Hey all!

We're in Bangalore! We've been here for almost a week actually... sorry for the delay in blogging but the internet is not free and it's tough to find time in our very structured days to log on. Bangalore is BEAUTIFUL and we're here at the end of the rainy season so we've had a few thunderstorms, which after Egypt's weather has been wonderful! It's nice and cool and the Ecumenical Christian Center we're staying at is like an oasis--lots of beautiful greenery and paths and the staff is all great. We've met the staff's kids and play cricket with them ( I just learned what cricket IS) almost every day. Indian kids are about the most adorable kids I've ever met. They bounce around so full of energy and always have a smile on their face. You're their best friend in a matter of seconds. I spent about an hour catching crickets with a few of them the other day. Each day we have class and then some free time to hang out and play. We also get fed five times a day--breakfast, tea (with cookies), lunch, tea (with cake, donuts, or cookies), and dinner. It's CRAZY.

Today was probably my favorite day out of our whole Global trip. We didn't even do anything that crazy, like visit the pyramids or some giant monument. I simply met the librarian (his name is Shivappa--he's named after Shiva and is Hindu) and he invited me and three other Globalites to his house for tea. We had plans to go to Bangalore because we had free time but we figured stopping for tea wouldn't hurt. It turns out, however, that his house is about an hour of walking, walking, bussing, and walking away from the ECC and after about 45 minutes we knew we wouldn't be making it to Bangalore. By the way, he usually walks to work... anyway we arrived at his village and right away I knew this would be quite the experience. We went to his 2-room house and met his wife and two kids, who are 2 1/2 and 5 (their names are Shubash and Pritam). At first it was a little awkward and we took up their whole living/bedroom/TV room area, but then we started playing a board game called Carrom with the kids and. They also served us the BEST coffee I've ever had...it had lots of milk and sugar in it. Before we knew it, the whole village of kids was standing outside their door and wanting to come in to see the strange foreigners. They were so cute, they would sneak around to the side window and peek in or just stare at us and smile! They were shy at first but then when they got to know us better they pulled on our hands and brought us to see the Hindu temple in their village, and then to see their houses. We saw three other houses, and in each they served us either pepsi, coffee, or AMAZING milk-sugar-tea. At one point we stopped back at Shivappa's house where his wife had made us payum, their version of milky rice, and it was DELICIOUS. Indians are the most hospitable people I've ever met. Their houses had orange, blue, or yellow walls and were small but beautiful. It amazed me how they made the most out of the little they had. The little kids kept following us everywhere and wanted us to take pictures of them so they could see how they looked. They would take my camera and go around taking pictures of each other, then running back to show me themselves. When we left they were so sad and everyone waved goodbye.
The walking and bussing back didn't seem half as long because we were in such good moods. Shivappa thanked us for meeting his entire village and said we had made his whole village happy. We were so thankful to have seen a community instead of being just tourists and it was the BEST DAY EVER! Our trip to Bangalore was completely forgotten and our whole visit took five hours. We got back just in time for dinner!
I'm going to try to add a video of the kids singing for us that shows the inside of a house and the kids that crowded at the doors wherever we went, but I have to load it later. Otherwise I have pictures too coming up soon! This is a day I will never forget. Every person in that village had so much joy despite their poor living conditions, and I absolutely loved it. I hope to visit them again!