UPDATE!

Okay so as I have been a bit lax in my news lately this is a post to tell you all that I have been doing between other posts and the lack of new Facebook photo albums.

So three weeks ago Lauren left to go to Nepal... For all those who don't know, Lauren was at the Farm when I got here and she is in most of the videos on my youtube accounts... currently she is roaming somewhere in Europe. We wish her well and a safe journey!

Just after she left we had Chaze and Maridiza come for a short while.I went with them to a fire look-out place with Filly, and Eugene George (yes, their last name is George, and therefore Eugene is George of the jungle!).A few days later a group of seven came from Australia. John and Sarah, veteran volunteers here at the Farm brought out a group from their church in Tasmania. These seven are the ones who you can see at the wedding.
Chrissy loved to throw parties for the kids, and she was always baking cakes for birthdays!

Party (above), Chrissy with Dora & Katherine (below)

Chrissy's daughter Phoebe spent everyday in 10th class. More time than she spends in school back home :)

Pheobe with Maya & Caris

There is a theatre director from Launceston Aus. who comes out every Christmas. In preparation for his arrival Nick, Sarah and I taught the kids the song "Food, Glorious Food" from Oliver.

Nick being a girl (above), Me conducting (below)

Janet, Gabby, and Sarah worked on redoing one of the girl's rooms!

Gabby with Uncle John, Cynthia, Gale & Kushboo (B-F)Janet with Naresh & Amir (R-L)

Last week Chrissy, Phoebe, Nick, Gabby, and Janet went back home. I don't think anyone left without tears in their eyes. But Uncle John and Auntie Sarah are still here and will be untill Jan. They have spent Christmas here on the Farm for the past five years, & all the kids love them!

Right now I am continuing to teach the kids dance for the Christmas program (everyone knows that right?).

The 4th class girls in "Draw Me Close To You"

Once Nick sends the music via email, we will go back to doing regular Oliver practices as well as teaching "Consider Yourself". I am in the middle of wrapping over 300 Christmas presents (thankfully not by myself), and I spend some of my mornings re-organizing the bookshelves here. Maybe we will be able to create a full out library??? Here's to hoping!

What other news? One of the smallest kids Raymond (3) is really sick right now with fever and sores in his mouth. Today he ate one bowl of porridge. Poor guy.

Raymond & big brother Kevin... I did their hair!

Cynthia who is 3 keeps us all entertained with her endless dancing skills.

"So I put my hands up, they're playing my song, the butterfly's fly away!"

I used to take the kids for walks but my schedule has been full of late. Today was the first time in about 2.5 weeks that we were able to go. I have offically decided to stay here for Christmas. It would simply be foolish to do anything different when I love it here so much. Hopefully they don't get sick of me :)

Maybe its the close proximity to kids everyday, or maybe it is because I keep myself so busy, but I am feeling a bit sick right now. Hopefully this doesn't interfere with the relationships I've formed with the kids, and I pray that I get back to full strength soon. Being sick sucks, as we all know, and the reason for it is probably a combination of both things I've said above.

As winter comes the days here get foggy and I can no longer see the mountains from my bedroom window in the morning... or from anywhere else on the farm at any other time of day! But I love rainy-type days so the foggy mist stuff doesn't really bother me.

Some extra tid bits: We all eat sugarcane this time of year...

...I'm still learning. (like my zits? Yeah... me too!)

As well, here are some snap shots of the Harvest... old news now but still cool to see.
Stay tuned on Facebook for more pictures. I hope to get some up this week! We'll see how the internet is going...

Euphoria

I've been saving this for a while since I've been a little afraid about sharing.
There's something about the flat form of a blog post that does not even come close to fairly representing the sheer euphoria of seeing

Arcade Fire

live in concert.

I know I won't be able to do it justice, and I know that even if I were trying to explain it to you in person all I'd end up saying is "You HAD to be there! You just had to be there."

My friend, Jacqui, was there that night too and she is way better with her words than I am. Over on her blog, she said....

"They've been called the world's best band. They have this crazy sound that is huge but is also singular in how it affects you. There is a chord they seem to strike in a lot of people. I actually kind of am sad that they are as huge as they are because I feel like they are a very personal part of my life. I'm not a musicophile or anything even close but when something does affect me, it is a part of my world and starts to become integral in how I interpret the world. And there is some music that does this. "

Simply put, it was amazing. You had to be there.






I owe a massive thank you to my friend Patty who introduced me to AF in the first place and then insisted that we go to the show together as my birthday present.



It was an awesome birthday present.




Read Jacqui's entire entry on Arcade Fire here

Indian Wedding

So the best way to explain the excitement of going to and Indian wedding is by showing pictures (and a little movie.)! Which I will do, but first some story time.

In preparation for the wedding all of us girls raided Auntie Elsie's sari closet, and made sure we had the bangles and other accessories to match. Being that the entire population of Canada can be accounted for within a 200km radius of the Farm, we had two weddings to attend in one night. Therefore we had to be very well dressed. Now that you have the background let's take a look!

It was a lot of fun and I have posted a video so that (for people like Lauren) the feel of the experience could be more fully grasped. Here is the link to watch a bit of the first wedding we went to. Just for my friends who are keeping track (I think this is mainly myself, so let's just call this a Kelsey Trivia) ...I have now attended 22 weddings!

P.S. I love saris!

Good Genes

I know I might be giving away my age here, but for nine long years I didn't have a sister.

For those nine long years, the closest thing I had to a sister was three girl cousins who lived a long, long way away. I didn't get to see these cousins often enough, so when I was in grade two (7 years old), I decided that I was going to save enough money to buy my own plane ticket to go and see these cousins.

After six months of depositing quarters in my piggy bank (I'm sure I was oblivious to exactly how many quarters it would take) my parents took pity on me and purchased my plane ticket.

I got to spend one glorious week surrounded by these three beautiful cousins who were all my age and who were the closest I thought I would ever get to having real sisters. Hanging out with them I experienced all kinds of wonderful things like playing cards (Cheat to be exact) in the early mornings or learning to ride a bike for the very first time!

They truly are like sisters.

And from a scientific perspective they are technically half-sisters to me and my sister.
Our dads are identical twins you see... and I'd say we all have good genes...

Ponds White Beauty

So within my first week in India I quickly discovered these commercials on TV. And I found it hilarious that the people here were being told to have fairer skin, while the message in North America is all about getting draker skin. The world can be pretty messed up.

People Who Love You

Sister.
I thought you might like to see this. Recently I've caught people thinking of you and wishing you well while you are away.
Here's the evidence.....

see? I'm not the only person who loves you ;)

Sister...

I had a dream I stood beneath an orange sky
With my sister standing by
With my sister standing by
I said, here is what I know now sister,
Here is what I know now sister, goes like this,

In your love my salvation lies.

... When I'm alone
When I've thrown off the weight of this crazy stone,
When I've lost all care for the things I own,
That's when I miss you
That's when I miss you

You who are my own.

Happy Birthday Sister

thank you

I saw this a little while ago.
First it made me sad, and then it made me happy.



thanks, Mom & Dad, for your help this week.

I'M ANOREXIC! ...or maybe just vain

Don't worry I don't have an eating disorder, just let me explain!

So you know how most girls get eating disorders because the food they eat -or don't- is something in their life that they can control? Well I have pinpointed what it is in my life that I choose to control in the same type of way, and that would be my eyebrows.

I LOVE MY EYEBROWS! I love forming them into slim little strips of hair, so smooth and shaped. It makes me soo happy when they are formed, and upset when they aren't. I realized this a few weeks ago and diagnosed myself with eyebrow anorexia. Not because I'm making them small -NO! Just because they are the part of my life I have easy power over. And no matter where I am I can always pluck my eyebrows :)

Or as the case may be in India... have my eyebrows threaded!

It seriously feels like a zipper across the face! But not as painful. Thank-you my dear Selma for some great eyebrows!

I mean... JUST LOOK AT THEM!

The Coolest Cat

Late after work on the nicest September evening of the month, I was given tickets to what my have been the hottest show in town that weekend (although that's a bold statement to make considering this was also the same weekend we went to Mamma Mia and Arcade Fire (blog post to come...))

But it still may have been at least the most unique experience considering the line up

You might not remember him, and with a name like Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner, you might not think it would be possible that Fred Penner was the only performer that day who had the two most stunning women in the audience ask to take their photo with him

Sure we stuck around to humour the other performers, but mostly because from where we sat, we could see Fred jamming out to k-os, and there's something just way too cool about that...

Sadly, there isn't a single video on the internet of this event (which I find hard to believe), but I've attached a video below that will at least you'll get an idea of how very cool Penner still is and how he can rock out the acoustic guitar at 64.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Penner!

Night on The Town

A little while ago the Lion's Club here in Banbassa held a fudraiser function. There were rides for children and performers, food stands and merchants. It is a fairly big deal in this small town and people come form all around to get a piece of the action.

I vaguely knew that this event was going on but I didn't expect to get the opportunity to go, and after being warned about the size and sketchiness of the crowd I wasn't sure that I wanted to go. But with some encouragement, and reassurance I found myself getting ready to go out (instead of heading to bed) for the first time since being in India. The older girls here at the GSAM were all a buzz to help Lauren (the Australian volunteer here) and myself get ready. They assured us that we looked fabulous!

We had our local friend Gail come with us. She goes every year. And we were also accompanied by our personal body guard Chris... a volunteer who has lived here for about a year, originally from Washington state. Actually Chris was going in to this function anyways, and offered to take us with. This is the only reason we really went.

It was great! Everything that a Lion's Club function would be like in Canada. The crowd was not as big as we had expected it to be, and aside from lots of stares and little crowds forming beside us there was nothing to be worried about. Chris took his bodyguard duty VERY seriously. :)

The night was crisp and full light! We stayed for about an hour and then walked back to the mission. Definitely the better for having gone out into the heart of an Indian festival

Now I'm going to the Jungle for dinner... :O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!