2nd half

The 2nd half of our week was just as full as our 1st half.
Wednesday morning we stopped by Jojo and Richa's shop and then headed up the mountain with Prem to Mussoorie for most of the day. We went up to the top where you can see the snow capped peaks of the Himalaya's, ate lunch at a little local restaurant for almost 3 hours, and walked and shopped on the main street through town. Later that night we went to Prem and Santoshi's for dinner. So.Much.Fun. Tons of food, laughter, fellowship and dancing. My favorite part by far though, was when we first got there.

Prem took us down the hill and across the river to where they are in the process of building a new house. The land is purchased and the foundation is laid. He is building it little by little as he saves the money over time. He showed us the layout of the house, explained somewhat of what the finished product will look like, and then asked if we would pray over the foundation of his house. That was a cool moment to share together. Everyone prayed, including Prem. I've never heard him pray before-he's told me that he's never prayed in front of other people. It was neat. I know that our Jesus is pursuing his heart in a big way and the He has big things in store for that family.



Thursday we went to Haridwar and Rishikesh. Haridwar is about an 11/2 hours from Rajpur, and Rishikesh is about 45 min from Haridwar. They are both sort of "religious central" for many different religions. We explored quite a few different temples and praying points and also went to the point of the Ganges river where Hindus come to "cleanse" themselves of their sin by washing 3 times in the river water. We learned a lot about Hinduism. It was neat to have Prem with us because that is how he was raised and also what he believes. He explained a lot to us. I also loved that we spent the day learning more from him about what he and his family believes. I think all too often we have the mindset of teaching and telling, rather then stopping to learn from others about their beliefs and what is important to them. I realized how little I actually know about one of the main religions of where I have lived for the past 10 months. It's a crazy complicated religion, but I'm thankful to at least have a better understanding of why Hindu's believe what they believe.
That night we went back and had dinner with Dave, Mel, and the boys, along with Isaac and Ravi. Ravi cooked Thai food for everyone and we spent the night hanging out together. So fun.





Friday was filled with one more trip out to the orphanage for goodbye's, lunch at Motti Mahal, Chai with Prem's fam, getting Henna done on our hands, dinner made by Bimla with friends, lots of goodbyes, and the night train to Delhi.





We got to Delhi really early Saturday morning and were picked up by our driver, Anil, who then took us to Agra for the day to see the Taj Mahal and such. I think its safe to say that we all learned a lot. Definitely got a good history lessen in there with our guided tours. Other then being so HOT outside it was great. We toured the Taj Mahal, learned about how the marble inlay was made, ate a yummy lunch, and then toured the Agra Fort.

Sunday was a pretty chill day. Slept in, found some lunch, searched Delhi for authentic Indian Hair Extensions (Shay and Shalese were pretty determined to find themselves some hair for prom this year) and hung out at the mall. The crew then headed to the airport around 10:00pm. I said goodbye at the hotel and then stayed one more night before taking the train back home the next morning. Goodbyes are always hard, but I was definitely a lot easier knowing that I am going to see everyone again so soon. It was tough Saying goodbye to Maiya though. After not seeing her for 10 months, her 3 year old heart just doesn't understand that it will only be less then two weeks til I can hold her sweet self again.

I'm so thankful for this past week and half with my PH group. It was so great. Lots of things learned, hearts affected, and memories made. My Jesus is good.

food, fun, friends, & COLOR!!

My Potter's House group is Here!! They got here early Sat morning after a long drive from Delhi due to the train being full. They brought with them one of the best surprises ever. I went down to unlock the gate for them around 5am, mom opened the car door for a hug, and my baby sister fell out into my arms. What!?! I am a happy girl. My Mom, amazing friends, AND Jamaiya are all in India with me. Meeting the people that I've gotten to know so well, seeing the places I love, and experiencing new foods, culture, etc. It's been so full and so great.

Saturday was spent having Chai with Prem, block printing handmade journals with sweet Mr Rahamon G, getting settled at our hotel, hanging with the Murray’s and exploring Palton Bizarre.

Sunday morning was spent celebrating the Hindu holiday, Holi, with Prem and his family and friends at his house.

IT.WAS.CRAZY.

I have never experienced anything like it. Holi, is the “festival of colors”. One of the biggest Hindu holidays. You celebrate your friendships by throwing colors on each other. Tons of dancing, food, throwing/rubbing colors on each other, and just being with friends. After about an hour, we were all covered in tons of different colors, and Santoshi, Prems wife, introduced the water into the scene. I really don’t know how to explain it, other then the entire village running around rubbing color on peoples faces, and throwing water on each other. Young and old alike, everyone played and had fun together. It was a blast. Definitely a cultural experience I don’t think any of us will ever forget.
I don’t think any of us will ever forget trying to get it all off after we got back home either…not easy. Some parts of the body are still a little stained and probably will be for a while. A little more noticeable when you’re not Indian and you have light skin.

After Holi we went back to Mel and Daves and created/decorated a school room for Micah and Levi. It turned out super cute, and it was so much fun to bless them that way. Sunday night we all (13 of us) loaded up into the van (seats 5) and headed to Mcdonalds for dinner. Good, fun, full day.



Monday we went out to the Lepor Colony with Mel and then on the way back into town, stopped and handed out candy to kiddos and made conversation with families in one of the local slums down by the river. I loved that. For lunch we went to what is in my opinion, the best Indian restaurant in town and the girls tried some traditional foods of this area, and then headed out to the orphanage to do art with the kids for the afternoon.

Today was spent out at the orphanage. We loaded up a big truck with playground equipment that I had a local company make a couple weeks ago, that we installed for the kiddos of JoyBells. We kept it a secret until the kids were done with school and lunch…it was so cool to see their sweet faces light up when they finally got to go down to the field to see the surprise. They were so happy!! I love that we had the opportunity to give them something that will bring them so much joy, and be a reminder every time they play on it, of how much we love them. Those are 62 amazing kiddos.

a heart full of emotions

My heart is feeling and trying to process more then I ever knew it could right now. My sweet sister Courtney has come to the point of needing one-on-one attention all the time, sooner then we thought she would, and so due to some things going on, I'm heading home a little bit early. She needs lots of loving support and attention. She needs someone who can focus on her completely and make her their priority. Logistically right now for my parents that's becoming impossible. I also am one of the people in her life that knows and understands her the best. I know that this is Jesus' plan and after making this decision, He's only confirmed it over and over. I have peace about it, my family has peace about it and the Murray's have peace about it. Our Jesus is good and it's been really neat to watch His plan unfold. I'm going to do what I know I need to do right now, and He is completely taking care of this end. Little did we know, He was already lining someone up to fill in the gap for the Murray's after I leave. This was His plan long before it was ours. His ways are not always my ways, but I'm learning to trust Him completely more and more. So it's official…I have a ticket to home April 8th-about a month before the original plan.

I can't even completely put into words how that makes my heart feel.

I'm so incredibly excited to see my family next month…like I can't even tell you!!! I miss them like crazy. I have been blessed hugely with the family that I have and I can't wait to get back home to them and to everything that home means to me. I'm excited to see my friends, to get plugged back into my church, continue my education, eat a taco…and a beef hamburger and so on….

At the same time, it was already hard to think about leaving and so trying to process leaving a month earlier then anticipated has been tough. I've fallen in love with this place. Saying goodbye to life here is going to be hard. All of the time, relationships that have been built, memories that have been made, life that has been lived, growing that my Jesus done in me….all of it. The food, smells, busyness. Just India in general. It's such a different world over here and I'm going to miss it. Even some things that I didn't think I would.

When I think back to the month or so before I left Fayetteville to move to India, I remember a lot of these feelings very well. It was incredibly bittersweet. I think the difference though, it that I was going into so many unknowns. I was so excited to go and to experience whatever it was that my Jesus had for my life over the next year, but I had no idea how special it would be. I didn't know what it was going to be like, so I had no idea what I was missing. Now I know. Now I know what it's like to live here. To have amazing friends. To have the blessing of interacting with, loving and teaching sweet orphans. To be exposed to so much need. To live and learn a culture other then your own. To experience new places. To watch new businesses develop. To experience being put way out of your comfort zone, and grow more then you imagined. To watch my Jesus work in amazing, amazing ways in Dehradun India.

And now that I know, it's going to be hard to leave.
Because now my heart is pulled in two different directions.

I'm so thankful for this past year. I'm so thankful for the opportunity of a life time. I could describe it a million different ways, but I think the best way to put it would be full.

When I step off that plane back in Fayetteville AR, I will be stepping off as a person who is so much fuller then when I left. I wouldn't trade my time here for anything. The good, the bad, the hard, the fun, the stretching, the molding, the joy, the tears-all of it. It has made me different in so many ways. He's changed me. And continues to do so. My Jesus has filled my heart and mind up more then I could imagine.

I think the thing that I'm trying to focus on the most right now, is remembering and believing that Jesus has His best for me wherever He leads next. Because that's how He works. When you are in His will, that is where you are going to be the most content and filled. That is also where you are going to have the ability to be the biggest blessing to those around you. I'm remembering that He already knows. I'm remembering that I need to trust. I'm remembering that though change is hard, change is good. We just keep moving forward. I'm excited to take this year, and all the growing and learning that came with it, and use it to go into this next phase of life a changed person, with a fresh & grown perspective on His world. And I'm excited about whatever He's got next.

Happy Losar!!!

This week was Losar. Losar is the Tibetan word for "new year" and is the most important holiday in Tibet.
I've been told that in Tibet they celebrate all month long-it's a big deal. In India it's still a big deal to the Tibetans, but it only lasts about a week. We have lots of Tibetan friends in Rajpur and so we got to experience and celebrate their holiday with them. It's been fun.

A couple days ago we went over to a friend's house for lunch to celebrate with them. Nawong and Tenzin are a super sweet Tibitan couple with a cute little two year old. We had some YUMMY homemade MoMo's and chili. The best in town in my opinion. We were also each given a bowl of special Tibitan beer. Lovely. Its thick, served warm, and made with rice milk. Yeah. Not my favorite. It was cultural though, so I drank it with a smile on my face. (Getting pretty good at that)

We had lots of fun eating, laughing, and just hanging out. So fun to experience a special holiday with friends! Happy Losar!!

strawberries

Ok folks. So this might not sound like that big of a deal to you, but when you've been living in India for 9 months and this is the very first you've seen of them, (or berries of any kind for that matter) it becomes blog worthy.

You ready for this???

We found strawberries today!!!! People-that's exciting. Mel, Micah and I were driving back from Dehradun on the scooter today, when all the sudden Mel put on her brakes, starts honking like a mad woman, and tells me to look. Right in front of us was a boy with a strawberry cart. Oh yeah! I jumped off and proceeded to buy 2 kilos. That's a lot of strawberries. I'm sure I was rather humorous to the poor guy...I was extremely happy and not afraid to show it.


So we now have 2 kilos of red, delicious, strawberries.
The boys and I had them for dessert with ice cream tonight.
I'm a happy camper.

catering

Since moving to India, I've found a new love of baking. I figure it's because of two reasons.

#1- I have so much more time on my hands. So I started baking some in the afternoons when I was home while Levi napped. In a lot of ways life just moves at a slower pace here. You make up for it with the crazy days, but it's kind of nice to slow things down. It's just so different from the never ending, fast paced lifestyle of the US.

#2-I crave the food that I associate with home…and you sure ain't gonna find it anywhere in these neck of woods, so if you want it, you're gonna have to make it. And if you know me, you know that I l.o.v.e. anything sweet. Especially when it has to do with chocolate. So I bake a lot of desserts. Because I don't think there's ever a time when that doesn't sound good to me. Even more so when you're having a tough day or you're missing home.

Over the months I've definitely learned from trial and error. Everything is just so different here. Over time though, you learn things like where to get the "fine ground" sugar instead of the "regular" stuff they use here, because their sugar makes things super chewy and hard. You learn where to buy the "chocolate slab" that you then chop up, because chocolate chips don't really exist. You learn that you MUST sift your flour or you will have many a bug in your end product. You learn that just about anything that you buy in a box or a can in the US can be made from scratch. You learn that your hands work just as well as a kitchenAid, and I've learned how to operate our little toaster oven pretty darn good. Things like that.

Here's the deal about the majority of Indian baking.
It's just not good. It doesn't taste good. It's always so dry. It looks beautiful and the presentation is always so nice, but the taste is just way lacking. That almost makes it worse-when something looks so good and then you bite into it and it tastes gross. Sad day. Now there are some exceptions to this rule, but not too many...which is a bummer.
I've just decided that they are so, so good at the cooking side of things, that somehow the baking got forgotten about. Because everything else you eat here is delicious.

I bake a lot during the week and we constantly have friends dropping in to hang out, or neighbors stopping by for tea, or some kiddos playing cricket in the front yard that just need a cookie…so it works out great. Everyone loves the western style of baking. They can't get enough of it. I don't blame them to be honest…a good cookie is just hard to pass up. And a midnight snack of Chai and a muffin just ends your day right.
The baking at our house has earned us a reputation for some good eats. Mel makes excellent coffee cake-really just anything breakfast. She's good. She's also the No-Bake Cookie master. And I love to make just about anything and everything else. Everyone has been suggesting for a long time that we open a shop- Kate's Cakes. :) If I wasn't going home in May I would pretty seriously consider it. I could make some good money!
But after delivering some valentines cookie's last month, Richa asked us if I would consider catering an event that they were having in a couple weeks. I decided to do it, and it was so much fun.

I made all kinds of stuff. Mel and I had fun in the kitchen together. I baked and baked and baked, and she washed and washed and washed. She was awesome. She also made her famous No-Bakes which everyone loves. The end result was 6 very large trays of food, and many happy people.

Aside from students, there were a little over a hundred people there, some of which being very prestigious and important. It was almost like an art show. Students from impoverished and underprivileged familes, that took a photography class under JoJo and Richa, had an opportunity to show off their work and be recognized for what they're doing. We met some very interesting people, and made some good contacts for when JoJo and Richa really do open their coffee shop at some point. We walked away with 4 business cards and quite a few names of people who "had orders" (makes me laugh). And we already have our next event booked...who woulda thought.