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rankinrl
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Name: Randle
Birthday: 1/16/1985
Gender: Male
Interests: Oh like I am going to tell you who I am interested in.... OH you mean as in what I like to do... Well why didnt you say that in the first place... You did? oops... Well alright then, I enjoy long walks on the beach at night and early morning sunrises and late sunsets.... geez what am I doing advertising myself for an auction or something??? yes as you can tell I am kindof a goof ball and a hopeless romantic emphasis on the word hopeless... so yeah... I love music there is never a time when I am not singing or humming or tapping or doing something musical as many of my freinds will attest to with great annoyance in their voice. So enough about me tell me about you....
Expertise: Ha thats very very funny very funny indeed... What your serious?!?! ok then I will tell you. I am quite an expert in sleeping I do it very well in fact I would love to get paid for it wouldnt you? I mean seriously that would be a great job wouldnt it? I mean I could have a 40 hr a week job and do nothing but sleep and then I would go home and nap after a hard days work that would be just great.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Art
Message: message me
AIM:  randleleerankin
MSN: shakenshine4ever@yahoo.com
Member Since:
5/1/2004
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| Its Time to GoOk so yesterday We went for our last splurge of shopping. I found the rest of the gifts I needed and some shoes and clothes for me. Those of you at school will find that Indian clothes can be lots of fun I have some surprises for suit monday next year. After shopping we came home and rested and began to grade our final papers. I very much enjoyed the teaching part of teaching but grading was no fun. what am I supposed to do when the students just dont do the work. It was very frustrating to find that some of the students did not even attempt the second page of the test. I cant help them when they dont do the work. Well grading was finished and I got a low B average in my first year class (after weighting) and a low C average for my 3rd year class. (sadly I couldnt weight this class because one guy really got it. He got a 51 out of 50 on the test.) So that kinda hurt the rest of the class but overall it wasnt too bad and hopefully I wasnt too hard of a teacher. We leave tonight at 11 and will arive tomorrow around one oclock in the afternoon and then its back to the real world. Back to work and its craziness. Back to the Bachelor Pad and then back to getting ready for Majesty (for those of you who didnt know I found out a couple days before I left that I had made Majesty) so I have to start memorizing music for that. Well thanks again for all your prayers. Continue please to pray for the saints in India who are daily fighting a hard battle for the souls of their countrymen. So now its off to the airport and getting ready for a really really REALLY LOOOONG flight.
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| mumbai BlastsOk so for those of you that are watching what is happening around the world. The was a large scale terrorist attack in India. THere were 7 timed bombings in the railways of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) and 5 grenade bombings in Cashmir. THere were large casualties. with 190 dead and over 500 injured. We are in Bangalore which is 2 days away from these cities but with Bangalore being the Silicon vally of India We are on HIgh alert here. Now it seems that there will be no more attacks and of course we are fine here but the tension is high in the city and there is the possibilty of Hindi attacks against Muslim and then reprecussion in that way. So I must ask for prayer for our continued safety. and that our flights will not be delayed. Pray also that the Christians in this area will beable to minister to the people of these attacked cities. Pray for Gods people here in India as they strive to show Gods love to people who are not receptive to the gospel. Well I have to go I just thought I would tell you all that I am safe and still kicking, and share with you some prayer requests. I will post about yesterday later today. Thank you all for your prayers.
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| Its Catch up TimeAlright. wow do I have lots to talk about so I have missed four days so far. Sorry about that but like I said in my last post its been kinda crazy and I havent been around a computer or if I have other members of my team have needed it more. so I gave up my turn. Anyway tonight its just me here. Jody has left the country he should be arriving in LAX about midnight tonight (thats NOON your time.) Julie and Elizabeth are at a salon getting hair and nails done (it was free and we had a night off so girls will be girls) and Tim is being a dutiful husband in being with his wife (poor guy) so I stayed home and graded papers(boy do I hate the administrative side of teaching) and since I am finally done I am going to tyell you what has happened in the last few days. Ok so where did I leave off. Lets see I think I last told yiou about Weds. So Thursday- On thursday I taught about harmony. This was probably the hardest lesson that I had to teach. just taught intervals and what the names of the parts are but they had a lot of trouble with it. I had thought at the time that the lesson went really well but in hindsight I see that they really didnt get it as evidenced by their homework. I have since explained it again but I am not so sure they have it. THis is the struggle of a teacher. To make sure his student understand what he is tryign to teach. I dont think I have succeeded when it comes to Intervals. But then they are doing very well since I am trying to teach them almost all of music theory one a little bit of Basic conducting and Some vocal training all in 7 days of class time. So since they are most likely on information overload I think they are doing rather well. After Classes on Thursday we went to Commercial street to shop. I was able to get most of what I wanted to buy (all my gifts and such) By the end of the night I had developed a large headache that was quickly developing into a migraine. It was a tension headache and was really bad. We went to a restaraunt called the 13th Floor It is on the top of a 13 story building and it has a beautiful view. But I really didnt get to enjoy it. My stomach was reacting to the migraine and I had to go an lie down in the taxi. I dont remeber much of the rest of that night mainly because I slept through it. Friday I taught Musical Expression. I think the classes got this lesson the best. Mainly because I wrote everything on the board. It was all definitions as well and explanations of how the expressions worked in music. The student are very good at memorizing. I wish I was as good as they are. We stayed at the college for the rest of the day because there was to be a ceremony at night. I played volleyball with the guys for a while until I was worn out and then retired to the couch to read. I am reading Desiring God by John Piper a book which I would suggest you all read. I will be posting about it when I finish. The ceremony that night was to say farewell to Jody and to thank the rest of us. The students all performed songs and skits and even an interpretive dance. It was very good they are quite talented. It was also very funny. Due to the culture Men and women do not really mix until after marriage. So the skits were performed by all male or all female cast and it was quite funny to see the women tryign to act like men but even more to see the men act like women. The guy who dressed up in the salwar was hilarious. ( a salwar is a traditional female outfit.) They also presented us wth gifts which was amazing because these student without any money went out and bought us quality gifts. So ends Friday. Saturday was our day off as well as the students. We went soputh to the city of Mysore. This was the old capital. On the way we stopped at the Bird Sanctuary. This was a dammed river which provides a home for many water birds and Crocodiles. We got out on a row boat to see these birds up close and we also saw the Crocs it was absolutely beautiful. After the Bird sanctuary it was time for lunch. Now I dont know if I have mentioned it before but in India we are always eating. This lunch was very good. We had Tandoori Chicken 3 types of Curry and rice and then for dessert I had teh Indian version of the Banana Split. It was really close to the American version. It just had cashews instead of peanuts and Mango Ice Cream instead of Strawberry. The CHocolate sauce didnt really work with the Mango but it was good anyway.( oh and something to mention. Indian Ice cream is different then american. It has some extra add ins in the way it is made. teh thing you staste most is the nutmeg. Its really good) After Lunch we headed over to Mysore Palace where the kings of Kanataka(the state of India we are in) ruled. I have never seen such beautiful architechture (Sp?) and such gorgeous detail in all the artwork in the murals and the doors. sadly the palace is covered in artwork that is proclaiming the many gods of the hindus. But still it was quite beautiful. Well after the palace we went out into the market where I saw a beautiful chess table. out of curiosity I asked the price. 3800 rupees was the price. (this of course was extremely over price me being an american I knew that he would jack up the price.) the reason I had asked was Elizabeth had just bought a table like it in a shop for 3000 and I was wondering if I could get it for less. I really wish I had a place for it because teh last price he quoted me was 1500 a very reasonable price for such a table. I really wanted it but there is no place for such beauty in my bachelor pad it would be ruined immediately. Needless to say Elizabeth was quite put out that I got the table down that low because her table had been smaller and less ornate and much more expensive. Ah well such is life. That night we went to the Brindavan Gardens. here they have a beautiful garden with many fountains situated through out the garden. The main attraction is at night where the lights shine under the fountains and create rainbows of color. The one fountan that everyone goes to see is the Dancing Fountain or the Musical fountain. Here they have a fountain that dances to Hindi Pop Music. It was very fun to watch. So after a 2 hr drive home Saturday was over. Whew alright only two more days to go can you handle it. I hope I can because my team mates are back and they are asking me to eat Again. oy. Ok Sunday. Sunday we did not do much. We went to Church and PJ Matthai Preached. It was a very good sermon about setting an example as Christians. We then took pictures with the students and ate again and went home. Jody began to pack, his flight left at 11 that night. Elizabeth Julie and Tim rested and graded papers and I began to write another sermon. On Friday Julie was going over the schedule and realized we didnt have anyone to preach in chapel on Monday. so she asked me to do it. I said yes but had no idea what I would do it on. I had not prepared for a third sermon. Thankfully God brought the sermon he desired me to write and gave me the words to say. It is so amazing how God glorifies himself in our weaknesses. On weds I gave what was in my opinion a horrible sermon but He used it to touch the students lives nonetheless. On Sunday he gave me the words for another sermon which I was not nervous about at all. (this not being the case on weds) Well after my sermon was finished I got a little time to play cards with Elizabeth and Lakshmama our maid. Then it was time for dinner and to leave for the airport. Jody was off and back to the states. And there ends Sunday. Ok one day left and I am finally caught up I know its long but its almost over. Monday was today. I preached on James 1:19-25(once again if you would like to see the write ups of this sermon or my sermon on Worship just ask I have an unfinished write up of weds but I veered form that format anyway.) This sermon was The complete opposite of Weds. This is due to God and God alone. By the end of the sermon I realized that mostly I was preaching to myself and that the students were just hearing the aftermath of that sermon. But I think this is the best way to preach. The students even complimented me and thanked me which is not normal(they tend to be a bit shy) So needless to say the sermon went very well. Class today was interesting. I had thought that the quiz on the musical expressions would be really easy taking 10-15 mins tops well the first years took 30-45 mins to get it done which really discouraged me because It seemed like they had a lot of trouble with it. But after grading it I feel a lot better because most of them did very well. The third years only took 20-30 mins but sadly they didnt do as well. Still good but not as well. After the quiz I taught basic conducting. it was a very funny class. I got to humiliate a couple of the guys as i had them get up in fromt of class and try to lead and then I tried to explain what was wrong about what they had done. I only taught them the basic three patterns 4/4 3/4 and 2/4. I am only asking extra credit questions on them so I hope they understood it all. They certainly had fun laughing at my antics. Well we came home and I have been on the computer ever since striving to catch up on al the work I havent been able to get to. Please pray for the student tomorrow its the equivalent of Finals week all in one day. And my students have a test that is worth 50 percent of their grade. Pray that they will retain the knowledge that I have tried to stuff into their brains and that they will be confident in their knowledge. I will tell you how things go tomorrow but for now I have to head back to my house because Elizabeth is not feeling well and needs to go to bed pray for her health as well. Thanks you all for your love and prayers they are felt daily.
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| Quick PrayerOK I know I havent posted in a while I promise a big post is coming tonight. I am sorry thaqt nothing has been posted weve been really busy and I havent had a chance to get on the computer. This quick Post is to ask for prayer for me I am preaching today. My prayer is that God will be glorified through my words and that the students will learn form my teaching. It is difficult becuase the language barrier makes it hard. I am preaching out of James 1:19-25. Be doers of the word and not hearers only. THis is almost a culmination of all that we have done these few days. God has blessed our time so far may He continue in HIs blessings. Thanks again for your prayers.
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| Tuesday and WednesdayAlright lets get down to it. Tuesday was a day of many emotions. First I was very nervous about getting my sermon done for the next day. Through extenuating circumstances I had been unable to actually write it down and just solidify my thoughts. So that was supposed to happen Tuesday night after we got home which wasnt supposed to be until late. Next was pure joy my students were getting it. Monday was difficult because the concepts I was trying to teach were extremely abstract but once I got down to the math of music Rhythm they started tracking with me. Also they had had a chance to get used to my accent and teaching style I guess. After classes we went shopping and i got really goofy. I mean REALLY goofy. But as we got to the mall I calmed down and was ready to shop. We stopped at teh mall because there was a sale at one of the shops. it wasnt a very good one though and it really was a waste of our time and of course we couldnt go by a food shop without getting food that would be unheard of. Elizabeth made the comment today that we are never really hungry in INdia we just digest enough to get unfull and then we eat again. I cant believe how much they feed us here. Well we wasted a good hour to an hour and a half in the mall and then headed to Commercial Street. Where we went to one shop bought some clothes and because of how crowded the shop was (it had an extremely good sale) it was time to go once the girls were done their shopping (of course I think that the fact that they were girls had something to do with the time use as well) I was really jumping at the gun and feeling really anxious about my sermon. It took forever to get home and once again we had to stop to eat. By this time I was really frustrated as well but by Gods grace I held my temper enjoyed the meal and did my best to try and focus my thoughts on what I was going to say. Well when we got home I wrote until I couldnt type anymore and then went to bed with an unfinished sermon. In the mornign I did my best to finish iti but to no avail. THen as we were walking down teh road to the Palamootils' I was reading my Bible nd I realized that the direction I had been going was all wrong and that I needed to take the sermon in a completely different direction. I think that was a God thing. I definitely had been praying for guidance and felt it then. My sermon was on the greatness of God seen in Psalm 103. It could have been a lot better in my opinion. I felt like the whole thing fell apart as I got up to the pulpit and let words flow out of my mouth. I grew more and more anxious and kept praying God let what you want come out. AS you well know what man percieves is not always how God works and thsi was true of todays sermon. When talking to my team members I found that the sermon came across really smoothly and got the point across and was very effective. Praise God because I know it certainly was not me. Well classes went well again today though not as well as yesterday. THey had a little trouble understanding the letter names of the notes and how they corresponded. I found it a difficult thing to teach because I am asking them to learn what took me a long time to do in one day. We shall see how well it took tomorrow when i go over their papers. I think I really dont want to be a teacher because it takes too much work. Grading papers stinks but definitely have to do it.
SO some interesting Observations about India
-Cows have the right away but Pedestrians do not
-Everything in India is a piece of art from their buildings to their clothes to the symbols they put on their sidewalks. I think they are trying to brighten the world with their colors
- Animal in India act extremely oddly
-examples
Cows understand streetlights, follow them and use the crosswalks(something which the humans dont do )
There is this golden lab that lives right next to us. While labs are normally the happiest creatures alive and wanting to play this one is the meanest dog I have ever met with death in its eyes.
The cat that lives with us thinks it is a dog/tiger. It loves to run about and play but will not allow you to pet it. and attacks your hand thinking it is lunch.
Dogs and Cows eat from the same trash pile
-Eatign the ends of chicken bones and then cracking them and sucking out the marrow is actually quite good. especially when the chicken has been soaked in a good curry for a while.
Just some thoughts and observations about the country hope you enjoyed them
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