Wow it has been a while since i have written to you all, which means that all the things that have happened are even more than usual! this has been quite the week so its going to be hard for me to include it all... i think first and foremost one of the biggest things that has happened is that my dad came and visited me! it was awesome, first of all his hotel was amazing, and i got to spend two nights there with him, taking my first real shower in a month (we have been taking bucket showers the whole time).. and the food, and bed and TV and pretty much everything else was unbelievable! it was quite the change from the other things we have been experiencing here in india... but most importantly was that my dad was here, which was really fun! on monday night i took the subway up to his hotel and we had dinner and took him for a little tour of hte block, the next morning we got up early to join my team for the day so he could experience a day in the life of our team.. needless to say he loved it and fit in perfectly! he joined up in a skit we did at a Christmas program for like 300 kids, he was Jesus, quite the star i'd say, he also helped lead us all in Christmas carrols which he did an awesome job... of course everyone on our team thought he was great and it was fun to have him join in on the things we did... that night he took us all out to eat at his hotel and everyone got to take a nice shower, which they all loved! it was a great break from the harsh reality of India... his hotel he was staying at was very very nice, the nicest one in Kolkata so it was awesome to get to hang out there for 2 nights! in fact the night before me and my friend matt went there with some British guys we met to watch the Manchester United and Liverpool game, in which MAN U won and i was pumped so that hotel has provided a lot of entertainment the past few nights! on saturday our group had a free day where we went to legitamately the CRAZIEST market i have EVER been too, its shear size and amount of people were incredible, and sometimes overwhelming... as minister of fun i decided we should go there during the day then go to Dominoes for dinner, then go see will smiths new movie I am Legend... needless to say the day was called Americana Day (for us americans, otherwise we code named it Costanza day [for the non-Seinfeld fans, its from Seinfeld] , so the non americans wouldnt feel offended)... it was an awesome day, so from the sounds of this blog youre probably thinking sounds like Korey is all play and no work, oh contrare my friends! last week was an amazing week working with street kids every day, feeding them, bathing them, teaching them, playing with them, and just hanging out! it was an awesome week and i wouldn't hesitate coming back here to help out at the shelter more! it was very cool (tomorow we get to help out there again so i'm very excited) otherwise this week has been a different flavor thus far, we were working at a school for kids that live in the slums, it has been a very good and very difficult thing working with these kids and their families and seeing what they live like and are like, but it has been an eye opener for sure... my dad was able to go to the slum as well, so you can ask him for more details... one thing my dad said was that you don't really know what its like and you can't really picture it unless you come here... India is a different world, and i mean that fully... but it is a very unique, interesting, and cool country! i really like it in fact! oh another thing about my dads stay was that he pretty much say and did kolkata in one day, he rode in the taxis, buses, subways, rickshaws say the innercity, saw the outer city, saw slum, saw wehre i live, saw an indian childrens christmas program and much much more pretty much in a day! ha now thats Tim Leafblad travel at its finest! he did well i'd say... wow so i'm really drawing a blank here right now on what to say, other than it does NOT feel like Christmas at all... its going to be a weird Christmas thats for sure... oh and also i always knew Clemens did roids... oh ya so my dad brought me a USA today and the sports section from the Trib so of course i loved it (everywhere i go i see if i can find a USA today mainly for the sports section) but if you look in the dec 14th USA today sports there is a picture from the mount union bethel game in the national paper! pretty cool i thought... also reading about minnetonkas new head hockey coach and how bethany academy beat some school in basketball and about all the other sports news in the trib while sitting on the ground basking in the kolkata sun in the middle of the city is a strange experience let me tell you! it was awesome acutally i couldn't asked for a better Christmas gift than the sports section from the trib and USA today.... well i hope you found this enlightening and enjoyable! if i don't write another blog until after Christmas i wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy Hanukkah! hopefully ill get a chance before then but its India you never have any idea when yo'ure going to do anything around here! its crazy like that... hope all is well... miss you all

korey