Halfway Finished!

It's so crazy how fast time goes by here. I am now nearly halfway through my time here. I know it's been a while, but here's a little bit of what I've been doing. :)

We went to Jama Masjid one day, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Masjid,_Delhi) and it was crazy. The mosque itself was beautiful, but it was so sad. Also, we burnt our feet off. You have to take your shoes off to go in, and I don't know if I've mentioned this, but it's stinkin hot here. We were there at like noon, so it was extra hot. My feet were sore for days. I made friends with three 8-10ish year old boys who used the few English sentences they knew on me. They asked my name, where I was from, one called the other crazy, and one said, "I'm fine?" Yep. He made it sound like a question. It was precious.

Yesterday, we went to a Hindu temple. It was creepy and sad. All of the idols here are crazy, but in the temple, seeing people worship them is really heartbreaking. They offer them food, and pour milk on their heads, etc. It's crazy because some of them barely have enough to eat, but they still continue to do it.

I'm learning how to cook! I may have already mentioned that, but I'm really excited. I can make like 5 or 6 things now! Well, I can help someone make them. Hopefully, I'll be able to make them on my own at home.

Shopping here is crazy. You bargain almost everywhere you go. It's kind of fun, but towards the end of the day I really would prefer fixed, not super marked up prices. Still though, their "expensive" stuff is really not that much to most Americans.

We've been to the slum 3 or 4 times, and it is my absolute favorite thing we do. The children teach me Hindi words which I love because they're kids, and I remember them better that way. Yesterday we got to just sit with the women in the literacy class and ask them questions about their life. It was so great! Our Indian friend (Didi...well, that's what we call her. It means eldest sister in Hindi) translated everything back and forth for us. She's so awesome. We spend a ton of time with her. She teaches us things, helps us out a ton, but still makes us do things on our own. She's a super servant too. I love being around her. (Which is good because we're with her like 6 days a week.) :)

I. Love. Indian. Children. They're all soooooooooooooooooo cute. Really. It's really hard for me to see them selling magazines, vases, statues, etc. in the streets at night. It's even harder for me to see them begging for money for food, but when you offer them food they refuse it.

We're creating a new product for the company we're working with, and I'm really excited because we're bringing them back to the states to test sell it there. Get excited.

We're going to the Taj Mahal tomorrow! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!

Oh, and I got a hoop nose ring. Sorry daddy. (I'll put the sparkly back in when I come home:)

I have so much more to tell you, but that's all for now. I'll try to update sooner next time. :)

Lovelovelove you all!

Oh, and here are a few more points for you
-Continued unity and closeness for Beka and I.
-That we can make the best use of the remainder of our time here and serve everyone we're around as much as possible.
-Continued safety. Being a white girl here is a little weird. We stick out a lot. Ha.
-That the women and children in the slum would know that we genuinely care about them, and that we can be some sort of light to them.