India Day 1: Traveling and Journey to Rising Star School

Okay so let me start off by saying, I'm extremely tired.  We left SLC at noon on Saturday, we arrived in Chennai, India this morning (Monday) at 7am, to catch a Taxi to the hotel in enough time to shower and hop on a bus for a 3 hour car ride to the Rising Star base camp and begin our tasks for the day.  With very little sleep in the last 36 ish hours and all of it being super cramped on a plane...lets just say, I'm POOPED!! Buuut sooo grateful to be safe and sound in India! Finally in a bed, and able to share the last few days (but really one LOOOOONG day of traveling for me) of experiences!!  Here is a little sneak peak, more pics coming soon!  Sorry the vid is a little choppy! I will try to film more! You will LOVE the India footage.

We started our day off right with Cafe Rio.. of course!! There is one in the SLC airport now. (am i the only one insanely excited about this.) I must say it wasn't as good of quality as the regular ol' cafe rio, but it sure made waiting for our flight seem like a breeze.  

We boarded our first flight from SLC to Dallas.. an easy two  and a half hours, 2 hour layover in dallas then a long 9 hour flight from Dallas to London.  4 hour layover in London, Then another LOOOONG flight 10 more hours from London to Chennai.  My ankles, calves, and knees are SOOO Swollen from the flights and super painful. I am sleeping with feet elevated tonight, and hopefully they will be ready to work hard tomorrow!! It's construction day for me! All 3 flights were full!! Not too bad though, I slept here and there on all 3 flights; however it seriously feels like I have been awake since Saturday morning.  Airplane catnaps just don't quite do the job.

Kankles.  So swollen. Ouch!

We arrived in India early Monday morning.  Our flight got in at 6am.  It was supposed to be in at 3 so our poor cab driver had been waiting outside the airport since 2:45am and by the time we got through customs and outside to the cars it was after 7am.  THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE IN INDIA!!! Seriously people everywhere!!! Our cab drivers name was Majeeb, he was waiting outside with a sign.  He was soo nice, told me all about arranged marriages, and government, daily life, etc.  It was awesome to get a sneak peak into their culture.  P.S. Did I mention, driving here is INSANE!!!! There is NO rhyme or reason, just honking everywhere, driving in whatever lane you want, speeding up onto curbs and gutters to get around scooters and other vehicles! Wow, heart attack.  The streets here are very dirty.  It makes me sad to see.  Few people wear shoes, I think mainly those that can afford them.  There are lots of skinny cows and dogs roaming around the BUSY streets! I haven't seen a monkey yet but we heard one today!

Our cab driver Majeeb.

When we got to our hotel it was BEAUTIFUL!! We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott.  Our cab driver (Majeeb) works as a driver for the hotel. He told me all about how he has a 1.5 hour walk to work every morning and night because his fam cant afford a vehicle.  It made me grateful for the car I have to drive.  I felt so guilty leaving him and entering this beautiful hotel, with air conditioning and marble floors, knowing he would be walking home later to one of the many shanty towns we passed on the way.  We had JUST enough time to take our last hot shower for 3 weeks, change our clothes, eat breakfast and meet up with everyone else from The Rising Star to head to camp at 10am.  WE ARE TIRED!  I will write all about Day 1 at the Rising Star Tomorrow and post lots of pictures and videos!! Buuut as for now, I NEED to go to bed, we start rotations tomorrow and my first day is construction! woohoo!!! Sooo SOOO excited for this experience! I am looking forward to meeting all of the amazing people! The kids are so cute, I want to bring one home... sorry Jordan. But I seriously might!! ooo I love em!  Pics and vids to come tomorrow!! LOVE YOU!!!

View from our hotel.

There are people literally everywhere sleeping on the sidewalk.

Drivin the streets.

Have I mentioned yet how tired i am??????

p.s. They only have squat toilets here, as in you squat over a hole in the floor. And you are not allowed to put toilet paper down, so you have to either "bucket wash" yourself off..onto the floor and down a drain, or put dirty TP in the trash bin.  Needless to say, you can probably imagine the smell, and envision me sanitizing every part of my body atleast every 5 mins. buuuut..(no pun intended) squatters aside, I am seriously loving EVERY bit of the experience so far. I can't wait to begin!