And....home

Day 11, or 12, or whatever it is….

 

We are home.  Our flight from Chicago was only delayed an hour, thanks to storm Rocky.  1,000 flights were cancelled yesterday at O’Hare, so we consider ourselves very lucky just to have made it to Chicago. 

 

We had a couple of “divine appointments” today.  John had taken a bottle of water from the hotel, even though it was too big to get through security at the airport.  While we were in line to clear security, a lady a few people ahead of us became very shaky and faint.  John was able to help her sit down, and gave her the water bottle that he would have had to throw away 30’ later.  She gratefully took a drink.  We saw her later, and she was doing much better.  She was so thankful for John’s help. 

 

The flight home was uneventful; someone was sitting in my seat, so I sat in their seat and had a great conversation with a young lady from Iowa who may join us on a trip to India someday. She has always wanted to travel to India.  She looked at all the pictures on my camera, had great questions about what we were doing there and about India. 

 

We were met at the airport by Mark and Jayne Malmberg, as well as Kathy’s mom and kids.  Grabbed a quick bite on the way out of town and got home around 4 pm.  Started the laundry and took the empty suitcase into the basement till next time.

 

It was another great trip.  It will take a while to process, for everything to sink in.  Jet lag will take it’s toll.  We will re-enter our lives here in the US, but a big part of us will remain in India. 

 

More thoughts in a day or 2 when my mind is back on US time and I have had a chance to process.  Thank you for joining us on this trip, supporting us financially and with prayer.  We truly could not do this without you all.

 

Stan

Day 10, bonus issue

Well, it IS possible to make a connection in Frankfurt in only 1 hour, but only if you have John Huscher standing fast at the gate to keep it open for Amanda and Stan to arrive. 

Our flight left an hour late, they made up 45 minutes in the air, but because our confirmed seats had been changed, I ended up in the next to last row of the plane, and was therefore among the last off.  I was the last one on the plane bound for Chicago.

Of course, “Screaming Banshee” was on the Frankfurt to Chicago flight, and joined by a companion, “Screams Even Louder”.  Pretty much non-stop takeoff to landing, plus running up and down the aisles…I’m thinking some of those darts they use to tranquilize lions would be a good addition to the TEAM India trip bag!!  I recorded some of their screams, gonna sell them to Steven King for his next movie soundtrack.

Upon arrival in Chicago, we found out our flight to Omaha had been cancelled, and we were missing 4 bags.   We can fly out tomorrow at 7:30 am or 9:30 am. After booking the 7:30 flight, we reconsidered and booked the 9:30 flight instead.  Two reasons, #1: people picking us up would have to leave very early in the morning, and #2, if the 7:30 flight was cancelled the 9:30 flight could already be booked.

Next decision: stay overnight in the airport or a hotel.  There was no need to vote on this one, after 20 hours in the air, we ain’t sleeping in no airport.  Hello, Embassy Suites.

So, we are recovering here, hope to be on the way home tomorrow. 

Stan

Day 9

Didn’t think I’d get this in, but just got an email that our flight out of Bangalore is delayed an hour, so……..

Started the morning with a trip to IJM, got a tour of the facility and then an excellent presentation on who they are and what they do.  We had heard bits and pieces of this in past trips, but never the whole enchilada, or, more appropriately, the whole chicken masala.

Got to meet with the people we have worked with in the past, which is always good.  And of course, left thousands of calories of candy for them. 

We then travelled to Tarika Women’s Center and had an excellent afternoon there.  John, Cindy and Jessica did a quick medical camp, several of the ladies got henna on their arms, as practice for the gals who are studying cosmetology at the center. 

Of course, we had to shop.  And took rickshaw rides.  And shopped.  And shopped…..

The last official thing was to visit the orphanage.  The joy on the girls’ faces when you pull up, it cannot be described.  Hugs from every single one, “Oh Uncle, do you remember me?”  I do a few, Asha, Kavya, Praisie, Gayathri, Theresa.  I recognize most of the rest, but the names do not stick. 

We have dinner catered in.  They are in a new building, on ground that we prayed over 2 years ago when here, and a partially finished building John and I saw a year ago.  It is beautiful, such a great place for such special girls who would have much, much less if they were not there.

We color with the kids, we hand out stuffed animals.  Gayathri gets a stuffed bear, and names it “Stan”.  8~) 

All too soon it is time to leave, the girls must do some studies and get to bed.  Multiple hugs, “When will you come back??”, another round of hugs.  I can't seem to let some of them go…this is always the hardest part of the trip for me.  I know that I will keep in touch with most of the other people we meet on these trips via email, Facebook and Skype, but these kids I won’t see till I am here again.  And I promise them that I WILL come back. 

So, we now have an hour delay in Bangalore airport, which reduces our layover in Frankfurt to 20 minutes.  That is not possible in that airport, so……

Talk to you in the States…..

Stan

Day 8

Packed up and ready to go this morning.  Our driver showed up right on time, allowing Jessica to get some help from the girls at the crisis center getting her sari put on.  A great service, followed by many, many hugs and goodbyes.  The question was always the same: “When will you come back?” Even from the hotel staff, maybe we tip a bit too much!!

Also made a contact with a group from Goa that has a school and would love us to come do what we do here.  Emails were exchanged and we will follow up with them. I am amazed at the contacts we continue to make here.

On the way to Bangalore, we did what we had not done the last 2 years, and that is to stop at the bird sanctuary.  OK, I admit, I expected to see a few birds and some trees.  Last year, on the same weekend, our driver had told us that “there are no birds there this time of year”.  I think he just wanted to get done working….

We paid our entry fee and a fee to take a boat ride.  There are supposedly crocodiles in the lake.  There was a tire on the end of the dock, so of course I told someone on the team that it was a croc.  Their scream confirmed that they believed me, their threat of bodily harm was expected.  Fortunately Celeste was gone already, she would have hit me!!

There were thousands of birds around the lake.  Our boat was rowed around the lake, our guide pointing out the various birds: pelicans, storks, cormorants, and herons.  There was also a huge group of very large bats hanging from the trees.  We saw 3 or 4 crocs, within 20 feet or so.  It was a very unexpected treat.

We then continued our trip to Bangalore, found our hotel, and reunited with Amanda.  She has had a great time while here.  Got caught up with her experiences, had a wonderful dinner with the hotel restaurant all to ourselves, lots of laughter and sharing of experiences from this trip.

We attempted to Skype Grace Community, but the very poor Internet connection only allowed us to communicate verbally, not visually.  Probably a good idea, we were all pretty tired by the 10:30 pm interview time.  We got to share a few words with Grace, looking forward to seeing them all again on Sunday.

Busy day tomorrow, then the long ride home.  Probably no updates till we are home, we will see what tomorrow night brings.

Thank you all for following along on this adventure.  We get to be His hands and feet, but it is the support and prayer from all of you that makes it possible. 

This has been a great trip.  With 9 of the 18 making their first mission trip, and 10 never having been in India, one is always concerned about how the new people will handle this country, and the sights, sounds and smells they will encounter.  Will they be overwhelmed, and unable to function?  Will they be so angry at the injustices they see that they shut down?

This group responded so well to everything we encountered.  We had a couple of people miss a day due to illness, others picked up their responsibilities and the job got done.  We had a nationwide strike that shut down schools, kids still showed up to be examined. 

The kids are why we come.  As I was plotting their heights and weights, I would look back on the 2011 marks on their growth charts.  I marked EVERY ONE of those charts in 2011, and for many of the kids this was my 3^rd mark for them.  I still couldn’t pronounce their names, probably never will, but I tried, and I looked each one in the eye and gave them a smile. 

New, lasting friendships were developed among the team.  Daniel, from Maryland, who worked with John and me last year, said that even at the end of the week he couldn’t tell who was from TEAM India and who was from Flatland, there was no division in the team.  Thank you Flatland, we could not have done this trip without your help, and I have a feeling that there will be some of us who will be working together here again.

We are at a very bittersweet time…one day to go.  Anxious to get home to our families…sad to be leaving this place we all love.  Dreading the 36 hours of travel it will take to get home…but looking forward to returning again.  Saying goodbye to new and old friends here…knowing we have new friends in the States.  Sad that I won’t have chai with breakfast, happy that I will have ice in my Dr. Pepper!

Ok, it’s really late, so I better end and get some sleep.  Thanks again.

Stan, for the team.

Clarification:

Ok, by "lost 3 of our examiners" I mean they have gone back to the US already...we didn't lose them here.  So far, we have everybody we are supposed to have.  8~)

Day 7

Day 7

Well, I’m more awake so I won’t post this on the blog 3 times….maybe!!

Today was supposed to be a medical camp in a village near Mysore, since we took 5 days to do the schools because of the strike, we called it off.  We just didn't have the staff or energy to pull it off, as Cindy, our Nurse Practitioner, was not feeling well today, more fatigue rather than illness.  Plus, we have lost 3 of our other examiners, so that would have left John and Jessica to see 500 patients.

There are elections next week, and there were several political demonstrations going on around town, lots of fireworks and yelling people.  In fact, some political bigshot is staying in our hotel, so police and media everywhere.

Instead, we toured a prison in Mysore.  Build by the British over 100 years ago, it is huge.  We toured a small amount of the prison, after signing in and getting stamped.  We were able to go into the women’s ward, which contained 81 women and 5 children, aged newborn to maybe around 5.  Several of the women were out in the courtyard filling boxes with incense. They get paid a small wage for this, it is voluntary, and they send the money to their families.  Many were in prison awaiting trial.

A person from Grace Community had donated money specifically for the prison, and it will be used to purchase a small stove for the women’s ward to warm milk for the children, and diapers.  Thank you.

We saw some of the work the male inmates were doing, repairing chairs, making rugs with looms, a woodworking area.  Overall, the prison was very clean.

We then travelled to the Beggar’s Colony.  We were able to give them some fruit.  They have a new building being completed that looks very nice.

We did a bit of shopping, and were accosted by the street vendors near the palace.  They do NOT take no for an answer, following us into the parking lot.  The deals get better the closer you get to leaving, but it is still is very uncomfortable. 

We had pizza for dinner with Tim and Karla, then headed back to the hotel to pack for checkout tomorrow morning.  We will be making the lovely 4 hour trip to Bangalore, then a busy Monday and fly out early Tuesday morning.  Our time here is almost done.

Oh, yes.  It was about 90 today, most of us have sunburns.  Sorry, Nebraska…..

Days 5 and 6.

Day 5, Thursday.  The strike appears to be off, so teachers were back in school and students as well.  We had set up Wednesday after finishing the first school, so got a good start.

This school is different.  The students are healthier, they graph higher on the growth charts, they have fewer complaints.  As a result, we see a lot more students per day.  There are 8 classes and we got 6 of them done today. 

I left early to take Celeste, Carla, Linda and AMANDA, (not Kathy, as sleepily reported this morning here after 4 hours of sleep) to Bangalore where they will be flying out Friday morning Nebraska time.  Stopped to do some more shopping on the way, got caught in major traffic fun in Bangalore.  Finally got to the hotel around 9:30, ordered dinner (took 45 minutes, guess they had to go find a chicken to butcher), and got out of town at 11:30 pm.  Fortunately, my driver was Sindhu Earnhardt, Jr.  Got back to hotel at 2 am, to sleep at 2:30, up at 6:30.

Day 6, Friday

Finished up at the second school.  I was able to go around with Tim and saw some of their other locations.  Very interesting.  Tim’s vision and plans are beyond my capabilities; we are blessed to have found someone to work with like him.

The Flatland group is leaving tonight, so they cut out early to see the Mysore Palace while the rest of TEAM India finished the last 35 kids at the second school.  We had a couple of hours to relax, then had our final dinner with the Flatland group, a traditional Indian meal.  Lots of hugs and goodbyes, our newfound friends and I am sure participants with TEAM India in future trips.

OK, just got the Flatland group off on the start of their 30+ hour journey, and my 4 hours of sleep caught up to me about an hour ago, so I’m gonna hit the  hay.