Day 14: Sunday Funday.

The Internet is still down, so I don’t know how quickly I will be able to get all of these blogs up.

I am posting them as quick as I can.. so be patient.

Today we woke up early and hit the road to church in Chennai, India.

The  branch here is so amazing.  The first  meeting we came to  last Sunday, they had 3 comfirmations, this week they had three as well.  It is cool to see the church growing and reaching every little corner of the planet, even all the way down here in South India.  I love the church here. I will miss it and the members we have met here!

After church we took a taxi or a “tuk tuk” down to Spencers.  It is the only “shopping mall” in Chennai.  We wanted to grab a few of the things we saw last week, and eat some real food!! It was a CRAZY adventure  to say the least.  Seriously India has NO traffic laws, and if they do, NO ONE follows them.  When we asked our driver back at the school (Annund) about this, he said policemen are off on Sunday so people drive however they want!  A “Tuk Tuk” is a small motorized vehicle. I felt so exposed lol.. Sam kept reaching out and touching people just to see how close they were haha and motorcycles would brush your legs as they went by.  Puts a whole new meaning on “keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.” If you don’t you WILL lose them.

First things first, FOOD! We ate at KFC & Pizza Hut as soon as we got to the mall.  It was so interesting.  The Pizza Hut  here was a fancy, sit down, “fine  American dining,” restaurant.  It was crazy to see the same menu, but be sitting in a restaurant.  When the pizza came out, it was AMAZING!!! Not sure if this is because it really was amazing, or because I have been living off of peanut butter, tuna fish, red rice and curry for the last two weeks. Either way, I LOVED IT!

The most people we have seen fit onto one bike is 6. 

It's crazy.

Praying for our lives in the "Tuk Tuk"

The graffiti here is awesome!

I love that it's all in Tamil.

This pic is mainly for Jordan's entertainment.

Reminded me of him.

Umm.... we may or may not be lost in India.

I think I'm the only person who appreciated at the time 

what an AMAZING story this would make for the blog.

Waitin for a ride in the middle of nowhere.

We were able to find some more souvenirs, and then it was back out to find a taxi over to the church to meet the Rising Star vans.  I don’t want to waste too much time talking about this CRAZZZZZY little adventure.  Please refer to the video on this post to find out what happened to us on our way back to the church!!  I think the video pretty much says it all.  Don’t worry family, I’m still alive.  When we FINALLY got picked up by the Rising Star vans, the others who made it there long before we did had decided to go pick up pizza on the way home for everyone who didn’t come to Chennai with us.  Pizza for two meals today, fine by me!!!

Our cute new leather sandals, waiting for our pizza from Dominoes.

After we gorged on pizza we headed up to the roof to try and catch some sun and do a workout!! I am a little bummed we haven’t been doing this every day.  It is sooo beautiful here.  The sun is hot, palm trees everywhere, monkeys in the mango trees, and two of my besties!! Life is good.  Ahh this trip is just going way too fast.

So since we were on a bit of an Italian kick today, we decided to cook some rice noodles I brought with an old box of tomato sauce we found in the kitchen for dinner.  Umm,  I don’t know how we messed up noodles and sauce, but it was disgusting!  Like disgusting even for India.  I feel like since I have been out here, I pretty much eat ANYTHING I can get my hands on because I am always hungry and there is seriously VERY little to choose from.  It only proves to me how HUNGRY our bodies are, because Sam, Krissy, and I choked down every last bite.  Sick.

TII (This Is India)

Family time is becoming so bitter sweet. I LOOOOVE playing with our boys, reading with Ruthish, and talking to Kala, but the whole time I am there I am thinking about how little time I have left with them.  I am trying to get the most out of every single second while I am out here.  I am going to miss our new little family.  I have grown to love these boys so much.  We did Henna and played down by the banks all night!!! It never gets old!

Basha ran outside to meet me with the new ring he made me.

I LOOOOVE it.

Ruthish and Basha

My boys.

I would sponsor both of them in a heartbeat if they didnt already have their sponsors.

Oh well, I will still write them letters and send gifts often!!

I love them so much.

The thing I will miss most about India is those two smiling faces!!

Basha wrote:

"Basha, I love you!"

on my arm in henna.

It will be a sad sad day when this washes off.

Basha I love you.

The other darling boy in this pic is Vishva, Sam is sponsoring him.

He is such a stud muffin!

Precious.

Finished!

The boys showing us their six packs haha.

We kept telling Ruthish he was such a strong boy and every time he would say, 

"That no muscle, that bwone"

with his cute little accent.

oooo I just wanna squeeze him, he is so adorable.

The boys wanted us to write our names in Henna on their arms so that they wouldn't forget us.

Ruthish giving Sam's new shoes a try.

Sam giving the boys henna!

PILLOW FIIIIGHT!!

This little boy reminds me so much of mine and Jordan's friend benny it's insane!

I pretty much just get beat up all the time.

It is a house full of boys haha.

I love it so much! 

Makes me excited for my own kids..

Bring on the boys!!

Monkey boy, Ruthish! 

The boys all had our names on their hands!

Ruthish showing off his sweet henna design!

Vishva, the boy Sam is sponsoring.

Basha!!

Me giving Basha a cute heart on his hand!

We did another lice check tonight in the Parakeet room!! Don’t worry, All of us are clear! Woo!! Let me just tell you, there is NOTHING scarier then getting a lice check done when you fear that you might really have lice.

* shudder * 

…still no internet so we decided to watch a movie in the Green House with a bunch of volunteers.  We watched due date and typed up most of our blogs into word documents so that when the internet is back up we will be ready to post quickly and hopefully not get too far behind!  It has been fun getting to know all of the volunteers and be able to spend time with them.  We had an amazing group of people out here, I really am going to miss a lot of them! I am grateful for the new friendships we have made in India!

I’m still so in love with this place.