Day 3

In the mornings between breakfast and school, kindergarten through 4th grade gathers on the porch of the girls' dormitory to recite the alphabet and counting. Children take turns standing in front. That girl says it, and then the rest says it. The girls and boys are separated a lot of the time. For eating, downtime, and of course their dormitories

This is Anna. Anna is from Utah, and is an amazing figure drawer. She is here for the next 2 months, before starting BYU. She is teaching art classes to 7 & 8 grade, as well as the drawing class for the special kids. It has been very nice to have another American girl around, and we are so similar! It's weird to think how old I am... She's 19, and by the time she is my age, Winter will already be 22! I might even be a grandma by then; Now that's a scary thought!!
Today I acted as the school photographer. I wanted to get class pictures are well as individual shots of these super cute kids. I only finished about half of the school. The hardest thing was to make them smile. For some reason they are insecure about their smiles, even though their teeth are pearly white.

Joe showed some of the kids a video that my kids made in the summer.

Pathway has to feed a lot of kids. And each meal is a warm meal which is prepared by the cooks. Most meals consist of rice with a sauce. Then there's a side with vegetables, or tortilla type things, or rice made crisps.

They make us sit at a separate table, and they cook different food for us. I wish we could just eat the same as the kids, but they are very worried that that food will be too spicy for us. My favorite is the warm sweet milk that is served with breakfast and dinner. It comes fresh from the school's dairy cows.

I think I might have a rash on my forearms. Heat rash, or maybe some little insect.. I can't possibly have that many mosquito bites on my arms! Plus, the itching is under my sleeve.

Day 2 at the farm

I made the mistake of going to bed early (9pm), and am paying for it now at 1am, not being able to sleep at all. Our first full day at the farm was fantastic. We really got a better feel for the day to day activities that the children go through. Although we missed breakfast, the staff saved us a special plate.

The largest scorpion I've ever seen

The Benac tractor

While all the children at the Chennai center are disabled, most children at the farm are “normal” children whose parents can’t take care of them for one reason or another. They live at the farm, and also attend school here. The education is excellent. It is all given in English, so the children learn to speak a second language. Their native tongue is Tamil.

Wanting to help, I asked the principle what I could do. He asked which subjects I am good at, to which I answered math. He seemed excited, and took me to 9^th grade where he would teach math the coming hour. He said I could watch first, and then teach. Wow! If I had known how advanced this math would be, I might have never said I was good at math! Super complicated Algebra equations that I don’t remember how to solve. It was fun though to switch on my brain, and try to follow along. Next time I say I’m good at math, I’ll make sure he understands I’m only capable of teaching the low grades.There are too many children to fit into the dining hall all at once, so they eat in shifts, girls and boys separated. Before each meal the kids stand next to their tables and recite a prayer, which is really sweet to see. I really wish my children could live and learn from these children for a few days or weeks. They never complain, and happily eat any food they are given.
Any time I walk anywhere, all the children say “sister, sister!”, and the ones who speak English will ask a a million questions. They all pull you 5 different directions and want you to follow them.
Between classes or while the other group is eating, the second group hangs out in the hallway and out front. Today, the girls were all braiding each other’s hair, and when I sat with them, some braided mine as well.
My favorite part of today was the hour before dinner. All the little girls were in their dormitory playing games and talking. When Anna and I came in, they danced and sang for us. Joe had the camera at this point, so I only got video. Oh… Anna is a girl from Utah, who is volunteering for 2 months. She is teaching art classes as extracurricular.

She has also organized an art class for the disabled group of men. These adults live on the farm, where they participate in vocational activities such as wood working and maintenance. Their creativity is amazing!
The heat is still a challenge to live with. I can’t imagine what it would be like to come here in the summer time. Our room has air conditioning, so that helps a lot at night, but during the day we are just in the heat. The school is very open and airy and with the fans in classrooms, it’s quite comfortable. However, I still just need to come to terms with the fact that I’m just sweaty and wet all day long. A little negative side effect I seem to be having is swelling of my ankles. They haven’t been this swollen since I was 8 months pregnant with Winter! Good thing my clothes cover my legs!

In the afternoon all the children gather for song singing and prayer in front of the school

Marie, the head cook told me she would be going to the local village to purchase vegetables, so Anna and I asked to tag along to do some shopping. I’ve purchased some clothing in Chennai, but those Salwar Kameez sets are sort of fancy, and I really wanted to buy a plain every-day sari. I can’t believe how cheap mine was: 180 rupees ($3.60) for the sari fabric. 150 rupees ($3) for the stitching of the blouse. 100 rupees ($2) for the under skirt. So all in all, I have a custom made sari for less than $9. The measurements for the blouse were taken by a tiny tailor shop in a little alley (hopefully I’ll still be able to wear the blouse post-pregnancy!) and will be ready for pickup tomorrow!

The village was bustling!

Most of the shops next to the main road have no side walk. Instead, they have big dirt piles often littered with trash

On a side note; I’m sort of paranoid about mosquitos and malaria, so I apply repellant at least 3 times a day. Somehow a mosquito still got me once yesterday, and I’m really praying it won’t give me malaria. The food is really great. We eat slightly different food than the children, I think they make it less spicy for us. The quantity seems low, yet it totally fills me up, and keeps me going for hours. To be safe I haven’t eaten any fruit or raw vegetables, and luckily haven’t gotten sick at all. The water here is treated by reversed osmosis, and Joe and I treat it with our little UV Steripen just to be safe, so no problem there.

The farm

We made it to the "farm". The drive was crazy (again), especially since it was raining, and the road was turned halfway into a river. That didn't stop the motorcyclist however.

Traffic is insane! Luckily we have a driver, otherwise we would surely get in a car accident. But everyone just switches in and out of lanes and squeezes in between spaces that don't seem large enough for our car.

The whole left part of the road was a river

Cows wander wherever they want

The farm is a 60 acre spread with mango groves, coconut trees, a school, dormitories, and a new building especially for the disabled. The classes are all taught in English and sizes are small. After school, the kids play in the center of all the buildings. Going in there with my camera, is like nothing else. There's no "sneaky journalistic photography", as they all swarm around you. Then seeing their picture on the camera moments after it was taken, sets off a string of photos to be taken. They all love their pictures taken. Here's just a few

The kids made up a game kjnd of like hop scotch, where they have to throw a stone, and then hop on one leg to the stone.

All pushing to get into the picture

This girl was so shy. When I first came into the play yard, she was making balls out of the wet sand. After taking photos of tons of other kids, she came to show me her sand balls

Incredible India

Everywhere I look, I want to just take tons of pictures (but I really haven't had the chance to do so) We arrived in India in the middle of the night, yet the airport and streets were crowded. Lots of motorcycles, rickshaws, and pedestrians everywhere. Seeing India on a TV show like The Amazing Race is nothing to the real thing. The most challenging element has been the heat. And it's not even that hot this time of year.

After attempting to sleep a few hours, Dr Prasad gave us the tour of the Pathway Center in Chennai. Pathway is a school and orphanage for mentally disabled and abandoned children. The education program they have set up, is quite extraordinary. Each child gets tailored education especially for their individual needs. I can't wait to spend a lot of time in the coming week with these children.

Jagan is a mentally handicapt boy that is learning complex beading skills. Pathway makes and sells beautiful jewelry and decorations, including these beaded butterflies.

Just across the street from Pathway is one of many slums. Extremely poor people build shacks and set up their homes there. The street has public water spickets along the road. Women use large jugs or vases to collect water for their daily needs (pictures to follow soon)

We headed for the textile shopping area in Chennai. The thrill of traffic can almost be compared with a ride at Disney, except with higher levels of adrenaline. Somehow we made it to the store unscathed, and entered a huge 4 story clothing building. The store is set up quite different than any store I've ever been in. Tons of employees are behind counters, and one will be your

personal assistant. You tell them what you are looking for, and they start pulling out stacks and stacks of different flavors of that type of clothing. They are all stored neatly in plastic wrappings and in bundles behind the counters, and the assistant just starts unwrapping tons and tons of packages. After just a few minutes the whole counter has become a mountain of colorful cloth. I bought some few fun outfits for the kids, as well as more functional clothing items for myself and Joe. Unfortunately they don't allow photos to be taken in this store, so after we came out, I just shot a few snapshots of the street in front.

Fresh fruit stands are all over. Unfortunately I can't take the chance of becoming sick by partaking of this delicious looking feast.

Leap of Faith

We took the leap. This is probably the toughest family decision we've made since we got married, yet it was made relatively swiftly. One day I was in turmoil over what team to choose. I watched Conference all day Sunday, and Monday I just felt like "Team Family" should be the winner. After this personal revelation (that's what I think it was), the idea of staying in Europe and staying for a job, just turned me off completely. I couldn't see any benefit in it.

The decision was made, and set in stone with the purchase of plane tickets. It feels like we jumped off a cliff and are currently in a LONG freefall. The bottom is nowhere in sight, but my hope and faith is strong that something soft will catch us. And if it doesn't.. If there are only sharp rocks at the bottom, I'll still know that I was inspired to make the jump. Maybe I have something to learn from the freefall.

The uncertainty of our future becomes most apparent when telling 3rd parties about it. All I can tell them, is that our plan is to celebrate thanksgiving in Texas, pack up our stuff, and start driving North West. Which town it will be, or even which state, is still completely unknown. My hope and prayer is that by the time thanksgiving rolls around, we can start to see the bottom. (and hopefully it's fluffy and soft).

Joe has a lot of skills and education, and previous experiences have shown him to excel in interviews on a personal level. The trickiest part is getting to the interview. Which becomes easier when you are living in the area where the jobs come open.

The next 2 weeks will be devoted to India, after which the preparations for a continental move have to kick into high gear. I'm getting a bit of a flashback to only a year ago, when we had to liquidize another whole household of stuff. At least this time most items can be donated instead of sold, since they were given to us in the first place. I'm not even thinking about all the logistics we'll have to deal with once stateside again… it would stress me out too much!

Which team?

My mind has been busy lately. Considering the difficult decisions lying ahead. Lying ahead, in the very near future! The current score between "Team Family" and "Team Career" is still undecided.

Team Family believes family is the most important thing in life. It needs stability for the kids, and to lay down roots in a community. The location is also important to team family. Mountains, greenery, and 4 seasons are a must. Team Family goes camping, learns to ski, and spends time with extended family.

Team Family is burdened by finances. It doesn't have a plan to pay for food, let alone for student loans. Team family will have to sacrifice buying a home until all loans are paid off. Team Family deals with a lot of uncertainty.

Team Career is more money oriented. It sees the importance of taking the opportunity to advance Joe's career at this crucial junction. Getting an MBA wasn't cheap, and it sees how paying for this, is not only important, but required. Team Career thinks "what are a few years of working hard, and working for a great company, we can always change to Team Family later"

What team career has a hard time justifying, is that we live NOW. Children grow up, and will forever be shaped by these precious years.

The facts are:

-My job is likely to end the middle of November

-Joe's MBA is done in the middle of November

-We don't have a house to live in after December 31st

-Holland has great health insurance, which covers childbirth. The US might qualify us for Medicaid.

-I can't fly from January 1st, until the baby is born the end of February

-Our student loan payments are going to be astronomical for 5 years

-Joe's career network is developing in Holland. It's much easier to find a job in the location you reside

-The kids are almost in their teenage years and need stability

-I'm tired of moving around (maybe my "nesting instinct is kicking in)

-Living in Holland with teenagers scares the dukies out of me.

-Family is more important than money. But having enough money to pay the bills is more important than anything

So which team will win? Which one SHOULD win?

Shopping experience

In preparation for our India trip, I had a long list of things to buy. Things that I could probably find with one visit to Walmart. But alas, there's no Walmart in Holland, so instead, Winter and I spent all day shopping, and still came home without a few things on the list. The advantage of not having a Walmart, is that you come across some pretty cool stores.

-We were transported to India, in a part of Den Haag I've never seen. I managed to find a Salwar Kameez set, as not to stand out too much when we first arrive to India.

-The Den Haag markt has everything from cheap boots and sewing supplies, to a wide variety of well-priced vegetables. It turns out though, that a combination of waiting too long to eat, uncharacteristic heat, and low blood pressure, will almost get me to a point of fainting. It took a good 10 minutes of sitting on a bench with deep breathing to get me back on my feet.

-Den Haag also has an amazing outdoor store, that even trumps the Bass Pro Shop; including rock climbing, ice wall climbing, and deep sea diving facilities.

So the overall shopping experience was superior, but the efficiency much lower. The funnest part: I got to spend all day chatting with Winter