Cate's Blog
August 18
We finally arrived in India! After 24 hours of flying with both flights delayed we made it to COF. We have a bit of a set back because one of our bags got lost but they said it should be get to us on Wednesday. It didn't actually hit me until we were about to land in Visak that I was actually going to COF. Once we got there Anand and twos boys were there to drive us to the orphanage. Now it is 1 am and we are finally getting in bed.
August 19
This is was our adjustment day. Took it a little slower and got to get the hang of things a little before jumping right in. Rosie makes us amazing food, much better than the first time I came. It is taking the kids a little time to warm up to me again bc of the language barrier its a little hard. We didn't really do much in the day while they were at school but after the girls brought me up to their new dorm which was where we stayed last time. I went over and hung out and played basketball with the boys. They love taking the camera from me so pretty much every photo taken the kids took. It is all so different because we are not doing a special schedule like we did last time I was here. It is definitley a lot less time with the kids and I soak up every minute of it.
August 20
We got up later today, adjusting little by little to the time change. Today we got to interrupt the classes to have the kids make sponsor letters. They are pretty talented with their drawing and writing. Their class rooms are in the rooms I slept in last time so it was weird picturing it in my head. After I didn't mean to take a nap but I did so I got less time with the kids. I went over to hang with the boys. Haley made a slideshow for the kids of all the photos that she took while they were here. It was fun seeing the kids laugh and get embarrassed when their photo came up. Me and Haley stayed at the boys dorm for a little while after while Mom finished up some work. The boys were laughing and giggling hiding and popping up every so often and messing with us. Let you know these are the 7th grade and up boys playing like 5 year olds, but once we were off to bed they all came out and waved goodbye.
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August 21
Today is Haley's last day. It's bitter sweet. Today me and mom got to go teach crafts to the little kids, grades 1st-4th. We made flowers out of pipe cleaners. It was cool to see mom take the lead in front of them. I think she is loving spending time with the kids. Today the girls came over and we got to play at the play ground. We played this game called cabadi which last time only the boys were playing. It was cool to see the girls get a little rough. I watched the big boys play a huge game of cricket. It was awesome to see how good they are and seeing everyone out there. There was a huge lightning storm. The storms in India are sooo pretty compared to the ones in the US. I had to go drop Haley off at the airport but the driver was delayed in the rain so we got to hang with the boys for a little longer.
Aug 22
First day without Haley there. It went pretty well. Rosie and Anand took us to a hotel nearby to have lunch. We got French fries. It is hard leaving the orphanage for me because I hated all the stares we get when we go out. On the way back we went to see the Hope Academy school site. It is huge. This was moms first time seeing it so it6 was special for her. Since I’ve been gone, they got another dog Sparky. They have had him for about a year now so they have three dogs. Once we got back from the school site, we looked in the office and there was a little puppy. Anand said someone just left it tied up to the gate out front. Shockingly that has never happened before. He had no clue what they are going to do with it. Once the boys got out of school they immediately fell in love with the dog. Even named it Rocky. I don’t know if they can get rid of the dog anymore now that the kids have seen it. Again, just went out and watched the boys play cricket. A pretty mellow day overall.
Aug 23
Today we went into town. I definitely didn’t want to because I just wanted to hang with the kids but I knew mom wanted to. It was nice mom bought some gold earrings. WE went to the hotel I went to the first time to have lunch. I could tell Rosie enjoyed being out and about. Haley was able to have a bunch of her friends donated money to buy sports supplies for the kids. She left before she could go buy some so we got to go with Rosie and Anand to the store. That was my favorite part of going to the city. We got back just in time for games hour. Once again, I went and watched the boys play cricket. A few of them took me aside and insisted that I hit the ball a few times. And again, I wasn’t very good. The college boys had school off so I was able to hang out with them for the day. I was nice because normally I only see them at night once they get home from school. Overall it was a good day.
Aug 24
Today we got to hand out the sport equipment to the kids. It was so fun to see their smiles. In the past couple of days, I was talking to the kids on why the girls don’t play cricket. So, at the sports store I got a cricket bat for the girls. We Rosie handed it out the girls got so excited and I could see the boys look at me and laugh. The little kids got jump ropes and it was funny to see the little kids, who have never jump roped before, try to figure out how. The girls got to go play over at the boy’s dorm again and I was able to play throw ball for the first time. Last trip I never played but I kept hearing people talk about it. I was cool to see Rosie get so into it. I loved watching the girls play with the cricket bat. We were having so much fun but of course study hour came around again. I like sitting with the girls and looking at what they study. Mom went to bed pretty early and I got to go up to the girl’s dorm. Last time I was in there I was painting the whole inside of it with my group. It was so cute because the little girls were falling asleep on the ground because it was cooler down there. Finally, at like 11 I finally am off to bed.
Aug 25
I was excepting that the kids would go off to church and I wouldn’t see them most of the day but today only Rosie, Anand, and Moses went off to church. With no school I got to spend time with everyone. I was definitely a relaxing day for both me and the kids. We took portraits of each kid for the directory. And I went over to play basketball with the boys. There was a cricket match going on with people from the nearby village. I wasn’t allowed out of the boy’s dorm until it was over because the older boys said so. They wanted to stay in with me but also watch the game so they were watching over the wall. You could tell when Rosie and Anand got home because they wall jumped off the wall so quickly and hid. That night we went to a local event for the kids. You could say it wasn’t my cup of tea. I could tell mom was loving it and all the kids went to there was no one the hang out with back at COF. They asked us to go on stage and with my amazing stage fright I almost started crying on the spot. Rosie said it was fine if I didn’t go up. I don’t know if that was a mistake or not. Once they left little kids kept coming up to me asking for pictures. So, I am on a lot of phones in India somewhere. I through the entire thing I only got to see the kids as we were leaving and coming. I am glad that we got to go early because I think I would have shut down if I stayed any longer. We went to Domino’s pizza of all places on the way home.
Aug 26
Didn’t do much during the day. We had a few kids come and draw more sponsor letters but not that exciting. But it was nice because James and Amar came down so I got to hang with them for a little. Because of the donations we had a lot of water balloons that we brought with us. So, after school we got to play with water balloons. We played duck, duck, splash, hot potato, and water balloon toss. Which I won one of the water balloon tosses. At the end we still had a bunch left over so we just threw the water balloons up on the air for them to catch. They loved it. It took up so much time that study hour was only 30 mins. Which the kids loved. We also handed out the candy that people donated. They loved it. Everyone wanted seconds.
Aug 27
One of the main supporters of COF passed away recently and Rosie was asked to make a video for the funeral. She was having someone show up to video tape but they never did. Because of my major I was able to make the video for her. We took a bunch of small videos of the kids and one large one of everyone talking about how much they care about the person. After school I went over and watch the boys play volleyball. It is fun to see them bicker even though I can’t understand a word they are saying. I got asked to play once someone left and I couldn’t believe they were playing with a basketball. We had just got them a volley ball just a few days ago. It hurt so badly to play with the basketball. During the day an old staff member came to invite Rosie and Anand to their sisters’ kids first birthday party. Rosie asked us to come with. Mom was excited to go but I decided to stay behind. I didn’t want to take more pictures and I only had a few days left with the kids. Once they left it was only me and the kids at COF. They were very well behaved for Rosie not being there. Nothing like if you put a bunch of American kids in once place with no super vision. It was just me and the girls for devotion that night. They asked me to pray but I couldn’t. After I went back up to their dorms to hang out. I had to leave because the older girls turned off the lights. I was walking down just in time to catch some boys leaving dinner. They don’t go to bed until 10 and it was only 9 so I asked them what they normally do between now and bed time. They said “pray, study, and read the bible” yeah like I believe that. I asked if they goof around and they all just laughed at me. I bet they do just didn’t want to tell me. I got to the room just in time for mom to come home.
Aug 28
The kids had exams coming up soon so it was down to business, not really. During games hour I went over to play volley ball with the boys. Again, playing with a basketball. The ice cream guy came and they bought me a popsicle. When it was time for study hour, they took me and all the little kids away to go make crafts so that we don’t distract the older kids. We got to make pinwheels with the kids. All the donated crafts were going to great use. The girls just copied one girl’s drawing and they boys copied mom. They were all just sitting there for a while before starting to draw because they couldn’t think of what to do. The kids loved the pinwheels. They ran out to show all the older kids and you could tell they were jealous. Rosie didn’t join us for devotion and mom lead the prayer.
Aug 29
The college kids didn’t have school today so I got to hang out with them. We gave them candy and each person took like 3-4 when all the little kids would take like one. I played this cool game with the boys where you flick the puck and try to knock other pucks into holes. It reminds me of pool. We liked it so much that we actually brought the game home. That afternoon the college girls took us on a walk around COF. We went to the “kings” guest house. Really just some rich guy so made a second house out there. Then they took us to all the rice fields around COF. I thought it was going to be a short walk but nope 3 hours later we finally came back. When we were gone the little boys heard puppies crying and found a little litter of 5 puppies and being little boys, they just took one. They were having fun with it for a while but finally the older girls told them to take it back and they did. I had so much fun at the celebration last trip and they decided to hold another one for me and mom. Mom got dressed up in a sari and looked beautiful. They had a bunch of dances and singing and some kids talked about our trip. Rosie talked then Mom talked surprisingly Anand talked so I felt like I had to talk. I got through the words “Hi guys” and immediately started crying, thanks stage fright. It was short and sweet but Rosie said the kids loved it. At the end they just turned on some music and the kids just danced around. There is this video of a frog dancing that was going around the US and they turned it on and all the kids started dancing like the frog. It was amazing. But finally, the kids had to eat. It was such a special night.
Aug 30
Last day in India. I could stay there forever but I knew mom was ready to go. I went over for the last time to play volleyball with the boys and this time I brought the volley ball with me. They had me play again but stuck me in the front corner where they could play without me touching it. I never knew the score until someone one. Something would happen they would bicker but no one ever told me what was going on. But I was having an amazing time. During Study hour I could tell the girls weren’t studying but making letters for me and mom. So, most of them weren’t asking me to sit with them. I sat with some little girls and they were teaching me Hindi. A language none of them know either. Anand called the boys over so I could say goodbye to them as well. It definitely is more emotional leaving the boys then the girls because I bonded with the more on the first trip so I had a stronger connection to start with. Off to the air port we went.
