Senses

I'm reading a book right now called, Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. I bought it a couple of days ago at a book stand on the streets in Pune for like two dollars. It is incredible. In the first chapter Roberts talks about the smells of India, and the way he describes is perfect.. and I want everyone to read it.. so here we go...

"The first thing I noticed about Bombay, on that first day, was the smell of the different air. I could smell it before I saw or heard anything of India, even as I walked along the umbilical corridor that connected the plane to the airport. I was excited and delighted by it, in that first Bombay minute, but I didn’t and couldn’t recognize it. I know now that it’s the sweet, sweating smell of hope, which is the opposite of hate; and it’s the sour, stifled smell of greed, which is the opposite of love. It’s the smell of gods, demons, empires, and civilizations in resurrection and decay. It’s the blue skin-smell of the sea, no matter where you are in the Island City, and the blood-metal smell of machines. It smells of the stir and sleep and waste of sixty million animals, more than half of them humans and rats. It smells of heartbreak, and the struggle to live, and of the crucial failures and loves that produce our courage. It smells of ten thousand restaurants, five thousand temples, shrines, churches, and mosques, and of a hundred bazaars devoted exclusively to perfumes, spices, incense and freshly cut flowers.

Whenever I return to Bombay, now it's my first sense of the city- that smell, above all things- welcomes me and tells me I’ve come home."

Playtime in the afternoons at House of Hope.. Soon after this picture was taken the swing did indeed break.
More of the festival..

Rooftop of the Girls' Intern Flat

Sahara

festival

Right now in India there is a HUGE Hinda festival honoring the Hindu god, ganesh. Which means there are drums, parades, music, fireworks, etc. going on all hours of the night. Tonight, two of my roommates and I took a rickshaw to the supermarket and we got stuck in a parade for like 15 minutes. BUT, I got a video which sort of explains what has been happening for the past week, and what will happen until the 22nd of September. Its been interesting seeing all of this, especially since it is all for a god that looks like an elephant. But, it shows very much what the Indian culture is all about.

Everything here is going well, I have been very busy with work. I am working with a school in the mornings, helping them in whatever they need really and then in the afternoons I work at an orphanage with kids who are HIV positive, helping them with homework, reading and writing English, playing games, loving them. So far it has been good.. First week was quite overwhelming so I will explain more about each ministry once I have more of a routine and such. But, so far everything has been good :)

lots of love.

enjoy the fall weather in america, i'm missing it already!

first days in photos.

My precious little friend at the orphanage, Sahara, we were playing hide and seek... this was her way of hiding.

Shoe Store in Pune

Hindu Festival celebrating god ganesh.

Flowers.

View from my balcony.

35+ hours.

I am here, I am safe, and I am very jet lagged.

Update soon.

Thanks for your prayers!