Hello from India!

HELLO FROM INDIA!!  Why is it that it takes me forever to get something started? I don't consider myself a perfectionist but for some reason it took me 2 days just to come up with a blog name. "For the Love" for now is a personal blog of my experiences in life. Some funny with a dose of sarcasm because I like to keep it real, as well as some wonderful experiences I am bound to have in the next 8 months. So, in some posts you will get the feel "For the Love! WTF am I doing in India?!", or you will get "For the Love...this place is amazing with BEAUTIFUL and KIND people".

I am so excited to finally blog about all the happenings of the past few days! Most of you that are reading this know that I decided to go volunteer in India until this November. Coming to the decision to spend 8 months in India came really quickly for me...unlike most other decisions I have made in my life. I usually have to weigh all my options, and considering it took me a couple of days to even come up with a blog name, you can probably imagine how long normal decisions take! But for some reason, coming to India just felt right and I jumped on the opportunity to come out here. And I am SO happy I did! Granted, it's only been a few days, but already I have felt such love from the people here. The Indian people are so sweet and generous. And the kids...OMG(yeah i just omg'd) are so cute! So far they are the best part about all of this.

I am volunteering for an organization called Rising Star Outreach www.risingstaroutreach.org. The people we work with either have or have had leprosy, and many of their children come to the Rising Star school for their education. This is a great school and these kids are very lucky and blessed to be able to go here.  I will touch more on what goes on throughout my time here, but that gives you an idea.

Now time for the best part - PHOTOS!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARI!!  This is Hari (Harikrishnan) and his friend Devi. Devi says she is Hari's sister but I've heard from other kids that she is fibbing...I am not sure who to believe yet :).  Oh and it's Hari's bday today!

 This is Hari and Vijay.  They are really excited because both of their sponsors came out to volunteer this time.  They LOVE their sponsors!  Sponsors pay $30 a month for a kid to be able to attend the Rising Star School.  I will tell you more about this later, but if you are interested in sponsoring a child just go to www.risingstaroutreach.org and sign up!!

 The girl on the left is Ti Ti.  She made me play tag with her for an hour and I suck.  She is so fast!

 Me and Hari.  So many pictures of him today! But... it is his birthday and I can't get enough of him! (ps I am finally getting over retianing a ton of water and jet lag...I swear I look like a sweaty swollen mess in these pics.  Let's hope that curry and rice for 8 months will make me skinny!)

 Silly boys.