I ♥ India!

I just returned from a fantastic week at an orphanage outside of Bangalore, India along with 14 others from TCIS (11 high school students and 3 other adults). We spent the entire week at the orphanage playing with the 68 kids who live there. We worshiped together,  did crafts, played games, and spent time just talking and hanging out. It was a great experience. We lived in a guesthouse at the orphanage, ate wonderful food prepared by some of the older girls, and took bucket showers. And in every other moment of the day we were with the kids. It was exhausting, but so incredible; they taught us so much! From new games and songs to being grateful for what we have to having a childlike faith. The children there are wise beyond their years and are absolutely beautiful inside and out. I know the trip made a great impact on some of the members of our team, because on the last day everyone's eyes were full of tears as we said our goodbyes to our new friends. I have been on many mission trips, but I've never been on one like this where we see the same kids everyday and really know them by the end of the week. We also had a really great team, and by the end of the week had grown close, too.

Although we spent the majority of the time at the orphanage with the kids, we did experience a bit of Indian culture. Each day we took a break for tea time...I'm assuming this was started because of the British influence in the country. We had the chance to watch a couple of Indian movies with the kids; one of them My Name is Khan was sooooooo good and very interesting. I would recommend it. I learned how to count to 10 in Kannara, the language spoken in that part of the country. One night we had a dance show, so we watched some Indian dances and performed some Korean ones for them. We also spent half a day in the city of Bangalore shopping. I bought a beautiful Indian purse and shirt. (Their clothing is gorgeous! Very colorful and decorative.) We also had dinner in a restaurant before heading to the airport for our long trip home. As you can see, I had a wonderful time. Hopefully I can go back and see those kids next year. I miss them already!

Check out the rest of the pics here!