Israel Choral Performance Tour December 2016

On December 26, 2016, I flew from New Orleans through Rome to Jerusalem to join Dr. Larry Wyatt (my choral mentor) and friends in his professional ensemble Colla Voce, for a choral performance tour of Israel. It was a VERY lucky trip I was able to join and I used airline miles and hotel points to tack on a vacation after the performance portion of the trip.

I'd been asked to join the tour because I helped premiere the composition Annelies, a striking, poignant, and beautiful work by the amazing James Whitbourn in Prague the year before and I knew the music! The work is on the life of Anne Frank, in her own words.
 
I waited four hours or so at the Tel-Aviv Yafo airport and met up with one of the incoming groups. We then took a train to Haifa where we were staying. 
The next day was in Haifa and was full of rehearsals from 9 AM until the early evening at which point we were about to go crazy with exhaustion and restlessness. We had a good dinner and rested. The next day held some sight-seeing and a concert at the University of Haifa. 
 
From here, we had another concert and were set up with host families. It's been a very LONG time since I've been on a choir tour and in host houses, but it was wonderful! One of my favorite experiences was going to the weekly Shabbat dinner at my family's grandmother's house and observing the final day of Channukah. They gathered around a table where there were several menorahs and lit them while singing several traditional songs. It was such a sweet and joyful time being with them and sure enough, all stereotypes about Jewish grandmothers making you eat - eat- EAT are TRUE!
Here are a few of my FB posts to give you some flavor of the trip:

- YAY! Macchiato because we're between rehearsals! THREE rehearsals for today! Whew! 🎶 It's so nice to sing with this group: a combination of the Colla Voce professional ensemble, six former DMA conducting students, and a few MMs too.

- HAPPY NEW YEAR from the future (from Israel), while watching Russian TV (hence, the Russian below!)

- A few words about 2016: While I know it had its horrific moments, losses, and issues, it was also a year for which I'm especially grateful. I am alive, well, and still in awe and excitement that I'm a postulant for priesthood in The Episcopal Church and am able to pursue this calling with the support of so many! It blows my mind that I'm attending a dream school, Sewanee! I give thanks for the sixcouples I know who married the loves of their lives this year. I'm happy for all the new babies (human or furry or feathered.) Look at all the cool space exploration that happened this year, too. I made new friends in Israel, Pakistan, Qatar, and in school. I finally had a major surgery I desperately needed and while I gained some pounds from doing nothing but binge watching Game of Thrones, I had the extravagant opportunity to do so. I got to hang out with my friends and spend valuable time with those who fill my life with joy. I enjoyed freedom, education, good health and plenty of bad puns 

  
So much good happened this year for me. I'm extremely fortunate and blessed. I hope and pray that 2017 will be filled with hope and increase in blessings for all that haven't been so fortunate and especially for those who suffered loss, war, and strife. I continue to hope for things like world peace and discovering more life out there in our universe. Like these candles, may your flame burn brightly and even be challenged, yet stand the windy night with graceful beauty.I wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(It's 4:46 here and soon we will leave for tonight's concert!) More later

Jaffa

We explored Nazareth, Caesarea maritima, Jaffa, Haifa, Jerusalem, and my host family took me to the city of Acre (Akko, will expound in a separate post). In six days, we gave four concerts and sang with three of Tommer Hessig's choirs. He is doing a FABULOUS job promoting the choral art in his area of Israel. Tommer is involving lots of artistic organizations, training young singers, educating communities, composing, and making beautiful music! It was super nice to catch up with (and meet some) fellow DMA students from USC, hang out with my first mentor, and sing. Ariana Wyatt was out soloist for Annelies, as she was in Prague, and she is extraordinary. Not only a beautifull and demonstrative singer, she is kind, friendly, and brilliant as well as having a good sense of humor.

Caesarea Maritima

Here is the link to my entire photo album for this trip (in case you want to see a few more!)

One of the things I've always admired about choir trips is that they represent a microcosm of the greater community in which you exist almost outside of time. It's almost a shock to me when a tour, even a short one, is over. You get to know people deeply. One of my favorite thinfs to do is to stay awake on the bus whilst everyone is napping or asleep from sheer exhaustion, and stare out the window watching the landscape go by. You learn so much about a country by passing and seeing the everyday occurrences, often overlooked by group sight-seeing treks or overshadowed by people-watching in a touristy area (which can also be amazing). You see the dogs, the trash-lined sidewalk, the beauty of sun setting on a corn field, children playing in yards, birds, diners, street vendors, erosion, construction, fences, and so much more. It's part of that difference between being a tourist and really getting to know a place.
* Acre and Egypt posts coming soon!

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Gratitude

Today was my last Sunday as director of music ministry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in New Orleans. Last night, my beautiful, sweet, caring, fun, and amazing congregation threw me a gigantic going away party and fundraiser. 

It was a 50's themed Grease dinner/dance event, complete with poodle skirts, pony tails, delicious 50's comfort foods, live music, tributes, balloons, letter jackets, and much more! 

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!

Here's a piece of the Second Line I got to lead with my parasol "made of Episcopal colors!"   

(Please excuse the giant gap between the video and this text...something in the embed code I don't understand!) 
As usual, I was a little nervous, but that passed very quickly as people entered, laughter ensued, and hugs were shared. SUCH a wonderful evening! I got to talk to so many folks that I wouldn't have been able to reach otherwise because of everyone's busy schedule. 

I also got to dance and I was serenaded - twice! The first song was "Summer Nights" from Grease with new lyrics written by my dear friend Meg that totally busted me and my stickers, puns, and coffee habits. I laughed SO HARD! Everyone enjoyed that and laughed right along with me! I promise to add the photo of the lyrics tomorrow. (It's in my car down the block and I am being lazy right now.)
*holding spot for the picture / text *
Next, I was given the benediction written by John Rutter sung by three choir members and it was super lovely and heartfelt. I cried. I love them so much.
Several folks spoke and my heart is so full from hearing their kind words. I will miss everyone so very much. 
My organist Liliia, who has taken up painting as a hobby, even painted a portrait of me WITH STARS in the background! 

I know that I will return. I will see them again. It's difficult to leave, but I am SO EXCITED for the journey ahead! I'm deeply grateful for St. Paul's - my choir, Fr. Rob, Bishop Duncan Gray, Fr. Ed, the congregation, the staff, our amazing school, and the beautiful building itself. I thank God EVERY DAY for this place and such genuinely loving people. I have changed in seven years here and I have grown. I have opened. 
In a super cliche of words....
I am extremely grateful!
It's hard for me to accept gifts sometimes. It's also hard sometimes to accept unconditional love. I have trouble during these wonderful times with overthinking and wondering what I can do to say thanks or to give back in response to such wonderful support and love. I will "give back" by studying my rear off (and there's plenty of THAT to work off!), working on a fulltime ministry of BEING - and at that - being a student of theology. This is all a given. It's what I'm going to seminary to do. In addition, I am stepping back and enjoying this love and these fun times. I am accepting this wondrous love. I am simply being grateful. 

You know what? It makes it easier to see God this way.
God is love...
I see God in the people of St. Paul's and in their ministries. I see it in the ways that they interact with me and with others. I'm seeing and experiencing God in the outpouring of thanks and love.
Expressing gratitude helps us benefit from the world and people around us. By getting out of ourselves, we become blessed. It also helps me to think that one doesn't create gratitude, but one sort of...."channels" it. How do we know the depths of gratitude? I think we must become aware of its source which for me, is God. Practicing gratitude allows us to connect with God through the humility it brings, followed by God's grace. How's that for a cool circle / trinity of motion?! 
Mind.blown.
Gratitude also reveals how much we need God, love, and each other.

So, THANK YOU my dearest St. Paul's and friends!!!! I love you all! I will savor the love, kind words, songs, cards, gifts, and laughter.  Thank you SO MUCH for my very first study Bible and the GORGEOUS St. Paul's cross! Thank you for also letting me keep my office laptop as I am in need of a computer that isn't thirteen years old with 100 MB left on it (yikes!) 
You are not only in my heart, but you own a piece of it :-) 
"God be with you til we meet again..."

(I'll be returning to New Orleans for holidays after semester exams and Sewanee's Lessons & Carols and I'll be spending a couple of weeks in the Crescent City. It will be in a different capacity, but I will be helping out at St. Paul's as needed. I know I'll probably be doing some singing. In the community, I'll be conducting a New Orleans Civic Symphony concert and the fabulous St. Paul's Lessons & Carols!)

5 1/2 Reasons Why I've Lived on "The Border of the Quarter"

Tons of people ask me about my apartment. Mostly, they want to know why I live in (almost) the French Quarter and why I put up with no parking and no washer/dryer and the lack of w/d connections. So, I've been thinking about that lately as I prepare to move to Tennessee and attend the Sewanee School of Theology for my MDiv (as a postulant for priesthood in the Episcopal Church!!!!!) When I moved from Milledgeville, GA to take the position of Director of Choral Activities at The University of New Orleans, I was looking for an apartment during the immediate recovery from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 

At least 80% of the housing in the whole area had been destroyed completely or enough to where it was not fit to live in. I remember it took me three different trips down here to explore housing options and check out apartment possibilities. On the third trek, my friend Kate came with me and we both called every number we saw outside of houses offering space and investigated every ad in the paper and online. It was extremely DIFFICULT to find something (AND that accepted pets). The apartment I finally took was in Metairie, tiny, and VERY expensive ($750 per month - compared to what I was paying in Georgia). My job was a one-year visiting position so I figured that after a fun year of FINALLY finishing my doctorate, I'd probably be leaving for another job somewhere. As it turned out, I "woke up" in the spring, a freshly-minted doctorate holder, and realized "Whoa, I live in New Orleans!!!". By then, the university offered me another year and so I found myself wanting to really live in New Orleans proper. I found a terrific apartment on Esplanade Avenue, the border of the Quarter, technically The Marigny neighborhood, and lived there for five years. Then, I moved again, but stayed in the same basic neighborhood. 
There are tons of reasons why I love living in this area, but here are the five that stick out the most to me!

1. Close, but not too close...

Photo by Caroline Carson. 

According to the Myers-Briggs, I'm a borderline introvert/extrovert and as many times as I've taken it, that's been the case. I love to be on my terms when it comes to entering the action or not. I'm there, but I'm not there (just like the woman above, she is outside the scene behind her, yet she IS part of the scene.) I like hearing the nightly brass bands down the street. I live on Frenchmen Street so that's just about every night. Drum circles at 3:00 AM, I don't love that so much. Hearing parades begin to pass by....well, I can choose whether or not to run outside and watch it on our front porch or to simply know it's happening and continue reading my book. Usually, I choose to run out and wave and watch until everything passes by! People, I love them, but it's nice to be able to choose how much of your dosage of tourists to administer :-)  If I feel like walking to where the action is, it's super easy. New Orleans makes it easy and the French Quarter especially. One block can be crazy active and loud while the next block can be quiet and serene.

2. The Art

Photo by Caroline Carson

I love art and have always been surrounded by it. My walls in home and offices are covered with artwork. My father was an excellent painter and a graphic artist as well as a superb photographer. My brother is a fantastic artist as well and I have some of both their pieces on my walls! I LOVE photography and even though I don't know very much about it, I know I have a decent eye. I feel closer to my father when traveling and taking pictures. On the scale of fantasticness, the palette that the French Quarter provides is beyond description. Everywhere you go, you see visual art and artists: performance art, the architecture, sketches, painters, crafts, scuptures, etc. 

3. The Music

iPhone photo by Caroline Carson

I'm a musician so this one for me is obvious. I don't go out to jazz clubs often, but I truly appreciate living here when I want to do that - or to take visiting friends out. I've been known to show up at Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse, Snug Harbor, or The Spotted Cat. 
St. Louis Cathedral also hosts plenty of classical concerts as do some of the smaller churches every now and then. Festivals are all over my area all the time. I like hearing live music wherever I am in the Quarter. Being on the edge of the Quarter, one can also hear all sorts of morning birds. I get to hear the steam calliope on the Steamboat Natchez play when the wind is just right, church bells from several places on Sunday mornings, and fog horns from large ships in the middle of a Fall night. I do enjoy a good thunderstorm too - and all areas of New Orleans are great for that. ALL of it is the music of life.

4. The Crazy

Photo by Caroline Carson

Hmmm....this sort of goes without explanation, but where else can you ride home and see a skeleton on a bike with a cat and a boombox in its basket? Perhaps a mime and a statue man having tea on a streetcorner? What about dogs dressed up in costumes for the Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade? People with amazing and in-your-face personality who could care less what you think of it! Folks of similar reputation as Ruthie the Duck Lady. Almost daily on my street, I see a man dressed in tux and tails with top hat and glasses with 3-d crazy eyes. He doesn't ever speak, but he'll nod sometimes. In April I saw a man wearing a bumblebee outfit riding a bike and singing at the top of his lungs. I would have taken a photo, but I was driving and he vanished around the corner. It didn't really faze me. I just assumed it for was for some New Orleans Allergy Festival. Hey, that COULD ACTUALLY BE A THING HERE! Just think of the Benadryl-flavored snoballs, the pollen-fried chicken... I digress.
Bumblebee Man was completely and happily in his own world.
Every. day.
Really though, the people that live here are just people. Also, they'll speak to you. Just about everyone says hello, smiles, or nods in greeting. They also dance....a lot. :-)

5. Feels sort of like Europe and reminds me of my beloved Charleston 

So, this one is a big one. The French Quarter is not the pure essence of New Orleans, but in my opinion, it sure does capture a huge percentage of that.
Cobbled or old brick walkways, small and colorful cottages, the market, the history, the restaurants, the pedestrian nature of the whole area - these things not only remind me of my beloved Charleston, SC., but they remind me of walking in Europe. I am mostly pedestrian when I visit other places and especially when I travel overseas. There is a very European feel to the French Quarter, and not just French and Spanish quality. One can hear any number of languages walking into the Quarter, tourists are everywhere, music is calling you from a seemingly infinite number of places, as are the street performers. There's always food or art being sold all around the area and there's a general air of excited energy. 
I love, love, LOVE the riverfront and watching boats and ships pass along. Sometimes, I've gone to pick up some cafe & beignets on a weekend morning or a daquiri on a weekday evening and just sat on a bench at the river. In addition to my little picnic days or walks in City Park (which I ADORE!), I will also occasionally sit in Woldenburg Park and eat a half sandwich and read a bit.

5 1/2. THE FOG

Photo by Caroline Carson. Christmas morning fog on Esplanade Avenue, 2007.

HA! I'm halfway kidding.....the fog is everywhere in the city, but I have enjoyed photographing it in my neighborhood.

Fog in Washington Square Park. Photo by Caroline Carson

Frenchmen Street Fog at Washington Square Park. Photo by Caroline Carson

So, I'll miss my border-of-the-Quarter residence when I'm gone, but I hope to return many times and maybe even live nearby again!

A Cup of Sewanee

This isn't just ANY ole cup of coffee.... it's a cup of I'M GOING TO SEWANEE COFFEE!! 

Honestly, I can't believe it! I am SO EXCITED and HAPPY! It's almost surreal...it is indeed a dream and lately, I have been catching myself occasionally stopping mid-thought and finding myself grinning and pondering my new journey of postulancy with rapid heartbeats and wonder. No joke that this is a dream of mine. I fell in love with Sewanee: The University of the South in 1988 when I was a senior in Porter-Gaud High School (Charleston, SC) and when I visited, it was my first choice. I had been planning to major in music and something else, not sure what. I was even thinking about keyboard at the time, having had a tiny bit of piano training. I remember I wrote my application essay on mentorship and role models and used Angela Lansbury as my example of success complemented with living. I had been a fan of her roles in fun mysteries and also in Sweeney Todd.
Well, it was not to be yet. I received a scholarship, but it was basically book money. My parents made too much to qualify for most types of loans, yet not enough to afford expensive places such a Sewanee or Emory at the time. My brother was also still at home for a few more years and finances had always been tough. Anyway, I ended up having to go to "the dreaded state school" which, at the time, was a peer-pressured shame at the prep school I was attending. Now, I think anything goes and of COURSE I understood - even at the time - that where you attend college often doesn't matter as much as what you make of it when you're there. So, I wasn't about to go to Clemson (nope!) because I was already a USC Gamecock fan like my Dad so I chose USC. At first, I was rather disillusioned at having my dream swiped from underneath my feet and I didn't know what major to choose or how to like this school. My parents thought I should choose something where I'd be able to make a living so I liked Biology and chose that, thinking I'd become a virologist and maybe could cure the common cold. (Now, actually THAT would be insanely awesome, had it happened, but I like people WAAAAAAY more than petri dishes). After a year, I was hooked on USC and I am a HUGE Gamecock fan!  A bio-pre-med major, it took me almost three years to find my way to music and I was only able to convince myself I could do a music major because....wait for it.....

There was no required recital in the music education track.

What a cop out. Well, not really...I had so much more stage fright then than I do now - even though now I still have a TON. To think that I went from that to eventually getting a doctorate in conducting is a pretty amazing transformation. (I joyfully returned to USC after an MM at Emory!)
So, after a brief time as a French major and a Psychology major (like a month or two each), I came into music and was hooked. I still am. In fact, one of the things that "sold it" in my period of Episcopal discernment was in October 2013, I suddenly realized that I didn't have to give up being a musician. What?! YAY!

I identify with being a conductor and singer now and probably always will to some degree. 

That REALLY opened up my heart!

Now, I felt free and able to hear God's call more clearly and I am SO HAPPY now because I feel MUCH freer to move forward to where I'm being called. My vision of ministry has increased like the outward circles from something dropping in a pond, getting richer and more amazing with each layer and all the while strengthening that innermost layer. I cannot wait to take courses and learn from the faculty and my fellow classmates. 
Formation - I need it! 
Knowledge - I need it!
The beautiful mountain - I need it!
Ohhhhh and there's this: the exciting fact that I received my Sewanee housing assignment yesterday!

More anticipation!!! It's a tiny apartment on the edge of campus, but it has two windows, a nicer kitchen than I have now, and a couple of built-in drawers in the bedroom so perhaps I can sell my dresser, which would be GREAT! It is what I asked for! I can't wait to find out more about it and see exactly what it looks like but I am thrilled to know where I'll be and it makes it all the more real!

Cleaning out my UNO office is also making things super real. I have a TON of stuff, especially books and music. I'm pretty proud that I whittled down an entire 4-shelf bookshelf of choral sheet music to a 1/2 box. That's great for me, considering I have extreme sentimental value associated with 90% of everything. :-) 

I will have to ask at church if anyone has any room in a garage or attic to store some boxes of books for me, but I might be able to stack bookshelves and may be doing that in both the bedroom and the living room. Time will tell.

One thing I've learned that does make me sad is that my position of Director of Choral Activities at UNO is being adjuncted out and there is not any information as to whether or not the position itself is going away or if they will do a search (which I hope they do!), or if it will simply morph into a choral/music ed position once the new School of the Arts is on track and fully functioning with admins in place, financial development, and more faculty and staff. That could happen well and quickly....or it could drag out and maybe happen or maybe not. I must admit, it makes me sad and a little mad too. I worked HARD over the ten years I spent there to build the choirs, the job itself, the budget (I'm leaving the choral foundation account at almost $20,000 which would normally be awesome), and being active in the community so that the choirs were respected. I'm proud to say we combined with the choirs of Xavier, Loyola, Tulane, The Baptist Seminary, Dillard, the Jefferson Chorale, the NOCCA School (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts), and more during my ten years! Still, I know that this is the way of much in academia and also with many music positions on many educational institution levels today. 
While I truly hope that the choral area will rise again and go much further, I recognize it is no longer "mine" and that is very freeing.I know I did my best and did a good job! :-)
Ten years at any place is also quite respectable!
So, all these things are on my mind this morning - mostly giddy excitement though, as I drink from my new cup of Sewanee!

Choir of St. Paul's Episcopal, New Orleans Sings for St. Bernard Project Event: Nun's Build

My wonderful, sweet choir at St. Paul's Episcopal did SUCH A FANTASTIC JOB last night singing at a St. Bernard Project community event held at the Knights of Columbus Hall. The event was a thank you dinner for Nun's Build for their week of disaster recovery construction work in New Orleans. Nuns Build is comprised of dedicated sisters and non-Nun friends from across the US. I'm so proud of this wonderful, dedicated, and super-talented choir! GREAT WORK, ALL! Thanks to a former choir member, working for the St. Bernard Project, for inviting us!

We sang: I'm Gonna Rise by Paul Marsena, Away in a Manger (both the William Kirkpatrick and Norman traditional tunes), and Andrae Crouch's Soon and Very Soon - all some of our "lighter" repertoire :-)

Louisiana ACDA Fall Vocal Conference 2015

I'm having that weird, yet awesome butterfly-filled feeling of the calm (sort of....ok not really calm, LOL) before a joyful & exciting storm of choral goodness! Our state ACDA convention begins tomorrow! Everyone has worked so hard to prepare and there will be TONS of energized students in the honor choirs who will have an absolute blast working with our marvelous clinicians! I'm really looking forward to a fantastic time for everybody and I am so proud of what the students, teachers, chairs, coordinators, and executive board are all doing in our state! LET'S DO THIS!!!!! ‪#‎ACDA‬‪#‎LAACDA‬ ‪#‎NOLA‬ ‪#‎Louisiana‬ ‪#‎Music‬ ‪#‎Choirs‬

http://laacda.info/

OUR FABULOUS CLINICIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teaching at the Rambo Memorial School and Working with the Nursing Students

Mungeli, India update: July 13- July 15

Yesterday was the New Horizons Pluto flyby - SO EXCITING! I told as many folks as I could about it and hope to check into the internet later on to see the news. It's very hard not knowing the play-by-play on this long-awaited and much-anticipated space event, but it'll never lose its cool factor and I'm positive images will be forthcoming from the massive amounts of data for at least one year following the flyby. I wonder if they will choose a Kuiper belt object for after the Pluto adventure!

Monday, I had my first classes at the Rambo Memorial School and things went well! I worked on singing with the 7th graders and we had lots of fun! As it turned out, I ended up teaching third graders through tenth graders in sometimes three and sometimes four classes each day. The littlest ones are SO CUTE and so polite! Each class stands when a teacher enters and except for the "usual suspects", most everyone pays attention and asks questions etc. My classes were offered as an "extra" and mainly for those students interested in learning about music and singing. Each class was absolutely packed. Most of the students liked the singing, but not all of them. This year, I had two classes without a teacher in there with me. I feel like I needed someone in there for the occasional question a child asked, for discipline a few times, and for translation of what I was saying and the instructions bring given to the class!

Everyone wanted to shake my hand and say "Good Morning Ma'am!" :-) A few of them dare each other to come up as I'm walking in the schoolyard and say "Good morning" or "How are you?"...I answer and they smile, giggle, and run.

Each evening, I work with the nursing students on singing technique and the songs they use for daily morning chapel services. I also prayer with them and help them in planning some of the chapels. I was also asked to speak several times which was a huge and wonderful experience for me! Neither the students at the school or the nurses at the hospital are used to singing in their head voices, so that's one of the things I'm re-introducing and trying to get them all to integrate. All of the Hindi folk music that I've heard has been in chest voice with some nasality, but it works well for the language and the songs which may have clapping and instruments going on.

Tuesday I taught three classes at the school. One class of grades 3-5, one of grades 6-7, and one of grades 8-9. The school has almost 200 new students this year, making for a rough total of 950! This is a fantastic trend, but they have almost no room as it is. Some construction is being done, but it appears to be rather slow. It is also very loud and going on all day during classes. They are using both the "new" and the old school buildings. I must add here that the new classrooms are overcrowded, filthy, and without proper ventilation (not to mention air conditioning). The old buildings do not have electricity. The bathrooms are unspeakable and a teacher even recommended that I not go inside. In spite of all these things, they are doing the best they can and providing a much-needed education for hundreds of children! The teachers are good and quite dedicated. It is very clear that they love their kids and get frustrated by the lack of proper facilities as well as the lack of resources in general.
After the school day, I rushed back to take a shower as it was BOILING HOT outside with at least 1,000% humidity and I was a big bowl of sweat. Dr. Anil Henry, the head of the hospital took thus year's group of missionaries to see two temples at the edge of a low mountain range. He had to go to the town of Kawardha first for a court case (a child hurt in a terrible auto accident died after two months in the hospital and he was there with the family to testify against the driver) so we went along for the ride and waited in the ambulance while he was in court. As if an ambulance pulling up to a courthouse wasn't enough, there were nine of us inside and all very different-looking so we periodically drew crowds of folks wanting to have a look at us. I found again this year that we were something of a culture shock to just about everyone. In most cases, people from the surrounding villages of any town or those in small towns seemed to never have seen anyone different from themselves, at least live and in person. After the court case was done, Dr. Henry took us to a very large dam and lake. We got out to stretch our legs a bit and then continued on to the temples (See next blog post).

Mungeli, India 2015

A Visit to Mungeli, India - Mission trip - Summer 2015
I've returned to the Christian Hospital Mungeli  and the Rambo Memorial School
This year, the internet was less consistent than last year so I emailed myself these blog posts and am just now getting around to posting them! 

It's Sunday in Mungeli and I'm back in my room after a trip to the local church down the road followed by a walk into the town. It is SO HOT! I needed a cool down break under some fans and with some water. I arrived in India last Thursday (MSY--AMS--DEL) and spent the night in the boiling hot & stuffy Delhi airport on a reasonably comfy bench until my early AM flight to Raipur. I was so sleepy that I got off the plane in Nagpur and thank goodness they checked my boarding pass and told me I needed to get back on board! Arriving in Raipur, I waited for my friend Kahala and the driver to come and pick me up for the ride to Mungeli. When they came, it was decided to stop at a grocery for some necessities some of the other visitors to the Christian Hospital needed and so picked up some lunch to go while we were there. The drive to Mungeli was full of a million annoying stops and so bumpy I'm surprised all my internal organs made it intact! The driving is actually pretty scary here. One must drive at top speed, dodging cows, dogs, people, motorbikes, cars, and huge trucks. Often, when passing another vehicle, it's an outright game of chicken, seeing who will give in to getting back in his lane. The other consideration in all this is the road quality. New Orleans, I hate to tell you this, but the state of Chhattisgarh has you beat, by a factor of about a million. The craters in the road are sometimes as big as your car and dangerously deep. You can usually dodge them, but if you accidentally go through the wrong one, you may destroy your car or truck. If people slowed down slightly, it would help, but I learned last year that everyone here is used to it all. I gave up worrying about it and just tried to trust that we'd make it. I figured the driver didn't want to die today so would be at least a baseline level of careful. Seatbelts might help. Maybe.

My first day here, I had to rest immediately and I later went to dinner to meet two girls from Denmark and four Americans (from Butler and Eureka colleges). They are a terrific group and we shared dinner in the guest house.
The next day, Friday, I had NO jetlag because I had beena wake for so long and slept like the aforementioned boulder! I attended the chapel at 7:30 AM and I was so surprised to receive such a fantastic welcome! The nursing students were all there and many remembered me from last year's visit!!! They are SO SWEET!!!!! At the end of chapel, I was introduced and one of the girls gave me a beautiful garland of marigolds!!!

Christian Hospital Mungeli

We left chapel all together to go downstairs and see the new medical equipment that had arrived. It's high definition and to be used for their Urology work.

                                           

I was asked to bless the new medical tools so I said a prayer asking for blessing and longevity of use as well as for God to guide the hands of those who use these new tools. 

Dr. Anil Henry, the wonderful head of Christian Hospital Mungeli and a great surgeon, said a few words about the equipment and showed them to everyone. 
This was followed by DELICIOUS jelabies and spicy samosas. Jelabies are soft, honey-filled pretzely swirls of goodness. 

Samosas are little fried pockets of potato and onions and heavy spices. They give me heartburn, as most of the food here does. I also had taken my first Doxycycline pill (for Malaria prevention) and those tend to give me heartburn as well so I stayed with sampling the jelabies :-)

It was time for morning rounds in the hospital. Last year, I did this a few times and would stop back by sometimes in the afternoon to see some of the patients. The morning group consisted of Dr. Henry, one or two other doctors and nurses, and some of the visitors. I noticed there were several malaria patients this year, including one with cerebral malaria who was not doing well. Malaria is endemic to this area and is especially rampant during monsoon season. About halfway through the rounds, I actually began to feel quite ill. I thought I was going to have to throw up so I quickly left ICU and headed outside. The EXACT same thing happened to me last year on my first day. The Doxycycline gave me severe heartburn and some nausea and I did throw up. This time, I didn't throw up, but I realized I needed to eat something quickly or I would. You're supposed to take Doxy with either food or a milky substance and I had simply had a couple of crackers. I think that's why I didn't throw up though - at least it was something. So, I went to the guest house, where I stayed last year and where the Danes and American students are staying. It's also where Tripdte, the cook, makes Masala chai and meals. I ate an egg and felt immensely and immediately better!
After breakfast, I sort of made my own "rounds" and saw lots of familiar faces, visited the nursing students' classrooms, and came back after lunch for a nap, still exhausted from reflux and ok, maybe a tad bit of jetlag. I went in the early evening to work on singing with the nursing students and had great plans. The American students came too and we waited almost an hour, but no one came. We think the message didn't get through and that's my fault because while I made a small announcement, I didn't find the person in charge of their schedule. No matter, we went back to the guest house for dinner and had some fun conversations.

me in the middle w/ Issac and Grace, fellow missionaries

Saturday, I attended morning chapel and had breakfast. I visited various departments until lunchtime and then went back to my room to rest instead of eating. That Doxy is a MEAN and TERRIBLE medicine. In the afternoon, I contacted the school and then did some work for projects at home. Early evening brought a super fun time with the first-year (and four of the second-year) nursing students! We warmed up, something they've never done before! It made them think I am totally crazy, but I could tell from their giggles that some were enjoying being silly with their voices :-) Next, I talked to them about the differences between head voice and chest voice and when to use them. After I demonstrated it a few times, they did it with me. It will be a constant reminder during the next couple of weeks. I introduced two songs that the second-year students learned last year and they did them with pretty good success. Then, I talked to them a little about the functions of music in worship. We sang one of the songs I taught them and since we had reached the end of the hour, called it a night. 

My lovely nursing students!

Today, Sunday, my roommate Kahala and I went to the Mungeli church which is a Disciples of Christ congregation and attended their morning service.

Mungeli Christian Church

It was quite lively and about two and a half hours. I really enjoyed hearing so much of the Hindi language and getting to meet some of the townspeople, but I didn't understand a single word of the sermon and it was difficult to maintain concentration. There was a praise band and while it's not necessarily my preferred style of music, it was very moving to hear everyone singing together and wonderful to see people smiling. Afterwards, we walked the rest of the way into town and did some errands and looked around.

We ended up at a new store to buy laundry detergent and several people wanted to take a picture of me and with me and wanted to hand their babies to me for pictures. I did do some group photos, but handling babies was so not going to happen. I remember this happened at the Taj Mahal last year. I suppose I do look extremely different, being so pale and with a mess of red hair! it was a bit much today though so we left and came back to the hospital. This evening, we attended the hospital chapel and then went for dinner in the guest house. Tonight after dinner, all of the missionaries got together and went through our visit prayerfully and sang a few hymns. That was super nice. This particular group of missionaries is bonding very well.
Monday holds my first visit back at the Rambo Memorial School to see some social studies presentations, meet with some teachers, and to get started teaching some music classes. I think that I may be heading to Bilaspur on Tuesday afternoon  after school to see some temples and then eat at a roadside restaurant on the way back!