The small boys are learning the concept of "family." Despite the fact that the always call me "mommy," I'm not really sure they know what that means. They have these little textbooks, and to introduce the concept of mother and father:

Father earns money.

Mother cooks food.

Whatttttt. Not cool. This makes me want to abandon all notions of domesticity.

Visit to the slums. Give milk to children. Eat lots. Wash hands lots. It's what I do.

I've decided that I would probably be really good at driving here, because it's a lot like Grand Theft Auto (the video game, for those who don't know), and I'm really, really good at GTA. It's actually kind of fun to drive in the front seat because you DO feel like you're in a video game. The rules of driving, as I've deduced, are:

#1: Instead of driving to one side or the other of the dotted lines, straddle them and drive down the middle of the road. Go to one side after several honks if some idiot won't get our of your way.

#2: Go ahead and pass with oncoming traffic about to hit you. They won't really hit you. It's just a game of chicken. And you'll win, obviously.

#3: Honk at the trucks with the signs that say "please sound horn please" (literally, EVERY truck has this phrase written on the back of it). Also, honk at everything else that moves.

#4: Honk especially loudly at the cows. Because they really care.

#5: At a red light, slow down ONLY if you're in a fanciful mood to do such a silly thing.

On a serious note, though, just as we were talking about how scary the driving is here, we saw a pedestrian who had been hit by a car in Vijayawada. There was a group of people crowded around him, holding him up. Blood was everywhere. It was an awful image, and not one I'll soon forget.

I bought toffees for the small boys, but decided that they would probably annoy me to no end if I started giving them sweets so soon, so have instead been eating them myself. Did I subconsciously by a pound of toffees for myself? .....Do I really need to answer that question?

I biked to the village by the orphanage today--about a 20 minute bike ride. My new bike, Hercules, is no Pegasus, my Portland bike (whom I miss dearly--yes I refer to my bike an animate object) but Herculean all the same. On the way, I was almost hit by an angry water buffalo, so I'm not sure how long my Indian cycling career will be. I'm more afraid of angry water buffalos than "please sound horn please" trucks.

India is something you experience with all of your senses. As if there weren't enough to absorb visually, there are loud sounds and music coming at you from every direction. And the smells--the smells... There are some good smells--wafting aromas of sweets, ripe fruit, breads, and corn on the cob. But, there are bad smells, and these bad smells I try not to linger on. I'm still trying to take it all in, and it's still rather bewildering.

Also, there's no recycling, and every time I throw away a water bottle, the Oregonian in me wants to cry a little bit. Or a lot.

I start teaching my music class on Monday! Bringing classical music to the masses--whether they want it or not. Muahahahaha.

Updated Facebook photo album a few days ago. I'm still having a hard time posting photos to here--sorry about that!

I think I have perhaps finally adjusted to the time change. Last night, I slept the whole night through for the first time--I still woke up at 6 on a Sunday morning, before even the small boys. Cankle update--GONE--now just ankles!! I never thought my ankles would look so skinny again in my life (although now they are covered in mosquito bites...).

Yesterday we went into the town of Vijayawada, which is about 15 km away. There's a closer village, the name of which I may never be able to pronounce, about 15 minutes away by bike, but Vijayawada is the "city." This is what I thought India would look like. After hearing again and again about the cows in India, and how they stand in the middle of the road in cities, it was still very shocking to see a cow amidst the traffic and hordes of people. I saw my life flash before my eyes a few times just in the short distance that we walked; the reckless auto-rickshaw drivers seemingly have no concept of human life. I can see what India has the highest deaths per capita from car accidents...

I spent some more time with the small boys yesterday again. I can't get over how cute they are!! They have "homework," and all are very eager to show me all the English they know, and perhaps get a little loud competing to read me their school books. My skin is becoming less of a novelty, but is still plenty amusing.

The children love to have pictures taken of them and love even more to take pictures!! In exchange for being able to take a few pictures, I was given friendship bracelets. I told them that I used to make the exact same friendship bracelets when I was just their age. Some things are universal, I suppose.

It rained all day yesterday--apparently it hasn't rained like that for a few years. How fitting that and Oregonian would bring the rain.

Picture time!

The School

The small boys' home, where I'm living

OK... putting pictures up is a major headache, and after multiple attempts to get something faster to work, I've sold out and created a Facebook album. If you'd like to see pictures and don't have Facebook, email me (gombartz@gmail.com), and I will "share" the album with you on Facebook....it just won't let me share it with a website.

And the cankles persist. Yes, a little better than when I first arrived....perhaps I only look like I'm 200 lbs overweight today. The number of Aquafina bottles I've consumed in the last few days is substantial, but apparently not enough.

Did you know that it's Saturday here? I left on Tuesday, so I was pretty sure it was Wednesday... or something. Saturday really threw me for a loop. I had another extended nap today....but in my defense, I had only planned to rest for a half hour. Ergo, I am awake (again) at 2:40 am.

Was getting very frustrated trying to upload pics on my slightly shotty internet connection in my room, so I may have to go to the office in order to take advantage of full bandwidth. I'll try to do that soon!

So, the basic set up. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner is prepared for us. I now have no hopes of returning from India any skinnier, as the food is delicious, parasite-free, and definitely not lacking in calories. I wouldn't be surprised if I instead returned very fat. It would be easy enough to contract a parasite, somewhere....

I live in one of the small boys' homes--they're 4-6 and so cute (although sometimes naughty) and affectionate! I was put here, essentially, to speak English to them, as they only get a little bit of English in school at this point.

Let me tell you, I'm very popular with the small boys--somewhat of a celebrity, I should say. They don't know much English, and mostly just babble animatedly at me, but they do know enough to ask me what my name is and call me "Mommy" (I watched Monsters, Inc. with them, and apparently they know the name for monster, as well....so they've got the basics covered). When they first saw me, they just stared, but now most of them have gotten brazen enough to crawl all over me. My skin is quite peculiar to them. They love to touch my face--I wonder if they think I'm real! One boy grabbed my hand and studied it intensely. He pointed at the skin on the underneath my forearm (the realllllly white stuff) and said "Oooooh!" Not to mention, I tower over most of the petite Indian women, so they probably think I'm some very white giant.

I toured the school where I'm to teach music. It's actually really well equipped! They have an assortment of random instruments....lots of drums, guitars without strings, a trumpet, clarinet, flutes, and even a keyboard! They also have a room equipped with wireless and speakers where I can play CDs, DVDs, and would be able to show video clips on the internet. It's a lot more than I was expecting.

I also visited the "dispensary" (the medical clinic) and the baby's home, where I'll be helping the nurses.

It's pretty hot and sticky right now, but I've still yet to turn on the air conditioning. I'll become acclimated...eventually....but right now I just sweat a lot all hours of the day.....

Five planes, 1 day and 20 hours, and 24 solid hours on a plane after I left Portland, I arrived in Vijayawada, India with the ankles of a 500 pound woman (I believe the kids these days call these "cankles," but I'm not sure yet how PC I'm trying to be on this blog). Thank you, high sodium food and pressurized cabins.

The flight(s) overall were rather uneventful, aside from the child who sat behind me during the 15 hour flight from Newark to Mumbai and wouldn't stop kicking the back of my seat for three hours. With 125 movies from which to choose for my viewing pleasure, though, my anger was somewhat quelled. Seriously, why do we need 125 movies?! I was a little overwhelmed. They served "Indian" vegetarian food for dinner and breakfast during the flight, and it was probably the best plane food I've ever eaten (despite its obvious contribution to the cankles).

I was greeted warmly by Carol Faison and other members of Care and Share in the tiiiiny airport of Vijayawada, and taken the short distance to the the childrens' homes. I was given a very brief tour, and told to go sleep. I didn't realize how tired I was until I woke up at 11 pm...after sleeping about nine hours.

I've not had a chance to see much of the compound, but so far everything seems very lovely. I have my own, secured room with a bathroom....with toilet and shower, a mini fridge, wireless internet and, get this, air conditioning!! I feel too lucky...I didn't even AC in Portland! Right now I don't have it on, as it's a "very, very cool" day (as I was told), and besides, I don't really feel like I'm in India if I'm using AC. I'll change my tune when it his the 100's, perhaps, but I'll try to be stubborn for as long as possible....

It's 1:30 am right now (12.5 hours ahead of you west coast people, fyi), and I'm unpacked and wide awake. So much for beating jet lag. I've taken a few not very exciting pictures picture of my room--will take more interesting ones when it's light outside!!

Ewwwwwww cankles. No, the Keens don't help anything.

Bathroom!!

My room--isn't it adorable?

They supply me with shampoo...it's supposed to "nourish dry, dull faded hair and make it shiny and looking black." This is legit. After one washing, my hair looks no blacker, nor does it look longer.