Overnighter

Whoa I am SO behind! I am officially back in the states (home has never felt so good--except for the stomach problems, nasty cough, and jet lag that wakes me up at 4am). Other than that, it's a dream and I have never appreciated home more. 

But I still have lots to blog about...it's going to be a marathon of posts in the next few days to try and catch up before the dude gets home and I get...distracted. 

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Monday: So 5 hours after we got home from our trip to Delhi, my group left for an overnighter trip about 7 hours away to 2 different leprosy colonies. 

This was at the first colony. The people at that colony were so happy. Their colony was up on this hillside in the jungle-so beautiful. I find it amazing that people in such rough conditions are so dang happy. It really just goes to show that attitude is everything. 

PS) Check out that kid in the red...haha, cracks me up everytime.

We did a lot of the same things at that colony that we'd do at other colonies-blood pressure, blood sugar, washing of the feet, debriding of wounds.....basically a free clinic for the patients to come to. It was in the jungle too so it was at least 10 degrees cooler than what we're used to at Rising Star. Oh my gosh, I can't even begin to tell you how much difference those 10 degrees made. I felt like a new woman. 

I got to wash this sweet lady's feet while we were there at the first colony. It was hard to talk to the patients because none of them speak english. I wanted so badly to ask them about their lives and learn their stories, but it ended up being more or less a pointing and nodding game. There was a picture of Jesus on the wall next to us and while I was washing her feet, she kept pointing to that picture, then to me, and then she would take her hands and put them on her chest over her heart. She did it probably 3 times while she was at my station. I couldn't think of anything to say back to her, so instead I nodded and smiled, and bowed my head while tears ran down my face, and into the water I used to wash her feet. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "washing His feet with your tears." I think the humility I felt from that lady helped me grasp the humility I will feel when I meet my maker. 

Just a cute baby at the colony...totally looks like a girl huh? Nope, he's a he. I get so confused over there. Oh well, he's cute regardless. Except he peed on me. That wasn't so cute.

After the colony we stopped at this beautiful dam and walked through a village....I was just so relieved to be outside when it wasn't 100000 degrees. 

Anytime there is a body of water, there are people bathing in it.

Tuesday: After a good night's rest at an Indian hotel we headed to another colony. (I was so nervous about staying at an Indian hotel...I've heard horror stories, but because the Lord has a soft heart and knows I was at my wit's end with all things adventurous, He led us to a decent hotel...tender mercy!) 

This was a cute little girl at the second colony we went to.

Because we were further inland and in more of a jungle type area we saw monkeys EVERYWHERE! On fences, on houses, or just chilling next to us on the side of the road. We threw crackers to them and laughed as they scrambled to get every last cracker. It's like how we Americans throw bread to the ducks...the Indians throw crackers to monkeys.  

On our way back to Rising Star we stopped at this river where there were hundreds of people gathered to bathe/play/socialize in the river. It was like 3pm in the afternoon on a Tuesday and everybody and their grandma was out at this river...seriously what do these people do all day?

They had these AMAZING waterfalls at the river that you could only see if you took a "boat ride"...not just any boat ride, but an Indian boat ride...aka a bowl basket woven out of straw with tar at the bottom. 

We fit 7 people into that bowl, including our boat paddler. 

This was definitely the highlight of our trip! I may have gotten a parasite from the disgusting water, but seriously how many times in your life will you have the chance to ride under Indian waterfalls in a woven boat? We were absolutely drenched as our boat paddler kept taking us right under the falls and other boats would splash us with their paddle. After getting soaked and actually feeling slightly cold (first time in India) I lifted my arms up in the sky and had that kind of feeling that you only get when you know you've just had one of life's great moments.