Where to begin?

Oh my, I don't even know how to being writing about this past week in India.

First of all...we made it, along with our 47 bags! Well...here are random bits from my "daily log of life in India." Thanks for reading.

*Tuesday 7 June 2011*

The plane rides... The first ride to Chicago killed me because Maggie sat in the very middle of ALL the boys! The second flight to London, boy was that long. Most of us didn’t sleep, and it was great to have CH and Tina with us. For a bit we had a party (Sara, Sarah, Maggie, Kasey, Kyle, and I) in the back of the plane. The flight attendants were quite annoyed with us. Because we stayed up the entire flight, I crashed on the flight to here. That plane was chaotic. You can definitely notice the difference. It smelled like India and sounded like India AND the entire flight was Indian. Kids were crying, no one was patient, instead they crowded personal space, and everyone threw their trash on the floor. That is something that I’ve seen carried over into the way of life here. Who needs waste disposal when you have the ground?!?!

Landing at 5am, I was expecting just Ray to meet us but the whole long term team was there! What a welcome it was with posters and screams and shouts. We made a huge scene as we ALWAYS will do because of our “fairness.”

They kept us up all day so we would adjust to India time. First, Tina took us around the “colony” where we met three beautiful children; Rainika, Nani, and Jotie. They live in a blue tarp, something not uncommon around here, but are the sweetest children I have ever met. We then went shopping for Kurti’s (the pajama dress things women wear). That was not as enjoyable as I thought. I have no idea what looks good, care nothing about fashion, and boy! I could not get them over my shoulders. Indian women are much smaller than we Americans.

We dragged the rest of the day. By the time we ate dinner at India Joe’s all our team was staring into our food bowls with droopy eyes. 

 

*Wednesday 8 June 2011*

Fun sayings from our first day of meeting people:

Kyle W: So does it rain a lot during the rainy season?

Me: So do you have family that live in India?

DUH.

 

*Friday 10 June 2011*

Finally on India time now. This is the first day I haven’t woke up at 4-5am!

*Saturday 11 June 2011*

A little begger girl named Keerthi has become our teams' best friend. She stands outside of a mall we go to in an orange dress everyday. Julie and I went to a market and bought her an apple. She got the sticker of it stuck on her finger, had no idea what to do with it and was waving her hand around frantically, so I put it on her dress. She was so proud of it and for the next 5 minutes yelled at us "dayavadji" which means "thank you" and waved from across the street. 

*Sunday 12 June 2011*

Something fun: the call to P (I think) has been going for 30 minutes straight this morning. Makes me laugh as get in my TAWG.

We had Satsong at the Mac's. Awesome!!!! We sang Budgeons (spelling) and Gordo told stories of J., the way Indians like to hear and learn from. We all sat on the floor on mats and had incense and a light burning to represent Him. It was cool of have ~24 of us there.

We also went to a temple today. It's on the top of a hill . You could see all directions for at least 15 miles. It was the most beautiful sight (but no cameras were allowed...bummer). It was sad to see people give to, bow down to, and lift up P's in that way. It is something you never see in the States.

Also saw Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D with our team. Jam packed theater, and we are the only white people. For a bit I forgot I was in India. It was quite nice to not be stared at for once.