Friday, Day 18

Today was my last day at Rising Star; it was romba super!

I started off the day doing yoga with Alyssa on the roof. :) Then I ate breakfast: toast and a whole fresh mango! So yummy!

I went with the medial team to the colony Moot. I went to the same colony two weeks ago and was excited to go again.

On the way we saw a bunch (20) of monkeys on the side of the road.

This one was looking at himself in a piece of mirror!

courtney and I played Jenga with Kartoshi. As soon as we had it set up she would just start pulling pieces out; it made us laugh.

Kartoshi loves to hold hands! I just stood with her for a while and held her hand. It is amazing how powerful human touch is. It is a beautiful form of communication and can create instant connections between two people.

This is Saroja. A beautiful, sweet, spiritual woman. The other day I learned the Tamil hand movement to tell someone they are beautiful. She does not speak English so when I sat down next to her I gestured that she was beautiful. She smiled and kissed my hands. Then she raised her hands to thank God. It was a very special moment for me. She is not angry or sad, she is thankful for the little things, a smile from a stranger, a house to live in, a fresh bandage.

As we drove away I knew I was leaving a little slice of Heaven.

On the way back to Rising Star we stopped for lunch at a restaurant. I ordered some chines food, don't worry, that is how it was written on the menu :). I got dragon chicken (like a spicy General Tso's) and mixed fried rice (meaning it had chicken, shrimp, goat/lamb, and probably something else). I hadn't eaten that much meat in a long time and it felt really weird. Some of the Indian members of the medical tried my dragon chicken and said I chose well, haha. Then we stopped at the junction and I got Maaza! And I am bringing some home with me, be excited family!

For dinner we had chapati, one of my favorite dishes. We went around the group and each said something that we had learned. (I have learned so much in India and will dedicate a later post to that topic.) I said something along these lines, When we first arrived the coordinators told us the theme for the session was, 'When you release the joy in someone else, you release the joy in yourself." I realize now that I did not completely understand that quote. But since I have been here, everyday I have learned how true this is. I have seen joy and happiness in the faces of so many and it has made me happy.

Then we had family time. I feel horrible about leaving my boys. As soon as we arrived they opened their hearts and their arms to us. They knew we would only be staying for a few weeks, but it did not matter. They were a great lesson to me on unconditional love. I know I have a greater capacity to love because of them.