Wednesday, January 23, 2013

But JOY comes in the morning...


 After a couple of long draining days of travel we had a good night sleep and are ready for a new day!  The rooms we stayed in at the airport hotel were a perfect place to lay your weary head as well as ideal for getting to know your room companion better as there were no doors on the bathrooms. They also made for tight quarters for our morning devotions that Emma put together for us.  You see we wanted to start each morning with a few moments to get our minds all focused on the day and since it’s not the best idea to do that in the lobby or dining area of the hotel (PDP – public display of prayer) we are gathering in our room.  Here is a photo of our time together this morning…



Now, back to the airport to load up for the final leg of our journey to Rajahmundry.  As we walk across the tarmac we can see all 18 suitcases being loaded onto the airplane…what a relief to see the airline was still in possession of them!











After a quick jaunt we arrive in Rajahmundry with hearts exploding with JOY…



We were greeted with a warm welcome from our “Indian family” and felt a huge feeling of relief at finally meeting up with them…



During the hour long bus ride to Madhavapatnam we had a chance to reconnect as well as take in the sights and sounds of India.  For our new travel companions this was quite an eye opening experience!  Oh, it’s is good to be back!!!!  We arrive at the village and can hear the sounds of the children down the road anxiously awaiting our arrival.  As we are greeted by all those sweet innocent faces we are reminded why we put ourselves through the grueling journey that really started about 2 years ago, of coming back here…





For our fellow travelers who are experiencing this for the first time, there is nothing like meeting the children face to face who they've been sponsoring for many years…





OH HAPPY DAY…




Once we had a chance to play with the orphans for a bit and have a delicious meal at Novahu’s home, it’s time to head over to our hotel and prepare for our shopping adventure to get fabric for our new Salwaar Kameez outfits.  We decided to walk the streets of Kakinada opposed to driving there…talk about adventure, it’s dark and there are thousands of people everywhere!  You are overwhelmed with the reality of being someone else’s tourist attraction as well as the explosion of sounds that come from the honking of others trying to make their way safely down the street!  Words can hardly describe it, but I’ll try later…now it’s time to talk about shopping!  We actually had an exciting experience this time around looking at all the different material and trying to find the ones that suited us best.  I was so happy seeing all the beautiful pieces that the female travelers found for themselves and how thrilled they were with the prospect of how they would look once completed!








And yes, we even convinced Mail Dude to join the realm of men from Immanuel who occasionally like to get all decked out in traditional Indian garb.




What a fabulous day!!!!  JOY, JOY, JOY…

We are here...all is well...LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!
Namaste'
~Jenny