A new appreciation

I'm off to class, but briefly wanted to share a thought that I was discussing with a friend last night.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus washes the disciples feet and it is a sign of Him lowering Himself to our level and even lower to reach us and to serve and it is supposed to be an example of how we treat one another. In our day and age and culture, it is an image that does not always make a lot of sense because we don't walk around barefoot, wash our feet before entering someone's house, or sit for meals in such a way that our feet matter. We understand that it was a nice gesture, but that's about it.

Not so in India. After walking in sandals day after day through dusty streets, grimy markets, dirty rickshaws - there is a layer of dirt that just doesn't come off in the shower. The idea of the Son of God humbling Himself to wash His friends' and loved ones' feet is amazing because I know that their feet must be even dirtier than mine. And I would be as resistant as Peter if Jesus wanted to wash my feet right now!

It seems to me odd that this realization has affected me so powerfully, but it is an image I can't get out of my head. How blessed we are to have such a Friend and such a Savior, who would lay down His life to wash our grimy, filthy, dirty feet (and lives) clean.

Monkey Scare

While I have far too many stories from our trip this past week to share them all, I will try to do justice to one. Because, really, how often do you fear that your life might end by monkey attack?? (And while I'm sure it wasn't a truly legitimate possibility, it sure felt like it at the time!). So, once upon a time, on Tuesday... :)

We arrived in Vrindavan, a town quite unlike the areas we have been thus far. As I said in my earlier post, it is almost completely a pilgrimage town so the narrow, winding streets are lined with stores almost all of which are dedicated to selling Krishna souvenirs. Aside from the pilgrims and locals, the main inhabitants of the town are rhesus monkeys. They roam uninhibited and with no problem being in human space. And unfortunately, because of the incredibly poor sanitary conditions of the town in general, they are often very dirty, if not diseased. Prof Mason has been warning us about these monkeys since our pre-departure meetings at Rhodes (especially because he was attacked by 5 of them at one point when he lived in Vrindavan for 7 months working on his dissertation). Our guidelines from Prof Mason and Hemanshu included, but were not limited to:
1) When outside of a building, do NOT wear eyeglasses or sunglasses. The monkeys will steal them right off your face and will only relinquish them in exchange for food. And if you aren't fast enough with tossing food, say goodbye to any semblance of functional glasses.
2) Do not openly stare at a monkey if you are anywhere near it; it may take it as a threat. This includes cameras, so if taking pictures, be sneaky or only take them from far away.
3) Do not get close to an adult monkey with its baby/ies or a baby if it appears to be alone (because the parents are probably not far off). Monkey parents are fiercely aggressive if they feel that their babies are being threatened.
4) Do not go anywhere near a lone male. They're just looking for trouble.

So with these warnings ringing in our ears, we arrived in Vrindavan ready to ward off the beasts (read: "run for our lives from them").

Now as people who know me can attest, I love animals! I think they are wonderful, so interesting in their own ways, and so loving. I have a special place in my heart for them, right behind God, family and friends, and babies/small children :) So suffice it to say, I was having to repeat the warnings to myself constantly to remind myself that I shouldn't try to make friends with the monkeys, I should just love them from a distance. And I did this successfully for our afternoon of exploring the ashram, wandering up and down the river, and exploring some of the market. But then came the time of waiting for our visit to the temple and dinner...

The ashram was quiet as much of the group had stayed in the market to visit a bead shop, so I decided to go up to the roof to watch dusk settle into night over this new strange town. Prof Mason had shown us the roof earlier, so I knew how to open the iron gate of a door and that the roof had multiple levels and a couple small building-rooms in the middle. I knew that there might be some monkeys up there, but that there would be plenty of space for us to be nowhere near each other.

So my heart leapt a little when I managed to scrape open the iron bolt and open the door only to discover 2 monkeys sitting not 6 feet in front of me. After my small start of surprise, I could tell that they didn't care at all that I had just appeared so I mosied my way to the other side of the roof, the lower area, leaving a good 50 feet at least between where I wandered and the upper roof where 8 monkeys (give or take a few as they moved around) were residing. I spent a very pleasant 30 minutes in quiet appreciation of the novelty of my surroundings: the monkeys I could see scrambling around all of the roofs in view (including a mother nursing a few babies two buildings over); 3 roof-fulls of children flying kites into the setting sun; colorful boats lining the river; bats waking up and beginning their evening escapades; drums and chanting beginning from multiple directions as people began their evening devotions...a cacophany of life all so foreign and wonderful and interesting to me!

As darkness fell, I walked over to the railing that overlooked the courtyard so I could try to see what was going on in the hut shrines. As I let myself soak in the atmosphere, I did not think about what my monkey roofmates might be up to and there was now one of the roof buildings between me and the upper roof where they had been hanging out. After 10 minutes or so, something made me glance to the left - and my stomach dropped. 3 adult monkeys were 7 feet from me and heading right towards me in the space between the railing and the building! I quickly headed back to the center of the roof with thoughts of "I didn't get a rabies shot!", "I'm all alone up here!", "Will anyone hear me or be able to do anything if I scream while I'm attacked??", "Why is there only one way off this roof??"...and all of that in the span of the maybe 1 second it took me to reach the other side of the roof building. And since my stomach couldn't drop any lower, my heart leapt to my throat: 6 other monkeys had moved from the upper roof to the lower roof, not moving towards me (thank goodness - I might have passed out right there), but all looking intently in the direction of my very non-monkey presence. So now the new thought that joined the tirade of others was "They're between me and the door! Okay, STAY CALM. WALK SLOWLY. DON'T MAKE ANY SUDDEN MOVEMENTS. DON'T LOOK AT THEM DIRECTLY. Thank goodness there are no monkey babies!" I slowly and deliberately tip-toed along the wall of the roof building, looking towards the door and praying that the monkey who was about 3 feet from it would become interested in something else. Thankfully it hopped up onto the railing which made me feel slightly better. Until two of the adults that had originally stalked me bounded right across in front of me - causing my heart to stop completely for the .5 seconds that I thought they were coming to attack. I sprinted the last 4 feet to the iron gate, frantically worked the bolt open, slammed and bolted it behind me, and ran down the 3 flights of stairs (which now that I think about it must have been purely out of adrenaline because I was no longer in any danger of being attacked by my furry friends).

The whole situation could not have lasted longer than 2 minutes, but they were definitely two of the most fear and adrenaline filled minutes of my life! After regaling Prof Mason with my tale, he reckoned that once night fell, they were ready to defend their territory against the unknown. Although, lucky for me, they seem to have been more curious about me than threatened because if they had felt really threatened their hesitation in attacking me would have been around zero...so YAY for me not appearing too threatening to a band of monkeys! I did admit to Catherine, though, that it was probably not a bad thing for me to have this experience in order to thoroughly quash my leanings towards an "oh, but they're so cute, I must love them and hug them" approach, haha.

So I believe I would add a new warning to Prof Mason's and Hemanshu's list:

5) Do NOT be near monkeys when night falls. Especially not alone. Especially with only one exit. Especially without a rabies shot.

Camels and elephants and monkeys....and more!

We're back! Yesterday late afternoon, we arrived back in home sweet Neeti Bagh after our journey to Jaipur, Agra, and Vrindavan. It was quite a trip! Like the rest of this Indian adventure has been so far, there is too much going on all the time and too much that it will take me a looong time to process for me to describe everything, but I'll do my best to hit the highlights.

Saturday morning, looking a little bleary-eyed, we loaded up into a big blue and yellow bus that said TOURIST in big bold letters across the top of the windshield. Funny, I hadn't known that we could be more conspicuous than we'd been already just traveling around in small cars as a large group of white people. So much for any hope of a decrease in stares.

We rumbled along in this monstrous bus for 5-6 hours along highways, main roads and 2-lane roads. You know my feelings about driving in Delhi. What I have now learned is that outside of cities, lanes are believed in a little more, but our bus driver was very confident in the fact that he was the biggest thing on the road and therefore could do as he pleased (for the most part) and everyone else would react to him or pay the price (the price being getting smushed by a gigantic bus full of Westerners - who maybe you were staring at in the first place and that's why you didn't react and are now smushed!). We knew we were out of Delhi and heading to new places when camels started appearing along the road - pulling carts, carrying riders, or pulling farm equipment in the fields.

We made it to Jaipur without smushing anyone/thing and settled into a beautiful hotel - we truly were living in the lap of luxury for India (and it would have been a very nice hotel in America, too). Some people went out to investigate the pool. I hunkered down in my room and read a chapter of my book (since in the bus I hadn't wanted to read because then I wouldn't have been able to look out the window) and promptly took a lovely nap :) Saturday night we went to a resort on the other side of Jaipur that has a "village" within it where one can eat a delicious authentic meal sitting on the floor of a hut with banana leaf plates and bowls, and then venture out of the hut to see dancers, puppet shows, and palm readers, get henna, look through a few shops, and ride a camel and/or elephant! It was like Indian DisneyWorld. We had a blast -though having a camel stand up and sit down when you are astride it is a little unsettling!- and I was thrilled to learn from Sunita that all of the proceeds go to the villagers who work there and their home village.

On Sunday, we visited the Amber Fort (known to Jaipur natives as the Red Fort, as opposed to the "real" Red Fort in Delhi) which was very big and very beautiful - and we got to ride up to it on elephants! Our guide took us to a workplace where the owner showed us how printing works on fabric, how carpets are made (some of them were exquisite!), and then had a large area of fabrics, bedspreads, tablecloths, sarees, and much more. All of the girls tried on sarees and explored the store (the two guys on our trip are doing their best, haha). The long day continued with a visit to the Maharaja's City Palace and observatory, but it was all very beautiful and worth the hot, sweaty exhaustion. We all tend to agree that, while some of the days have been very long, how can we not take advantage of doing these things while we are here in this place where we very likely will never be again?

Monday morning we hopped back in our blue and yellow machine and headed to Agra. We stopped on the way at a place called Fatehpur Sikri where the emperor Akbar had prayed for a child and his wife (as opposed to the rest of the harem) finally conceived, so he decided to move his capital there. After 15 years of construction and beginning to live there, they realized that water was to scarce, so it was abandoned and is now just a tourist attraction. Talk about good planning! It was beautiful and there is a mosque there with his beautiful white marble tomb in it, but we didn't have the time I would have wanted in the mosque as the ground was scorching our feet, our guide was hurrying us along, and there were throngs of people just dying to talk to, stare at, or sell to the white girls. So back to the bus we went. We arrived safely in Agra where we settled into another nice hotel (same hotel family, though not as nice as in Jaipur) and met Hemanshu who had come to switch off with Sunita. Catherine, Amy and I spent a nice couple of hours talking at a coffee shop right next to the hotel -where we got to enjoy an amazing array of old-school American music: a little Eminem, some Pussycat Dolls, Black Eyed Peas covers, and much much more- before the whole group went to Pizza Hut for dinner. It was the night before Grey's birthday so all of the waiters called her to the front of the restaurant so she could stand before them while they did a Bollywood dance for her. It was aweseome :) It was then time to be off to bed since we were going to leave the hotel at 5:30am so we could get to the Taj Mahal early.

So you can imagine the stressful first few minutes of the day when Grey and I were awoken by our weird screeching hotel room doorbell going off at 5:37 because we'd slept through our alarm! Amazingly, we were downstairs ready to go at 5:43 - including me putting on my new saree! The Taj was simply beautiful. Such a unique building, beautiful location and grounds. I was amused, though, that he went to such great lengths as to have a separate not-for-use mosque built on the right so that it would be symmetrical with the mosque on the left, but then the complete perfect symmetry was totally abandoned when he died and his daughter thought he should be with his wife, so his tomb is now next to hers. I discovered in our time at the Taj and then our visit to the Agra Fort, 1) Indians loved seeing an American in a saree, either because they thought it was funny or because they thought it was great and wanted to compliment me or take a picture with or of me, and 2) if I am wearing something out of the ordinary, I don't mind at all that people stare at me; it is when I am being stared at for just being me that I get frustrated.

After our sightseeing, we loaded back up in the giant TOURIST machine and headed on to Vrindavan. Unlike the other places we have been, Vrindavan is visited by pilgrims, not tourists. It is a devotional city because of so many of the acts of Krishna supposedly taking place in and around it. Professor Mason lived in Vrindavan for 7 months with his family when he was working on his dissertation, so he knows and loves it well. We stayed at an ashram that he had stayed in before and taken students to on the other Rhodes summer program he lead a few years ago. We were lucky that they have added AC to some rooms since that time and were kind enough to give those rooms to us (although the electricity and AC were finicky things and some people had a much hotter night than we would have hoped for). One of the things that we had been warned about many times was that Vrindavan is overrun by monkeys, and not the docile langurs, but the aggressive rhesus. None of us suffered any kind of monkey attack, thank goodness, but I did learn that you shouldn't be on the roof (especially alone) when it turns to night because they will start to defend their territory - I had an adrenaline-pounding few minutes of avoiding the monkeys moving towards me in order to get to the door and the sanctuary of bars between us!

Yesterday morning, we got back in the blue beast for the last drive "home." We stopped briefly in Mathura which is just outside of Vrindavan and is the birth place of Krishna (which is now a carnival-esque place with a temple, an animatronics buidling depicting miniature scenes from Krishna's life, a "cave of wonders" with scenes from his life, and much more). Unaware of the extent of the undertaking of seeing the birthplace, some of us didn't bring water or what we needed, so I experienced my first bad time of light-headedness/dehyrdation, etc. Luckily, once we were back in the semi-cool bus and I drank a bottle of water with a gatorade pack in it (bleck!), I gradually felt fine again. A few hours of trying to doze but being blasted awake every 7 minutes or so by the terrible horn of our beast warning that it might run someone over, and lots and lots of construction later, we arrived back in our now-familiar neighborhood of Neeti Bagh.

I wish I could tell all of the stories of the trip, instead of just the cut-and-dried "here's what we did", but I unfortunately don't have the time and, honestly, most of it is still circulating. I continue to see things every day that make me smile or break my heart. India is a roller coaster ride. But I'm growing every day and I thank my gracious Lord for that!

Heading out of Delhi...

We're off for new adventures in the morning! At 7:30 (assuming we all get our act together and are hustling) we will load up in a bus to explore Jaipur, Agra, and Vrindavan until returning to Delhi on Wednesday. We have lots on our itinerary, not all of which we may accomplish, but we will definitely be visiting the Taj Mahal. And I have my fingers crossed that I'll get to ride a camel and/or elephant! Lots of stories to come, I'm sure...

Please be praying for safe travels!

Bits of Home in Delhi

For the most part (from what I have seen thus far), India is almost nothing like America. We are all about convenience and individualism and processed foods and the ability to have what we need (ahem, want?) instantly available at our fingertips. As fast-paced as India still is, it's different. It isn't designed on the assumption that people have cars and can drive distances to get whatever they need, so each neighborhood has at least a few little shops (for example, Neeti Bagh has a 24hr ATM, a chemist , a pet shop/hospital, and a couple assorted grocery-type stores). Family is hugely important and many people live with or near extended family members and life is lived together. You can get fresh fruits and vegetables off of carts at almost every corner (though, we unfortunately, are advised not to eat them if we can't peel it ourself, for sanitation reasons). And Indians make do with what they have. Power goes off at least once a day in Delhi (yesterday 3 times) and in more rural areas they sometimes always shut it off at a particular time, for example: some places have a system that all power stops at 8pm for the night. Water, also, runs out sometimes. They do their best. Unfamiliarity is one of the best words to sum up the trip thus far.

BUT little pieces of home pop up here, too, and sometimes in the most unlikely places. For example, some of us went to the Defence Colony Market this morning and one of the things I needed to do was buy new headphones (my week-old ones are broken...a Kelly Prak spaz moment ). As I was waiting for the electronics man to finish business with the woman in front of me, his cell phone went off. He answered it quickly, but not before Leila and I had excitedly turned to one another in shock. His ringtone had been the first few words of the chorus of Taylor Swift's "Love Story." Unmistakeable. It was like a little hug from the world I know :)

We then went to lunch at a delicious restaurant called Chilli Seasonss, offering a mixture of Indian Chinese, Thai, and Burmese food. We were eating a little earlier than most Indians eat lunch, so when the music turned on, they apparently had chosen it just for us. The best way to describe the station or mix or whatever they had on was American Chill Soul music. The first song they played? "Walking in Memphis". Hello home! Even the people in the group who don't particularly care for the song were thrilled that it was on. And each song just made us love it more and more. I hadn't realized how much I have been missing being able to hear music I recognize and sing along (either out loud or in my head) - no wonder everything's been so challenging...I haven't had my release of singing!

All in all, home has been waving at me today, bringing me such joy with every unexpected bit :)

And I thought I had car anxiety in America...

Many people can attest to the fact that I hate cars. I don't like the fact that we drive around in giant killing machines and that you can't control whether the people in the killing machines around you are responsible drivers or not. I get anxiety if I am the passenger in a car where I don't know the driver or if they aren't driving safely. I prefer being the driver because then I know that I am in control of my vehicle and responding to what other's on the road do, instead of being in no control at all. And, though I consider myself to be a generally calm and non-confrontational person, get into my car and start messing around and you will meet a Kelly Prak you've never seen before (a pretty terrifying one, as some of my friends can attest to, haha).

But that is all in America. A country where people expect one another to stay in their lane, use turn signals, use their horn only when necessary, carefully avoid pedestrians, and wait their turn even if the line is long. Jet around the world to Delhi, India. OH MY GOSH. Because of my carsickness on the drive from the airport Friday night, I did not open my eyes. So Saturday morning was my first time looking at the Delhi traffic as I rode in it. And what a horrifying scene met my eyes! [Now, as far as my background knowledge: I noticed as we were waiting to board our flight to Delhi that the majority Indian crowd was eager to push forward, regardless of whether people were actually moving onto the plane or not, forming more of a mosh pit than a queue; and the nice man who sat next to me on the plane said I would be shocked by the traffic]. As Prof Mason said, Indians only know one direction: forward. If that is where they want to go, there is no diverting them, no matter who or what is in the way or already in the space. Lanes? What are those? Most roads in India don't even have lanes drawn because they are just ignored when they're there. On a road that is theoretically designed to be two lanes, you'll find 5 "lanes" across of motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, taxis, trucks, cars, vans....and there is no method to the madness! Vehicles weave around one another into non-existence space in a desperate attempt to get where they want to go, not caring that they are cutting someone off or almost hitting a pedestrian or (my personal terrified "favorite") driving ON THE COMPLETE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD.

Horns are also used liberally. In the US, horns have a few simple meanings that are used occasionally, such as, "Watch out, you just pulled in front of me too close and I'm annoyed!"; "You slammed on your brakes and I almost hit you!"; "Why are you going soooo slow on this one lane road where I can't pass you?"; or with a friendly little toot of the horn, "Excuse me, I need your attention to tell you your gas door is open/get directions/etc." Now in INDIA, the horn means one thing and one thing only, as far as I can tell. "I AM COMING INTO THIS SPACE, SO IF YOU'RE IN IT MOVE BECAUSE I'M BLOWING MY HORN SO THAT IS ME CLAIMING THE SPACE AS MINE!!!!" I have never heard horns used so often or so vehemently. It is a horrible constant cacophany of "Get out of my way"s. Some places have "Please Do Not Honk" signs, such as neighborhoods, driveway gates, and some places along the road (I haven't been able to figure out what is special about those places). They are small areas, so they seem to work decently. On the other hand, some auto-rickshaws or trucks have those pleas written on their rears and I just have to laugh because they are so useless. I'm worried that I'm going to get back home and be so conditioned to ignoring honking, that I don't realize it means something important again.

It is really just a scene of constant chaos. Motorbikes winding their way through cracks that don't exist -sometimes with up to a family of 4 on them!-, pedestrians crossing the street wherever they want or walking along the edges in the street because the sidewalks are all under construction or covered with stands, people hopping on and off the public buses as they slow down or speed up. One of the most hectic areas are the giant traffic circles because, as there are no lanes, you have vehicles literally going in every direction as they try to merge on, off, or keep going "straight."

Suffice it to say that I have sworn an unbreakable oath with myself to NEVER drive a vehicle in Delhi. We have three taxis that take us to and from classes and to and from our excursions when it is a "scheduled activity" with the whole group, so I have found my favorite driver, a sweet man with a steady hand in this craziness, so I desperately try to ride in his car everytime. I will stick with him driving, looking at what we are passing off the road so that I don't see what is going on all around me, and clapping my hand over my mouth with eyes tight shut when I think we're about to kill or be killed.

Say a little prayer for three weeks of travel mercies, please!

"I am praying for the light that will dispel the darkness" - Gandhi

Few people would disagree with the fact that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an amazing man, full of a love for all of humanity (and creation), and hugely influential the world over. So inspiring was he that he was given the title of Mahatma ("Great Soul") and many in India called him Bapu ("Father"). He desired much for India - rejecting the caste system's hold on people, fighting unfair taxes, wanting to reinforce the idea of community (clearly seen in his developments of ashrams) - most of all its unity. He maintained that the plight of the poor and the overlooked was the responsibility of all.

Yesterday, we visited the National Gandhi Museum here in Delhi, located where he was assassinated January 30, 1948. The residence in which he was staying has been turned completely into a museum that walks visitors through his entire life, his teachings, his heart for all people, and then, finally, through the last 48 hours of his life. The first floor is full of photos and quotes by Gandhi and by others about him, all displayed in Hindi and in English, and at the far side, shows the room that Gandhi stayed in, still set up as he had it: a bed on the floor, a writing desk, a tin cup, a spoon, his glasses, and nothing else. The second floor is interactive displays and videos that are meant to demonstrate Gandhi's teachings in more technological ways. There is a room that was built to be part of an ashram, with the floor made of the mixture of mud and cow dung that is commonly used in India to build huts and to make floors and a pole that you could spin one of the 11 rungs of to learn about a particular rule from the 11 guidelines that Gandhiji laid out for ashram-living; there is a pole of peace that lights up if you and another person stand in a particular place on either side and hold hands, but it will not light up otherwise, because peace cannot be achieved alone; there are examples of the "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" monkeys that Gandhi had a set of; and many others.

When you are finished inside, there is much more to visit outside, including a number of huts where you can see examples of ashram-living and many more displays of quotes, information, etc. The most poignant and special thing, though, is you can follow the path that Gandhi walked his last steps upon as he went out to prayer meeting that last day. At the spot he was killed, they have made a memorial, which you may approach after taking off your shoes, and the prayer meeting space is now decorated in a beautiful mural that depicts scenes from Gandhi's life. I'm having trouble loading the video of the walk to this post, but I'll try again later.

It was a humbling place to spend time. This man gave his life and inspired many with his love and compassion. And as a cartoon depicting Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr, stated so wisely: "The odd thing about assassins, Dr. King, is that they think they've killed you." How grateful I am that that is untrue!

"Hello Miss Beauty Queen! Welcome to India!"

Being a celebrity has never been a life that I have been very interested in. Oh sure, I danced and sang around my room while I was growing up (and I plead the 5th about whether I still do it now that I'm an "adult"...) pretending to be a famous singer or actress or what-have-you, but the actual life of someone famous has never appealed to me. Let's just say that the past 2 days in India have introduced us a little to what it must be like to be recognized everywhere you go. We, of course, are not being recognized for who we actually are, but for who we are as foreigners - light-skinned, light-haired foreign girls (although the two guys on the trip have gotten lots of stares, too). Today especially as we toured the Red Fort (with our absolutey hilariously ridiculous tour guide Mr. Kohli who deserves a post to himself), weaved our way through a busy crowded market, and visited the Jama Masjid (one of the largest Mosques in Asia) we realized how much we stand out because of the literal crowds that we attracted. And many of them took pictures of us! Some of us started taking pictures of them if they pulled out their phones to take pictures of us, haha. At the Jama Masjid, a man approached Grey and me and said his mother would like a picture with us, so we took one with this sweet petite old woman in her lovely pink sari. A few other people throughout the day asked for pictures with some of us as well. It was quite an odd feeling to have people be so intrigued with us!

As has been made clear to us by the crowds and by people's reactions as we walk places, Indians have no problem staring openly. In America, if we get caught staring at someone, most people would immediately look away or feel awkward. Indians feel no such shame. And unfortunately, not all of the attention is just out of fascination or curiousity. Most Indians know enough English to be able to compliment you in hopes of you stopping at their stand (hence the title of this post - as flattered as I could have been, I was pretty sure from the sweat dripping all over me, flushed face, and dehydrated panting that I was not looking my best so he either had ulterior motives or has no eye for beauty!). Some young men walked along with us in the market for a ways with persistent murmurs of "Come over here, please. Come with me, come over to me, please" - thank you very much, but NO. And I learned a lesson about Indian culture when we were waiting for our cars and a man got out of his car and asked for a picture (his friend in the car had a camera phone). He put his arm around my shoulders for the picture and I was not uncomfortable because we do that in the US and I was with my group, but I learned -after Hemanshu came over, took his arm off me, and told him off in Hindi- that it is completely inappropriate for a man to touch a woman who is not a family member in India! In response to this situation and a question about homosexuality in India, Hemanshu explained that Indians are very physically affectionate, but ONLY with their own sex. It is not uncommon to see men walking down the street with their arms linked or holding hands, but it is inappropriate for men and women to be physically affectionate (or really even touch at all) in public. Well, I've now learned my lesson!

One of the interactions I had today that simply amused me was with a young man at the mosque. He approached me as I was looking around with a pleasant smile and asked me what country I was from. We stumbled through some communication problems when I was trying the United States, but once I tried America we understood each other. He asked where in relation to New York I was from because he has a brother who lives there, he asked my occupation and, once he learned I was a student, he asked what my subject of interest was and I learned that he is a professional of some kind. I asked if he lived in Delhi and he said that yes, he has always lived here. He then asked if I was married or unmarried. Upon hearing unmarried, he said "Ah, I am unmarried, too." I think I said something along the lines of "oh, that's nice...well I'm going to keep looking around, it was nice to talk to you" and he said something about oh ok understanding I wanted to see more. It had been a very friendly smiley conversation to that point, but I decided that I wasn't interested to find out where that question might lead, haha. A few miscommunications and confused nervous inaction on my part and I could have found myself agreeing to move to Delhi to marry! As pleasant as he seemed, I'm happy with my decision to continue meandering through the Jama Masjid :)

Welcome to India!

Well, we made it here in one piece! I was so grateful that the majority of our group met up before the Newark-Delhi flight; it made the 3 hr layover much better to have people to hang out with so I didn't just sit there stressing, haha.

The 15hr flight went smoothly and didn't seem to last forever thanks to various modes of entertainment (watching the three Bourne movies and then continuing my listening of the 7th Harry Potter book). And I was on an aisle, so I could get up and down whenever I needed to - which was often, since I was able to doze maybe a total of an hour and a half the entire time. The man next to me lives in Delhi and had been in the US for business meetings for a few weeks, so we had a very nice chat about India. He told me that the two biggest things that would blow my mind would be 1) the temperature, and 2) the traffic! I'll get back to that in a minute. There were SO many small children and babies on the plane. I especially loved the bulk head seats that had little basinets on the wall in front of them - precious! I tried some new foods to go ahead and get the ball rolling with that aspect of the adventure. My favorite was Mango Shrikhand. It was a bright orange pudding/yogurt type food, the ingredients of which are: yogurt, sugar, mango pieces, mango pulp, mango essence (this intrigued me), saffron, cardamon, nutmeg, almonds & pistachios. There were some chunks of stuff that I picked around because I didn't like the texture, but other than that, I thought it was pretty delicious :)

We landed, found one another, and ventured off to stand in line to turn our entrance forms in, get the bags some people had checked (everyone's arrived!), passed through customs with ease since no one was declaring anything, and then found Prof Mason. Catherine and I had a semi-stressful experience trying to work the ATM, starting with it not taking my card for a couple minutes and then me letting out a ridiculous squeak when it ate my card (because I had been fighting with it for so long and because I'm not used to machines that aren't just me swiping the card). Prof Mason had 3 vans lined up to bring us to the Residence. And with this drive I was introduced to Indian traffic and driving :-\ Now disclaimer: I am prone to motion sickness normally. This week at home, I think because of the bronchitis, I have been easily motion sick when riding around town, so I had a store of starlight mints (seriously, they're amazing for settling stomachs!) in my bag because my Mom is wonderful and bought me some before I left. It became apparent to me that I needed one very shortly into my drive. I was hoping that the combination of that, keeping my eyes closed, and resting my head in the AC blast zone would be enough to make me feel alright like it usually is. Alas, that was not the case. Probably the combination of so many things going on with my body - exhaustion, motion sickness, bronchitis, new foods, etc - I spent a little quality time with the plastic bag that I luckily had at my disposal. Bleck. Not my ideal way to spend my first drive through India, but I'll actually look around at the surroundings some other time.

We're settling into our rooms at the IES Residence after meeting with Himanshu, our "house father" figure, and talking briefly about the basics of staying here. Real orientation starts tomorrow at 10am. Since it is almost midnight here, I guess it works out that I didn't sleep on the plane and am therefore really tired...hopefully it will help my body adjust quicker to the time change. We shall see. Off to bed soon and then it's India 101 tomorrow! :)

Aaaand I'm off!

This is it. Time to be off on my adventure. I spent the morning rushing around getting my last minute things together (made difficult by Ben following me around and sprawling on top of whatever I was trying to work with at the moment) while listening to the 7th Harry Potter book on my ipod. After a lunch of my favorite comfort food - Prak homemade mac&cheese! - it will be off to the airport and my travels will be underway. I think everything will hit me when I reach my gate at RDU, finally not having any busy things I can be doing to prepare, as I wait for my flight to Newark where I will meet up with most of the group. We will then settle in for a 15-hr flight to Delhi. Prof Mason is already there and he emailed us this morning with a few thoughts, one of which was "It is a furnace. My eyelids are sweating." Woohoo! Haha, the extreme temperature change will be an adventure to itself. Luckily it isn't as humid as usual, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that will continue for the next 3 1/2 weeks!

I can't believe this is finally happening! I'm so excited - and terrified - and thrilled! Please be praying for safe travels for everyone and for peace of mind as we embark on our journey to a world so different than our own. I should have internet access so that I can blog and receive emails/facebook/etc, so please feel free to keep in touch! I love y'all! :)

Gearing up...with bronchitis

I am two days away from my first overseas trip ever! This time on Thursday I'll be a couple hours in to a 15-hour flight to Delhi, probably with a nervous stomachache and trying not to frustrate my seatmates with another coughing fit. I can't believe that this summer is actually happening: India for a Rhodes Maymester and South Africa with Campus Crusade! As I've been trying to prepare for these trips I have become more and more aware of the fact that I have hardly any idea what to expect. And I'm not a huge fan of the unknown, so the nerves will be cranking it into high gear. I have been blessed to travel in a lot of the 50 states, but I have not had the opportunities that I will face this summer to experience completely different cultures, people, environments, temperatures (I will be experiencing lovely 120s F in Delhi), etc. I don't know what I'll learn, but I do know that I will be changed. And I'd appreciate your prayers for my preparation for this trip - emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical (that this bronchitis is quickly taken care of with the medicine). Wish me luck! :)