Hurry Up and Wait

Bishop's House in Changanacherry

There's no such thing as a bad Monday in India! Some of us woke up early to a refreshing yoga session with Mrs. Laly. After breakfast, all of us loaded up in the bus and drove to another Hindu temple. Fortunately we avoided any downpours (as is what happened during our last temple experience) and were able to enter into the very heart of the compound. We saw elephants decked out in all of their gorgeous costuming and beautiful intricate paintings. There is a sense of ancient history about the place unlike anything us Americans can fathom; behind the temple we saw a stone pillar with pre-Sanskrit writing that is not even fully translatable. The kind of timeline that Indians have runs so far back into the reaches of time, and the Hindu temple was one example of that.

With this lengthy history comes diversity. As well as visiting a Hindu temple, we saw a Roman Catholic church very near Daisy's home in Changanacherry. At the same time as our visit a local school for mentally disabled children was there. One young girl came up to each of us just to touch our skin. Daisy told us that these children are extremely well cared for in school, just another example of Kerala's progressive educational system that we are helping to supplement with our work at Hope Charities.

For lunch we traveled to Mrs. Laly's former employer, the Athreya Ayurvedic Resort. We were greeted by a two-story tall statue of Hanuman, god of devotion, service, and dedication (appropriate considering the nature of our trip). We toured the gorgeous, tranquil facility and learned about some of the medicinal plants that grow there. Again, us Americans have a lot to learn from India's long history; they have had so much more experience with natural medicine than a lot of Westerners. Upon our arrival we were given warm pink water that has cleansing properties. We were served a nice lunch at the resort and then we headed back to Changanacherry.

Once back in Changanacherry, the group finished up our shopping. We got home in the very late afternoon. The whole process took about seven hours, teaching us a virtue of India: hurry up and wait. But once we got home, everyone was eager to interact with the kids. Some of us went and played cricket while others did some tutoring in the library (although they tutor us, too, in dancing and Mallayalam words and phrases). By being present in their community we interact with people of all ages. Not only are we helping them practice their English, but we show respect and interest in their company and customs. Spending time with them is both fun and valuable to them. Daisy told us that before the first trip, a lot of the kids were very sad; they never smiled. We haven't seen one frowning face on this trip!


Dana, Hunter & Natalie