Thottanaval Village

Since the children are still on break from school, and it wasn't a medical trip planned for the day, there was still not a lot going on around the Rising Star campus, so Anne recommended we walk into the village and explore a bit. I thought this was a great idea, so off we went. The village is a short five minute walk from the rising star campus, and seeing more of the country side was absolutely beautiful.

Soon after we arrived, we ran into two of the boys who go to school at Rising Star. The one in front is Rajesh. He is in 10th standard (equivalent of 10th grade). He's very smart and his english is very good. At the end of 10th standard, there is a big important exam. It is particularly challenging for children at RSO because they usually have not had more than 5 years of schooling. Rajesh is very bright though, and people are very proud of what he has accomplished so far.

The other boy is Ashok. He is in Life Dance Troupe and after school dance troupe that happens every day. I look forward to working with him more. He's a goofy kid and loved biking through the village.

The boys took us to one of the two shops in town. At this shop they were selling firecrackers for the upcoming holiday of Dawali. It's next week and it's supposed to be a wonderful holiday.
Here's Ashok pretending to shoot me with the toy gun at the shop.
Just in this small village we saw 3-4 shrines to different Hindu gods. I don't remember which god this shrine is for, but they are always beautiful and ornately designed.
Also, you'll see these designs made with chalk in front of many homes. I don't know of any significance or meaning to them, but they are meant to decorate the home. Apparently there are competitions for the drawing of these designs, and all ready in one day I've seen many different and exquisite designs drawn on the ground.

So that's just a taste of life in India so far. Meeting a few of the boys was very exciting. I can't wait for them to come back to campus, so I can start working with them and getting to know them better. I see so much love between them and the volunteers who have been here for awhile. I"m sure I will quickly fall in love with these children as well.

Today is will be my first day going into the colonies. I'm very much looking forward to it.