Pondicherry & Beyond

On Friday, the other volunteers went to Delhi and Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Since I had already been there, I stayed back and went to the coastal town of Pondicherry with the summer volunteer directors, Raegan and Jenny. We got the cutest hotel room - all bright colors, antiques, and a swing in our room. It was amazing. We had a great time shopping and walking around. It's a former French colony so it has a really different feel than most of India. We went to the local temple and got blessed by an elephant. In the picture, it looks like the elephant is whacking me in the head. But mainly we ate and ate....everything non-Indian that we could find. We found an Italian restaurant owned by an actual Italian who was also the chef. He sat down with us and we had a great talk with him. After we told him we were from Utah, he asked us if we were Mormons. We said yes and he said "Fantastic! You are the first Mormons I've ever met!" Then periodically during dinner, he would burst out and say "fantastic....Mormons!" It was so funny. He asked us to email him a photo we took with him so that he could hang it up in the restaurant. It was really funny. We took the bus back to Chengalput and it ended up being a lot longer than we planned because of traffic and trains and construction. I had a good time chatting with the locals. I was listening to my ipod and this little kid asked if he could listen too so I gave him an earbud and put "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" on. He loved it.

On Monday I got to go to Bethel Nagar, another colony. Three of the boys in my "family" are from Bethel Nagar. It was mindboggling to walk around the village and imagine my boys living there. The kids at Rising Star are really westernized and speak English and are dressed well and are really clean. The kids in the village look poor and unhealthy. The kids go home to their families a couple times a year and I wonder how they cope being back in that environment - are they popular because of all the knowledge they have of the western world, or are they resented because of all the opportunities that they have.

I washed feet and got to interact with some really neat people and hear some amazing stories. One man, in his 80's had been blind for 20 years. Our doctor, Dr. Kumar, convinced the hospital to do an eye surgery on him even though they'd turned him down several times because they said he was going to die soon anyway. They finally agreed to do the surgery after Dr. Kumar told them that they wouldn't hurt anything by trying. The surgery restored his sight and he was able to see again. He said his wife looked more beautiful now than the day he married her :) Before the surgery, he was really unhappy and depressed, but now he's so joyful. He tells everyone the story and always raises his arms up to heaven and says "halleluiah, halleluiah". It's such a great story and his joy is palpable.

This is the man who could finally see again after twenty years. His surgery was last year and he's still ecstatic about his restored vision!

His happiness is contagious.

I got blessed by the elephant at a temple in Pondicherry.

Our Italian so delighted by his Mormons.