Lebenshilfe: "Life Help" School for Mentally Disabled Individuals

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to visit an incredible place. BYU Students have been volunteering here for years. It is called "Lebenshilfe" which means "life help" in German. It is a school for children and adults who are mentally retarded and was so inspiring! 

The woman who runs it was probably the most inspiring. She was truly full of the pure love of Christ, or charity, as we call it. She spoke of how God inspired her to receive the right training in the U.S. and in Germany and then to come back to India and start this school. Her love for the students here radiated from her as she gave us a tour. She honestly reminded me of my Grandma Delta, in her mannerisms and affectionate gestures. Such a wonderful lady! 

The younger children were involved in a lot of activities that stimulate the brain. They had simple toys and were doing things like finger painting, puzzles, etc. The teacher/student ratio was very good. 

The older students were doing occupational training and working on sewing, crafts, painting, costume making, and much more. It was so cool! It was a very uplifting and good environment. They also had a stimulation room with a vibration table that was made out of plywood, but was just as functional as the super duper expensive ones in the U.S. 

Towards the end we out to the courtyard and new school uniforms were presented to all of the students in an assembly from one of the school's donors. 

This is the lady who runs the school:

 

Handing out the uniforms. Dr. Krishnayya has been a generous donor to the school for several years.

Some of the children performed a tiger dance for us! It was awesome. They had these cute costumes made and had learned a dance where they acted like tigers. Some of them were really good dancers!

This guy did not want to stop dancing and so the lady in charge of the school danced with him until he decided he was done. It was so cute!

More Music, Dancing, and thoughts on Food

It's been another mostly lazy week for me in India. The touristy stuff has definitely died down. But I have more music to share with you!

We went to what they call a junior college (the girls are 16-17 years old) to hear a famous North Indian musician. They consider North Indian music to be very different from South Indian music. I heard many similarities, but could also hear the differences. 

His (man in the center) instrument is called the Sarangi and is used to play Hindustani classical music. He said that it resembles the sound of the human voice more than any other instrument. He allowed for questions at the end and was very friendly. 

Here is a sample of the music. Pardon the honking cars and trucks that you can hear outside and the general poor sound quality...but you get the idea! 

Last night we went to a dance concert on the beach. It was SO crowded and was a huge event. We really enjoyed it.

Carolyn, Brittany, and Asha

The dancing was really cool. They do these complicated foot movements while twirling their hands elegantly. It would take a lot of coordination!

Okay, now I'm going to attempt to talk about the food and not rant/complain too much...

As I've said before, our food here is very high quality. Everything is homemade and fresh. The thing I can't seem to get over is that they put spices and seasonings on everything! The idea of serving vegetables with a little butter and salt and pepper does not exist in their minds. And I think there's something to be said for just appreciating the simple taste of a food almost by itself or by itself. Everything has some kind of flavoring on it, whether it's spicy or not. Of course there are exceptions, and I am very grateful for those! There are many flat breads that are made out of lentils or various legumes and they are served plain. We also eat a ton of really good fruit. 

As a pregnant woman, this has been hard for me. I crave BLAND foods! I even dream about them. And many of the foods that pop into my mind, like a simple green salad, are simply unavailable here. I realized that never before have I been to a place where basic western foods were not available. Yes, we have a Pizza Hut, Dominos, and KFC, but that's it. There's a little food store close by that has some really good crackers, cookies, and drinks and I relish those things. But I fantasize about assembling my own fresh salad, wrap, or eating a hamburger! I never realized I was such an American when it comes to food...South Indian food is very different from anything I've had before, even though I consider myself a lover of foods from all over the world. 

Despite all this though, I have been adjusting and slowly getting used to things. I make myself eat as much as I can, and occasionally there are really good days when I really like everything! I think part of my struggle has been getting over the feeling of entitlement that comes with being pregnant. It almost seems cruel that I am denied almost every craving that comes over me! At least that is the attitude that is perpetuated in American culture, I think. But I've had to realize that I can't let that attitude get to me, because if I'm going to be healthy and happy here I just have to eat as much as I can and learn to enjoy it. There is no other option. It's not like I'm not getting enough nutrients or something, I know I am. 

Well, if you've made it this far you're a trooper. Thanks for listening and have a great day!

The Beach; Lazy Week

Hello all! This week was a holiday week and so we haven't done much besides shop and go to the beach. I also started reading the Divergent series, and those of you who know me well know how I am with page-turners. 

The holiday was for something called Pongal, but it had different parts to it. Each day was something different. One day our kitchen staff put yellow turmeric paste all over every girl's feet. I was never able to get a clear answer as to what that was about. The design drawn with chalk below was in front of every person's house this week. I love all the colors!

Here are some beach pictures. The beach was actually pretty nice, except for the 2nd day we went there were WAY too many people for my taste. I have discovered a new loathing: staring. It REALLY bothers me when people stand around you in a circle and stare at you. People did that at the beach a lot. We were like zoo animals! It's like they have no idea that what they are doing is making you feel uncomfortable or that it's rude. Anyway, I'm trying to get over it because I know it won't stop any time soon. White people are just too weird looking! So many people at the beach wanted to take pictures with us too. We joked that we should start charging 20 rupees per picture. 

People can pay for horse rides at the beach. All of the horses looked really skinny and malnourished. Not a very happy sight. 

Before this we went shopping at a craft bazaar across the street. Craig and I have realized that now that we've been here for almost 3 weeks, we really need to stop spending money! It's so tempting because everything is so cheap compared to America, but I think I have enough clothes now. Actually, I could always buy more, but Craig thinks that I have enough ; ) The craft bazaar had awesome stuff though!

The girls bought a kite and tried to fly it. It didn't work at first, but the next day when we went back the wind picked up and they had a lot of fun.

Another aspect of the holiday week. People come around to your house and either bring a wishing cow that you can touch and make wishes or simply play instruments for you. They always expect to be paid of course. This guy just wanted a picture with us. 

 Day 2 at the beach:

I decided to wade this time, even though the water is supposedly SO gross and polluted, which is why we can't swim in it.

The waves were huge! Another reason why one should not swim here...

So, this homeless lady walks by with her pet monkey, and he immediately jumped on my lap and leaned against my belly and sucked his thumb! It was funny because we had just been talking about how we shouldn't touch monkeys or dogs here because they are not very clean. A BYU student from the past actually got bit by a monkey and had to get rabies shots. So I was very wary of it, but it was cute after all and there was nothing I could do ; ) 

Maybe monkeys can sense when you're pregnant? I kept thinking that for some reason. Haha

Well that's it for this week! It really has been quite lazy. This week Craig will probably dive more into his project and we'll start our Telegu language classes again. Oh, by the way, the girl in the background of that last picture is Asha. She just recently arrived from BYU because she was having visa problems. She was actually born in south India but was adopted and grew up in Idaho. It's funny though because people assume she speaks Telegu a lot and she has to tell them, "No, I'm American." 

I hope you all are doing well!

Rama Temple and other Excursions

On Monday we had a full day of touring. First, we saw a very new Rama temple in the city of Vizianagaram. It was huge and had a long hallway that depicted the story of Rama on the walls with explanations. We couldn't take pictures in that part.

These boys are training to be monks at this temple.

 After that, we visited the King of Vizianagaram. This is actually his guest house as his other house is undergoing repairs. We all brought gifts for him and his family and luckily the presentation of those gifts went well. He ordered lunch for us and it was really good. There were savory pastries and even potato chips! He also gave us two cups of Pepsi each. Pepsi seems to be very popular in this country. The King was very nice. He talked a lot with Dr. Nuckolls about current political issues in India and also about how much he admires the founding fathers of America, as well as the early Presidents. He presented a book on Abraham Lincoln to Dr. Nuckolls as a gift.

The picture hanging on his wall is of himself and Queen Elizabeth. Because he is an Indian King, he has many connections to British royalty. Nowadays he says he'll get a letter from someone in England now and then, but his ancestors were very social with British royalty and corresponded frequently.

The framed letter on the right is a letter from one of the British Queens (I can't remember anymore!) to one of his ancestors.

This sword is from the 17th century and was presented to one of the King's ancestors by Prince Edward. Dr. Nuckolls was very fascinated with it.

Later we went further into the country to visit this very old  Hindu temple. 

We sat outside on the porch for a while and they served us some rice.

This is at the entrance of a nearby Rama temple (the main one we wanted to see that day). They have everyone wash their feet before they go in.

The road leading up to the temple.

Temple priest

They had a bunch of tortoises in the back! The story goes that these tortoises came down from the mountain to worship Rama many years ago, so they let them stay there and they feed them.

The older part of the temple.

My other saree. They made a long blouse for me to cover my stomach but I was struggling with it all day because it is still kind of short and my shirt tails were always poking out the back. I'll have to have them tie the skirt part higher next time.

Our final excursion was also out in the country. We walked along this road for about 20 minutes to visit a small temple that is part of a cave. It was a very beautiful area.

Rice fields

The goddess featured in this temple (they think it is Durga because we uncovered the sheet and she appears to be riding a lion).

Resting in the cave area

It was a long day but I did very well! I enjoyed seeing more of the beautiful Indian country side.