Preparations

Above, to the best of my knowledge, I have written says "Amar nam Amalia" or "My name is Amalia" in Bengali script. I'm slowly working through a teach-yourself textbook to learn the language. It's slow going because the book begins by teaching the Bengali alphabet, which is phonetic but has many quirks that come from its origins in ancient Sanskrit. It is proving very challenging because there are sometimes multiple ways to write one sound, for example there are three ways to write the sound "sh", completely indistinguishable in spoken form. Additionally, some vowels must be written before the consonant after which they are sounded, some are written after the consonant and some are written attached to the consonant (like in Hebrew). Also, consonants appearing together are often written as a conjunction of two characters, but not always, depending on the accepted spelling of the word! It's quite difficult to learn by myself. I've included a picture of my practice notebook so you can see a bit more of what it looks like to write full words or sentences. In other preparations for India I have started a round of vaccines to keep me healthy in India including
Hepatitis A, Typhoid, and Malaria drugs. I hope they will help the trip go smoothly and enjoyably. I'll be applying for my visa to enter India in the next week, and hopefully will receive it next month.

I was very sad last week to attend the last Cornerstone Festival ever last week. It was a sweltering hot week with lots of dust and dehydration. I felt rather sick most of the week, but it was important to me to witness the end of an era with this last festival. It's been like a second home to me, and I will sincerely miss all my friends I see there every year. Unfortunately, the extreme weather there seems to have weakened my immune system and caused me to become ill in this last week, and I have it easy compared to my dad who was diagnosed with bronchitis yesterday! I hope my sickness clears up while i rest this week, preparing to work again next week.

In Addition to working towards India I have been working at the Civic Theatre in Carmel, IN for the last week helping to run a children's theater camp. It's been very challenging with long hours and many surprises, but yesterday's closing performance was a great reward. When I was introduced to the audience of parents and family the kids I was councilor to cheered louder than the entire audience did the whole night. I felt like I'd done my job in teaching and chaperoning them while still developing a close and friendly relationship with them. It made me very happy. I'll be doing one more week with the Civic starting the 23rd of this month. I hope it goes as well as this last one did, despite my slight illness, and hopefully I'll be doing more work with them in the future.

I would appreciate thoughts and prayers as I continue to prepare and raise funds for India, I am only about 40% of the way there so far and I can't afford to supply the difference myself. I am very excited but my anxiety is also growing as I realize how challenging this trip will be for me. I hope your support and God's guidance will help me persevere.

My love to you all!!! ~ Amalia