Adventure in town

Today Miriam, Christine and I took two of the HOJ girls into town. These girls rarely ever go out of the small campus in which we live. They have a very little idea about the "outside world" and so we wanted to take them with us. The girls were so excited to go, but when we got to town they became scared and overwhelmed. They didn't want to leave our sides. Eswari decided to come with me and Kiruba went to the grocery store with Miriam and Christine. As soon as we got out of the car motorcycles zoomed right past us. Eswari clutched my hand so tightly. A huge bull walked right past us and so she moved to the other side of me to get away. I saw her eyes peeled open, taking in everything in sight. We walked past all kinds of new sights: lepers, temples, poor beggars, cows and cross-dressers. I remembered the overwhelming sensation I had when I first came here and I can imagine that it was the same or even to a greater degree for this 11-yr old. We went into a store and after picking out a few things she asked, "Do you have to give them money?" I was surprised by her question and realized even more how little this precious girl knows about the ways of the "outside" world. I hope to continue to give them little experiences like this to prepare them for the future when they venture off campus to live on their own.