Day 3

The best way I can describe today is MANUAL LABOR all day long. We cleaned six of the classrooms, which included scrubbing walls, organizing junk and setting up all of the desks. In all honestly I will say it is exhausting. I love the way sweat just drips off my face every second. Funny story was I went to turn on the faucet to fill up a bucket and it shot out at my like a hose. I looked down and saw that it looked like I had wet my pants, big time. If it was cold water I wouldn’t have cared but it was hot. We did all of this before lunch and then we went to the junction. The junction is 15 minutes away but you can get everything and anything you could imagine. It has tailors, ice cream, food, clothes; you name it. I tried to bargain with an Indian man for ankle bracelets for 30 minutes. Sweet thing had no idea what I was saying to him and I had no idea what he was saying to me. Both of us just lost and confused; in the end I left with anklets not knowing really if I got a deal or not.
After the junction we had a doctor come speak to us about what the plan is for tomorrow. We are leaving at 5 in the morning to a leprosy colony with over 100 people. My assignment when we first get there is to do hypertension. We will also be giving them this medicine and doing foot treatments that will help heal the ulcers on their feet. These sores are the size of a tennis ball and so deep. I won’t lie it is…well, NASTY. I am glad we can help heal them so they don’t look as bad.
For the last 2 hours before dinner I had the lovely privilege of stamping hundreds and hundreds of library books. Why would anyone want to be a librarian?
Anyways, as much as I would love to describe each spot on the wall I cleaned I am not going to. Instead I want to talk more about leprosy and Indian culture for those who don’t know much about it. Every symptom looks different on each individual person. Loving these people makes it so much easier to do things you never saw yourself doing. Some of the others had no fingers or toes and many have become blind. There was a particular lady who lost the pigment in her skin and had green skin. I cannot imagine what they have all had to go through but I am so fortunate to have been surrounded by each one of them.
In India I have had to be careful and remember not to hug my cousin Matthew. Here men and women go through different security lines at the airport. Touching or display of affection in public is a definite NO NO. I learned that Indians have arranged marriages and many turn into love afterwards. I loved hearing that they marry a partner who will help provide and is a hard worker. There is no such thing as giving up or falling out of love. They meet in the middle and marry to help serve the other person. Marriage here is a matter of survival so they do not have the luxury of falling out of love.
Last piece of information I learned today as we passed the Beer Factory is that the beer plant smells like the dirtiest diaper that I don’t think a baby is capable of producing! I am not kidding you the smell was repulsive. For those who drink come to India and you will think twice. I don’t know how the Indians walk around and not pass out. Good grief!
Today has been a very long day and not the easiest one. It was 108 degrees and tomorrow where we are going will be 120. I heard it snowed in Utah and I hope everyone there is whistling while they shovel. Don’t take the cold for granted; I would give anything in the world for a cold drink of water. Goodbye until tomorrow, I can’t wait to start working with the people again! I definitely missed not having that experience today.

Ps here is a picture of my feet from the heat...I guess that is normal out here ha


"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give"