I am back ... in Hubli!

I am in Hubli.  It is still surreal and we have been here for longer than a week.  I did not do any mental preparing this time before leaving.  Usually, it is a process, I must think about it, imagine myself plopped in the particular culture, think about all the positive encounters I am about to have but also be realistic about a few of the challenges I may face. This time, I decided to not over think anything though.  It was my first time traveling on a dialogue, not playing the role of student. It was the first time I couldn’t just dive in and try to be close friends with a particular group of students.  It has been a bit challenging for me at times. Then, I stop trying to sort through all the thoughts in my head, that can sometimes feel destructive, am I doing a good job, am I balancing my priorities, and I stop, take a look around and begin observing. I am here because I am here but why?

I am in India. It will occur to me, as I am jammed in the rickshaw trying to keep the massive amounts of dust out of my mouth and eyes.  It will occur to me as I am bobbling my head trying to get half off the inflated, foreigner rate.  One hundred village children will be running after me, speaking in their native tongue and I will reply, “Nanage Kannada BarOdilla” because I can not speak Kannada well and I am in Karnataka.

India is a fascinating place and being it is my second time here, for an extended period of time, I am trying to soak everything up.  I want to meet locals, go to bollywood shows, become a yogi, dress the dress, test my limits and devour as much of this amazing food as possible.  It has only been a week and so far I can really say, I have fallen in love.  Last time I left, thinking “I like this place but there is no way I can say I love it.”  And now, yesterday in particular, I was sitting on a jam-packed bus, thankful I had a seat, next to a woman wrapped in a beautiful, green, sparkly sari.  She had her nose pierced and decorated with gold jewelry, her ears encircled with gold chain and jewels, looking immaculate.  She was absolutely gorgeous.  Although, we had severe communication issues, I enjoyed her company.  She looked a young 68, stunning and so interested in my culture.  I had my camera out perusing though pictures of family and friends, replaying old memories in my head, in my own little world. She sat, so observant, and silent.  When she saw something she thought looked scandalous, for Indian status, she would lightly tap my right arm with the back of her hand and point as if I was being scolded by my grandmother for being out of line.  Then she would smile and show off her crooked, off-colored teeth and we would both laugh. Not a word was spoken but the interconnectedness was felt between the two of us, generations apart, from opposite sides of the world, yet sitting in that moment side by side. It are those little encounters that happen every day in this vast country of contrast and rich culture, with such a diverse array of individuals, that keeps me proclaiming, I LOVE THIS COUNTRY.

So although, I am taking in the India, as a whole; the food, the clothing, the dress, the customs, the religions, the dialects, all the people, the random foreigners scavenging through Hubli, the lack of internet, not having a phone, the smells, the dirt, the smog, the hand shakes, the questions, the list could go on forever, I am still at a crossroads as to what I am doing here.  

Licensed Childcare Center in Pictures.

The outside "play area" complete with a new storage shed and Sun Sails.

Close up of the Sun Sail, hung exclusively by women :)

The newly licensed early childcare center.  Doesn't it look fun?

The newly painted yellow plexyglass wall.  That is where the babies sleep.

The paint was dry and therefore time for the big reveal.  A little help from Wa Da.

Big hands, little hands.

Ta Da.  It's complete.

Peek-a-boo!

Each child has their own cubby with their name and picture.

Group Pic. Play time.

M.I.A.

I know it has been over a month since I have written.  Horrible.

I do not have an excuse but rather an explanation.  Work at the International Rescue Committee has been busy.  From fixing fences, to setting up classrooms, finalizing excel attendence sheets, confirming adult and intfant/toddler enrollment at our first ever licensed childcare center, to creating videos, beautiful images and many memeries; my mind has been elsewhere, everywhere really.

I have thought about blogging several times.  Thought about announcing our passage of the licensing inspection and how we now have the first ever licensed facility at the IRC.  Thought about raving about how Pae Pae finally wrote her name in English and wrote it over and over and over again. Thought about telling the amazing story of Leh Ler Si Htoo and how he finally jumped into my arms for the first time and smiled.  Then I decided I would wait.  I said to myself, I will write about each highlight separately so I do not miss a detail.

Following this brief comeback blog entry I will update you on the past month via pictures.  Many pictures,  highlighting our progress and success over the last month!

It has been said that a picture says a thousand words, right?

This has nothing to do with Co-Op.

And everything to do with mi familia.  I love my family.

This past weekend I took a much needed trip home to visit my parents, eat with my parents and hang with... my parents.  And my two wonderful, adorable and intelligent cousins too!

The older I get the more I realize that my family is THE BEST. I don't know what I would do without.  We have the best conversations together.  We laugh and yell (like in a talk really loud kind of way).  We smile and discuss.  Sometimes even tickle and tackle, all in good fun.

Now, that I'm older I'm able to socialize with my parents in a much different way.  We have real grown up conversations.  For example this weekend we talked about our well and the well water we drink.  We talked about pull tabs and even bought a few (we didn't win).  We talked about life, growing older, traveling and people.  I had so much fun basically doing nothing.  Just enjoying my wonderful parents.

On Saturday, we went to the Minnesota State Fair!  I haven't missed the fair once in 21 years. I definitely wasn't about to miss it this year.  The fair was filled with food on a stick, power washers and trailers, dippin' dots, dancing and my favorite, my cousins :)

Ella and Tate came to the fair just to hang out.  I have not seen them in sooooo long and it always makes my day visiting with them.  Joking with them.  I just love them.  Ella and I went in the haunted house.  Surprisingly, it was scary.  I have not been in the haunted house since I was about ten when I peed my pants.  Now, 11 years later, I sucked it up and tried it again!  I probably wasn't the best one to accompany my eight year old cousin.  I was most definitely more jumpy then she was.  Half way through she looked at me though and trembled, "Abby, will you carry me!"  I chuckled, imagining what I must look like carry this long, not so much a child anymore, through the haunted house.  It was soooo fun though.  The look on her face as we exited the haunted house made my night!  She was so proud.

After a few breaths, Ella, Tate and I made our way to the River Raft Ride.  The whole way there they joked with me saying, "Don't worry Abby. You're not going to get wet!"  Tate repeating over and over, "Don't worry Abby, you're not going to get wet!"  I only half believed them.  Tate got soaked on the first wave.  The wave hovered over him gulping him in it's attack.  He was soaked.  I was just smiling, thinking I made it out of this one.   We made it through the whole ride when suddenly we make our last turn and I get sprayed directly in the back my a hidden fountain.  I was soaked.  They were just laughing.

O, the fair.  The Minnesota State Fair.  The best in the nation.  With my family, cousins, and soooo much great food.  What a splendid weekend.

Ella, Me, Tate after our collapse!

Mi Madre con los primos :)

Me and Mr. Tater Bug

All Women.

This week the work at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been filled with hard, manual labor!  And I mean, not wimpy tasks, but what some might call a mans job.  I helped my manager put up a fence, like one of those silver chain fences, not easy. (Thank goodness for the rachets)  I built a shelf, with cubby holes, helped put up wall decorations, almost moved a small shed (keyword, almost) hauled old shelves out of a classroom, put up a shade tarp to cover a little sandy area that reminded me much of the movie holes and used a screwdriver and hammer babyproof a classroom.

A man's job, pffff.   Five remarkable women have been hard at work putting together a childcare center that is going to be built, decorated and designed with love.  TLC.  For the last month the IRC's First Things First department has been working hard to fill out licensing applications, restructure their curriculum for adults, put in place a more structured center for infants and toddlers and make the program the best in the U.S. or at least San Diego.  

The adult First Things First program is in place to teach refugee parents to learn English.  It starts with the very basics, like how to hold a pencil, what a piece of paper is, moving on to the alphabet and slowly but surely short phrases.  The program is phenomenal!  To make it even better there is a childcare supplement.  The parents can drop their children off while they attend school, that way their children are in a safe zone learning English basics and being looked after by the best staff evaaa!

Next week is our licensing inspection which is why this week has been filled with the real stuff.  Good, hard, labor.  And lots of laughs, giggles, stories, and sweaty women working together to complete the first things first.

Fro-yo to the rescue.

I just got back from Yogurtland because I had yet another craving for yogurt.  Fro-yo to be exact, my guilty pleasure.  While standing in line at the cashiers, I saw a young gentleman in a TC hat and an SDSU shirt.  Naturally, the first thing I thought was hmmm... this man must be from Minnesota.  I always get excited meeting a fellow Minnesotan in a foreign place.  Yes! California is still a bit foreign.  So I spoke up in a jolly mildly high pitched voice, "Hey, are you from Minnesota."  He awkwardly put his head down and whispered "yup."

"Me Too."

He didn't care. He took his change and rushed out the door. 

Weird.  Most Minnesotans are friendly to the extreme.  I just don't know what happened this time.

Nonetheless, my Fro-Yo was delicious :)

International Rescue Committee

A brief introduction to the organization I chose for my second Co-Op experience!  Very Very rewarding.

http://www.theirc.org/irc-a-glance

Namaste to all and to all a good night!

A love affair with Julia Roberts.

No. I did not actually have a love affair with Julia Roberts, but I bet it prompted you to read further :)

I just returned from watching the movie Eat. Pray. Love. Sad to say it, but that movie, the divine scenery and language of Italy, the serene peace and chaotic beauty of India, and the calmness and solitude in Bali have urked my hands, my mind and my soul into writing again.  Now my fingers move at lightning speed.  Thoughts bump into one another flying around in my head and my liver is smiling (line from the movie).  Not only my liver but my inner being is smiling because finally I found the passion to update my blog again.  It has been two months since I have written.  How sad!

I have been to Minnesota, Stamford, New York, through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California in that time.  I have seen the Rockies, blue rivers, desolate desserts, sharp rocks, thick clouds and vast landscapes since then.

I am now living in San Diego.  I arrived here five weeks ago to begin my second Co-Op, thanks to Northeastern and my parents of course.   Surprisingly, this transition has not been as smooth as my other million.  In my time at Northeastern I have moved a lot.  Almost every six months for the past four years.  I enjoy seeing new places.  Diving into a different culture, lifestyle and routine.  San Diego has been completely different than all of my other experiences though.  I have struggled more, which I believe is good. Not necessarily to fit in, or meet friends, but more so to find peace within myself.

I do love it.  This city.  Don't get me wrong.

Now that I have seen this movie and began to reflect I am feeling a bit better and more ambitious.  I am excited for what life has in store for me and the new opportunities that I believe will arise.  For a moment or rather a month, I lost sight of the positive direction my life was headed and got wrapped up in well, other thoughts.

More to come, on my Co-Op job, life experiences, and the friends who are currently shaping my life!

This blog, writer, bloggest, friend, hija, chica, lady, amiga, or just Abby is back in action!

Still smiling.

I've been so caught up in my art project lately I have completely neglected writing about the little things.  The moments that have kept me smiling.

Let's meander back to Sunday morning.  It's 10:00 am, I had my tooth brush in my mouth, I was wiping off the counter and suddenly my phone rings.  My phone.  Every time my phone rings my ears perk up.  It rarely happens here in Spain and when it does, the sound echos through the room of apartment 3C. I ignored it assuming it was a telemarketer and continued on with my Sunday morning routine.

38 seconds later, the noise returns.  Who must it be?  Two phones calls in one minute.  I pick up my phone from my night stand, glance at it and smile.  Do I answer and suffer the bill?  Noooo. Skype.

It was John Paul Vaith.  The One and Only.  My bestie.  My brother, in another life.  I dialed him back, from my computer of course, as fast as I could and when he picked up I started cheering.  Yay!  John Paul.

It was this small occasion in my day that made my week.  We talked for an hour about school, summer, friends, girlfriends, love, family, new york.  We laughed, we yelled, we discussed, we didn't cry.  It was amazing.  We only talk a few times a year.  Not enough. It's sad.  But when we do it's like we've never been out of touch.  He is one of my best friends and always will be.

It was after this conversation, I started thinking about our time together two summers ago.  We hung out together EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. whether it was for five minutes or 24 hours.  We stayed up until sunrise reminiscing.  We went to Olive Garden or ordered it in at least twice a month.  It's thinking back on times like these that make me wish time would stop.  I wish life would allow you to see those you LOVE every single day instead of just once or twice a year.  The older I get the more I realize this will never happen.  The more places you go, the more people you meet but it's nice to know that your favorite people are just a call, text or skype chat away :)

Wood Carving and Bronze.

It started as a block of wood.  After chiseling and chipping and pounding and sanding it became a palm, with a thumb of course. 

This will make for the base of my world cube.  The whole world on the tip of my finger.

My fingers are made out of bronze and my thumb and palm made out of wood.  My livestrong bracelet finishes out the piece and was caste in bronze and colored with patina.  It was my first wood carving so be nice.  Very challenging but sooo rewarding.  Below are a few photos.  Not quite the finished product but close!