Back in the U.S. of A.

I'm back home now, just posting some final photos online at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83185&id=697459212&l=cc5d3d1810

I miss the kids terribly. Trying to get back into life here, which is intense since we have an upcoming move to Chicago. (For those who don't know, I am starting my Master of Divinity this fall at Meadville Lombard, where I was recently awarded a full-tuition scholarship.) The new adventure is amazing and I am so grateful for all of it, but planning a move back to a big city is starting to make me hyperventilate a bit. And of course, it's keeping my mind off of India, which is good and bad, I guess. No huge emotional breakdowns...yet. But like I said, I am missing the kids like crazy. It's hard to feel my way through it because nobody here knows the kids. To everyone here - even Matt - they're just little brown children in photos. The pictures can't convey their perfect personalities or the depth of love I feel for them. It's this really foreign world that has suddenly become very personal to me, and I think that's what makes this transition hard.

Hoping to start compiling my thoughts and journals into a book this week - I'm sure that will help me to process everything. In the meantime, I'm going to wait by the phone for the girls to call me from India. (I left them with my cell phone, which I loaded with 1000 minutes so they can call me whenever they want. I jump for joy every time they call.) And I'll keep thinking of them and praying for them and sending all the love I got out to the subcontinent so they know I'm still there....

More New Pics of the World's Cutest Kids

Just added about a dozen more photos to the link below, so click it again to check them out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75875&id=697459212&l=9f3fe88242

Thirty is definitely the new black!

So I celebrated my 30th birthday last weekend with a full-blown party. It was probably the biggest party I have ever had, being that about 140 guests were in attendance (most of them under the age of 16, but whatev). It was amazing and spectacular and I have never felt so loved - not just by the kids, but also by the wonderful letters and cards I received from my friends and family back home. Thirty is totally rad!

I met two new friends at my birthday party. One of them is a friend of a friend from Florida, and she lives here in Hyderabad! Small world... She and her roommate were sweet enough to come to the shindig AND to invite me to spend this weekend at their super snazzy apartment in Hi-Tech City - which is where I am now. Pizza, wine, and hot showers, oh my! They are fabulous girls and I am psyched to be embarking on a girlie weekend with the ladie of H-bad. So I will keep this short and go get my groove on with the girls. In the meantime, here are a few pics of the birthday festivities... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75875&id=697459212&l=9f3fe88242

Wish you were here!

Love to all,
Mae

Donations Needed for Summer Fun!

Dear friends and family,

Some of you have already received my email about this, so if that's the case, please disregard this. And if you have sent me a donation, THANK YOU. I cannot tell you how much the kids and I appreciate it.

For those of you who haven't gotten my email, I am requesting small donations that will go towards fun summer activities and treats for the 120 children at the home. Their summer holidays begin in just a couple of weeks, so it would be nice to be able to do some special activities with them during their break from school. If you are able to donate just $5 or $10, I will use it towards supplying the kids with special treats that they don't normally get to enjoy, like ice cream, trips to the zoo and the cinema, and hopefully even a visit to Snow World (a theme park dedicated entirely to snow!) or Ramoji Film City (India's Universal Studios). By Indian standards, these theme parks are very spendy, but at only about $5 American per child, it's quite a bargain compared to our theme parks in the U.S.!

I know the economy is terrible right now and I'm sure you are hesitant to give away anything during such tough times, which is quite understandable. But if you would like to contribute any small amount, you can be sure I will put it to good use helping the kids to have some fun and memorable times. If you are willing and able to contribute, you can use Paypal to send the donation directly to the email address homemaed@gmail.com . I will be able to access the donations quickly and easily so that the kids can start enjoying the benefits of your generosity right away. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you all are enjoying the arrival of spring!

Love from India,Mae

Subcontinental Homesick Blues

Well, I'm experiencing some major homesickness this week, so feel free to drop me a line if you have time - I know it would help to hear how everyone is back at home. I just discovered today that you have been posting comments here, so I just now saw them all for the first time! So it's probably better if you email me directly at my gmail account to make sure I actually see your message.

I visited another Child Haven home in Tamil Nadu this week, and that certainly contributed to my homesickness. Going to the airport and boarding a plane that wasn't heading home was a bit sad, and also, it was rough to uproot myself again, even if only for a few days. I am just now getting comfortable at my home-away-from-home in Hyderabad, so it was disorienting to go to a whole new place and start all over. Needless to say, I was very happy to return, and I was overjoyed to see "my" kids again! The children in Tamil Nadu are also great, of course, but I missed all of our little buggers like crazy!

I was also just plain glad to make it back to H-bad safe and sound, as I was entirely convinced the whole time in Tamil Nadu that I was going to die of a scorpion or snake bite. I know, I know, I am so paranoid, but several people had told me they run rampant there, so I was terrified! (For the record, I didn't see any of either variety!) However, at one point, my rear-end started burning like crazy in one concentrated spot, as though something had stung me. I rushed to my room and used a handmirror to check it out (gag), only to see a big red welt! Well, I was sure that this was it, and my wonderful life was over. I ran to the nurse so she could check, and she was busy nursing her baby. So I sat with her, feigning patience, while she finished nursing and proceeded to powder the baby head-to-toe, apply ink marks to the baby (for identification purposes in case the baby is ever taken), dress the baby, and put her down for a nap. The whole time I just knew that the venom was seeping into my veins and suffocating me from within, but I just smiled and waited. When she finally looked at my snow-white bottom, she assured me that it was not an insect bite but had been caused by the heat, which is merciless and humid in Tamil Nadu. Thank Shiva! She patched it up for me and I went to lie down for a bit. But about an hour later, I was suddenly very dizzy and disoriented, thirsty beyond all recognition, and nauseous. This time I knew beyond all shadow of a doubt that death had me in its claws! Surely she had misdiagnosed me and the terrible venom was slowly poisoning me. So wouldn't you know, I just burst into sobbing wails in front of everyone! Two lovely older ladies who were volunteers there took me to their room to mother me for a bit, and the nurse was beckoned once again. She was adamant that it was not an insect bite, and it was suggested that I was dehydrated. Well, if you know me, you know that I am constantly drinking water, and that is no different over here, so I thought this couldn't be the case. But then the nurse brought to my attention the fact that I haven't been ingesting much salt (they don't put it in the food often here) and I was sweating like a wildebeest in the humidity. Turns out she was right. After some electrolytes, two liters of water, and a nice sleep, I felt like a million bucks. Hooray for not dying!

Speaking of being terrified... two nights ago on of our girls suddenly felt that she was being possessed by an evil spirit. Unfortunately, no one came to get me, so I did not bear witness to all of this, but I heard many accounts of it from children and staff the next day. Apparently, this happens every so often with some of the girls. She says all she could see was red and she couldn't even see her own reflection in the mirror! She was apparently saying that she was the devil and wanted to die, and she was trying to run away to hurl herself into a well. Scary, no? Poor girl was so shaken all day yesterday. The western-style doctor came and blamed it on - what do you know? - dehydration, but that seems like pretty extreme behavior to come as a result of dehydration. The staff all believe she really was possessed, however, and because the girl is Christian, they called the parish priest to come by for an exorcism! So Father Sebastian roared into the yard yesterday afternoon, an old Indian man with white hair and a long white priest's robe, riding a shiny red motorcycle painted with the word "Pleasure" on the side! (I couldn't make this up if I tried.) All the children were gathered for a special prayer and blessing. I was a bit squeamish at first since most of our children are NOT Christian, and it is very important to Child Haven that we honor every child's religion, but Father Sebastian opened the prayer by calling to God by all his names (Allah, Shiva, Yahweh, Jesus, etc.) and saying that all are one God, so we can each pray to our own God and know that they are all one. I really appreciated that, especially coming from a Catholic priest! He also read a passage from the Bible (in Telugu) and later explained to me that it was about washing away impurities in the soul. Well, this was incredibly ironic, because just as he finished, the septic tank pumping truck rolled into the yard to pump out our tank! Ha! Talk about impurities.... Anyway, after the prayer and the reading, he splashed Holy Water on all the children, with a special focus on the troubled girl, and into each of the children's rooms in the building. I think it made all the children feel a bit less fearful of what had happened, so if it eases their minds to call on God, I say more power to them. I certainly don't know enough about the mysterious powers of the universe to say what really happened - dehydration, depression, or possession - but we should try everything to get the girl feeling better.

Well, that's the bulk of the excitement coming to you live from India. It took my about three hours to write this and to post the pics (below) due to a power outage at the internet cafe. Power outages happen every day here, which is a bit of the pain, but it's teaching me some good Indian-style patience. So go back and read this all again and be sure to savor every word since it was such a pain in my heat-rashed behind to accomplish this!

Lots of love,
Mae

PS - Posted more pics - a lot this time, and they are even rotated properly! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64840&id=697459212&l=ee6a4

PPS - Just taught the kids to sing "What a Wonderful World!" It is awesome and I will video it to post here soon. That's right, I'm bringing a little Louis Armstrong to the subcontinent! Rock on!

Trying to post more photos, but it takes such a ridiculously long time, so there are only a few here, and two of them I could not get to rotate! Sorry about that, but here they are: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64840&id=697459212&l=ee6a4

Will try to upload more again soon!

Still feeling much more tired than in real life. I think I am having trouble adapting to the pollution and dust and heat. It was 100 degrees yesterday and it is still considered cool winter weather! Other than that, things are good. I just started a creative writing project with the kids to help them with their English writing skills. Should be interesting! Some are quite good with their English, others speak almost none (even though they are schooled in it). Yesterday just before the school bus came, one of the second grade girls showed me a two-rupee coin she had. I asked, "What will you purchase with it?" Blank stare. So I said, "What will you buy with your two rupees?" "Money," she exclaimed. "Yes, I know it is money, but what will you spend it on?" "Yes!" she said, and ran for the bus. Like I said, the creative writing project should be interesting....

I am going to visit another Child Haven home at Kaliyampoondi next week for a few days. It is in the southernmost state of India, Tamil Nadu. Their home is huge - 250 kids! Will be interesting to see how it compares to the home I'm at. But I'm a bit nervous - apparently, I need to be careful of snakes and scorpions at this home. Yikes!

The kids had a huge dance show at their school last week. It lasted over four hours! Not your typical American Christmas pageant! It was wonderful - they all worked so hard on their dances, and their costumes were amazing. Photos weren't coming out too good, but I am going to try to video one of the small children doing his dance, because it is pretty much the greatest thing I have ever seen!

Gotta run for now. Be well!

Getting into the Rhythm of Life

I know I haven't been blogging too often, and unfortunately, that probably won't change. Internet access is limited and rather slow, so it's hard to find the opportunity. But I am keeping a very detailed daily journal, and I may try to compile it into a book upon my return, if I am feeling particularly ambitious! We'll see....

For now, I will say that I am just now getting into the flow of things here. Just two days after I arrived at the home, Bonnie-ma came, so all was especially busy with her visit. And unfortunately, the busy-ness of that led to my getting quite sick for the past two weeks. I think it was just a throat infection, but when combined with the jet lag and extreme change of environment, it left me extremely exhausted for two weeks! Terrible! I felt so awful, just languishing in bed every day, unable to play with the children. I have started to feel better just the past couple of days, and I hope I stay healthy for the rest of my stay in India.

All the resting time did afford me the opportunity to make Valentines for all the children, which was nice. My hand was quite sore after cutting out 125 pink hearts with a pair of sub-standard Indian scissors! I tried my best to make sure I spelled every child's name right on their Valentine (with names like Parmeshwari and Hanumanthu, this is not an easy task!), and I think I had about a 95% success rate. The kids were thrilled with the Valentines! The older boys all hung them on the wall in their room, and some others put them into their diaries. I think it is quite rare that they receive anything that is personalized since there are so many of them, so this was a special treat. I always loved Valentine's Day as a school child, because I thought the exchange of Valentines was so much fun! I thought it would be nice to share that with the kids here, who otherwise would not have had any type of Valentine's Day celebration (even though V-Day is a holiday here in India).

I've also had loads of reading time during my recovery, during which I read Obama's "Dreams from My Father" and Elisabeth Bumiller's "May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons," both quite good. I also read "The Mermaid Chair," which I did not like at all, despite loving "The Secret Life of Bees." But as Matt always teases me about, I read it to the end anyway! (Once I start a book, I am simply unable to stop, in the hopes that a bad one will redeem itself by the end. Usually doesn't happen, but I never learn my lesson!)

Because of being sick and having Bonnie-ma's special visit, today was only the second morning that I woke up with the children. At 5am, a VERY loud school bell goes off for about 60 seconds throughout the home, followed by about 5 minutes of VERY loud Hindi music! It is still pitch-black outside and quite cool at that time. All the kids brush their teeth right away and then assemble for morning prayer (which incorporates all the children's religions). Then, the boys head outside to do some morning exercises. It was fun to join them, and I plan to make it a regular habit, although next time, I will wear something more practical than my nightgown! After the exercise, we all head in for hot, fresh soy milk, which is prepared each morning at the home. Delicious! I asked one of the girls if they also did exercises, and she giggled and said to me (as though it were so obvious), "No, sister! We girls have to do our hair!" Silly me.

I am very happy to finally be getting into the rhythm of things here and hope I will stay good and healthy now! If you have a moment to send me some mental wishes for health, I'm sure your positive energy will do me a lot of good!

Hope all are well!

Love from the subcontinent,
Mae