Cochin

We stayed four nights in a great little guesthouse in Cochin called Kapithan Inn. They served us breakfast on the roof, and we were within walking distance of everything - including a Cafe Coffee Day, which we frequented at least once a day.

We were really close to the Arabian Sea, and the girls were able to put their feet in the water on one of the first days we were in Cochin.





A couple days later an auto driver took us to a place on the shore where we could see across the bay to the mainland (Cochin is on a peninsula). I was shocked by the garbage in the water, and wasn't anxious to let the girls play in the sea anymore.

The Journey to Cochin

These posts are slightly out of order, but I think you will still enjoy seeing what we've been up to recently. After celebrating Christmas in Ooty, we ventured to Cochin. This was quite an experience! First of all, I have to say that we love Cochin! It was so relaxing, and there were enought tourists around that we were able to "blend in", which was a real treat for us. The trip there, however, was an adventure - not one that I would care to repeat. On the taxi ride down the ghat (mountain) Addie got carsick. Unfortunately, I was listening to some music on the iPod so I didn't notice until she had thrown up all over my lap and the backpack where we had put all of our snacks. We had to stop by the side of the road, and Ryan had to ask the driver to take down our luggage from the roof rack so I could change my clothes. Luckily there was a tiny village within walking distance, and I found a lady that finally understood that I needed a room where I could change (thhis was after two women had directed me to a stream where I could wash).
The first leg of our trip was a 3 hour taxi ride to Coimbatore - where we would catch a 6 hour train to Cochin. We didn't know it, but our train was late since it was coming from the Nepal border. Since we thought we were going to miss our train, we were pretty stressed out when we reached the train station. None of us had ever seen such a mob of people! Luckily the mob cleared during the time when we were waiting for our train, so we were able to get to the right platform without getting trampled.
Unfortunately for us, we ran to the wrong end of the train, and then had to run back to our car with all of the kids and luggage as the train was pulling out of the station! All of us were sweating, aching, and nearly crying when we finally got to our seats. I think that must have been the longest train I had ever seen.

The Day You've All Been Waiting For...

I'm back to blogging!!! Okay, so A LOT has happened in the past 2 months. The last time I blogged about the terrorist attack in Mumbai I was in the middle of writing health reports for the Hebron students - all 360 of them! Well, I actually had help from one of the other nurses, and I only had to actually write a little over half of them. But I did have to sign all of them!
The next four weeks included a two week visit from some NNU friends, and then a two week visit from my parents. Needless to say, it was an amazing holiday but we were thankful to get back to Hebron with our girls.

Okay... so we stink at updating our blog, and we're having some issues with the size of our family photo. We are leaving our hotel in Mysore (and our internet connection), and we're headed back to Ooty. Over the next few days we'll be posting pictures of our recent adventures - we've had company for the past 4 weeks!

We are SAFE!

Several people have been concerned about us with the current terrorist seige in Mumbai. We want you all to know that we are safe! However, there are many children in our school who are from Mumbai, and we have several friends living in Mumbai. Please pray for all of them!

We hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are not having a big get-together this year because of crazy schedules (things don't slow down around here for our favorite holiday!). But Ryan is really craving pumpkin pie, so I think he will go down to the market today and get one (a pumpkin, that is). Nothing around here is ever easy. We did buy ourselves a food grinder/juicer for Christmas, so that will come in handy. It will also be good for grinding up the cinnamon bark that Ryan ordered the other day (note to self: order ground cinnamon, not just cinnamon).

Thank you especially to those of you who have emailed, posted on our blog, and called us recently (Samuel & Jessie!). We love you, and miss all of you!

I'll close with a prayer from Brenna from last night... "Dear God, thank you for calling my family to India. Even though I didn't want to come, and sometimes I don't like it here, I know it was the right thing to do."

And one from Addie, "Dear Jesus, thank you Nanny and Papa come mine house again. Thank you for Jesus. Amem."

Our First Visitors

Ryan's parents came to visit us this weekend, and we had a great time! Here are a few pics for you to enjoy.

Hebron School Needs a Nurse!

The school council has recently approved the hiring of another resident nurse! If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in nursing in India please contact me.