Time sure flies.

Literally, I have been here for over 6 weeks. Wow. Time has just sped by without me even realising how fast it's gone! I look back over pictures and journal entries and I suddenly realise how long I've actually been here. It's been a significant amount of time. I keep wanting it to slow down though so I can stay longer. Even though it has been quite a while, because so much is happening everyday, it seems so short! Last I updated, it was International Woman's Day and Holi. It is now the last week in March. It's going to APRIL soon. And yet, I still have excited bursts of "I'm in INDIA!" running through my head frequently.

Since the beginning of this month, the weather has steadily become warmer and warmer. When I got up in the mornings, I used to be even a little cold. Not anymore. I try and keep my room cool during the day, but somehow, inevitably, every night it has heated up again. I got a tip from one of my friends here to pour a bucket of water on the floor, turn the fan on full and just let it evaporate. So, the other night, I tried it. I think I was feeling a little desperate/over-zealous. I poured one bucket of water, saw that it didn't cover even half of my room, so I poured another. Firstly, this second bucket was a little bigger than the first, and secondly, the first bucket had covered more ground than I thought, the water just hadn't spread out as much. So, I turned on my fan and waited. And waited. And started to sweat. A lot. The water was quickly evaporating and turning my already warm room into a sauna. Yup. I didn't want to open my screen as the mosquito's would come in, but what could I do? I flung open the doors. Then, looking around the room, I realised the water had quite significantly pooled in certain areas. Like, behind my wooden chest of drawers. I pulled away my furniture from the walls, grabbed a towel and started mopping the water towards the door. It was quite a lot of water.

I ended up sitting outside for a good hour (mossie repellent well applied) just writing journal entries and reading. A few of the girls who were still awake saw me sitting outside and came to check on me. They saw all the water covering my stairs and doorway and were like "Didi, what happened?!" Didi is the word for big sister. When I explained I had been mopping my room (a common practice here) they all wanted to mop my floor too. But I declined the offer. It was hot enough without 3 or 4 extra bodies inside.

The kids in school are having exams right now, so I have been quizzing the nursery little ones on ABC's, nursery rhymes, counting etc. It's quite sweet to listen to them saying these basics with big eyes and awkward hand motions. But today, I heard Baa, Baa Black Sheep so many times, I think I might not even know the right version anymore. On the exam days, I take the kids who finish their "exams" to the play room next door. My rather limited Marathi has come in useful in these situations. Words like, "Wait" and "Come here" play especially large roles.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to spend as much time with the special needs girls, as the hot afternoons has made them more prone to stay inside and rest. I do go over there later in afternoon sometimes though, and I love just sitting and listening to them talk excitedly about the things the do and enjoy.

So, that's all I got for now. Time passing ridiculously fast, the weather being ridiculously hot, children being ridiculously cute and having a ridiculously good time.

Peace and blessings.

India, you say?

So, I promised a proper post about India, and of course I very much want to fulfill that promise. Arriving in India was such a rush for me, I literally had to keep calming myself down on the plane, incase I got too excited or something. Who knows. I didn't sleep, like at all, but I wasn't feeling too bad when I landed. Keep in mind, I had left Istanbul in the snow, so being in a rather humid feeling airport was a pleasant surprise. I was still calming myself down when I finally stepped out the doors and into the city air of Mumbai. I had been told to not freak out because there probably would be people jostling and pushing and shouting for taxi's, bag help etc. But, I suppose arriving at 4 a.m. has it's perks. It was quiet and I found the guy who had come to pick me up quite easily.

I slept during most of the 4 hour ride to Pune. But, I did get a glimpse of the driving here. Wow, it is insanity. You just sit and pray that everyone will have the same mindset while they duck and dodge between lanes and each other. I did get to watch the sun rise and welcomed the dawn with a nice hot cup of coffee, Indian style. Mumbai was quite, quite hot, even before the sun rose. But as we got closer to Pune, it became considerably colder. It's on a higher elevation and not right on the coast, so geographically, it would be. Once I arrived at the house I would be staying at for the next couple of days, I got a chance to eat some food, shower, and then crash. I felt kind of bad because I wanted to stay awake and what not, explore the markets with the lady I was staying with, but I was rather tired. I slept for a solid 3 hours.

The next few days in Pune were great. I got to see more of the city and get a feel for life in India; the food, public transport etc. But, this was not where I would be spending most of my time. Just two days after I arrived, I was heading off the Kedgaon, a town about an hour's drive away from the main city center of Pune. I would be staying in Mukti Mission, a home for destitute women and children. This was rather exciting as it was the same place my mum had been at (on a visit) around 25 years ago. She had described some of it to me, but after 25 years, you have to expect a lot of changes. I was in no condition to take in my surroundings the night I got there. It had been a long, dusty journey, and I was still rather jetlagged. But, the following few days held ample chances to get to know the place. The grounds are beautiful, and gigantic! I had imagined a small couple of buildings and some trees and not much else. But it just stretched out before you, all dusty and serene. Well, not completely serene, it's rather active.

There are so many great people here, staff and residents, who all greet you with a cheery "Good morning/afternoon/evening" and make you feel so welcomed. It's so wonderful to just talk to the children and women here, even though I speak next to nothing in their language (Marathi). But you get by on smiles and nods and frequent hand gesturings. The kids are especially fun to talk to, though I'm sure they spend a lot of time making fun of me! ;)

Unfortunately, my health has not been perfect since I got here. I caught a cold type thing that went away quite quickly, but this very annoying, harrowing-old-man-style cough has lingered. So I frequently have to cough to the point where I sound like I'm going to puke a lung, and then have to gasp and try and breathe to settle myself again. It's rather annoying. But, PTL, it seems to be getting slightly better.

So there you go, I'm in India :)

Peace.

Let's go somewhere new.

So, I know it's been a while since I last updated all of you, I promise that I was planning to, but I just never got round to it. After I returned from Rwanda, I was in Scotland for a little over a month, mainly looking for some (very) temporary work. Unfortunately, I never found any. But I had plenty other things to do, as we had to pack up the house we had been living in for the past 16 months in a matter of a few weeks. I didn't realise that I had accumulated so much stuff! But, the brilliant mother and I (yes, the father left early. Thanks a bunches) succeeded. It was quite miraculous. Thank you, Jesus.

Once I got back to Turkey in mid-November, it was all go go go. Literally, I felt like I didn't stop once. With the winter play coming up a few weeks after I got there, Mr Sears quickly assigned me the role of "Assistant Director" and I had a great time watching the very talented IGA players practice, perfect, and finally perform a brilliant rendition of "Sleepy Hollow". The St. Andrew's Ball was also happening in the same weekend, and it was great to dance and meet new people, and have nice whiskey and haggis and all that jazz. Or ceilidh rather.

A couple weekends later, another big event exploded. The Christmas Gala. The brother was there too so that was rather exciting. But my main role in the Gala was the flash-mob dance we had been working on for the Sears. Wow. I worked HARD for that. Weeks of choreography and sneakiness and stress. But, it all paid off. Very, very nicely. It was so much fun and a great night.

A lot of people came back within the next few weeks, to see family and spend Christmas in the greatest city on earth. It was so amazing seeing them all again. But, seeing as there were so many of them and such, I didn't stop much. Of course.
New Year's was probably one of the highlights of that time. A bunch of us went out to Istiklal, and just got to walk around, scout out random crappy clubs, dance in some of them, and just enjoy ourselves. It was rather sad seeing everyone leave, again. Especially the brother. But around this time, I was finally able to get a job! Type thing. I had been helping out at the school on a regular basis. I was with the 3rd Graders in the mornings. It was good fun, but also free. So when I found a job helping a little boy in a Turkish family with his english, I was rather excited.

The family was great, the kid was so adorable and the mother was a lot of fun too. I saw them about twice a week and had a great time. It was kinda sad leaving to India after all that time with them, but of course, India was a rather big event too. Now, time to talk about all that. I'm starting a new post for India, so be prepared.