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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time there was a beautiful and adoreable royal princess who ruled the hearts of all those who met her by flashing her dazzling smile.


Her favorite passtime was trying on all kinds of shoes, and with so many beautiful shoes to try on, sometimes she had to wear different shoes on each foot.


She took great care of her loyal subjects.



Eyore and Belle ;)



Often she would watch over them while they slept.



and only when all was safe in her domain would she rest herself.



Without question, everyone lived happily ever after.

Cricket

So Cricket is a game that captivates the entire nation of India. Everyone here loves it, and being a guest in this country I thought that I should learn the rules. I thought that it was going to be terrible, but it's actually not that bad!

Sooooo think of baseball. That game is played in a square format... for our purposes let's call this 2D. Whereas cricket is played in 3D. Okay so both the pitcher and the batter are in the middle of the field. Once hitting the ball, the batter has to run back and forth between wickets as many times as possible before the people in the outfield get the ball and throw it back to the pitcher. Simple right?

Okay so there are two circles around the field. If the batter can hit the ball past the first circle he automatically gets 4 runs. If he hits it past the second circle he automatically get 6 runs.

...Right. So just like baseball, one team bats first and then the next team bats. The goal is to get as many runs as possible within the least amount of balls thrown. Now I'm a bit sketchy on the next part but I think it works like this: Each player bats. They are allowed to keep batting for as long as they stay in. The way they get out is if the pitcher throws the ball and it hits the wickets set up behind the batter. So once all the players on one team get out THEN it switches to the next team. And they have to get more runs in just as many ball throws as the previous team in order to win.

GET IT????

It is actually quite fun to watch on TV... unlike baseball ;)

I actually had the pleasure of watching the GSAM school cricket match this past Saturday. I still don't understand the game...

I posted a few videos on my Youtube channel of the action. Check it out!!!!!