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!