you only turn 21 once...why not do it in India?

etka, me, stefan, neha, ozzy, george, adi, karin, eva

sam being a goof

the girls

bday cake

me and andrew at dinner :)

So how many people can say that they spent their 21st birthday in INDIA!?! Not only that, but how many people ever REMEMBER their 21st birthday! Im willing to guess its very few for both of those questions! But I sit here at 3am recalling the events of my day in India! So this morning Dr. Rao came and picked me up to tour the Dream a Dream NGO and he brought me flowers! The tour went well, and I may end up spending my time playing soccer with kids, and teaching crafts to enhance life skills! I have one more NGO to see but Dream a Dream is looking very appealing at this point! After my meeting with the NGO I went shopping. I bought myself a few things here and there, but spent most of my time perusing. I decided that for my birthday I would treat myself to an American lunch and dinner so I stoped into a McDonalds for lunch--it was quite the experience...since McDonalds can't serve beef they make up for it with other random foods--for example I had the Veg-Pizza-McPuff. This is a 4" pizza roll. It was pretty good! I even treated myself to a soda (which I have been craving!) I ended up canceling dinner at Hard Rock (even though I had invited a bunch of people) because as I learned that in India when its YOUR birthday you treat everyone. Seeing as I didnt have enough money to treat 12-15 people to Hard Rock I just ended up canceling it. Instead Mrs. Kutty and I went for tea and cake...she bought me a shirt and necklace which was very thoughtful. After tea I got cleaned up for the night and Andrew and I headed to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. He's still a bit ill so he didnt go to Shiros with us after. I went to Shiros where I brought a cake to share with everyone (so I didnt have to pay for everyone) but I still ended up buying apetizers for everyone as well....o well, when in India I guess! And that was my day...very enjoyable and fun! Not a long post, but def. a good way to spend my 21st! My thanks for all the Happy Birthday Wishes, and I wish you all were here with me to help celebrate! I love you all!

<3>

Rebecca Ann

UNICEF Beggar Report (read previous post first!)

In the “third world”, beggars are not an uncommon sight. Children and adults alike, with pitiable faces, a limb or two chopped off or a gouged out eye or perhaps a pus-filled wound, they can be seen everywhere- tapping on car windows at traffic lights, outside religious places, on pavements. So much has this problem inflated, that even the governments have officially recognised “beggary” as an industry contributing to the country’s national income!!! However, what does not meet the eye, is the force behind this ever escalating problem of beggary, the organised “Beggar Mafia”, which can go at any lengths to safeguard their selfish interests; not even hesitating to hurt or maim the young, the elderly and the children alike, if it increases their chances of “earning” more. Perhaps these could be the worst kind of capitalists ever to walk this planet! This is an exclusive report drafted by Aspire2Inspire! International for UNICEF. It forms the background for the ‘Beggar Mafia’ Campaign which aims to investigate this issue and recommend methods of tackling it, suggesting steps the governments and NGOs could take to safeguard the rights of children who are the unfortunate victims of the Beggar Mafia. This report is also based on the recent investigations into this matter carried out by the CNN-IBN News channel in India. Although the investigation helped expose the facts, the criminals still roam freely, and there has been no proper government action in this regard.

This report focuses primarily on children victimised by the Beggar Mafia. It sets to identify the causes behind the booming beggar industry and the problems faced by various lawmakers to effectively tackle the menace. At the same time, it brings a definite initiative for us to raise awareness about the issue and to consider appropriate means of support that could be provided to the needy children.

Facts about the Booming Beggar Industry in India

Following are some rather gruesome facts about the Beggar industry in the Indian sub-continent:

· Rates are fixed for where one wants to beg and a fixed percentage is set for authorities so that everyone can get a share of the beggars’ “income”.

· Some people (even quite healthy ones) are beggars by choice as they say that there is a lot of money in begging.

· On a good day (like festivals or other sacred days), a beggar at a religious place can earn as much as Rs.250 (about US $5), which is quite a considerable sum for a beggar.


Surprisingly, the Government is aware of the increasing number of beggars in large cities and the money involved, but little action is taken.

Rs.180 crores (about US $ 3.6 million) is the annual income of beggars in Mumbai (Bombay), a figure given by the Maharashtra State Government itself.

Methods used by the Beggar Mafia

The brutal ways of the Beggar Mafia have no limits. Their “working logic” is not quite difficult to understand. Why would any common person roll down his car’s window pane on a busy traffic signal and give some money to a beggar who is fairly healthy and brisk? Accordingly, a person under the Mafia’s control is beaten and tortured and usually maimed for life to invoke pity and sympathy from the people, who in turn would give more alms.

A majority of such beggars are children, most of who are kidnapped by the Mafia while they are still infants. The infants are not fed for days at a stretch so as to make them cry uncontrollably. These wailing infants are then kept on sidewalks or pavements with another maimed beggar on their side so that sympathetic passers-by donate generously. Furthermore, due to lack of adequate nourishment, the infants suffer from chronic nutritional deficiencies like Marasmus which lead to stunted growth and deformed bodies. Also, the infants’ skins develop hyper pigmentation due to constant exposure to the scorching sun.

The young children who should be playing in kindergarten or studying in elementary school are made to learn the “ways and nuances” of begging. They are told the “appropriate” and the most “lucrative” places to beg, the kind of people to be approached for begging and are taught the various mannerisms and words to invoke compassion. At the end of the day, they must report back to the Mafia and turn over their day’s alms.

The Mafia also makes sure that the beggar children are addicted to street-life. The common practice among beggars in metropolitans like Bangalore and Mumbai is to drug infants and use them for begging. Slightly older children are also given drugs and intoxicants, permitted to enter places where drugs are sold, incited to beg or borrow and exposed to sedatives. This is one of the major reasons why the rescued beggar children by the NGOs do not respond to rehabilitation therapies. Sadly, they are often more likely to run away and return to the street-life.

In order to sustain their brutal business, the Beggar Mafia do not hesitate to use willing doctors to first invalidate totally healthy limbs and then hacking them off before pushing the victims back on the streets to live off their earnings.

Many rescued beggar children narrate horrific stories about forcible chopping off of limbs. According to certain special investigations by the media, in countries like India, many well qualified doctors are also shamelessly involved in this business and aid the Beggar Mafia. For as little as Rs.10, 000 (about $200), some senior orthopaedic surgeons use their knives to cripple and maim perfectly healthy children and even grown ups. In fact, the methods of amputation are inhuman too. Gangrene is developed in the legs or arms by stitching up the muscles to block blood supply and within two-three days, the chosen limb is chopped off. Due to this increasing menace, there are more than twelve thousand handicapped beggars in New Delhi area alone.

Other methods used by the Beggar Mafia include pouring acid to burn skin and induce pus. In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, one such three-year old child whose left leg from thigh to foot was burnt with acid, oozing pus from the acid burns was found begging in by the roadside. She was eventually rescued with the help of police and is currently under the care of a welfare organisation.

Some other unfortunate young children are “bought” by the Beggar Mafia from relatives or custodians who cannot afford to keep them or simply do not want them. These children are first brutally beaten, burnt and starved for days in order to make them look miserable and then sent to the streets to beg. One such child, a nine-year old boy, was found squirming in pain when a local Beggar Mafia leader poured petrol over him,lightened a match stick and threw it on his body and left him over there.

Legal Scene

The Beggary Prevention Act in India makes it illegal for people to beg. However, what is surprising is that begging is almost like an industry now. Handicapped beggars are usually left alone by the Anti-Beggar squad while the others are rounded up, even though it is the handicapped ones who are generally employed by the Beggar Mafia. This usually leads to more instances of forced maiming of beggars. Clearly, handicapped beggars are better earners and the Beggar Mafia ensures that they stay on the street. Local enforcement officials are encouraged to look away. While beggars are treated as criminals and some undergo punishment of up to one year in detention centres, the Beggar Mafia remain unpunished.

Although the recent news reports on the Beggar Mafia’s operations in India led to an outrage among the general public, little action was taken against the guilty because of the lack of adequate laws to curb this menace.

Actions taken by the local NGOs

There have been a few NGOs working for the welfare of these children who are the victims of the Beggar Mafia. They rescue and rehabilitate them and press the government to take firm action against the criminals. So far they have been successful to a certain extent, but injustice still prevails. One such remarkable organisation is the Janaseva Sisubhavan at Kerala. They have rescued about 25 such children from the Beggar Mafia and are currently rehabilitating them.

Recommendations of this report

Beggar Mafia, is a highly complex and structured network of criminals, which forces the children by disfiguring them to beg on the streets. These children are tortured and abused inhumanely. Even after the exposure of facts by a news channels like CNN-IBN, not much action was taken. Therefore, the only possible solution we could see at the moment is international pressure on the governments of the countries whose citizens are involved in this crime and also are victims of it. If an international body like UNICEF pressurises the governments to immediately probe an inquiry into this matter and punish the criminals, there is some hope of this problem to be solved. On our part, we are issuing a petition in association with our partner organisations in India and abroad, requesting the authorities to take serious action in this matter at the earliest. We therefore also request the UNICEF to support this petition and this campaign in general so that it gets a global and bigger platform and more opportunities for people around the world to help resolve this issue. If one says not to give to these beggars, the problem would magnify even more. If the child does not get enough money, that would only result in punishment from the Mafia. If it continues on indefinitely, the dons would simply go out and buy or kidnap more children, pay for their mutilation and set them on the streets. Even if these children do beg enough, the criminals are only going to set ever higher bars of money collection; it is all a vicious cycle which cannot be broken simply, especially with the current bureaucratic and corrupt governments in place.

We hope that UNICEF will help us in our fight against this injustice.

Navdeep Randhawa, Rohit Kulkarni, Anupreet Kaur, Sandra of Aspire2Inspire! International in association with: Abhivridh and Youth For A Change International

a war within myself

these are some of my hostel girls: Eva (from Germany) and Karin (from Italy) This is visiting Shivas Temple

Me and the cleaning girl from my hostel: shes from Calcutta and considered to be in a very low caste, shes 15, works as a maid at the hostel working about 7-12 hours a day and MAYBE (if shes lucky) earning 1,000 ruppees a month (eqv. to $20) She doesnt know any english, but we manage with hand gestures and such. I usually give her about half of all my meals because the school provides me with too much food, and I cant justify overeating when there are so many hungry people around. So I eat til Im full and give her the rest.

Veiw from my roof, I go up there for drying my laundry, doing reading, or journaling, or school work. Sorry that you all have snow and Im enjoying this gorgeous weather!

COW in the middle of traffic

child sitting by side of the road

So yesterday and today were both kind of bummers....we went and toured two NGOS (Visthar-which takes care of Devdasi's Children--Devdasi are equivilant to prostitutes; the girl children usually have no other choice but to follow suit of their mothers career) and we also visited Precious Childrens Home, which is a home for prisoners children to stop the cycle of crime within families. Both places were not interested in having volunteers--which is ok because I didn't feel moved at either place. So when I came home I took initiative and spent the entire night researching local NGOs and such. I found a few and today I went a visited one that is not even a kilometer from the hostel (about a 5 minute walk) it was called CRY (childrens rights and you) and is an organization working for child laborers and against abuse and so forth. They are seeking volunteers, but for longer than 4 months. So needless to say its been kind of a bummer. But Dr. Rao is taking me tmrw to go and visit Dream A Dream Foundation which is for children from broken homes (usually an alcoholic father, and a double&triple job working mother) It looks really legit and def. a place where they are seeking volunteers. Dr. Rao himself has setup a program to teach children fundamental computer skills (such as turning it on, researching on the web, and typing) For more info you can check it out at www.dreamadream.org and heres the volunteer site (which sounds very appealing to me!) http://www.dreamadream.org/dreams/avs/home/volunteers/;jsessionid=D801304B819A46D769D6363FCB23747A

Anyways last night I went to MG road (a shopping road) and I was passing by a resteruant when a lady sitting on the ground holding the tiniest, most mal-nourished baby I think I may have ever seen (in Haiti I was only exposed to malnourished children who were at the time begining the process of become nourished) This lady was holding out her hand begging for money. Several children with what appeared to be tear-stained cheeks (vasaline) also approached me on the street, and when I was in the rickshaw approached the rickshaw--all begging for money. All I had on me was the money to get home, and a credit card. I had to turn my head and ignore these children. This is not only a daily thing, it is an hourly thing. Once I returned home the image of that malnourished baby and that woman kept haunting me. I started asking myself "has my heart calloused?" "have I turned cold towards humanity?" And so begins the war within me....one that I have had everyday since being here. The war between rationality and compassion. In reality the stats state that around 40,000 children (not including women and men) work for an underground, highly organized Indian mafia. This mafia not only kidnaps children, but also (as Slumdog Millionaire accuratly portrays) either cuts off limbs, or maimes these children. This mafia starves babies for days at a time to invoke more compassion, and then drugs babies and children to keep them hooked on street life. Most beggars who work for the mafia don't even get to keep enough money to eat from. So do I support this ever-growing mafia knowing that my few dollars only go towards enabling more inhumane acts of the mafia, or do I turn my head and silently die on the inside? Do I pretend not to see all the suffering and pain going on around me? The best way to describe it is a feeling of helplessness. I cannot help these people.....without helping the mafia. And so reflecting on this internal war I had a vision...a dream. This vision was to become equipped with sevearl containers of food and just go around feeding these beggars. I know in all actuality this is not something I could do by myself. Seeing as I do not know the language I would for sure get stampeded by beggars. But if I ever did move to India for a longer period I could see myself starting an NGO to feed and rescue beggar children, babies, women, and men. Its just so frustrating how the caste system works...even if I did 'rescue' these people, there would be no acceptance into society--no way to find a job or support themselves. They will forever be stigmatized by their caste, discriminated against with no way to find jobs, housing, and the fundamentals to life. To me it all just seems like one large hopeless cycle, and I find it SO very frustrating.

So tonight, determined to not bypass suffering people without more than a glance, I brought out a package of lollipops. I went to a less popularized shopping street, and was approached by 4 beggars....all of whom I gave a lollipop. Although I could not really help them I could at least treat them like humans. Looking them in the eye, smiling, extended a small token of love. If nothing more, I beleive just the fact that I treated these people as human, is as much as I am empowered to do at this moment in my life. I find this frustrating because I cannot do more, but comforting that I don't have to deny their humanity.

To go along with this post I will also post an article on begging here in India. Thereyou can read facts behind the emotion I feel.

By the way tmrw for my birthday I am going to go and do some NGO touring, go to MG road for a little shopping, dinner with Mrs. Kutty (and Andrew if hes feeling better--hes sick today) and then to Shiros with my friends--Ive invited both my Indian group, and my hostel girls so we'll see who shows up and how that all goes! I'll be out late tmrw night (and prob exhausted after I get back) so I'll update as soon as I can!

I love and miss you all! Thank you for your prayers--please pray for my service work, Im anxious to start and I feel like a lot of doors have been shut!

With love,

Rebecca Ann

my friend rant

So let me first state that Ive made two different group of friends: One group I call my Hostel Girls...this group includes only 2 girls from my hostel and all of their European friends....but its easier to just call my my hostel girls. These girls I go shopping with and to clubs....and let me clear the fact that when I say club I am meaning a resteraunt with a very cool and modern atmosphere with no dancing and very loud music....pretty much a pimped up apple bees.
The second group I call my Indian friends...this should be pretty self explainatory. This group consists of me, one other other girl named Neha and about 10 guys. All of the guys within this group refuse to call me Rebecca or even Becca. They first started calling me Britney because they thought I looked like Britney Spears, but then a few of the guys argued with that because I didn't. Finally one pointed out my resemblance to Drew Barrymore and all 10 agreed with that, and now strictly call me Drew. To be rowdy they will even yell at people staring at me that Im Drew Barrymore and they can pay $5,000 ruppees for an autograph. But in all reality these guys are some of the most protective guy friends I have ever had. If we are hanging out somewhere and other Indian guys even look at me in a way they dont like they will say "lets bounce, I don't like they way they are looking at Drew" and take me to a resteraunt that they consider safer.
It makes me wonder how I could be so blessed to not only have the best friends back home, but that I would be lucky enough to come to a foreign place, and not even an entire week into the trip make some solid friends with whom I feel completly comfortable calling anytime (and if I were ever in trouble.)
Walking away from the faces of people I know, and love, and feel comfortable with was one of the hardest things I have ever done...but knowing that I would be back in only 4 months helped ease the pain. So I sit here now wanting you all to know that I love you so very much, and Im so thankful to have some of the best, and most loyal friends anyone could ever ask for! Being away is still an adventure but Im starting to realize how TRULY blessed I am, and perhaps will be less inclined to take your friendship for granted. So this is my thank you to all of you....thank you for being loyal, and loving and forgiving, and esp. now supportive! Its good to know that my absence is noticed and that I am missed by all of you all. I want you all to know that I miss you so much BUT I will be home (God willing) in 109 days...yes you can start counting down the days! I hope to give you all very smelly hugs and have bunches of pictures, video and stories for you all. In return I hope to hear a bunch of very good stories that I missed out on while making my own. So dont forget a single detail, and I'll try not to either! I love you, and thank God for you all in my life. I miss you and will see you soon(ish)! with all my love,
rebecca ann aka drew

you know your in India when...

Ok so instead of giving a play-by-play of my entire weekend I decided to mix things up and make a list of interesting differences about India....So here goes:

You know your in India when:

• you see a cow painted green standing in the middle of the most crowed street in Bangalore with cars nearly crashing into each other to swerve the cow
• you lay in bed and instead of a spider on the wall you see a gecko on the wall
• you go to a kareokee bar to watch a friend sing and some Indian girl starts singing a Britney Spears song and all your new Indian friends look at you and start saying "shes singing your song!" only because your white and you have blonde hair...not because you resemble Britney at all in the slightest
• All your Indian friends refuse to call you 'Rebecca' and instead call you Drew because of the slight resemblance to Drew Barrymore
• All your indian friends think you resemble Cameron Diaz....ok just insert any famous white and blonde actress/singer
• Dancing in public is illegal (unless its traditional dance and for performance only)
• All bars/clubs/resteraunts/stores close at 11p
• Its 90 degree weather and everyone on the street is wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts
• You watch MTV and its all bali music with synchronized dancing throughout the entire video--and the most revealing outfit MIGHT be a sleeveless shirt and a skirt 5 inches above the knee
• There are at least 5 holidays a month in which everyone gets off work (including republic day which is today!--Indias 4th of July)
• You cant remember what its like to have a speed limit...wait whats a speed limit agian?
• your boogers are always black (sorry if this is a little graphic)
• you walk into one shop and end up staying for 3 hours because the sales persone REFUSES to let you go
• brushing your teeth is the most annoying thing in the world because you have to constantly remember not to rinse in the sink....
• showering and going to the bathroom become chores due to low water power
• even when you want to sleep in you wake up at 830 due to the loud rickshaws in the street below
• everyone cusses like sailors because in India American cuss words are not considered bad...for example a student could cuss in front of a teacher and vice versa because it doesnt carry the meaning that it does in America--the fword is often heard in all contexts
• there are only 2 electrical outlets in ones room....one for the tv and one for the refridge....so when wanting to charge a phone or laptop one must first unplug the fridge or tv
• you find yourself subconsiously slipping into an indian accent
• your the only person you know who doesnt speak at least 4 languages
• you find yourself saying "just dont look at it" at meal times
• you find hairs in your food and you find yourself saying "well....food is food" pull out the hair and continue eating
• you see many people casually smoking joints along the street and on crowded shopping streets
• yours is the only name you can pronounce of everyone youve met
• when telling people you are from Kentucky they automatically saw "Ahhhh Kentucky Fried Chicken right?"
• you dont even think twice about near death experiences involving vehicles--whether its riding in one that almost crashes, or getting run over by one
• you forget what stading in line means.....you only know how to cluster and push your way to the front
• you spend $200 on a meal and think..hmm that was a reasonable priced meal (rupees that is)
• people try to sell you everything from a map of the world, to glow in the dark plastic stars
• your the only person excited about a trip to the beach to work on your tan
• you go to pizza hut only to discover it is not a fast food joint, but instead a very high class resteraunt with waiters bringing fruity mocktails with umbrellas in them
• a coca cola cost less than 25 cents
• you see at least 5 men a day peeing on the side of the road--no shame
• you feel like your in an enchanted, one-of-a-kind place full of amazing sights, smells, and experiences just waiting for you!

new camera card that lets me load pics onto my comp so I can share them with you!

1.my bathroom, please notice the shower is right next to the toilet without seperation (ie no curtain or anything)
2. my lovely room, I sleep on the orange bed and use the other as a sort of nightstand and such
3. veiw from the roof 1
4. veiw from the roof 2

beware! novel blog!

So where do I even begin...Ive missed updating this blog for 3 days I feel like I could write an entire novel! Its crazy how much I see and smell and experience everyday. Let me start off with the above image...this is a picture I took this morning from the porch of my hostel waiting for my ride to the school. This is a picture of men searching through the garbage for anything that may be of worth or for food. Its so funny how I live in what is in Indian standards a VERY nice hostel (with a laundry machine---which is unheard of in Indian culture) and right across the street such poverty not only exists but goes unnoticed by the rest of the Indians. It still shocks me and breaks my heart. This isn't even the worst of it...there are children running barefoot without pants through garbage heaps, and men just sleeping (or perhaps passed out) in the middle of a crowded sidewalk in a very prestigious shopping walk. I am so thankful that I went to Haiti to prepare me for the devestation I encounter everyday here. I think this trip would be a lot harder had I not had the previous experience. Whats so unique about India is that the poorest conditions are of the same level of that of Haiti, but that it exists on the same street (no exaggeration) of some of the wealthiest Indian families. The slums look like the slums of Haiti....the houses are not even made of cardbord, but of scraps of old trash and clothes. I will try to get a picture, but I fear that even that won't do it justice. Let me just say that I absolutly love it here....Ive had a few 'weak' American moments of ethnocentrism (why can't they do it like we do it in America?") but we were driving along in the van yesterday and i was just staring out the window soaking in all the sights, sounds and smells feeling this unexplainable sense of 'this is home'. Although I get soooo many stares, I feel like I belong here. I wouldn't be surprised if I come back here again one day (ask me in 4 months though....its only been a week and I may still be in a 'honeymoon' stage?) Anyways the jetlag is getting much better, and Im becoming acclamated to the time and staying up later, and waking up at a normal time for me. I still havn't watched the Obama inagguartion and I feel like a lousy US citizen because almost every Indian has seen it....theres just too much to do and see and explore that I dont want to sit inside and watch one of our country's most historical moments (ok now that I type that out, perhaps I should sit down and watch it) But I hope everyone had a happy innaguration!

Anyways to update you on the past 3 days of my life....so Tuesday we had a tour of the city...Gopal and Chandru drove us around and showed us the sights of the city. Mrs. Kuttys brother, his wife, and their two grown children accomanyed us. I really liked Mrs. Kuttys niece (shes about 30 and is Indian born&raised but holds a US citizenship and works in NJ) The rest of the family is from a different part of India and were touring Bangalore for the first time. Our first stop was a Hindu temple--it was interesting to say the least. We had to take our shoes off by the street and as we walked toward the temple people were selling fruits and other offerings to the gods. Once inside there was a line of people on either side of a tiny room where you could see inside was a statue of the god--half elephant, half human. The priests wearing orange loin clothes walked up and down the two lines of people collecting the offereings and taking them into the tiny stone room with the idol (only priests are allowed in the gods inner room). Once all of the offerings were collected the priests started ringing these huge bells, and one was banging a gong. It sounded like calamity. People were yell-singing and just everything was really loud.....I cant explain it but I felt sooo uncomfortable...I wanted nothing more than to walk out...my chest tightened so much that I almost started hyperventalating, and breathing just became very fast and shallow for me...Ive never experienced that before. After all the calamity stoped everyone started spinning in 3 circles and then everyone fell down on their knees and face and started praying. Ofcourse andrew and I were the only ones left standing but the Hindus are very open about their reliogion and don't mind tourists. I cant explain why I was having such a hard time breathing but I feel like the spirit within me didnt like being in such close quarters with a bunch of people worshiping idols during an actual worship service...I have never felt the presence of the spirit the way I have here in India....I always feel a tightening in my chest when I hear the muslim call to prayer, and now with this Hindu temple thing...Gods presence within and with me here in India is undeniable. So I hope that brings hope and encouragement to everyone who still have doubts about my safety or whatnot....

Anyways after that we went to the summer palace of a sultan from the 1600's--it was beautiful....hand painted walls, pillars, beautiful garden and well kept lawn. Inside there were several artifacts of teh sultans in glass cases (like a wooden toy of a bengal tiger mauling a british soilder--which was really interesting) When the British took over India this Sultan was one of the few that tried to fight for India. Sort of like our founding fathers against Britain. Anyways after the summer palace we went to these remarkable gardens. Its a place where florists from all of the world come and experiment breeding different types of flowers to create new flowers....so taht was really cool to see all these new and exotic species of flowers taht I have never seen before. I have a lot of pictures, but unfortuntatly they are on a camera card taht I cant transfer until I come back to the US bc I forgot my camera cord. (the other camera card is a USB type card taht I just put into my camera today hence why I can put pics up now). After the gardens we went to the supreme court of Karnataka (the state that Im in) and also went and saw the state capitol building. Fun fact about the courts in India--men and women are judges, but all the judges wear a long black robe over their clothes and the white curly wigs that are from England in the olden days. When we were at the state capitol some Indians approached us (I assumed they were tourists of Bangalore as well) and asked to get their picture with us...kinda like "look Im with a white person" The way Americans might get their picture with an Arabian complete with a turban in front of the white house. I was happy to oblige the Indians and got a kick out of it....its weird being a minority and def. somthing I wont forget! After the government buildings we headed to this really highclass mall for lunch. This mall had only top brand names in it--Tiffanys, Coach, etc. We didnt go to any of the stores though. Then after lunch we dropped Mrs. Kuttys family off and headed to the consolate to register as long term visitors. That was boring and almost not worth mentioning. After all of that Andrew and I headed back to his house to have dinner to plan our extended weekend. We aren't going to Goa afterall this weekend but instead the last weekend in Feb. This coming Monday is an Indian National Holiday called Republic Day--the equivilant to our 4th of July...its the day when they became free. So I think Monday we are going to try to go to some festivals and parades and maybe even see some fireworks. After that I came back to the hostel....I talked to the girls for awhile and headed to my room--a little while later one of the girls (from France) stopped by my room and asked if I wanted to go to the bar with her and some of her friends at 930p and I was excited taht Id made some friends and i was craving coke like noneother....unfortunatly when she stopped back by my room an hour later to pick me up I had fallen asleep. O well you can't win them all. whew.....

On to Wednesday--we started classes and my dance teacher Rakka is soo sweet. Shes 25 and a newlywed (only been married for about 4 months or so). Shes more of a friend than a teacher, but man Indian dance is quite the workout. For those of you who know ballet the main stance in Indian dance is a permanant pleau (sp?) heels together, feet facing completly opposite ways, knees bent as far as they can go w/o losing balance and back completly straight and you hold this stance the entire time. If I were better balanced it wouldnt be such a workout but Rakka said that would come with time and practice. All we did was practice the stance and the foot taps (the ballet equivilant to the standard stances--what the rest of the dance is based upon). After dance we had our Indian Religions class--Agusta Paul a small old Indian lady is teaching that, and Indian culture. She has her masters and I believe (but dont qoute me) her doctorate in sociology (yay my major!) so she focuses on a lot of the social issues which is what interests me most! We already have a whole chapter to read for our next class (bahh!) but it interests me a whole lot so it wont be too bad. She is a very devout christian woman and after class I asked if she would mind taking me to church with her; she said she would love to and is out town this weekend, but will pick me up next sunday....how cool!?! I get to experience an Indian church. I havn't met many, but the christians that I have met here are some of the most devout followers I have ever met. They boldly proclaim the name of Jesus and accredit everything to Him. Its very encouraging and I hope their fervor is contagious. It has already effected me and I have such little exposure. Anyways Augusta is also the one who will be organizing my NGO work and we talked about all the options and I was so excited I could barely stand it. She said she would take to me a lot of places throughout the next two weeks and from there I could set up times to work regularly. After her class let out we had a quick lunch and then we had to go back to the consolate to collect some more papers--again not even worth mentioning. Then I got a call from Rakka asking if I wanted to come over and go shopping for my dance clothes. So I went to Rakkas house and had tea time and talked to her and her parents for about 2 hours. I loved her parents, they were so sweet, and her mom just thought I was the best thing since sliced bread. She seemed to hang on to every word I said. I showed her a picture of my family and she complimented every member of my family. Her dad was super friendly too, but he sat outside mostly. Rakkas family, a devout Hindu family, had many figurines of all the gods sitting around teh house. It was a 5 room house--one for the kitchen, one bedroom, one common area, one shower room, and the last room reserved for a shrine type place. I went inside the shrine room and it was a small room (the size of a walk-in closet) with a shrine with small idols and pictures of all the gods inside with a small plate with coins and fruit sitting infront of the shrine. Rakka explained that everyday she wakes up, goes to the shrine room, lights the candle, prays, offers some fruit, and then puts on her bindi (the red dot indians wear on their foreheads). It was very interesting to me, and even more so that although their house was so small they reserved a room just for the shrine. I also saw my first Indian toilet--the toilet was located outside (like an outhouse) and was just a small hole in the ground with bucket of water (in place of toilet paper) sitting beside it. Apparently you just squat when you have to go. After a 2 hour tea time her husband came home and the three of us headed off in a rickshaw towards the seamstress. Rakka and her husband Kannan are tiny...both short and compact and I felt like a giant next to them! We went to the seamstress and Rakka (who is also very into fashion) picked out all the fabrics and designed my Kutra (the Indian pant/shirt outfit) I bought three (2 to practice in and one nice one) for about $25 dollars and will pick them up next week. After we were done shopping we headed to an Indian fast food resteruant and enjoyed some Masala Dosa (a rice pancake with yellow mush potato filling) It sounds and looks gross but I surprisingly enjoyed it quite a bit. Have I mentioned that Indians dont use silverware? They eat with their right hand only. Something that I kinda enjoy because well...its eating with my hands and not being rude! Anyways after that I went out to a club with Andrew, Lalit, and Getta--andrews housemom (Lalit is the other guy staying with Getta). Getta left today for Australia so the club was Andrew and Lalits sendoff for her. She wont be back until March. I had a lime coke wich tasted like lime mixed with carbinated water, and Im still craving just a regular Coke! Afterwards I headed back to the hostel to find that the internet was not only working again, but also accessible in all of our rooms! YAY!

Ok and now for today: So we had class at 10, so Chandru picked us up at 930. We had Agusta again today (for our Indian Culture class) and we started discussions on several different cultural issues. Andrew and I pretty much picked out our own syllabus and course work voicing what we wanted to learn about most. This included (but not limited to) the caste system, womens issues, poverty issues, clothing, westernization, traditions, etc. It should be an extremly interesting course and VERY useful if I ever live in India permanantly. After class Augusta arranged for us to meet with the first NGO....a school called Yugalok (http://www.yuvalok.org/) --its a christian orginzation that takes children from the slums and educates them. They have an extended program called the Childrens Labor Program which is a secondary school for children who have been rescued from child labor and are being taught to catch up from where they missed out due to working. We went to the highschool and the elementary school. I really loved the little children and they all wanted to hold my hand. Talking to the children from the labor program broke my heart....there were girls who at 4 and 5 were seamstresses, and boys who worked in the textile fields. I could def. see myself working there, but I also know my heart well enough that I would enjoy any type of work, so I know that i need to have patience to see all the other oppourtunities before commiting myself. It hit me today that a lot of these children reminded me of the children from Haiti--starving for attention. I fell in love, but Im sure that is bound to happen at every NGO that we go to. I have no doubt that God will move me to follow His will in this. On our ride back as I witnessed the slums, and the beauty and the trash and uniqueness of India I started thinking about how and why Gods presence seems so much more noticable and i came to the conclusion that God is felt most where the want it most. People of india aren't blinded by the next 'newest and latest' (for the most part) and therefore see their blantant need for a savior--God hears and sees this and has made Himself much more noticable. Its funny how those who have least have most.....

Anyways we again went to the consolate (and will have to one more time tmrw). After that Andrew and I went back to Getas to enjoy the weather...I slept on the roof, while he read. When it started to get dark out I headed back to the hostel. The girl from Thailand invited me to have some Thai dinner that she cooked in her room, so I went and ate with her. Its soo cool to hear about all the differnet cultures! And now Im sitting here writing this forever long blog *my apologies!* I hope you all have enjoyed living vicariously through me ;)

I love and miss you all! Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts! I miss you and will try to be more consistant on this blog so I wont have to type out another novel!

<3

Rebecca Ann

A day in the life....

As I sit here early in the morning, having woken up again and not been able to fall back asleep, Im kinda thankfulfor the jetlag because it has given me a time to catch up with people back home, and update this blog. Im sitting in my room (Bill Im wearing the navy shirt you gave me) trying to recall all the events of yesterday to fill everyone in on. Well Chandru came and picked me up at 945 and we went and picked up Anderew and then headed to theschool for the first time. It was beautiful! White-washed buildings with lots and lots of windows so the buildings were pretty much lighted naturally. We went to Dr. Raos office first and discussed which courses we were taking and how field trips, and service work (which will be settled by the end of the week) would go. Its so cool because Andrew and I are going to be the only two to an instructure. And Im taking Indian Dance (which hes not taking) and hes taking yoga (which Im not taking) and for those, we will have our own personal instructure! All in all its a pretty sweet deal. After our meeting with Dr.Raowe went and toured the small campus. It consisted of a dorm (which is for all the Indian Bioengineering students) and another building which is where they manufacture pharmacuitacal machinary on one side, and then labs for the indian students to learn how to produce pharmacuitical drugs. Then theres the building for the Westernized students(which Andrew and I will get to ourselves) complete with a 4-computer computer lab, and two full sized very extravagant classrooms (they look like the class rooms in MMTH--very modern and nice). Then a modern lounge with couches, a tea/coffe/hot chocolage/soup machine, butter cookies, and a water cooler which produces cold/lukewarm/hot water.In the lounge area the wifi works, and will probablly be where I skype most of you! :) Then theres teh roof, which is what it is....a roof that over looks the very green a palm-tree populated campus. Yesterday I sat on the roof for about an hour just soaking up the sun and journaling. After that Andrew and I left,and had lunch at Gettas (his homestay). After lunch we took our first rickshaw...we went to explore MG road and it was awesome. THere were stores everywhere filled with beautiful jewlery, sarrees, and housewares. Andrew really wanted to try an Indian beer so we ended up going to this lounge-club type thing which was a cool atmosphere...hada very clubbish-feeling to it, but not suitable for 4 in the afternoon. We were the only two in the joint and it was kinda awkward. We soon left so he could do some grocery shopping, and then headed back to Getas. We have an extended weekend this weekend so we are trying to plan a trip to Goa (which are world renound beaches). We tried toget train tickets but unfortunatly they were completly sold out. Im not worried...it will work out, and if it doesnt for this weekend, it will for another weekend. We went to some resteraunt or another which also had a verymodern-clubbish type feel to it. Very cool atmosphere, but once again being a monday night, we were one of the onlyfew in the joint. It was about 8:30p by the time we left, and I was exhausted! So we headed back to our places, andI pretty much just passed out for the night! All in all a very good day--today we're going to have a tour of the city and Im thrilled...should be a pretty amazing day! I love and think about you all very often! with lots of love, rebecca ann

6am prayers

So its 6am and Im still slightly recovering from jetlag and woke up and couldnt go back to sleep. Apart from waking up I heard the Muslim call to prayer (which I've heard several times since Ive been here.) In my spirit, I felt led to pray to God whenever I hear the call to prayer...not because Im trying to practice the Muslim traditions, but because I think it breaks Gods heart to see so many of His children praying to another. Im hoping that although Gods heart is breaking, that maybe....just maybe my prayers will bring even a hint of a smile to God.
Colosians 4:2

First Explorations

So today was much better than yesterday. I acctually got to get out and explore the city a little bit.Gopal called around 1:45p saying that he was with Andrew (the other American with the program) and that Andrew wanted to meet me. Not gonna lie, it was such a relief to meet another American, and together we went and walked around for a little while. I got to meet his house mother Getta, and we had lunch at Gettas house. Lunch was an adventure. It was this pancake type deal wrapped around a greenish/yellowish chunky mashed potato substanance. The way to eat it is by tearing off pieces of the pancake and scooping up the potato stuff and then eating it. Letsjust say my food horizons have for sure widenened. It wasnt bad, it just looked very unappatizing. After lunch Andrew showed me where to put money on my prepaid India phone, and where the ATm was, and where to exchange money. We were going to go to Mahamad Ghandi Road (which is the Indian version of Rodeao *sp* Drive) but Mrs. Kutty was holding all my money so we were going to meet up with her first. When we met up with her she insisted on buying us dinner at decent resteraunt. I had a grilled chicken sandwich (possibly the first american meal since my departure 5 days ago) and a cake called "death by chocolate".....Wemyss let me just say you were on my mind the entire time I ate the delecatble desert. It was a chocolate mousse cake covered in dark chocolate flakes with chocolate sprinkles. The name def. suited the cake. We ate at Mrs. Kuttys house, and I absolutly adore Mrs. Kutty. She is well traveled and quite spunky. Her husband was a quiet but nice man. And her mother in law is from Denmark with the most remarkable blue eyes...she too was hilarious. We ended up spending the entire evening just chatting with Mrs. Kuttyand her family. After dinner her daughter (who is very high up in the fashion world, and just opened the Ferdigio (sp) *a very expensive Italian shoe brand* store in Bangalore) came over for a bit. She was talking to Andrew and I, and was mentioning that we should try modeling--apparently a lot of India companies are looking for white models (for resort brochures, etc.) and that we would get paid about $120 a day. She was going to set it up for us, so we'll see how that goes....if it does work out it would be another eclectic thing to add to my resume from my trip to India. Tomorow school starts & Im thrilled. Apparently my Indian dance class is going to be amazing...Im not allowed to wear western clothes so my instructure will take me shopping for a wardrobe in Indian clothing to wear to class everyday. How cool!?!?! I get to work out all the details of where I will be doing my service work and what days and so forth tmrw as well! Which Im also stoked about! Among other things, we have an extended weekend this weekend so I think Andrew and I are going to try and travel to Goa (which are beaches that are supposed to look like Hawaii) and Mrs. Kuttys daughter said that this weekend it will be a very 'happening' place and a good time to meet a lot of people. Sounds fun! Anyways we finally left Mrs. Kuttys and Andrew walked me back to the hostel. Once in the hostel 5 of the girls were in teh common area cooking dinner. One of them was from Japan and was SO thrilled to meet me. She was so fascinated by me and was so proud to say she had an american friend. I showed her a book of KY that I brought with me, and she was so cute....there was a picture of some waterfall from KY and she was like "Niagra Falls?" It was really cute. She kept saying "I want to go to America" The girls let me try some of their dinner which was really good...some sort of green vegetable thing cooked in spices. I think it might have been ocra? Cant be sure though. And here I sit typing this thinking of all the amazing experiences Im about to have-at war with myself because my body is so tired, but my mind so alive with the possibilities of oppourtunities for the next 4 months of my life. I certainly am missing everyone back home, and have already made a list of things I will not take for granted about the US, but I know that India holds so many exciting things for me! I love you all, and am thinking about you! with love, rebecca ann

Arrival in India

Well Im in Bangalore India, and let me just say that Im glad that I'll be here for 4 months because I wouldnt want to re-do that trip anytime soon. A 14 hr plane ride is as bad as it sounds....not that my trip was all bad--I made 6 friends throughout the trip and have found all the Indians to be extremly outgoing, friendly, and helpful. On the 14 hr flight I sat between a guy and a girl and both were giving me tips for my stay. I had my first airplane meal (which was Indian) and it was interesting to say the least....it was some sort of chicken stuff with rice, and this gel desert. The desert was nothing like jello; it was a tougher consistancy and tasted like perfume. The after-mints provided was just as interesting....it was a bunch of seeds, and sprinkles that you are supposed throw in your mouth and chew until you feel your breath is good, and then swallow. Feeling adventurous after having tried the entire dinner, and being naieve and thinking 'how bad can after mints be?' I threw back an entire handful--it tasted as though I had just thrown an entire handful of potpuri in my mouth and was now chewing it. Needless to say breakfast on the plane was just as interesting with green eggs, non-flavored yogurt, and once again after-mints. Once in India I had a 9 (which turned into a 13 due to a flight cancelation) hour layover. There I met a very friendly Guatamalen lady who lived in Tampa, but was visiting India for a religious following. We talked about our religions among other things and we stayed together and took turns sleeping and watching over each others bags. Finally my last plane left and I arrived in Bangalore. Gupa and Chandru came to the airport to pick me up and had a sign with my name on it waiting outside the airport. The 45 minute drive from the airport to the hostel is one thing I will never forget.....I have never seen such beautiful organized chaos. There were lanes on the road but NO ONE drives in them...it was crazy! Even when there were no cars around Chandru would just drive right down the middle of the road. Pedestrians do not have the right away, bicyclists do not have the right of way and I know this because we almost hit like 5 on our way. And the car horn is for anyone and anything in your way and not going as fast as you would like. At every stoplight all horns would start blaring as soon as the light turned green. Cars drove so close that if I had opened my window I could have easily put my arms into the cars besides us. As we drove along there were parts of the trip that I was certain that I was in Jamica(the tropical feel, the palm trees, how such devestation existed next to mansions), then there were parts that I was certain I was in Haiti (I saw barefoot kids playing in trash heaps next to dogs), and even some parts that I thought I might be in Panama (the hotels look like the ones in Panama), but the traffic alone reminded me that I was in India. So as it turns out I am not staying in a homestay. Apparently since the Mumbai attacks very few Indians want to host westerners for fear that they will be singled out in an attack. So instead I will be at a girls hostel for the duration of my stay. Mrs Kutty (the vp of the program) lives right down the street, and assures me that the hostel is the safest place for me because it has 24 hr security guards. Its pretty nice here, just like a dorm. There is a kitchen-common area on all the floors, and I get a room to myself. The internet only works in the hallway, which Im staying optimistic about because it will be my way of making friends. So far I have slept the entire time that I've been here. Gupa has been in and out, bringing me grocries and toilet paper, and sheets, and such, which was provided by the program. (Thank goodness its a 'westernized' toilet, but it still only has the 'sprayer' instead of toilet paper so Gupa brought me toilet paper) The bathroom is very interesting---the shower has no curtain and is maybe 5 inches from the toilet, so I think when I take a shower I will be soaking the toilet as well. I'll take pictures and be sure to post them, because its hard to describe. The cleaning girl doesnt know english but seems very sweet. She has brought me all of my meals but as I have been sleeping on and off I havn't eaten much. Tommorow Gupa comes at 1:30 to bring me lunch and then take me to Mrs. Kuttys house to meet Dr.Rao, and some others I think. Then we will be going to the bank to exchange some of my money. Anyways I think thats about it for now! Its aprox. 4:45 am and I should probablly head back to bed to get some rest before I have another overwhelming day! I love and miss you all!
love, becca