Happy Birthday to Me!

So 24 is starting out as a pretty tough year. I woke up on my birthday to a great huge “happy birthday Cambria” sign and tons of decorations!

 

Since it was my last day in Chillakalu, they brought in a professional photographer and I had lots of photos taken with each of the widows, their instructors, ect. They photographer also took a lot of shots of me alone in the garden wearing different Indian outfits, which was kind of ironic. All the photos were digitally arranged into two beautiful hardbound books, similar to ones io have seen at a recent wedding filled with engagement photos.

 

They are a great keepsake except that I look so bad in the photos!! I kept smiling to go along with it but I have not used a hairdryer in 2 weeks, had no makeup, and was sweating so much! The photographer kept saying “wipe your face off – did you wash it yet today?” and of course I had! Plus I don’t find the large indian blouses especially attractive. But I went along it it and the photos and the books look amazing and he got some fun shots of me. I can’t wait to share them with you all when I get back.

All of a sudden when we were taking the last photo with all the girls I started to pass out. Jaipaul, my wonderful host for the past 2 weeks, grabbed me and half carried me to the house. I couldn’t stand up and threw up for the next 4 hours. It was really hard to have all of these people I hardly know care for me! They were changing my sheets and can Indian woman came in and held my head as I threw up. I think almost every bit of self-sufficiency and “oh-don’t-worry-I-can-do-it-myself” attitude was gone. I was so scared because I was supposed to drive to the airport that night to begin my journey home and at that point there was no way I could have gotten in a car.

I was so sad also because I couldn’t even make it with the rest of the team as they went and opened the new sewing school!

Finally in the late afternoon Jaipaul took me to the hospital. I had a high fever so they gave me three shots in a vein in my right hand. The hospital itself was such a crazy experience it could have been the entire trip to India and it would have given me enough memories and impressions to last a lifetime!

I went back a slept a few more hours when they dragged me outside for the huge birthday party they were having. There were tons of lights hung from the trees with colorful paper and streamers and a cake made for me and one for Nancy (the other girl whose birthday is the same day!). They had BBQed chicken and all the widows and orphans who live there had come out. They had lots of firecrackers ready to go and balloons to pop but I warned them I definitely couldn’t handle that at this point because I hate loud noises so much. So they graciously saved those for later. I was so sad that this was the biggest birthday party ever thrown for me and I couldn’t even enjoy it!!

At 8pm that night I was feeling well enough to have someone help me pack so we left for my long journey home. It was a 4 hour drive to the airport and then 8 hours to wait at he airport. (we were also droppong someone off with a much earlier flight so I had to wait the extra hrs). Jaipaul and Katrina came along and waited with me all those 8 hours (through the whole night!) I was really weak and couldn’t even keep my eyes open but I bravely walked into the airport! I think it was everything I could do to keep from crying at that point. I was so weak it felt like the 16 lb backpack was going to pull me over backward!

So that was the first of 4 flights … I made it to Mumbai, wait 5 hours and flew 8 hours to London. I thought all my illness woes were over but as I was on the second flight I broke out in a rash that I can only assume is an allergic reaction to the antibiotic they gave me in the hospital.

It is early in the morning on Thursday now in London and I have finally showered with hot water, used a hair dryer, and slept on a mattress again!

This afternoon I’ll fly into Vancouver and then get a quick flight to seattle by this evening! I had a wonderful trip and made some great new friends but at this point I cannot wait to get home!

After sleeping and eating a little I finally feel more like myself. Thank you all for praying for me these past few weeks and for all your lovely comments and notes! I have received them all and was so encouraged to read every one!

Love,

Cambria, 24

Everybody Wants a Water Buffalo

Our group started singing that funny VeggieTales song “everybody wants a water buffalo” at dinner tonight when we found out that all the milk we’ve had the whole trip comes staright from the water buffalos we see roaming the streets and fields. I couldn’t really tell the difference but the cool thing is that my roommate, who is allergic to cows’ milk, isn’t allergic to this milk! It makes delicious ice cream!

We spent the weekend in a town 5 hours away called Ongole. We got to stay at a hotel (interesting experience) while we attended a youth conference. The drive was nice because we got to see so much of the countryside and even a little of the ocean! We were pretty far south in India. Everyone was packed into cars and a bus.

Its crazy how the driving is insane and so many peple are packed into each vehicle! And yet it all seems ironically so safe….

We were greeted at the conference with huge flower garland necklaces made from roses and jasmine flowers. 

At the hotel which was definitely 5-star for india, I lifted my pillow and there was a gecko sleeping under it.

I woke him and he scurried between the headboard & the mattress where he stayed both nights! Eeeck! I walked in the bathroom – which is a tile room with a hole in the ground, sink, and shower head (no actual shower) – I looked staright out the curtainless, open window into the window of the apartment next door. Showering was quite interesting as we almost always had some little person peering around the sheet hanging in the neighbors window. We finally nailed a sheet over our window…

I am finaly feeling much better. I think I am allergic to all the dust so I still am sneezing a lot but overall am feeling pretty good.

I was thrilled when we stopped at a coffeeshop on the way back form the conference last night where I was able to order a “grande latte.” I have to say it was delicious!

I have decided this trip is actually quite healthy for me. I have never sweat so much in my life! I’m drinking bottles and bottles and bottles of water, and then hardly have to pee at all. Very detoxifying I guess! 

I have been religiously following everyones advice about using bottled water to brush my teeth, and not to swallow any shower water as well as take all sort of herbs and pills that I brought from seattle. I am one of the few people who hasn’t gotten an upset stomach yet so something must be working! 

My roommate throughtout the trip is named Barbara.

We get along great. She is in her early 50s and is on the quieter side like I am. In comparison to all the teenagers on our trip one guy on the bus said we’re always very “stoic.” Little do they know we’re always making jokes and laughing at some of the absurd things here. (women’s dress for example: we are constantly being told to wear a longer skirt or longer shirt and to not show our collarbones, yet the indians women wearing Saris have most of their torso exposed. Apparently the collarbone is far more attractive to indian men than the waist!) 

Tomorrow is my birthday as well as another girl on the team’s birthday! Two people have told me there is a surprise party being planned… 

It will be so sad to leave here even though I am definitely getting a little homesick and will be happy to be back in Seattle and my own bed. The widows in the school are so dear to my heart now and have taught me many fun clapping games. Today Barbara and I taught them how to sew hair scrunchies. I had to operaate their manual, foot-pedal sewing machines. I have to say it was quite embarrassing that the pedal was so hard to push and they had to help me! 

Tomorrow morning I get to drive to two brand new schools that haven’t been opened yet. I get to have the honor of opening them because while I was here they received a large donation from the scarf ministry for $1,000 which will pay for sewing machines at both of these new schools! So exciting!

Video

These videos are the girls at school, singing before class.

Why Do They Pick Their Noses?

All of the Indians – both missionaries, girls in the sewing school, and villagers pick their noses all the time! It is so weird! Just in normal conversation they are continually rubbing at and picking their noses. Anyway, just an observation I wanted to mention.

So, I am thankfully sleeping well despite scorpions and other creatures. Here is a cool praying mantis that is hanging out in the living room. I am so tired every night I actually don’t have the energy to even think about scorpions and all that. 

I am feeling pretty sick though so you can pray that i’ll feel better soon. It started as a sore throat but now feels more like a sinus infection which seems weird to me being over here in the heat. I have every type of stomach medication and feel great as far as that is concerned but don’t have any nasal stuff so oh well.

So yesterday we walked out through the village of Chillakulu (outside the compound where we’re staying) and Jaipaul explained the caste system and how it plays out in the village. Lots of children followed us the whole time and LOVED having their picture taken. They would giggle with delight and grab the camera to see the photo after it was taken.

Tomorrow our whole group (there are about 18 of us now) will travel to the city for a youth conference for a few days. Not sure what that will bring!!!

Sewing in the Dark

I guess we are fortunate here to have electricity, but the power goes out so often that sometimes it feels as though there isn’t any! It goes out all day long for 10 minutes to 6 hours at a time. So it was interesting to spend al day yesterday in the sewing school here in the compound in a long bare room with 25 foot-pedal sewing machines, each operated by a sweet young widow or woman in distress. The room was lit at times, but was mostly dark because the power was out. Thank goodness for those foot-operated machines! 

By early afternoon I was starting to get unbearably hot and could feel the little drips of swaet rolling down my back turning into a river. They finally took a break from class for lunch. But before lunch all the girls gathered cross-legged on the floor and covered their heads with their saris. They began to sing together and sang three worship songs, two women recited Bible verses from memory. One teacher prayed and wept and all the women prayed along with her. It was very moving.

I had an interpreter off and on throughout the day, but both of them kept disappearing. So I stood in the front of the class with the teacher and when there were no words all we could do was smile.

We also drew lots of pictures and showed each other things with fabric. I demonstrated ruffled trim and pleated skirts that looked similar to the school uniform skirts they were making.

The day before we drove to visit another school which is run by a graduate of the House of Hope school. There we taught a short Bible study and my friend Gloria gave them bracelets with the “wordless book” colors. Through the translator she shared the story of the gospel and handed out Bibles. Eight girls raised their hands to become believers and we prayed for the whole group. The hard part was next when individally they came and shared their stories of miscarriage and forced abortions, and sick or dead husbands. They asked us to pray for them and as we did they wept and wept. Again, it was very touching and kind of unreal.

The pictures here are of the girls receiving Bibles, showing us their work, and a girl working on a sari at the House of Hope school.

 

I don’t have any monkey pictures yet, but perhaps I will get lucky one of these days!

New Friends

 

I have made lots of news friends since coming here. First, the rumors about monkeys were true! But they are not friends. They are running around everywhere!! 

Yesterday the Geary family left. Here is a picture of Fletchter, Reed, and Harrison Geary. They are spending thiss year traveling around the world with their mom. They came to India from Ghana and before that Israel, Egypt Spain and other places. They left for Hong Kong. They were lots of fun and have a great story. The blog about their trip is www. GearyFamilyMission.com.

Another “friend” is this scorpion. Not really a friend but really big and makes sleeping at night a little scary. There are lots of geckos & liizards that run around the house but thankfully not many mosquitos!!

No Starbucks Here!

Here I have finally arrived – I guess its beeen 2 days now. The fours hour drive from the airport was crazy! The driver used his horn more times in 4 hours than I have used mine in 9 years of driving at home! Seriously! Despite the insane way we dsarted around buses cars bikes cows people and motorcycles with 6 or more people piled on them it was strangely peaceful to sit in the backseat & take it all in! 

We stopped where there were “nice” restrooms … Wow, if those are the nice ones I probably couldn’t stomach the not-so-nice ones!

The villages we passed were completely chaotic. I kept waiting to get to the nice area of town, but after passing a few dozen villages I figured out the nice areas were the ones with actual structures. Everything leans against something else and there are animals running everywhere. Trash is strewn over all the streets and everywhere really. I found myself thrilled to see in one viallage a heap of white garbage bags – it was great to see something so organized in one place!

The compound where im staying is wonderful. It is in a similar village with tarp huts and concrete rooms as houses. But the House of Hope is gated with a clean wide driveway and a large orchard planted with trees and lots of chickens running around. Inside thee building where I live are large tile rooms. My room is on the second floor and has its own air conditioner. It is so noisy all the time but so much cooler than the rest of the house. There are a staff of indians who work here while teams are visiting who do everything from cleaning and our laundry to bringing chai tea to each person as they are waking up. 

Behind the house is where the staff lives. Behind that are the buildings for the sewing school & the orphanage. 

Meet Amith

This is my new indian friend Amith. He is a student at the University of Florida. I was SO thankful to meet him! 

When I was waiting at the airport in the middle of the night I had to get on a dark, rickety bus to transfer terminals. I walked to the back and most people didn’t offer me a seat next to them. It was really smelly and dark and tight. I asked someone at the back if I could sit next to him. He said yes and I found out he lives in Orlando. 

When I got to the terminal I would have never made it on the plane and to my destination without him! I couldn’t understand the announcements or figure out that everyone was loitering around the security entrance until it was opened just an hour before the flight took off or that women have to go through a separate security line! 

My initial anxiety at having to sit in a totally foreign environment for 6 hours lessened as we spent the time talking about life in the US vs life in India. I was expecting everyone I met to be in utter poverty but I was pretty impressed with his lavish life in Florida and the “driver” kept on hand for him here in India just for when he returns home once a year. 

Meeting a friend was so unexpected but I was so thankful to meet someonne nice who I could trust enough to interpret announcements and explain oddities of the culture around me!

I left Amith at the aireport when I was finally greeted in Hyderabad with a sign bearing my name and a bouquet of roses!

Waiting

I can tell this trip is going to teach me to be very patient. I feel like I’ve already reached my limit for waiting and it apparently isn’t over yet. I just landed in Mumbai and its so exciting to be here! Its also 2:30am and my connecting flight was canceled. I am SO thankful for my little internet phone & the book I brought. The next flight is in 4 hours so I will have a nice long opportunity to practice waiting some more.

The women employees at the airport are very helpful but the men seem annoyed when I ask them a question and won’t answer. Yay for signs in English so I don’t have to ask too many Questions!

This morning I enjoyed my last Grande Latte for awhile and enjoyed every drop!

1 16lb backpack + a 28-song trip soundtrack + every cure for upset stomach known to man + the superphone = the start of a great adenture!

 

Cambria in Vancouver BC

 

 

Here I am starting off my trip in vancouver bc yesterday! I was able to fit everything into this backpack and another little bag for the whole two weeks. Im actually pretty impressed considering that I found out at the last minute I had to rbing my own bedding, towels,and TOILET PAPER! So al of that plus clothes shoes and ebough gronola bars for two weeks and I think im set!

I’ve also been using my new fun global phone to email etc but the most fun part of it is playing music. Adriel made me a fabulous mix of music just for the trip & I get to listen to 2 songs each day. On top of that I have Mark Driscol’s Ruth series, 1 timothy & John for the long plane trip tomorrow. 

Pray for me to have compassion for the people im going to spend time with. The further I get into this trip the easier it is for me to start to long for the comforts of home – and im not even there yet! I sat by a very smelly homeless woman on the tube tonight and watched sadly as a man across from us stared a her the whole trip with distain and sighed in relief when she disembarked. 

It was hard becase io felt bad for her but I didn’t really want to be sitting next to her smelling her either. And I keep thinking of india and how that womab might smell like the queen in comparison to so of the people im going to come to love. I never want to be like that arrogant man across the aisle but I also don’t want to just retreat into my own desire for comfort and not be real and get close to people on this trip.

Goodnight!