Oh brother.

Whoa whoaaaaa! My little brother moved to my city!

It's rather mind-blowing. 

We'll be neighbors and co-workers for the next year. 

To celebrate that fact, and my birthday, we went on an ole boat ride. 

He's pretty cool.

We're pretty Indian.

We squat well. 

We like using umbrellas in the sweet sunshine.

We jump on/off things well...

 

Like trains, buses, and other random cars.

You're free to join us. Come on over. 

Safari.

This morning...

I rode an elephant out into the woods. 

And got to see dozens of rhinos. 

I discovered that elephants have these cute little hairs. 

I got to hang out with these crazy girls. 

And chill on the back of this Dumbo. 

 

I'm one happy camper. 

Random.2010.Highlights.

I'm not going to lie, this year has been full of ups, downs, and everything in between. I haven't really been good at processing my life lately, so I don't have any inspiring thoughts or reflections about the year, but I know that it was full of change. I've seen things I could have never imagined. I've heard stories that I could have never made up. I've encountered brokenness & seen heartbreak. I've also experienced true joy and had life breathed into me day in and day out. HE'S ALWAYS LEADING, AND I'M LEARNING TO FOLLOW. 

Here are a few random highlights from the ole 2010:

Climbed a mountain.

Played with fire. 

Rolled around in wild flowers. 

Goofed off all summer with my incredible baby brothers & sisters.

Got to spend some time with these ladies. 

Treasured every second of sweet friend time.

Photoshoot with my beautiful sister. 

Graduated from the ole SFA.

Spent some time at the beach with these people. 

And with these people... an absolute blast.

                     Then I left home for a while and got to prepare for overseas life these people. 

Then I said bye to these people.

And met these people. 

And here I am today. Living it up in South Asia. I don't know what this next year holds, but I will never be the same. 

Merry Christmas and a special thanks to Skype.

"Exercise Class"

In a place where there’s no such thing as PE in school, Gold’s Gym down the street, or early morning joggers, people think exercise is strange/hilarious. They don’t have to do push-ups because they pump water from the ground, and jogging isn’t much fun after you’ve walked all over town, so I get why they think it’s weird.

Life here is exercise, but nonetheless, some girls here at the hostel I’m living at asked me to teach an “exercise class.” Laughter is probably the biggest form of exercise they actually get, but if we do anything legit, they all groan and say, “oh miss… it’s paining. It’s paining.” So, we stick to stretches, crunches, random warm-up activities, and the ever so hilarious wall-sit.

It’s a sweet afternoon activity. 

CORN FLAKES.

So, the first day I was at my new village home, they were asking me what kind of things I ate for breakfast in America. One thing I mentioned was cereal, and they said, “Like Corn Flakes?” And I was like, “Yeah, like Corn Flakes.”

And that simple conversation is how it all began.

They eat rice for every meal, but because I’m their guest and I “love Corn Flakes,” they add Corn Flakes to most things I eat. Since they don’t eat cereal, they don’t get that most people simply pour it in a bowl with milk (and the only “milk” around here is dairy powder anyhow), so some of the Corn Flakes treats include “Corn Flakes Chai” and my favorite... rice, oats, and Corn flakes in a bowl of scolding hot water. It’s absolutely hilarious to me so I’ll never tell them how I usually eat cereal. Because I think it’s so funny, I’m actually starting to like the random Corn Flake concoctions.

Some signs so far. =)

Coffee.

It turns out, I might be addicted to the coffee shop scene.

I love that it's so chill. 

People can talk, and it's okay. 

You can chat with random strangers, and all is good.

You can stick your iPod in and journal, and that's okay too. 

And, come to find out, it's a universal scene. 

Granted, there aren't Starbucks on every corner.

But... there's a chain here called Cafe Coffee Day.

I found it today, and my heart jumped (maybe because of the caffeine).

Weird, but it's like a little home away from home. 

A Quick Ode to America (before I head out)

  

This is how we roll in India.

My ideal self would be a baller biker woman if necessary, but I've got a lot to learn from this guy...

Hopefully, I'll get to see this often when I get to India. It would definitely make life interesting.