The internet was down yesterday so I din't have a chance to post. I spent the day yesterday on the construction crew. We went to a colony where they are building a community center to lend our helping hands. It's amazing to see how fast they can create a whole building using only the supplies they have. We helped carry cement, which is huge chunks of stone mixed with sand and water, 100 yards away to dump on the ground to be compacted into a floor. An old skinny man would load up big bowls and we would carry them up a hill with the most beautiful woman in a teal sari. I tried carrying them on my head like she did but it was quite the recipe for disaster so I stuck with my serving skills and carried them like a tray. After that we all carried cinder blocks a block away and into a tini backyard to be used for the foundation of two squatters or outhouses. the house was a dark and dank small little thing but the door was open and I kept catching glimses of an Indian soap opera, quite entertaining in that horrible heat.

After a nap and a bucket shower we played with the kids and took lots of photos. Dinner on the roof was FANTASTIC and then I helped my girls with their homework and put them to bed. That has to be one of my favorite parts of the day. They are so sweet and patient with me trying to learn all 20 of their names, hard names at that. They all call us "auntie" so it's easy for them to remember. A few of them are starting to remember my name and it is quite entertaining to hear them try and pronounce the DR blend :) There is one little girl, Abisha, who is probably 5 who looks exactly like a mini Halle Berry. She always grabs my cheeks and kisses my forehead. I already know it's going to take all I have not to cram her in my suitcase and bring her home with me.

This morning I woke up and headed off in the medical van to another colony. The doctor, who is only 28 and a pure genius, is Dr. Kumar and his two nurses are Pushpa and Nenglini. The van is ghetto, to say the least. It actually broke down on us today and a bus had to come and pick us up. We loaded all the medical supplies on the bus and were on our way to treat leprosy patients. The whole way there Dr. Kumar gave us a run down on all the facts of leprosy as well as his background. He has quite the story and a HUGE heart. Most of his original patients will not come to him any more since he's been treating the colonies. I started by washing the feet of a few old people so the Nenglini could dress their ulser wounds. I concentrated on trying to properly pronounce all their names rather than the smell of all the missing toes and rotting skin. It was actually a lot easier than I thought.

Then I took a turn testing the patients for diabetes. The only time I fainted was pricking my own finger and pushing out blood to get my blood type in high school, so the thought of pricking fingers to aquire blood freaked me out a lot. Again, I just chose not to think about it and smile and hug the people. They all laughed every time I would finish writing the results in their char (a folder with lined paper and their name on front) I would say "TaDa" and flash a cheesy pose. It was my way of asking their forgiveness for making them jump at the prick of a needle.

After recording at least 30 peoples blood sugar levels, Dr. Kumar asked me for a favor. He led the way out back to a cement room with cement slabs and vomit and dries blood on the walls. Sitting on the middle slab was an old woman with an IV in her arm. He explained to me that she had been so sick that she couldn't get up to use the bathroom, so her very own people put her out there three week ago. She was extremely dehydrated and in a lot of pain. She needed someone to sit with her and I was honored. Her name is Jaya. She is a painter. I held her crippled little hand in mine and sobbed. She just lifted my chin and kissed my forehead and the tops of my hands and would grin a toothless grin. I helped her pass the time by taking photos. Indian people LOVE photos. They love looking at them right after on the screen. I suppose we all do. I even got her to do a kissy face pose and I know she thought I was crazy. I hope she is sleeping well tonight.

After having a dance party in the woman sleeping quarters, it was back to campus to play with the kids. I brought a bunch of beads to make necklaces and they had disappeared in the first 10 seconds. I had a mountain of girls crawling on me, "auntie auntie auntie. you help me, auntie auntie auntie', It was overwhelming but needless to say, the jewelry turned out exquisite! I feel like I know all the girls in my familys' names now. Tonight during homework I made them all write their names somewhere on my palms. It helped to see the names spelled and Rosy informed me it was MY homework to memorize them all when I went home to the elephant house. I feel confident tomorrow I'll remember most of them.

Now I'm laying here, so happy the air conditioner is working again, needing to get some rest. Yoga on the roof is promptly at 5:30 a.m. :)