Brewed senses

Good evening or Good morning or anything in between! Today marks my fourth week in India and the time seems so long YET so controllably quick. This week we finally ventured back into the city after waiting around for the green light, since we were on red. But we realized that we have to live in the RED. We got a group of eight and headed to Abids a great eccentric area! Half of us went crazy at an art supply store and the other half went crazy over shoes (each to their own)! We meet up for dinner and the boys found us “this place,” maybe Bargara or something. I might not be able to remember the name of “this place” but the food was UNFORGETTABLE. We were feed like kings and queens for about 4 American dollars each! We cried, laughed, sniffed, cried, and could not stop eating the overwhelmingly spicy dishes. The rice, the naan, the yogurt, and the water…nothing could cure the burning sensations felt through my entire body. “It hurts so good!” My friend Thi let out. We all exchanged grins over the longest 30 minutes. Being a veg has never been so crazy! My senses were heightened! My mouth was awakened and each taste will never be forgotten.
I believe this awakened sense was the beginning of my weekend (so far). I audited Philosophy of Human Rights this morning with friends! One of our favorite professors teaches so I went just engage my brains and I was not disappointed. The class was so full we had to find a new classroom where he dove right in, “Everyman is born free but is everywhere in chains.” Then moving into law and state. What and who defines these big words. What freedoms are we willing to give up for our rights? (Is your mind going? ya!) I ate it up! My ears were pushing to get every word, follow every concept. I wanted to hear the direct phrasing and hear every joke. I was open to hear. This statement may sound simple but TRY IT.
Then went out and visited our kids today! (If not another sense could be engaged) I missed them and they remembered me, which still makes me smile right now. A couple of my main girls were missing and I was bummed. This school is trying, but with 50 kids and 2 teachers it’s hard. We brought out 16 students today, so half of us helped build a barbed wire fence to keep animals (goats, dogs, buffalo, cows) out of their bamboo made school, while the other half played with the kids! Finally before we left my girls strolled by. With the language barrier we only get so far and then just laugh, giggle, and stare, but I wanted to know why they didn’t come to school. “School?” I yell as I make my way to cut them off. I knelt in close and the oldest girl quietly describes something about head hurting (maybe), body hurting (maybe) and food to deliver. Hahaha…she could quickly see I wasn’t following so I knelt in closer. She slowly reached out her soft brown hand and grabbed by chin. In this instance I became the innocent child and she became the wise old grandma. She cared for me and wanted me to understand. Her touch still feels warm to my face. I found out later that their dad was sick or got injured from work and it was their place to take of him. They missed school to care for their dad.

I will dig into this topic more tomorrow after visiting another kind of school. To be continued…

(Please pray for our direction with these kids, they are purely a gift from God! We are thinking something like kids-with-cameras.org/ )

(photo taken by molly)