Top Ten Things I'm excited to return to in the US

Well, I'm in the Hyderabad airport on the 40+ hour journey home. While saying goodbye was really hard this morning, but I have to admit I'm pretty excited to head home.

Here's a short list of things I'm excited about coming back to:

1)Ice
2)Hamburger and fries with a shake
3)Anonymity
4)Air conditioning (I know, I know, I normally hate AC, but maybe for just one hour it would have been nice...)
5)Movie theaters
6)My bicycle
7)Microbrews
8)Private space
9)Hanuzer
10)Rachel (this one most of all)

HOINA part II

I've been struggling a bit to think about a good story to tell about this place. Its difficult to know what I can say about my time here that is meaningful and entertaining. But tonight provided a pretty good opportunity to capture some things, although its one thing to read about extreme poverty, and another entirely to see it firsthand. I imagine its another entirely to live the experience.

Tonight the boys home held a small talent show (there is a main talent show on August 15^th which is India's independence day and the second to last day we're here). The students had a couple of competitions. The first was a couple of dance groups that were admittedly impressive, there were two boys in particular that were quite good. Then a young boy who was maybe in 5^th grade got up and sang a solo song without any music, his vocal control was particularly impressive. Following were a couple of speeches that the boys gave in English, these largely centered around school and the hostel (which is what they call orphan/student housing here), but one was particularly poignant, partly because the speaker, Teja, has become one of my closer friends here. He spoke of how the hostel was not just a hostel but a home to him. He spoke of how when he was with his family he didn't eat everyday and how grateful he is for three meals a day. He spoke of how at his house when he goes back to visit he sleeps on the dirt floor with a couple of old blankets. He spoke of how at HOINA he has friends who watch out for him and take care of him, and how grateful he is.

It was pretty poignant for me.

I've gotten to read some of the case files of the students here. Teja's situation is anything but unique, especially now that AIDS has become so widespread in this country. I also found out that it only costs HOINA $60 a month to fully support a student, so if you're interested let me know and I'm sure we can connect you to a child.

My students are all doing surprisingly well, and have kept up positive attitudes and good working ethic throughout the trip thus far. Its been great getting to hear them experience the culture shock of really engaging in a foreign country, especially one so very different from the US. Two of the students are Indian Americans, which also helps, although neither of them speaks Telugu, the state language. The heat has been oppressive, but not overwhelming (usually in the mid 90s everyday, but its much worse than in the US, as there is no respite except ceiling fans. The monsoon is still terrible, and much of India is experiencing drought, I've had several people here who know no more than 50 words of english tell me the “climate is changing.” The students have also mostly taken the bugs in stride (to be honest, they are worse here than I've seen anywhere else, except mosquitoes which are nearly absent) although when Tony, one of my students picked up a rock that had a scorpion clinging to the underside, he was understandably a bit more cautious about where he put his hands.

We've been playing cricket and soccer mostly, which has been a lot of sweaty fun, but tomorrow I plan on teaching the students “capture the flag.” I'm also hoping we finish the library organization tomorrow, although I have my doubts about how long that room will stay organized. In all, its been a very rewarding experience here thus far.

HOINA: Homes of the Indian Nation

Precursor: I spent about 24 hours in transit from Kathmandu to Vishakhapatnam, which is fairly ridiculous considering the fact they are only about 500 miles apart and I flew. But (largely thanks to my own poor planning) I travelled from Kathmandu to New Delhi, then Mumbai, then Hyderabad (where I met my students) and then Vizag (the short form for Vishakhapatnam). My students had just flown over from the US, so they were actually more exhausted at the end of our travels than I was!

The trip out here has gone surprisingly smoothly thus far. I'm really happy about my students, who have proven to be flexible, easygoing, and willing to do whatever is needed. The kids here are really a lot of fun, and happy despite the incredible tragedies that they have already seen in their lives. In fact, this whole orphanage is full of surprising stories, like Darlene Large (known universally here as “Mom,” who is in her mid-seventies and yet works tirelessly and appears to be only in her early fifties. She has been running this place for a very long time, and has truly done a wonderful job with it.

The orphanage is much better run than others I've seen/heard about in this part of the world. For example, the kids each get their own bed (oftentimes at orphanages they have some kids sleep on floors, and its not because they are cheap, its because there is a much higher need than the supply), and the kids are sent to an English medium school. Its so nice that some people even try to make up stories about kids to get them in, and now HOINA has to do investigations on new applicants. Also the kids get meat once a week (which is pretty often out here) and there are few fights/disagreements that Ive seen thus far. All this and their operating costs run about $2 per kid per day (so if you're looking for a good cause to donate to, let me know, they have several kids that they are searching for donors for).

Thus far I've been mostly working with my two male students (there is a boys home and a girls home here, but they are in separate compounds and don't interact very much. They just brought the girls in from Chennai, a city in the south as a way to cut down on operating costs, and the new building only partly finished, so we have split up our time helping to construct a tiki hut that overlooks the field and organizing the library. Its pretty ridiculously hot out here, so we've been grateful for the library time where there are fans. In the afternoon the students run English language classes for the staff and in the evening we help with homework. And of course we have a healthy dose of playing games like cricket, soccer, throwing a frisbee, or indoor games like caromboard, chess, thumbwars, etc.

All in all, I'm super stoked that I'm here. Its a really nice cap to my summer trip. However, there is not much access to the outside world, so it might be a while before I am able to post again. But I will do my best! Hope all is well!