We were greeted at the airport by all the children and the pastors of Rajah Children's Home (RCH), Isaiah and Ananth. They gave us leis and had signs to welcome all of us. They were all so excited to see us and super polite! They all kept saying, "Good morning Madame. How are you? I am fine." I quickly figured out that those phrases were the only English that some of the children had learned. It was fun to let them practice English with us.
After we were checked into the hotel, we walked around toen to find a money exchange. There was a huge Hindu festival in the streets. Parades of people with statues of their Idols being carried in the back of trucks. All the Idols were decorated and there was a lot of music. The men were all wearing orange headbands and they were all painted different colors. Purple, Orange, Yellow, and Red. Ananth said this was the festival of colors. He said the parade goes all through the streets and ends at the river. The men will then carry the statues to the river and launch them into the river. I asked what happens after that. Do they float or what? He said they just sink. Hmm, kind of anticlimactic to me, but oh well.
At one point during the festival, a man came up to me and offered to put color on me. It was a colored type of powder. I politely refused but he became more aggressive and came at me with both hands extended, reaching for me. I said NO loudly and started to back away. I grabbed Ananth and hid behind him. He told the man something in Telugu and the man went away. It was kind of scary for me, but I quickly got over it and went about our business.
We really enjoyed our time with the children at RCH. They all stand at attention and salute us while saying in unison "Good morning Sir/Madame." They snag and danced for us and we presented our bible study lesson. I enjoyed learning new songs from the children.
Our time was cut short with the pastors of the Deep Forest area because the chief minister of the sate had died. All the townspeople were in mourning so businesses were closed and there were several road blockades. Most of the villagers at these road blocks were drunk and angry... not a good combination. They were not allowing people to go through the road blocks, so we had to turn around and go back to the hotel. We had to pass through 2 more road blocks to get back into the city. At one blockade, the people were hitting our car and yelling at us as we drove through. I was scared, but knew that God would protect us. It is hard for me to understand expressing your grief through violence, but I guess these people have few outlets for their emotions.
We were able to spend a whole day with the children at RCH, since our other plans had been cancelled due to the Chief Minister's death. I learned how to play a modified version of Cricket and then we taught the boys how to play kick ball. It was fun! The girls taught me and Shelley how to play Karem, a board game that they love to play.
I really enjoyed my time in Rajahmundry and was not looking forward to the long trip home. I am still having trouble adjusting to the time change, but as things become more routine I should level out. I am looking forward to future trips to India and the seeing our new friends again!
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