Our First Day at Shunem

After 17 hours of flight time we finally made it to India! When we got to the airport we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. We were pretty sure someone would be there to pick us up, but hadn’t actually confirmed anything. Thankfully Tim Galbraith (Uncle Tim/Tim Daddy) was there holding a sign that said “Shunem Home” as soon as we picked up our luggage. Because it was so early in the morning we didn’t get a real sense of how crazy driving in India can be; there were only two cars going the wrong way on the highway. “Naughty fellows” Tim called them.

When we arrived at Shunem it was around 6am so the children were at morning prayer. They greeted us with a couple welcome songs and some beautiful flower garlands that Delphina (one of the older girls) made. After the children were done reading we went back to the room and took a 5-6 hour nap. Waking up was odd; not only did it feel like the middle of the night, but the place was deserted. The children were all at school, and no one really expected us to be ready to do anything. This was nice, we got to relax a bit in the room before the kids got home.

Later in the afternoon when the kids got home the day took off. Many of the kids wanted to show us their reading skills, so we sat and listened to all the hilarious Indian story books from school. The most memorable was probably “The Learned Men” which was about four friends, three of which knew everything but lacked common sense, and one who didn’t know anything but had plenty of common sense. On their travels the friends find a dead lion which they decide to raise from the dead. The unlearned man urges them not too, but eventually climbs a tree when they refuse to listen. The lion comes back to life and eats the three men. The last line was something like “Of course he felt bad for his friends, The End.” After reading we played with the kids outside, which was a blast.

The rest of the day consisted of: learning the true meaning of spicy, trying to figure out the daily schedule, and going to bad an hour before the kids. Though we were exhausted we didn’t manage to sleep through the night because of the time change. Somehow we are 9.5 hours ahead of those of you on the east coast. We’re getting there, perhaps tonight we’ll make it through the whole night.