Bamindian

I think it will be hard to come back the same American teen I left as. I have now picked up a bit of Brazilian culture and a lot of Indian culture and have come out this new ethnicity…”Bamindian”. We are the type who talk with a lot of energy and volume while also being very drawn back and quiet. We eat lots of rice and lots of beans any way you look at it. We believe in having personal space but also in hugging constantly. We try to stay away from personal questions but find ourselves asking them anyways. As you can see this cultural mix brings on a multitude of confusing contradictions but let me tell you this. It is a heck of a good time being Bamindian despite the spinning head.
It is especially fun when your name is “Alys” because Brazilians tend to put the hard “e” sound at the end of a lot of their words which changes my name to Alysee which then makes all the Indian girls fall apart into laughter as in Hindi the word “alysee” means “lazy”. You can imagine the clever puns being created over here. This mix is nothing but laughter at the end of the day

Holiday Fun

Hey all, I hope you all are beginning to feel you own summer’s on their way. It has been fun to have mine start a bit early this year. The girls all finished exams by April 13th and everything since then has been a blur of fun. A lot of my time here thus far has been focused around helping these girls as much as I could with their schoolwork and English. But now it is nothing but games and shenanigans.
We just finished a camp program yesterday. I spent all the week before planning it with the group of Brazilian women. We took the girls to a place called a Gymcana. It is a gym, pool, outdoor area, and restaurant all put into one. In raising funds for my trip to India I was able to have an extra sum of money to give to Ashasthan. This sum has provided for this whole summer camp for these girls. So thank you all of you who supported me in this trip because you have also given these girls a highlight to their summer and me a highlight to my trip. A lot of these girls came to Ashasthan right before the school year began so they have not yet had a summer holiday experience here. It was a really healing time for a lot of these girls. The whole week was packed with their joy as they played each new game or sang a new song. The potato sac race was a favorite of the girls to play and the staff to watch.
Being a kid is something Indian children are robbed of in a lot of ways. They are either trapped in poverty and lose a lot of the childlike carefree days they deserve or they are in school here which is pretty demanding all on fronts. There is a lot of pressure put on kids here from their parents and teachers. It was truly a blessing to see these girls completely free of it. To have five beautiful days of playing games, sleeping in the grass, eating samosas, and swimming in the pool, the photos explain a lot better then my words can.
I now have a little over two weeks left. I will be in constant motion until I leave. I will be going fmr house to house teaching a few crafts to the girls and hopefully slipping in my long awaited for hip hop lessons. We now finally have the free time for it. I will be moving back and forth still fmor the house of the smallest girls to the staff home. Then on May 13th I will be headed out of Navi Mumbai and no my way to Delhi to meet up with Grace Starbird. Atie and Nicole Patierno will arrive in Delhi shortly after us. WE have about three weeks together traveling around a bit. It will be really nice to spend some time seeing more of India and preparing for my transition back home.

The Glass is Feeling 2/3 Empty

10 weeks of my 15 at Ashasthan have come to a close and I am definitely feeling the sadness begin to sink in. While someone reminded me today that 5 weeks is still a very long time I cannot help but begin to miss everything already. India has been a hard place for me to not fall completely in love with. I wondered if after longing to come for so many years if I would find myself disappointed. I have found quite the opposite. I have found every expectation more then met. The saddest and most broken parts of India are the ones that complete it for me. I would never wish tragedies on anyone or any country but I have found that it creates a very genuine view of life. The joys are all the more meaningful because of how in touch everyone is with the reality that not every joy is lasting and not any joy should be taken for granted.
Parting with India will be extremely hard but nowhere near as heart wrenching as it is going to be to say goodbye to the girls. They are in every way my little sisters. I have been so grateful for my time with each one of them and feel that God has really poured into my short time here in giving me the opportunity to know more about each one then just their name and face. I was telling them that I have always been the baby in my family and that being their big sister has meant the world to me.
So while I only have 1/3 of the goodness left to drink in and while time will fly in a way that I will feel I have chugged it down, I will savor the taste of it all as it is one to be cherished for a long, long time to come.

Away in Bombay

I got to spend this last weekend in old Mumbai as opposed to Navi (new) Mumbai where Ashasthan is. It was kind of an unexpected getaway that came together pretty perfectly. Grace Starbird, a friend of mine working in Dehli who most of you know, came to visit for a few days. Another friend, Dave Paterson, who is interning for IJM in Calcutta, was also in for the weekend. I got to go take a look at IJM’s Mumbai offices with him and meet some of the staff there which was a really great experience and one I was very much hoping to get.
Afterwards we met up with Grace and began the typical tourist’s day. A ten stop jeep tour around the city where we could get out for as long as we wanted at each stop. The stops included a fisherman’s community, the public baths, Gandhi’s house, the Gateway of India, Tower of Silence, Jain Temple, seaside Marine Drive, the Hanging Gardens, and more. My favorite was defiantly the fisherman’s community. All of these kids were playing on huge floating bags of styrofoam and doing handstand to impress us foreigners accompanied by cameras. Old men all lay taking naps along the shore, perfectly situated between their simple homes and atypical work places. The boats were all covered with flags of every color which contrasted nicely to the very grey back drop of ocean and Mumbai skyline. It was as picture perfect as anything could get for me. It was also so incredible to see Ghandi’s house and read through some of his famous letters. He was such an influential man in the world but specifically India so part of appreciating the development of this country is recognizing those like him who played such a huge part in it.

The public baths were also a really interesting thing to see. Hundreds of pants and shirts lined up inspired the obvious “How do you know which is yours?” questions which were answered by blank stares. The best part about this stop was a little boy who came and just stood next to us the whole time. He was unbearably cute but that is not why his presence struck me. It was because it was the first time I had a child come to stand beside me without asking for anything. He was just content to be there. As we went to the car to leave he followed us to the curb. He jumped and clapped as we drove past him. The view of his jumping frame in the back window is one that will stick with me for a long time.

By the time we reached the last stop we were wiped. We had an ice cream by the ocean right as the sun was beginning to set. The next day we took a thirty-minute ferry to get an incredible view of the whole city. Then we took a stroll down Fashion Street before lunch. After lunch we went to Crawford Market. The hustle and bustle of that place cannot be contained. It seeps out of this very old broken down building into any surrounding space it can find. A short walk through this market leaves you drained of any energy you may have left after two days in Mumbai. We went to take a short rest before catching the double decker evening tour of the city. We managed to be the only ones signed up for the tour so we got the whole bus to ourselves. I could not have asked for a more perfect way to end the weekend. Being able to walk around the top of a double decker bus and take shots of a city that completely stole my heart was like a fairy tale for me. I am a full blood city girl and just two days in Mumbai confirmed it to be true no matter where I am in the world. If any of you ever get the opportunity to travel to India you absolutely have to make a stop in Mumbai.

Grace and I

A shot from are very own double decker

Exam Time

This past week I had to give an oral English exam to all of the Brazilian women that I have been teaching English to four times a week. It was a very interesting experience but also a very encouraging one. Just three weeks of meeting with them and even I can see where they have improved. It is such a joy to get to know them and to be able to give to them in such a simple way. These women are incredible and have dived head first into the work here at Ashasthan. The funniest moment of the exams for me had to be when I was getting them to name objects so I could check how they have retained vocabulary. I pointed to a key and one of the girls responded with “chabi” which is the Hindi word for key. It pretty much sums up how they have spent the last three weeks. Completely immersed in all things new and trying to pick up as much of two languages as they can. I told her I wouldn’t mark any points against her for that one. : )

Front Row Seat to Colliding Cultures

About a week ago Ricardo and Glaucia arrived back in India. They are the Brazilian couple in charge of Ashasthan who went home to Brazil after three years of staying grounded in India. There son was tiny when they left so he was completely unrecognizable to all their family and friends. They were happy to have had time in brazil but you could see they were thrilled to be home. It is so nice to know them and have them back. The girls especially were ecstatic to see them again. It has also been incredibly neat to get to know the 7 other Brazilian women they brought with them. The women range from ages 24-55 and are all very excited to be here. They all come from the ministry school that Dad spoke at during his time in Brazil. This is the same school that started Ashasthan.
With their arrival comes a new challenge set before me. I have now begun three weekly classes with these Brazilian women. It is difficult to teach women older then me but they are very grateful for the help and I am happy to give it. These new classes have helped me grasp a little more the reason God has placed me in this role of teaching English. Ashasthan has been praying for more staff to come in as it is their only hope of being able to open new homes. God has brought the staff to work for this next year, possibly longer, but the only obstacle is the language barrier. I have this incredible honor of being able to help both sides communicate with one another so that on my departure I can see a lasting fruit to my time here in the way these Brazilian women will be serving and loving these girls after I leave. While I still feel completely ill-equipped for the role a lot of the time I am finding new creative ways to try to teach. It was a huge blessing to me to see Glaucia’s shocked face as she heard the girls speaking in English. The improvement has been hard to notice at times for me but her coming in having not witnessed the process brought fresh perspective I really needed.
The other really cool thing about the Brazilians all being here for me has been to watch two very different cultures from my own interact with one another. I have been blown away by this experience and have never seen something like it. I loved seeing the girls all meet them for the first time. The Brazilians are very loud and energetic and the girls are all very quiet and shy at first. Indians by nature are very timid and drawn back for introductions. It was hilarious to watch these women tackle these girls in huge hugs and serenade them with high-pitched squeals. The girls were a bit shocked and one came running to hide by my side. Once the newness wore off the girls were very happy to talk and laugh with all their new Di-Dis (big sisters). Every moment form then on has continued to add to my captivation with this blend of differences I am seeing. It has also proved a delicious blend as I had a Brazilian lunch and Indian dinner today.
Last time I wrote things were a bit up in the air in regards to where I would be living. The plan (at least for the next couple weeks, which is kind of how things go planning wise here) is that I am living half of the week at Sani’s house with all of the younger girls and half of the week at Ricardo and Glaucia’s home. From Ricardo and Glaucia’s home it is a lot easier for me to get to the other 3 homes of girls. This way I am getting to see all of the girls each week, time to experience living on site with them, as well as time with Ricardo and Glaucia. Yet again God has proved himself a better planner of my days.
A little more then two weeks to go now and then the girls will be out for summer break. I think I might be more excited then some of the girls. Summer vacation in India sounds like good times to me! It will be an especially fun way to end my time here. I am so happy I will have got to see Ashasthan both during the school year and the summer break. I am nearing the mark of my second complete month her in India. I am so stunned by this. Time is slipping so quickly by and I am trying to eat as many Indian street snacks, take as many photos, learn as much Hindi, and savor as many of these girls smiles as I can.

Lots and Lots of Laughter

The transition into living in Sani’s home with 9 of the girls has gone so well. Thank you to those of you who have been praying me through it. Living with the girls has given me a whole different view into who they are and has opened up so many more ways to get to know them. Staying up late with the two older teens getting the house cleaned and ready for the day, waking early for morning exercises led by the small girls at 5am, sitting with Sani for a cup of chai when all the girls have left for school or tutoring. These women and young girls are incredible. The more they speak the more I am left with such appreciation for what makes us so unique yet still able to relate.
My housing situation is a bit unsure as of right now but I am happy to go with the flow as thus far I have been in two wonderful homes filled with wonderful people. We just got news today that the couple that lead Ashathan are returning form their 3 month sabbatical and bringing seven new volunteers from Brazil. Everyone is very excited and with the excitement comes lots of preparations to be made and shuffling of housing, which is why I am waiting to see where I will end up! The craziness is fun and I am learning to embrace every moment of cluelessness on my part.
Ok, so more about this past week of moving into Sani’s homes. I wake every morning at 5:00 with the girls, sometimes 5:30 if we’re lucky. I lead the morning devotions for them all and then we have a time of prayer together. Words cannot express the sound of these girls praying all at one time together. Then the day begins full swing. Each girl seems to have a different schedule of when school or tutoring starts. There are times when all the girls are out at the same time which is when Sani and I do a clean of the house and prepare lunch. I am being taught how to cook by about ten different women. It is funny because they all have different ways of doing things so my head is swimming with recipes. Most of the day there are girls coming in and out of the home. I do major “study” time between 12-4 with the younger girls. I use quotation marks because never have I been apart of a study session with so much giggling. At 6:00 the older girls come home. I get to have tea time with them all and then Revadi (who is 16) and I start preparing dinner together. For the next 4 weeks a lot of my time will be spent helping these girls cram for their final exams. They need a lot of help in English before they get to test day.
April 15 will be a day of much celebration as by then all 30 girls will have finished the school year and summer holiday will begin. The books are all put away! I am looking forward to my last month being while the girls are on break as it will hopefully open up the time for some new fun.
For now we do a pretty good job or squeezing all the fun out of exam prep that we can. Yesterday was Holi Day here, which is a festival where people throw water and color all over each other. The girls aren’t allowed to participate which is hard for them all to understand as they watch the festivities from their window, so we decided to get a bit creative. We began to clean the house. Fun, right? Well it is when your whole house has tiled floor and you decided to make a slip and slide out of the whole thing with bubbles and water. Buckets were flying, we were all soaked. The girls were on their bellies sliding through the whole house. It was one of the funniest things I have ever been apart of. Seeing these girls in hysterical laughter is gorgeous.
In a house full of so many young girls you can be sure there is mischief around every corner. I never know when Roshni is about to jump out and scare the life out of me or Angeli is going to perform her favorite joke of blowing in my ear. Arjuna constantly has her hands in my hair creating some new masterpiece. Priti likes to spray me with Clorox. There is so much joy packed into this house even with all the past sadness. At the end of every day I am left so grateful for the time I get with each of these girls.

*I have not had a chance to upload all the recent pics but they will come soon!