week dos (I don't know 'two' in Hindi)

So my second week in India is over. It feels like it's been so much longer - I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing! ;)

The past few days have been pretty tiring. The Freedom Firm staff had their retreat this weekend, so the five girls stayed with us at Farley (our house). It's been really great getting to know each of their individual personalities - they are all so different from one another! Although there is a language barrier, especially with the few who speak very little English - their personalities still come through strongly! There are moments of tension - mostly surrounding issues of cultural differences (they can't grasp the fact that we don't eat rice for every meal!) - and working through these situations with a language barrier can be pretty trying, but we get the job done eventually, ha!

The church I go to here is really great - it's pastored by a South African man, and most of the "foreigners" attend. Both weeks I have had things to take away from his sermons, so that's a real blessing to still be fed with the Word during this time. I felt so encouraged and excited about the Lord's provisions leaving church this Sunday!

I've gotten used to my bucket showers again, and am slowly getting used to the spice of Indian food, and also getting used to eating a lot of the same foods here at home, since we don't have access to everything we're used to back home. Once again, overall, doing really well. I'm excited to see what the next 10 weeks will look like (that's right - only 10 more weeks till the journey is over and I land back in USA!)

If you are a pray-er:

- health - I had a little bit of a cold, which thankfully went away, but now one of my housemates is quite sick, and the other one was sick a few weeks ago - pray for continued healing & health for all of us!

- for less tension and conflict between us and the girls - for more understanding on both our parts, and for mature resolution.

- for confidence in my role and purpose here.

THANK YOU ALL!

Indian beginnings!

HELLO! I would say that in Hindi, but I have not learned any! Oh my.

So, I have been in India a bit over a week now, so it's about time I let you all know what's going on, eh?

Well, let's start by saying I am doing MUCH better adjusting than I did in Rwanda, and that's no reflection of the countries or organisations themselves, but having two housemates makes a HUGE difference. I live with two girls my age, one American & one Irish. It is SUCH a blessing to have friendly people around (and English speaking..ha). So, that's been really amazing. We live in an old missionary home up in the mountains of India - it's really tranquil and beautiful :)

So let me outline for you what a normal week looks like for me here in India:

Three days out of the week I am in the Freedom Firm office - the girls (there are five of them, all about my age, and a bit younger) have education with "Teacher" in the morning - maths, English, Hindi - then they move on to work. They design and make jewelry to sell to make their wages. They are so creative and hard working, it's so cool! So I basically just help out with some school work, or teaching typing/computer skills. This week has been really busy with the jewelry too, so I've done a lot of help with that.

The weekends are the busy days though. On Saturday morning we go to horse therapy. The girls assist with giving horse rides to some disabled children from the community. Not only is it a fun time for the kids, but it helps to strengthen their muscles sitting up on the horses. It's great to see these girls who have experienced so much, give back to other people so willingly. After that, we (me and one of my housemates) go back to the girls house for lunch, the girls do chores, and just hang out. Then Sunday we all go to church (I am really enjoying the church here!), and the same - go back to the girls house for lunch and chores and hanging around.

So things aren't particularly structured, but I get to spend a lot of time just socialising sort of with the girls and with other FF staff/volunteers, which is nice.

So, all in all I am doing well - getting used to the spice of Indian food! & eating it with my hand (thanks to my Sri Lankan sister-in-law for the practice I have had with this..) Ooty is beautiful, and I am really enjoying being here. But, I also look forward to the day I get to go back to USA & see my friends & parents.

I feel like this is a pretty basic fill-in, so if you have questions, feel free to let me know!

Thanks so much for reading!

Much love,

Bronte.