&& a happy new year*

Happy New Year!!
it's been crazy here at the Ashram. We made it thru a hurricane & have literally spent all day cleaning. The volunteers had plans to attend a masquerade party at a French resort, but they've canceled due to damages. It's amazing how everyone here just popped into action. It's a natural & healthy way of coping with all the damage that has been done to their homes that I'm learning a lot from. Some of the trees have been here since the community started here in the ashram, but they will grow back. There are no big pick ups to load up & only one chainsaw, so we've all been working our tails off dragging things by hand & raking, etc.

In about a week I'm headed to see the Taj Mahal with a couple of the guys here & then off to Calcutta with some of the girls <3.

Not much time for reflection at the moment, but happy happy HAPPY new year. I haven't settled on a resolution yet-- I googled some, but idk. I think I should write more.. (more better that is ;) )

I have a certain Montgomery in mind for my midnight kiss, but I'll understand if I'm too out of the way for him to make it :)

*up on the housetop reindeer paws*

There's a gate on one of the back walks I take that reminds me of my friends lake house back out in Seguin, Texas & all the fun & trouble we got into. I remember heading out one weekend in college before finals for studying, writing & fishing & ending up at a crawfish boil in South Louisiana before it was all said & done. I've been very fortunate in my life-- God gave me a super guardian angel that is good at working overtime. I don't know if I've ever felt so content in my life as I do now. It's hard to explain-- leaving everything & everyone I love to try to answer God's call has been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but also the most fruitful. In one of the priests homily this advent he focused on the poverty of Mary. Think about it-- the angel appears to her, gives her the news, she accepts it with blind faith & then-- THEN-- the angel Gabriel leaves her. Like-- can you imagine?? She had to just deal with it & keep on keeping on. What a woman.

I've been trying to do one (at least) new thing each day while I am here. Today one of the Indian girls living with the Sisters taught me how to put on my Christmas Sari. I didn't have a mirror, but I'm totally stoked & I think I rocked it :) I'm totally wearing that sucker somewhere back in the states. One of the girls doesn't have one to wear (you can get a silk one for $20 USD) & I'm thinking of getting it for her as a Christmas gift, but I'm caught whether she doesn't want it because of the money or if she just doesn't want it. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable & still not sure what to do.

Another new thing-- went to a beauty shop here owned by a lady who goes to mass here at the Ashram. Indian people-- at least the ones from the South are really rough! In spanish we would say "tosca". They're always grabbin & tryna fix your hair or stick a dot on your forehead, but I'd been telling her I'd go for a month now so.. I went. She did that eyebrow plucking thing where they use a string instead of wax- not bad. My eyebrows did need it.. & she insisted that I didn't pay. Before I left she (and her two other customers) took pictures of me with their camera phones.

Yesterday I went into town with the lady who runs this place & it was great! I don't know how she does it, but she was Christmas shopping for each child & took the time to get me my sari, too. It was really nice being with someone who knew where they were going. I didn't get anyone gifts for Christmas, so I hope they didn't get me anything. Hope you all are having a happy advent :)

Ye-Haw London Hall~!

Dayum! sometimes life is just good. Like right bout now. It's Christmas season, kids are all doin good in school, the monsoon is over (mostly), got a trip lined up to the north of India to see the Taj with some friends, got my next job lined up, found a liquor store near my village :p. I looked into safari's cuz I thought it'd be nice to try to see some tigers, but hell, 1st off you can't shoot anything, then you can't eat meat on the whole park, can't drink beer, & it's bout the same price I paid to go to Africa & actually hunt. The prices here for any1 who isn't a resident of India are ridiculous. I went to a museum the other day that was 5 INR for indians & 100 for non Indians. Then I thought about how much it hurts when my cats claw me & I multiplied it by a million & thought maybe I don't need to see a tiger in the wild. Might still do it cuz I'm known to be a little stubborn, but ain't a priority. Saturday I'm going to a temple nearby that's got a 'monkey temple' & some other weird stuff, I'll post some photos. One of the French guys got a TVS (like between a moped & motorcycle) & invited me to lunch/ explore tomorrow. I haven't left the Ashram since I got thrown off the bus 2 weeks ago, but knowing my apprehensions he told me not to worry bout a thing & he's a proper gentleman so I believe him.

The kids are pretty awesome. I realize how great my parents were by dealing with them & butting heads with others on whats the best way to raise em. Memories come flooding into my mind at almost every turn of the day. One of my favorites I hadn't thought of in a long time was an Easter long ago with my mom & brother. It might not have been Easter proper-- the details are blurred with time & a child's selective memory, but for some reason we all sat in the living room of our double wide trailer at the ranch sad and troubled. The mood was lower than low. Jase (brother) & I were without words which doesn't happen often. Out of nowhere my mom busted into the room with cascarones & broke them on our heads-- in the house. (white folk, a cascaron is an empty egg painted & filled with confetti broken on ppl's heads on Easter) At first Jason & I were alarmed at our mothers madness & didn't move. She was not deterred & followed the first perturbed act with another. Our childish stubbornness settled on sulk quickly faded & all three of us danced in a ring of confetti around the living room. We must have gone through 20 dozen eggs.

Another time I had checked out a really good book from the library & wanted to finish it. I was bored by my teachers & classes, so in the morning I told my mom I didn't want to go to school. She asked me if I felt sick & I made it a point not to say yes, but to be deceitful enough to where she thought I was. I stayed on the sofa & read the whole thing. I finished about 1 o'clock & told my mom I could go to school now. She (thinking I was sick before & now felt better) told me not to worry about school & that I could go tomorrow. Satisfied with my angels approval, I sat guiltlessly all afternoon & watched TV as she brought me soup, crackers & whatever I desired.

I'm pretty free with the kids. I feel that the others try to micromanage their every move, but I'm probably too far one way & maybe they're too far the other. I've been playin fiddle here & when I watch the toddlers is a good time to practice. Idk why one of the kids, Aneesh, always calls the damn thing a banjo. I kept correcting him, but seeing as to how he's set on it I've let it be. I don't even know how he knows what a banjo is. I hear the older ones home from school now & should get going. Write again soon.