What an amazing trip

Wow this trip has been such an amazing experience for me. I have gotten such a love for the people of india I really do not want to leave! I have made so many life long friends here that I am going to keep in touch with and come and see again. I finally know how it works here and feel like i could do things by myself. My mission is to with in the next few years is bring back my brothers just me and them and show them around and show them what I have seen. MAX YOU WOULD LOVE IT HERE. I wish i could explain in typing how much i have learned but i just can not put it into words! The internet is down at the house so i am sitting at an internet cafe right now. This will probably be the last blog till i get home cause wed morning we get on a bus to leave to traval around india for four days I am really excited to see everything and kayla I am going to get to ride a camal!
Well thats all for now

UPDATE!!!

So I just got home from the village a few days ago and when we got home i had no internet! So i thought I would tell you how the trip went. I think that this was my favorite trip into the village so far. It was more of a you can go off and do what you want to do kind of trip. So i got to spend alot of time being with the little kids and playing with them. One day They wanted to take me on a walk with them in the jungle. So we were walkin around for like an hour and we came to this little stream and so i decided to go and stand on one of the rocks that had water flowing over it and try and get the other three kids to come in with me they wouldnt untill i slipped on the rock and completly fell into the water! Then they all decided to jump in and play with me i was in so much pain but had so much getting to be in water for the first time all summer and getting to see these kids have a little bit of a child hood for once. Another thing i decided to do was go for a walk and i met three kids and stopped to say hi next thing i new i was being invited up for tea and sitting talking to the family on the porch. I was invited back the next day and the teenage girl really seemed to like to have me around. So i would go and visit her during the day. I got to visit with sooshma alot. I have noticed a huge difference in the way that her sibblings are treating her while we were ther and it made me really happy. Like her sister a few years older then her i saw every night would go and wash her off and started bring her ti come see me, wich never happens. The best thing to see tho was when paboo started screaming and yelling at shooshma, Pooja came over and grabed her sister by the hand and started screaming and yelling at him then nicly took her into the house and gave her a plate of rice and dal. It was the most rewarding thing ever.
Untill next time
BYE!!!

Home from the Village (again)

Just talked to Kirra. We hadn't had any contact since last Sunday since she was in the village for the week. She just loved it! Sounds like they got to do alot, and she described several times she got to just sit for an hour and talk with someone. I asked how they communicate since many of them speak little to no English. She said they use small words, jestures and that most of them love the fact that they are spending time with them more than the talking anyways! She called this morning (the house she is staying at has a plan so they can call for 6 cents a minute but it's not usually a very good connection and I spend most of the time trying to figure out what she just told me :), but it feels so good just to hear her voice). She wanted me to blog and just tell everyone that she will post as soon as they get internet as it's been out for a while. So if you have sent her an e-mail she hasn't gotten on in over a week, she is not ignoring you.
She told me she is READING A BOOK! That might be the biggest change that happened on this trip (jk). But if you knew how much Kirra HATED to read, you would be as happy as I am. She is reading "3 Cups of Tea". They read it in school but it was the shorter version. At the time, I don't think she had any idea she would be spending a summer in India and going into schools and villages so I'm sure she is reading it with a whole new understanding now.
So YAH!
Thats all for now. Kirra promised she would go on and blog when they get internet and try and send me pictures. Can't tell you how excited I am to see her and hear about her trip!
Love Pam

Kirra's new pictures

Kirra was able to send some more pictures so I am posting them. I will let her put a description of some of them that I am not sure of. She said she is very happy there (although still more homesick than she thought she would be) and is so excited to start taking day trips into the schools to spend time with the kids... no sleeping in the rain. They are done going into the villages due to the amount of (constant) rain/storms that they will have from here on in. The last village trip it was raining most of the time and they slept in a place where the owner used to keep their livestock so you can imagine how inviting that might have been :)

The girls at an engagement party for one of the women living there. Kirra said it was the best party and they danced all night.

I love this picture. So Kirra

Kirra and one of the only girls she has met that is around her age.

I don't know but this one looks pretty feisty!

Kirra and the other girls bought the little girls to their camp spot and washed all their hair and then braided it and made them feel special.

Looking down from above the clouds into a village

Kirra & Shooshma after they bandaged her up. This little girl will have a special place in Kirra's heart forever.

They all love hugs

I can't remember, will have to go back and check her e-mail (and its 1:58am right now)

One big bad monkey that sits in the front yard.

This is the village they went into and knocked on every door and handed out seeds. Then went back with bibles to anyone that wanted one.

Even in India, kids love an IPOD.

The little girls put Hena on the older girls and then received some artwork from the team. Kirra can't wait to bring some home!!!!

Kirra on her 3rd cup of Chi, although she said she still doesn't really like it? (But she had to replace her Starbucks addiction with something, right?)

A temple they pass on one of the paths

Was anyone wondering if it got cold there at night after the hailstorms? Kirra left her TOMS out after a big storm... but they are TOMS... she dried them out and still good as new!

Kirra and the kids in the village

I am guessing she has quite a few of these pictures. Kirra getting to hang with the people she loves best... the kids!

Kirra, Dani & Emily on the way to the village. She loves these girls

Half way mark on the trip!

So we have hit the half way mark and let me tell you it has gone by really fast! It does not even feel like we have been here for 4 weeks. We only have about 3 weeks left of working with the people of India till we have a week of travling and staying in hotels while we go and do some sight seeing it should be lots of fun! So we just got back from the village last night and it was our last trip that we are going on but i must say that it was also the best one we have gone on. The kids are finally comfortable with us and are more talkative and it was so much getting to play games with them and intruduce them to bubbles and crayons and coloring books. They had a ton of fun with it. I got to see sooshma again and it does not get any easier seeing her. Once again i saw her beaten on over and over again! I finally got enough hindi down to tell the kids No! This is bad. The first day we were in the village she came up to me and pointed to a huge gash in her head that was totally infected, it felt so good getting to have a nurse on our team clean it all up and give her some meds to make it better. It beccame very clear to me that this little girl is shown very little love when I picked her up to take her to go play with the kids and us and she would not let me put her down for an hour! and when she was put down she would run twords me and give me huge hugs. This little girl is always going to be my in my heart! We also brought with us a bunch of hena and did the Hena on all the girls and then they did it to us! Along with Nail polish. It was so cool seeing them laugh and have fun. I am so excited for the next three weeks!

Happy 4th of July!!!

So this week we concluded our third week and i am finally getting a hang of how things work around here! we celabrated the fourth of july last night. It was nothing how we do it in cali! The fireworks were like Gun shots it was insane. We are leaving for the village tomorow and I am super excited to get to go and visit all the new friends that i have made! The girls and people here are amazing! I have met a guy that is a tailor and he is the sweetest man. I have gone and sat at his shop three times now and every time he has offered me to go and have that dreded drink with him and his family, yes that dreded drink is chi! I will never get used to that unless it comes from starbucks in a frap mixed with a shot of esspresso! But he has asked me about my family and what it is like in cali and always ends our conversation with asking us to pray for his family. They dont have a ton of buisness at the store and need the money. I want to thank everyone for emailing me the other day I am feeling homesick and it really helped hearing from people. I will let you know what happens in the village. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

Update!!!

So I am sorry about not updating you guys we went to the village for a few days and i had a ton of fun the first day we walked about two hours to go to a seperate village to pass out vegtable seeds. We got there and it was a really nice village, I think it was a higher class village because the houses were nicer and bigger and they had electricity a rare ocurance of the homes. We were invited in to a few houses to have Chi (Not a fan of chi I must say) Then when we were walking aroud we were dragged into a wedding party it was really cool we got to go and dance and just have fun it was nothing like am american wedding i can tell you that. The next day that we were camping i got sick and ended up staying in the tent all day sleeping. Then the next day we came home I had one day when we were here and got to go into town to pick a few things up and then got sick again yesterday i spent the whole day in bed more sick then the first time. All i was thinking was i want to be at home in my own bed with my mom with me. I am feeling a little better today but am going to take it easy. I will let you know what is going on in a few days!

Why Kirra Noodle?...the true story

Ok, so I had no idea that my entire family, including Mark did not know why we call Kirra - Kirra Noodle!! So I'm assuming most of you don't either. When Kirra was born, a friend of mine Joanne S. had a baby shower for me. She had her boys custom design and make the invitations and she called me and asked for Kirra's full name. I told her and her boys thought she wrote Kirra Noodle instead of Kirra Noelle and that was how they wrote all the invitations. Brigitte (you probably don't even remember this) called me and said did you really name your baby girl Kirra Noodle? I thought it was so funny as several people at the shower had written Kirra Noodle on the envelopes for her gifts. Sooooo..... that is where Kirra Noodle came from and it just seemed to suit her.

On another note, just want to post that we are SO PROUD of our Kirra Noodle! You are an amazing young woman and we are proud to be your family.

Love Your Family

Amazing day with Dani and Zak

So today we had a free day and Me Dani and Zak were feeling adventurous so we decided to walk up the moutain about a 30 min walk to go aqnd see the rest of town we have only seen like the front of it. So we walked up in the storm to the town to go look around and found the goods! Amazing Coffee Shop called Cafe Coffee Day! We went in and it was so nice and cheap I got a really good sandwich, spicy potato wedges, and an iced coffee for four bucks! Beat that

Starbucks. LOL. Then we found a cool book store and went in to look around where I found my dads amazing present; three Indian cook books that I looked through and most the stuff I have tasted and it is amazing! Hint hint dad - lol! I also found a really cool antique store that was really cool! I found an awsome purse that has an elephant on it cause I am tired of lugging my back pack around. My favorite part: Costom sandals that were designed by guess who? ME!!!! So cool! It was an awsome day and I had fun getting to have some bonding time with people from my team in a small group! It was a good resting & free day!

Umm I do not really know...Update?

Umm... Like my mom said the last few days have been rough and pretty heart breaking. My mom told you about shooshma and posted a pic of her please be praying for her she so badly needs to have someone show her love. I have made it my goal to get her to camp to play. I think we all may have gone a little hard on the first vistit we came home and everyone is getting sick. Please be praying for a team member Ruth as she has a 102 fever and is really not feeling good. Today they gave us just a day of rest. It was much needed for most but made me dwell on what I had seen this last few days. This is alot harder then I thought it would be. I am not even sure what it is I am feeling cause there is just too much going through my head but I am not giving up. I am sorry if this post is really scattered I am trying to put thoughts together to write down but am not doing a very good job at it. I am sorry for the lack of pictures my computer is getting rreally weak internet here.

Home from the Village

Well Kirra got home from 3 days in the village and after talking to her online for about an hour, it seems like it was a hard couple of days for her. She will be more prepared when they go back out on Thursday for the next trip to "The Village". Her hardest time was after having lunch with a family with 6 girls. She said the youngest girl named Shooshma, who is 3 years old had downs syndrome (although she doesn't look like she does, I imagine that is what they call some of the mentally handicapped children). Kirra said she had been sitting with her clapping hands and just loving on her and Shooshma was so happy. When they went to eat lunch, she was put in the corner and left there. It broke Kirra's heart as she said Shooshma was just ignored in the house. When the group left, they took kids with them to go play at the campground and Kirra took her by the hand. While they were walking down the street, kids started to throw stones at Shooshma and she ran home. It was very hard for Kirra. They are going to get to go back to see the family and Kirra has printed her picture and will bring it back for her as the people love to get a picture of themselves. I am posting some other pictures because it took Kirra almost 2 hours to be able to send them to me. She was really tired so said she would go on when she wakes up and post then about the pictures and the rest of the trip. I have always known that Kirra has a gift for loving the unloveable. Please pray that her heart is not too broken in the process. I never want her to lose that.

Love Pam

Shooshma

I just love this picture. Looks like something out of a magazine.

I LOVE this place!!!

I am falling in love with this Country so fast!!! It is beautiful and the people are full of so much love! Today was the first day that I felt this is where I am supposed to be. We got to stop on the corner at a shop where a family was asking for a picture we stopped for 30 min and were singing and dancing with them on the side of the road! It was the most touching thing when the Mother said to us you people are very Kind I will never forget you. It touched my heart. I am sorry mom you may never get me to come home! I am learning so much and cant imagine spending my summer any other way than how I am now. Tomorow we leave for the village and I am sure I will come home with lots of storys from that.

First Storm in India.

Namaste! (Hello)
Lesson #1 LEARNED!!! The monkeys ya they look completly inocent but really like to come up and grab what ever is in your hands... or they just throw rocks at you!
I am having a great time here in India I got to go to a church yesterday and thought it was awsome! They translate everything from Hindi into english. I am completly shocked at how many people here speak english!
I also got to experience my first storm including... Thunder,Lightning,Rain, and Hail!!! 30 mins after the storm Sunny again!!! It was so cool though The picture above is of someone teaching me and ruth the garwalli dance in the rain. We had tuns of fun. Then we came up and had some team fun.
My team is amazing and alot of fun. we are always laughing and making the best of everything!
Tomorow we leave on our first camping trip in the village and I am excited! I will let you all know what happens

Kirra is in India

We received an e-mail from Kirra last night and then again this morning!! She is safely sleeping as I write. She said the flight was incredibly long but the airplane was a 2-story plane so that made the trip a little bit nicer. She wrote that there were monkeys and cows all over the place and a bat hangs outside her door at night! Hmmm... can't wait to see how she does with that one. They got to the home they are staying at last night which is their morning (they are 12 1/2 hours ahead of us), and they left to go to town to order the traditional clothing for the girls to wear while they are there. She said she is REALLY tired so I'm sure they went to bed very early. I was so happy to hear from her and can't wait til I actually get to talk with her (maybe tonight as we go to bed and as she starts her day). She said her leg is healing and starting to feel much better so that is a wonderful answer to prayer. I'm hoping she can post some pictures soon.
Pam

Three days in florida!!!

It is about 30 min away till i leave for the airport to leave. I am getting super excited! Over the last few days I have got to here a lot of awsome speakers and gotten to know my awsome team!I had a few rough days of not knowing if this is where i am supposed to be after getting a rash on one of my legs. I am cleared to travel though and am 100% reasured that this is what i should be doing! The girls on my team have helped me see that!!! I have taken a few pics of orientation but have not put them on my Laptop. They will be coming soon!!!

Thanks For Celebrating with Kirra

Thank you to everyone that came to congratulate Kirra on her High School Graduation and make her feel loved as she leaves for India. She arrived at her starting destination safely and has spent the last 3 days with her fellow travelers getting to know them. After a few days of anxiety over whether an unknown rash would prevent her from traveling, we are so thankful that she has been cleared for travel. Our house has been VERY quiet the past few days so that will take some getting used to. I have great photo's of everyone that came to help celebrate - posted on my facebook as there were just too many to post here. So go and check them out. (Pamela Proctor Chevalier)