Free day on the mountain

Recap of Thursday January 27, 2011

Well… today was a wonderful day! Yes it was our free day and yes, I missed hanging out with the kids, but 6 of us took the extra spending money that we brought on the trip and went up on top of the mountain outside of Salem. There were several resorts and the air was so clean and wonderful to breath. There was no smog up there so it was a nice break. Instead of landfills in India, they just burn their trash. Every morning we wake up to the smell of burning trash, so we were pretty excited not to be around that stench today.

We headed to the very top of the mountain where a pretty cool resort was located. We all went inside to take a look around, but turned out they were all sold out of rooms for the night. Who would have thought, a random resort in Salem, India would be sold out of rooms. Guess that is God telling us to move on down the mountain to see what else was around.

We stopped at an area where you could ride ATVs, but it looked like it was just a round dirt track, and when we asked him what we would possibly see, the man working the area said, “possibly a wild boar.” We decided that since we had all seen a wild boar in our lifetime, we would pass up this opportunity.  Along the way to the next adventure were wild monkeys. They were just hanging out along the side of the road. They were so cute! They would just sit there waiting for people passing by to throw them a bite to eat. On our way back down the mountain that evening, our drivers bought us some oranges to feed to the monkeys so we got to throw them at them and watch them peel them and eat them just as you or I would. Pretty neat if you ask me. 

Our drivers took us to a pretty cool look outpoint called Pagoda Point. You could see over the entire city and it was breathtaking. The pictures don't do it justice because it was a little cloudy, but I loved it up there!

We headed down to the next resort that turned out to be a pretty cool place. It was called the “Grange,” and the rooms were built to where it felt like you were in a cave but super cool! We decided to just get one room to put all of our bags in and then decide later if we wanted to get more rooms and spend the night or head back down to House of Peace. We put our bags down in the room and headed out to find a bite to eat. There was a restaurant connected to our hotel that looked pretty cool, so we call grabbed a table. When the staff saw Americans walk in, they quickly shut all of the windows and turned on their "air conditioner" and fans. Well, that didn't last long because in India, power is rationed to save energy. Not even a minute after they turned it on, the power was out for the afternoon. We resorted back to opening the windows and breathing them mountain air and that was just fine with me!

 This meal was a great treat because we have been eating pretty much the same thing every night since we have been here. The orphanage doesn’t have much money, so we usually eat rice, tortillas and chicken. Although we still ate rice and chicken at lunch today, we were able to enjoy it served differently than we have been eating it. A few different flavors and even a little fried rice was a nice change up.

There were several nearby villages that we wanted to see, but were told that it wasn’t safe. Because we are Christians and would show up in a Christian van from ICMC, we would be questioned about why we were there and what our purpose was. Dr. Jay told us about a story that some of their volunteers had been arrested and put on a terrorist list because they told them they were there with ICMC. Dr. Jay was forced to pay $5,000 to get all of their passports back and the volunteers are never allowed to return to India. After we heard this, there was NO way we were going to risk not being able to return to the orphanage, so we decided it was a better idea to head back down to Salem and get a little shopping done. 

 After stopping to feed the monkeys on the way down, we finally made it back to the city where we got to see something pretty cool. We stopped on the side of the road and were encouraged by our drivers to get out, of course we did. We walked down a road to a dead end where the Hindu elephant was standing!! His face was painted with white stripes and symbols. We got to walk right up to the elephant and touch his face and tusks, and he even blessed a few of the volunteers that were with us. The only time I have seen an elephant was in a Zoo, so this was WAY cooler! We were able to hug on the elephant and stand right next to it! Pretty amazing experience!

This Hindu Elephant!

Amazing! 

Aaron being blessed by the Elephant

J was blessed by the Hindu Elephant as well!

Next, we were then on a mission to find our “soress,” the traditional female garb for women, and dhothies, the traditional clothing of the men in India. On the last day, we all dress up in traditional Indian garb and have a huge closing ceremony. After several stops along the way, we finally found what we were looking for. The Soree shop was absolutely beautiful. It was rows and rows of incredible fabrics with chairs in front where you sit and they will pull out several choices to see what color soree you are looking for. We felt bad for how many we had them pull out, put it was so hard to decided on one because they were all so amazing. I went with an incredible pink and gold one and I can’t wait to wear it tomorrow!! 

Katie in the Soree Shop.

This day has been amazing but I am looking forward to going back to the Promise Land and seeing all the smiling faces and of course, the look on Parimila’s face when I tell her I will be her sponsor. I think I am only taking on one girl to ensure that I am able to keep it up and make sure she feels as special and important as she can. What an amazing day we had today, but I am off to bed because once again, I am exhausted!!

Charged thru another wonderful day in India!

In Him,

Emily