Tears for India……

Such a beautiful country, such a beautiful people.  I love you India, I have tears for you as I leave…. All the beauty  you have imparted to me, humbly, I see that my heart has been strengthened and softened by your love.  I am here to be yours; I know I'm not done being influenced and changed by you. So,

See you soon again…..

I'm visiting home for 2 months, will be back soon.

The Colors. The Colors. The Colors. The Colors

The Culture.  The Culture. The Culture. The Culture

The People. The People. The People. The People

"It's a good thing: tears. It does not tag the coming as better or the past as less, it allows the now; and somehow combines all three."

The COLORS

My Birthday Celebration

Friends, I must share with you how blessed I was on the day of my birthday celebration.  You must know how I love to celebrate - and I don't miss my own birthday as an opportunity to host and cook and decorate and gather a crowd of people! :)

On this day I wanted to share the joy of celebrating with the people that have meant a lot to me here in India and I was in turn overwhelmed and touched by their love and friendship.

We had a picnic at Farley where I stay.

To you whom I could not share my day with this year - I wish you could have been here.  Love you!

Here are some photos :

It was a FUN day! :)

I chose Pink, Orange, and Yellow :)
The beautiful flowers are from the Farley garden.

Menu:  I baked the Chicken (Brenda's Christmas Chicken)
Annette made the rolls (Buttermilk)
Valsa brought the vegetable (Indian Eggplant)
Mala brought the Potato Salad

The People

FF Staff: Greg, Rod, Susai, Shymala, (Shyamala's Sister) 

Laura (FF Volunteer), Jessie, Valsa (Bible Study Friends)

Elizabeth, Jaya (FF Staff), Tom (Bible Study), Mala, Susai's Kids: Nelson & Martin 

Sheida (friend from community), Karen, Jeff, Abi (Pastor and family from church), Diana (FF)

The Cake

And introducing...... THE CAKE!
This is the Maltby Cake
(Yes I baked this in India ;)
Served with Mixed Fruit (mango, pineapple, and banana)

Hannah (volunteer) lighting my special flower candle!! ;) -
As it lights it blossoms and sings Happy Birthday!!  This is an Indian tradition.

Singing:  "We're SOOOO glad God made you....Happy Birthday to you!"

Happy Birthday!

And the Birthday girl cuts the cake!

...And Greg helps serve - our usual tradition in the FF. :)

Beautiful!

Lovely People.

The Gifts

My guests totally surprised me by bringing gifts for me, and I really was blessed by the way this made me feel loved and at home!  Thank-you everyone!

Hannah and I

My Iranian Friend -Love her!  Sheida

The Day of my Birthday with my English Class

I must share with you my English Class:  These are the lovely women whom I have had the opportunity to teach English to.  We had class on my birthday and they came dressed in their best Sari's of bright color, brought their children, and cooked homemade sweets!  This sincerely was the highlight of my day. I felt truly blessed on my birthday!

Travelling

Travelling

Let me take you through the journey I have taken this month through India. Come…..

First Stop: Bangalore

City - Shopping - History (Palace) - Market

Bangalore is India's third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration. Bangalore is well known as a hub for India's information technology sector. It is among the top 10 preferred entrepreneurial locations in the world.

The Crowded Streets of Chickpet Market

The Bangalore Palace

The Traditional Indian Wear: Sari 

Shopping - A Typical shop with loads of clothing folded on a shelf -
they pulled out about  20 of them for us to see and laid them on the floor.

Second Stop: Goa
One Word: Paradise - Hut on the Beach - Good Food - Rented Motorbikes - Sunrise Boat ride - Dolphins

Goa is India's smallest state however it was ranked the best placed state for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India.  Goa is a former Portuguese colony, the Portuguese overseas territory of Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961.

Agonda Beach

The Crew - Bronte, Ty (Sheen'a Friend), Sheena, JT (Ty's brother), Aajay (Simose Staff), Me, Dinesh (Simrose Staff),  Heidi (Ty's Mom)

Simrose Resort:  Where we stayed

The huts we stayed on - steps away from the beach
We crawled out of bed and took morning swims and runs on the beach
and lounged at the bar late into the  night.

Third Stop: Mumbai (Bombay)
Biggest & Richest City in India! - Tons of People - Colors - British/ Indian Buildings - Run Down/ Beautiful - Gateway to India

 Mumbai has a total population of approximately 20.5 million, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world. In 2009, it was named an Alpha world city. Mumbai is also the richest city in India.

This is it:  The Biggest City in India (Reminded me of NYC but bigger)
Skyscrapers to the slums

A perfect picture of the vast contrast here in Bombay - Run Down yet British Architecture

The Catholic Hostel we stayed in :)

Wesley - Me - Sheena
Wesley is a former FF staff from Mumbai - He showed us around!
We had a blast together

The Gateway to India

The Famous Taj Mahal Palace Hotel - Wow!  It was Extraordinary :)
Perhaps one day I'll stay there :)

Bombay = Good Times
We had so many!!

Getting Henna done on the streets :)

Bye Bye city on the coast!

It was so good to spend time travelling in India and see other parts of it.  For heavens sake, If I'm gonna be here for a year then I want to conquer it!  This was just a start - but a really good one!  Bangalore is a really well know city and quite large - we very much enjoyed finding our way around the high points of town, including the locals' Chick Pet Market, Commercial Road (Shopping), and an auto ride tour of the history of the city including the Tudor Style Palace.  We met friends of Sheena's in Goa and truly were blown away at the amazing time we had - the culture is that of California - laid back  beach bums.  The coast was nothing short of beautiful and we spent our days lounging on the beach and eating wonderful western food with the luxury of a hut on the beach.  Sheena and I made a last stop in Mumbai on her way out of the country.  The city won my heart as the pinnacle of my favorite things about India.  I'm looking for ways to go back! :)