcycle! However, when I was finished I couldn't find anyone around that was able to give me a ride back so I called Stephany and we decided this would be a good time for me to try out the "Auto".. I knew there was an auto stand down the road so I told her I would walk to the stand and get a ride back. She told me that would be fine and if I got scared I could call and they would come get me. So off I started to walk to the auto stand. I guess first I should explain what an auto is... An auto is like a taxi but a lot smaller. It is almost like a very small golf cart. It really should only be able to hold the driver in the front and probably two people in the back, maybe three if they were really small. However, people pile into them! Lots and Lots of people cram into the back of one! So as I started walking I realized the stand was quite a bit farther than I had realized because I had always been on a motorcycle so the distance seemed so small. By the time I had been walking for a little bit though I knew there was no since in turning around. I saw an auto and asked if he could take me to the temple which is right next to the apartments and he told me no but tried to flag one down. That driver also said no so I continued walking. An auto driver called out to me and asked if I needed a ride so I finally had one! I was so excited that I had found an auto all on my own! I told him where I needed to go and I payed him the 60 rupees (1.20) and he took me home! I felt very accomplished! When I got back I took the girls down to the park for a little while and then came back up and we had dinner with Brad and Krystal. Brad has prepared a few songs for us to sing together and also found a sermon so while the girls watched a movie we all got the opportunity to sing, dig into the Word and pray together. It felt so good to be able to just sit and praise God. What was so neat about it was that here you only had 5 adults sitting in this room and a song playing through the speakers, but there was a sense total awe and worship in that room. I loved it! It is so encouraging to be able to sit and just worship and praise God in the presence of friends. I am hoping we get the opportunity to do it again before I end up leaving.

Well, I suppose I should start my day. I will try to update again tonight about everything today.

Day Nine

Thursday:
My days are slowly starting to look a lot the same! I have been waking up in the middle of the night because of some tummy pains.. So last night I woke up at 1:30 but was able to go right back to sleep and then woke up this morning at 6:15... Unfortunately, I was not able to go back to sleep... So I laid and read for a while. I said in an earlier post that I have been reading "Heaven is For Real" and I finished that today. It was really a great book. Now of course, you should take it as a grain of salt and make sure you are only putting your faith in what is Biblically sound, but it is fun to imagine what it is going to be like in Heaven. One of the things I really liked about the book is that it brought in different passages from the Bible to show what the Bible says Heaven will be like. I, like many other people I am sure, have always wondered, but I have never done a lot of studying about how Heaven will be so those passages were a great encouragement to me. Today Stephany had a meeting to go to this morning so I had the privilege of getting to spend time with the girls for a while today. We read A LOT of books! I spent a lot of my morning preparing for the Bible Study I had planned to do for the next three Thursdays.. Sadly, this week got cancelled. There was nowhere for us to meet at the Hope Center with lights and since we are meeting at night, that is a problem.. We are going to try to make up tonights study on Monday and then also still have the second study on Thursday of next week. I am really hoping it works out. I was so excited for today, but I just have to remember that God has this plan and while I cannot see it and I have no idea what it may be, He does... Just keep trusting.. God's will is always better than my own.. Always. Today was my third session of English Lessons. It feels like I have been teaching them for so much longer... I got to talk to one of the three girls I am spending time with each day about her family today. It just breaks my heart how some people live. Yesterday she shared with me that she has eight other brothers and sisters and so today I asked if they all lived at the "Hope Center" with her and she told me they don't live in Mysore, but in Bangalore and so that led me to ask where her parents live. Well come to find out.. she told me, "I do not have parents." She then went on to share that her dad was in an accident and passed away a while back and that her mom is not stable for whatever reason. But the only thing that really mattered at that point was that she didn't claim her birth mother as her mother.. It breaks my heart. She is thirteen and has been heavy on my heart. This is actually my translator for English class... I have been praying for a way to build relationships with the girls I am teaching, but little did I know that I would build one with a girl who is translating for me. Oh, I pray that she comes to know the Lord. I am praying for an opportunity to share with her my faith and my relationship that I have grown to have with my God.

Pray with me for:
     1. opportunities to share

     2. the ability to have Bible Study to open back up.. 

          I know God has such a great plan and desire for each one of the girls who will be attending. 

     3. discernment on how to continue teaching in my English Classes 

Day Eight

Wednesday:
Can you believe I have been gone for a week and a half and have been in India for a whole entire week!? I cannot believe it! Time is flying here. I have less than three weeks left and still have so much on my mind to do and see here! Tony is out of town for a few days so it has just been us girls here at the house. Today I slept for the longest I have the whole time I have been here! One I slept all through the night and two I slept until nearly 9am! It felt so good!! Stephany is working on potty training Sarah so Bekah and I got to spend some time just us while Stephany and Sarah worked together. We read books, watched Beauty and the Beast and made bracelets out of pipe cleaners, buttons and beads! Today Stephany made an Indian meal for the first time while I have been here and I actually really liked it! I had the same thing out the first day I came and it was okay, but not something I would want to eat all the time, but what Stephany made was entirely different! I went and had my English lessons again today. Since they were far more advanced than I was expecting I spent a lot of time today in just conversation with them. It was very small conversations, but still it was words. Their main problem is that they do not use the English they know so they then forget the words and how it works. Tomorrow I will try to teach a little more vocabulary and such, but I think for the most part I am just going to try to discuss with them and try to get to know them on a personal level. I know many little facts about them, but would love to know more in order to form a relationship. I am really hoping that they will come to the Bible Study I will be leading on Thursday nights. I had my second experience on the motorcycle again. This time I was a little more comfortable, but the roads and driving here is so crazy that there were a few times where I was wondering if I should just jump off and run behind it! Technically you are supposed to drive on the left side of the road here, but they really drive wherever they feel like it! It makes me nervous.. Something I am going to have to get used to, but I am not sure that I ever will! It has not rained here in Mysore since I arrived. Tonight though it poured! It even began to hail here which is not something that ever happens! The pathways in the apartment are all tile so you can imagine how slippery they were being wet and flooded with puddles.. The girls decided it would be fun to go out and slide around in it so for close to 30 minutes or more they went and crawled and slid around in the puddles. It was so funny to watch! We lost power for a little while, but they have some sort of a generator that kicks in and it allows for just the fans and lights to work. When it came back and Stephany began to cook dinner though the gas ran out so we worked to move the tanks back and forth (they are so heavy we both has to carry them together) to switch them in and out, but neither of us had ever done that so we called on the neighbors and they could not figure it out either, so Stephany when next door and is preparing dinner now. Tomorrow beings the Bible Study and Tony comes home. I will also get to experience my first Auto ride with Krystal! I am loving every minute of being here!!

Day Seven

Tuesday:
I have to admit, I am rather surprised at how often I have been updating! This is not like me! Last night was officially my first night to sleep nearly all the way through the night! It felt so nice to wake up this morning and to realize I didn't wake up for hours in the middle of the night! This morning was pretty relaxing. The girls a few days ago went down to the park and saw a bird fly out of a bush where we later realized there was a nest with a few red eggs in it. With that said, today I took the girls down to the park to see if we could get a closer look at the momma bird so we can find out what kind of bird and eggs they are. We have gotten a few pictures of the eggs (red with black specks on them and very small!) but we cannot manage to get a good picture of the momma bird. However, it does have a red head... Anyways, so I went to the park with the girls and one of their favorite things to do is swing. Bekah can swing on her own, but Sarah needs someone to keep her going so my job quickly became the pusher. However, in addition to pushing Sarah you are required to sing songs to her so tonight I will be doing some research into songs I used to sing as I child... I can hardly remember any! Shortly after the park we came up and read book, after book, after book! They LOVE to read! Stephany and I got to sit down for a while and she was able to walk me through the English program for my lessons this afternoon. It is a really neat curriculum. You take different objects such as people of different ages, different house hold items, animals, etc. and state "This is Grandma" you then proceed to repeat that sentence several times and then you would ask "Where is Grandma?" and slowly add different objects and continue to repete it over and over. I was so excited to begin teaching English! I went into the lessons today thinking that 1. I was only teaching on girl and 2. that I was teaching a girl that knew no English what so ever. Well as it turns out, I am working with two girls but have the privilege of having a girl in there to translate for me when needed and also they know some English! This is so exciting to me because I am going to actually get to form relationships with them! The two girls I am teaching are 16 and 17 and my translator is 13. They are all so sweet and I cannot wait to begin having conversations with them! I will be meeting with them for two hours each day until next Friday (except Saturday and Sunday) if all goes as planned! All the girls I am working work (including the translator) are living in a rehabilitation home. The two I am teaching are in their due to rape and I am not sure why the other girl is.. It is so sad, but very neat that this family has decided to start such a large home. Within the center there is school, church, rooms for the children staying there, etc.
After lessons I came back to the house and got to relax a little bit until dinner. After dinner Stephany, Bekah, Sarah and I went next door and got to visit some more with the neighbors. I love getting to go and just sit with them! It is just really neat to hear about their traditions. She was telling us tonight about what all Hindus wear in order to demonstrate that they are married. Here they have several things: toe rings, a long gold necklace with charms at the end, a nose ring, earrings and the dot above the nose. Wow! I couldn't imagine!
One last thing to share! Today I got to experience my first motorcycle ride! What an experience! I was a little nervous at first since the driving here is just crazy to begin with, but it turned out fine! For now that will be my transportation to the center to teach English, but at some point I may switch to taking an "auto" which is a 3-wheeled car that has no doors. It is kind of like a really mini taxi.

I am so excited and grateful that I am getting to spend a month of my summer here in India. It is unlike any other mission trip I have had the opportunity to go on and I am so grateful that God has chosen to let me be a part of His work here! 

Day Six

Monday:
Wow! I just can hardly believe that I left Northwest Arkansas a week ago! Time has absolutely flown by! I am down to three more weeks and they are going to fly by because as of tomorrow things are going to begin to get a little bit busier each week! Today I got the opportunity to experience an Indian waterpark. I was trying not to have any expectations when I went and well any expectations I had were far exceeded! I was pleasantly surprised by the size and quality of the park! It was really great to get out and experience some different things here in Mysore. Tony and Stephany had never been either so it was a new experience for all of us! I was so happy to see how much fun the girls were having! One of the sweetest sounds is giggles of little girls having a great time! We spent the majority of our day there and now we are back at the house just relaxing. While at the park I had a first experience... I experienced an Indian toilet for the first time. It is better known as a "squatty potty". It is basically a porcelain bowl that looks a lot like a urinal that is implanted down into the concrete floor. There is no toilet paper.. Just a bowl of water to use to clean off... The Indian Culture is a toilet paperless culture for the most part... They do not use their left hand for anything because it is considered dirty since that is what they use instead of toilet paper. Something I don't know that I could ever bring myself to do... After experiencing the "squatty potty" once I chose to wait until we came home to go again... An experience I will never forget..

Tomorrow will begin my being able to meet with and teach a girl some english! I am really excited to get to spend some time with her. Starting tomorrow I will teach her English Monday-Friday from 2-4. I am really excited, but really wish that I was going to get to know her, but due to our severe language barrier that will be difficult. I know no Conada and she knows no English. So for the next three weeks I will be working with her. Starting on Thursday I will be leading a Bible Study. I am really excited about that! I am not sure how many girls yet, but I know God is going to work in some amazing ways! I will be using Shana Olinger's "Battle Gear" study and I cannot wait to begin!!

Missing you all!!  

Day Five

Sunday:
Finally caught up! Today we went to church at "Trinity Baptist Church". We went and picked up Brad and Krystal from their house and then headed to church. Today was the first day that I had to wear the full traditional Indian outfit. It consisted of the Indian pants, tunic and also the scarf. Those are not the technical words for the pieces of clothing.. The church was in a little concrete, one room building that had some large windows for ventilation. Unlike most churches that are not of "western culture" we sat in pews. The pastor spoke in English and then had a guy who translated the service. It began with a very long time of prayers and then moved into singing a few songs. The songs were all in Conada so I am not sure what they were saying, but it was beautiful to be able to sit and listen to how all the different voices blended together. Following the singing the sermon began. It was based mainly out of Isaiah 30:18. The pastor used different stories throughout the Bible that described what happens when we wait on God's timing and when we choose to try and make our own timing instead. Following the service they did another song and passed around the offering baskets and then another time of prayer and dismissed church.
Following church we went to eat at "Big Chicken" it was really yummy! It is kind of like KFC but I liked it a lot better than that. I didn't want any sause on my sandwich and it was really hard for them to understand.. For some reason it is difficult for them to change even the slightest things about a meal... It really was rather funny! While we were waiting for the food to come Stephany went downstairs and did some grocery shopping since it was all in the same building.
We returned and took some naps again! I am loving getting to take all these naps! Especially since I am still not able to sleep all through the night.. Last night I woke up around 10:45 and then 1:30-4am, again at 6am and then finally got up at 8... I laid for a while today and read "Heaven is For Real". It has taken me a long time to finally start it, but I am enjoying it so far. We will see as time goes on. I read for about an hour and then I finally went to sleep and slept for about 2 and a half hours. It felt really nice.

This next week is going to be quite a bit busier. I am really excited to see what is in store and how God is going to choose to work! I cannot believe tomorrow marks one week of my being gone! Time has flown and I have no clue where it all as gone! I am going to cherish the last three weeks I have here.. It is going to fly by the busier I get! 

Day Four

Saturday:

Today was neat! I loved getting to see some of the city here. We went to the Mall of Mysore today. It was a lot larger than I was expecting. There were three levels of stores and then a level with a food court and movie theater. The majority of the stores were European based with one department store, just a few stores I recognized such as: Nike, Reebok and Lee, and then some stores that sold the traditional Indian attire. It is a little funny because I have no idea how these stores stay open. They are very expensive and few people were buying anything. I guess the mall is a popular place to hangout because it is air conditioned but the majority just come and walk around. 

After being at the mall we came back and took some naps (I am still really struggling to get over the jet lag) and then got ready to go to dinner at some friends house. Brad and Krystal had us over for some Lasagna, "butter-dip" breadsticks that Steph made and cheesecake! It was delicious! 

When we got back from dinner we immediately got ready for bed.. It was pretty warm all day so it was pretty draining and exhausting! I got the chance to Skype with David for a little bit which was such a relief. It was much needed to be able to see and hear him! 

Day Three

Friday:
Today Tony and Stephany both had meetings so I got to stay with the girls for just a little while. I am loving getting to be a part of their family here! The girls are a lot of fun and so sweet (most of the time)! It ended up being a pretty relaxing day. Bekah had a friend over for the majority of the day so it was a good day for catching up on sleep and trying to get over the jet lag... I mentioned in my last post that I got to go next door and meet the neighbors. Well Chunada, the girl my age next door, was expressing how she wanted to learn to bake, so Steph invited her to come over on Friday (today). She came over around 11am, but since Steph was at her meeting she came back around 6. It was a lot of fun to be able to sit and teach her how to bake with an american recipe and measurements. While we waited for the cake to bake we just got to sit and visit. I have been told that it is a really neat thing when Indians are comfortable to come to an American's home. The majority of the time we are the ones that go visit people, very rarely do people come to visit in our homes. I am really glad I have gotten to spend a little bit of time with her and really hope to spend more before I leave in June!

Day Two

So this week is going to be a slow week of recouping. It is great to be here, but man is jet lag hitting me hard! I woke up last night at 1am here (2:30pm back home) and then again at 7am (8:30pm) and couldn't go back to sleep. I got a great nap today though and that helped a lot!
Today began meeting some different people. I went and met the lady that works with Special Needs children today and I also got to meet some of the students. Right now school is out here so they are actually not in session of the school year until June 4th. So starting June 4th and through June 8th I will be going each day from 9:30-2:30 to help there. I think I am going to even have the possibility of being able to help teach in the classrooms. I know God has something great in store and I just cannot wait to see what that is going to be. In addition to that, in the weeks before then I am either going to get to work with a girl that is 16 and has been sex-trafficked, in teaching her some english, or I will get to lead a Bible Study once a week with a group of girls who have also been sex trafficked. I guess that is extremely prevalent here, which is so sad.
After the meetin today at the school, the "principal" invited us over to her house so we got to meet with her, her husband, and her two twin boys for a while. It was really neat to be able to meet in the house of some fellow believers. Such a sweet sweet family! I am really excited to work along side them my last week of being here.
Tonight I was also able to go meet the neighbors here. They are Hindi have twins also, a boy and a girl, who are nineteen and attending college. They are both going to Engineers. Education is highly pushed here. It actually begins at the age of 2... Oh my.. There is also a very high increase of suicide here during finals week. I absolutely cannot imagine! They were so sweet though. Tomorrow one of the girls wants to come over so she can learn how to bake a cake! That will be another exciting opportunity to meet and talk with her.
I cannot Believe I am over halfway through a week. Before I know it I will be back on a plane making my 24 hours journey home!

Miss you all! 

And the Journey Begins

Hello Friends!

I am officially in India and all settled in! I am so excited to be here and cannot wait to see what God is going to do! The plane rides all went smooth. I almost missed my flight in London, but I made it! Thank goodness. I got to sit by some of the sweetest people! I met a lady from Fort Smith (what a small world) and we even got to sit together! She has such a sweet story and I loved being able to meet and talk with her! I also got to sit next to this Indian man on my last flight and he was so polite and helpful! I just love the people so far. India reminds me so much of Nicaragua!

I arrived in Bangalore this morning around 5am and then had around a 4 hour drive. So I finally arrived around 9am. It feels so good to be out of a plane and to have showered. Traveling this far of a distance makes for a long few days. I was expecting to arrive in Bangalore on Tuesday morning, but little did I know I would really arrive here on Wednesday.. So my first week is already half over... I cannot believe it.

I am so thankful for all of ya'lls support and all that you have done to make this trip possible. I am loving the Wood's already! They are such a sweet family and I have loved getting to meet their daughters Sarah and Rebecca! I have been given my own room, closet and bathroom! What a blessing to have! I even got the privilege of using hot water!

I will update as the week goes on! We are planning to go meet a lady at one of the schools tomorrow so that I can possibly get involved there!

Cannot wait to see what is in store!
Kaylie