This Sunday we went outside of the apartment for the first time with our family. We took them to the Hindu temple (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) off of Lunt and Paulina. It was a pretty nice day out so we walked from the apartment at Estes to the temple. We first went in the morning, but there was not much going on. As we were heading out, the workers at the temple informed us that there would be a big ceremony later at 5 pm. We wanted to see what this program was about so we decided to go back with our family at 5 pm.

We were already running late for the program when we arrived at our family’s place to pick them up, but even then, they did not fail to feed us.  As we walked into the apartment, there were 3 neatly filled plates of cooked vegetables, sweet selpuris and chai tea waiting for us.  We explained that there would be dinner at the temple, but they still insisted that we eat, so we stuffed our faces as quickly as we could, worried that we would miss the program.  Also, by 5pm they had already told many of their neighbors that we were going to the temple, and word must spread fast in the neighborhood because we not only had our family join us but 5 other neighbors came along too!

`We were a bit late to the program, but we didn’t miss much. It was really cool! There were hundreds of people there! And the people there were all very friendly. There was singing, chanting and dancing. There were two speakers who talked about evolution.  The talk dragged on a bit, but afterwards, there was a huge vegetarian feast. We had puris, rice, dal, cooked vegetables, yogurt, and sweets. Everything was delicious. By the end of the night, Sarah, Kesha and I were overstuffed from the food both from our family and the temple.

Overall it was a very fun experience! The family enjoyed it a lot! It made me really happy to see them enjoying themselves and experiencing new things. This was their first time going to the temple ever since they had arrived. They were excited and I think they’re planning on going again next Sunday night. And the best part is, it’s free and walking distance!

I feel like we have grown very close to our family over the past couple of months, and each visit seems to get more exciting than the last. Every visit is super exciting because our family is just absolutely incredible. It is so easy to make them laugh, and they always make the best out of any situation.  They are the prime examples of people who live life in the moment and to its full potential. I absolutely love spending time with them, and they inspire me in ways I have trouble explaining. I cannot wait to go back again next weekend. We were thinking of painting their nails!! Sarah is really good at that so it should be fun! And if it’s nice out again, we were thinking of bringing them to Loyola to show them our school and possibly inviting them over for dinner!