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1月4日 Split personality Its finally thawing out today. I do not like temperatures that are flirting with single-digits (Fahrenheit). 2008... almost 12 years since I first entered the US. Having lived in the US, I have been very aware of my "split personality." This is definitely not a new concept to those who know me or those who have spent a significant time overseas, away from their home. I termed this cultural schizophrenia and have been quite self aware when it comes to symptoms manifesting themselves. For example, when I am in the US, I can drive on the right-hand side of the road, speak with a mid-west American accent, negotiate my way though the firm hand-shake and eye-contact rule, eat easily with a knife and fork, etc. When I travel to India, the Indian-persona takes over. I am able to speak English like a South-Indian. My Indian languages lose their rust almost immediately, I can drive my motorcycle on the streets of Bangalore, and I even begin to dream in different languages. I become acutely aware of this switch when my wires get crossed. This happens when I watch an Indian movie in the US, or speak to an American in India, etc etc. I have always been fascinated by this unique phenomenon but I am even more intrigued now. In a little over a month, I will travel again. This time, however, my destination is not India (at least not initially). I travel to the islands of SE Asia, to the Philippines. I am going to be attending a conference there for a week before making a stop in India on my way back to the US. What I am intrigued about most, besides the joys of entering a new culture, is finding out which part of my split personality will make an appearance.
Will it be the "American" JP or the "Indian" JP? I am excited to find out. My prediction is that they will both make an appearance... at varied times. Lots to journal about as I wonder! 9月10日 PicturesKaty's final three rolls came back! We uploaded some more pictures from our India trip.. Enjoy! 7月30日 India for twoJP and I have been blessed this summer by the opportunity to share India with groups of people. It is one of the things we love most, actually. It came as a pleasant surprise, then, or maybe a reminder these last two days that India is nice, and slow, and sweet just on our own too. Some high lites, for those who are curious: 1. On Sunday afternoon, I read a novel on the stone bench in the courtyard (for several hours!) and the dogs came and sat on either side of me. I'm really on the band wagon to get own our dog again. 2. (re-)Learning how to make fresh coconut chutney from JP's mom, and then learning how to make JP's favorite childhood snack from JP's dad. Ah, how I love to spend time in the kitchen! (On Saturday afternoon I also made banana bread from some really cute, little, overripe bananas.) 3. Spending time in the studio with Williams this morning, making a scripture recording. While I wasn't able to participate in a recording that will go out into the field, and bless tribal India, I did get to record myself reading the sermon on the mount, which will hopefully assist me with a memorization project. I learned a lot about the scripture recording process during those few hours. 4. At long last, going to a jewelery store, where JP and his parents helped me pick out a gold chain, which is the truest symbol of a married Indian woman. Now, I shall no longer have to defend my naked neck when traversing India. I've always felt married, don't get me wrong, but in India, this chain will make me really married. sweet. It is hard to believe how quickly our India time has passed. We're not quite ready to leave, though really, I doubt we're ever ready to go. I am looking forward to my bed. More than that, I'm looking forward to all of you, near ones and dear ones, that I've missed so much this summer. But, for those of you who know me well, you know I hate goodbyes, and so I'm going to spend my next two days soaking up India like I don't have to leave. 7月28日 Road TripsOur second group left early this morning. We had to do two trips to the airport. Our airport runs are not typical. My parents, my brother and anybody else at home will always insist that they come to the airport to bid goodbye to people. This is so very special for my family but also to the people who are leaving. So, needless to say, our two trips to the airport (one at 1 AM and one at 4 AM) cut our night into little segments. So we took naps all night but it was definitely worth it, plus being a Saturday today, we were able to sleep in (a luxury that we don't always have in India during our trips). The second group that was here had a completely different sort of an experience tailored for them. We organized the entire trip around a road trip down to the southern most tip of India. Our trip involved day trains, night trains, buses, autos and cabs of various sizes. While the biggest miracle was that nobody got sick, we did have our share of adventures. I wont elaborate too much on them but I can list a choice few. It was quite the trip!:) * Day trip to Chennai where Paul got to do some construction work in a railway station somewhere on the outskirts of the city (while the train waited for the signal to change) * Visit to the burial site of St. Thomas * Spending a day in the French city of Pondicherry * A walking tour of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai * Visiting my village in south Tamil Nadu * A tour of a fireworks factory that is owned by a friend (we got a personal tour of a place that is highly "secretive" in nature) * A fireworks display * Lunch at various little places * Having our bus tire literally explode on us (our driver did really well to save the bus from flipping) * A short trip up to see a sea of people at the waterfalls in Courtallam * The gorgeous drive down to the tip of India So many more things to say... but I'll stop here. We will be adding more pictures soon. I cannot believe that in a few days, we will be heading back to the US. Lots of good things to look forward to there as well but for now, I am still enjoying breathing in this air and soaking in the Indian monsoon. 7月17日 The early monsoonIt has been quite pleasant in Bangalore. There is always a cool breeze in the air, rain falls intermittently throughout the day, and the sun makes a cameo to just let you know that you are in India. I knew, organizing these two trips, that we would be flirting with the rains but even I have been quite thrilled with the way the weather has cooperated. James and I spent almost all of Sunday night waiting for our two teams to arrive. It was a long wait and I felt like I shared in the jet lag yesterday afternoon. Thankfully, after a good night's rest we are back on track. We have had a good couple of days here in Bangalore. We will do a couple of road trips this week before we head out on a seriously long jaunt down to the tip of India where the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean meet. Everybody is in good spirits and I am excited for them! There have been plenty of highlights already but one of the lowlights happened to me yesterday at the park where some abominable bird pooped on my head. Fortunately, it wasn't an ostrich. We are taking more pictures. Katy has gotten her SLR camera out and we got a great deal at a local photography place where they develop your pictures, provide you a photo album, a new roll of film, batteries, a CD with your pictures on it, AND they will put your favorite photograph from that roll on a coffee mug... all of $10! :) Talk about a bargain! All is well in Bangalore otherwise. 7月12日 A Hometown ExperienceThe first day that our Hope College group was in Bangalore, JP's mom and I took the girls shopping for Indian clothes. As the girls were finishing with the purchase and tailoring details for their first outfits, I realized I hadn't taken the time to pick anything out for myself. I made a quick choice, and the material vendor shuffled me off to the tailor he uses. I was so happy when they took me to the "Lovely Tailor Shop" because it is the place that JP's mom has used for years. I was even happier when the owner of the shop, while taking my measurements, asked me if I had been to the shop before. I had been remembered!! (Admittedly, it is probably somewhat easy to remember a white girl in India from year to year, but still-- he did remember me.) It made me feel a bit like Bangalore was my hometown too, and like I was no longer just JP's guest.
At Voorhees College in Vellore, which was part 2 of our Hope trip, the girls and I received beautiful saris from the Principal and professors at the college. Saris are wonderfully one-size-fits-all clothing items, with the exception of the blouse piece, which needs to be stitched seperately. Back in Bangalore, the girls and I made a second trip to the Lovely Tailor Shop, and for the first time it was my full responsibility to communicate the details of our blouse stitching needs, as well as our urgency to receive the blouses back within 24 hours because the girls were leaving India very soon. The Lovely Tailor is a very busy place, and in the past we've had trouble with them not getting our garments ready in time. I've learned that it is important to be recognized as a regular customer, for your clothes will then be respectfully completed by the promised time. I was nervous that I would do a poor job communicating our needs, or that they would simply not consider my request important enough to finish in time. BUT, happily, when I returned the next evening to pick up the saris and blouses, the owner saw me coming down the alley, and I heard him call out to the man who had stitched our blouses, alerting him that I had come. Everything was ready, and later on JP's mom told me that I was beginning to be recognized and treated as a regular customer.
On their last evening in India, our girls tried to remember how to tie saris, which is a pretty challenging experience for a typically jean-clad American girl. Finally, with some help from JP's mom and aunt, they got their new saris tied long enough to take some fun pictures. They looked quite stunning!
While the girls traipsed around in their saris, I was smiling at them and their antics. I was also smiling a little on the inside because I was thinking about how Bangalore is becoming my own special kind of hometown place, where people know me. Now, if I can just learn to tie my own sari, I might begin to feel a bit more like an Indian wife.
keep checking for new photos soon...
we love you all. 6月28日 Deep and wideKaty and I have had very limited internet access but I thought I'd steal a few minutes from our trip to update a bit. Our trip has been nothing short of a whirlwind. Bangalore was wonderful for everybody. The group has been adjusting well to the food (which was a little bit of a concern at first) and they have been spectacular in making adjustments on the fly. We had the privilege of visiting a children's home in Bangalore and playing with kids who were really "street kids." That was probably one of my favorite evenings ever. Nothing can quite capture what we experiences that evening. I will be adding pictures when we get back to Bangalore, hopefully, that might help draw a picture for you. We also had the opportunity to lead the youth group at Bethel Baptist in Bangalore which was really another great way for our kids to interact with youngsters in Bangalore. They were well received and loved!
After our hectic Bangalore leg of the trip, we packed up to head to a BUSIER chapter. We took our 4 hour drive to Madanapalle on Monday. Our arrival was eagerly anticipated by the wonderful people here. The weather has been glorious and at times even a little chilly (makes one wonder where exactly they are). We have been treated like royalty here. We have been lavished with love. We took part in all the celebrations that were thrown in honor of our being here. Everywhere we go, our girls are offered flowers, kids mob us, and we are given the best food these people have to offer. It truly is humbling. We certainly arent deserving but we cherish the love. One of the more poignant moments happened our first day at Hope High School when we were given a tour. Not only were were taken through an elaborate welcome ceremony replete with dancers and flower throwers, as we walked into classrooms, students removed jewelery that they wore to offer to us, we had kids scrounge around in their old beat-up backpacks to find something of value to them....just so they could give it to us. We are humbled. Working with people like this is a joy. The Hope College kids really have no category to file these experiences.
I am really glad for what has been happening. I was hoping to provide snapshots of India...a fair representation of what this country is all about. We have had great food, wonderful conversations, adventures galore but most importantly we are establishing beautiful relationships. I am so very excited about that! I cant wait to tell you more in future updates. I apologize for the typos. The computer that I am on is pretty poor. I can hardly read what I am typing.. but I want you to know that we are thinking of you and that we are all well and loving our experience so far! Love you! 6月22日 Jet lag and the first dayThe first day in India after our trip out is a long and hard day, especially for people who haven't experienced India before. Our group left right on schedule. O'Hare was almost as crowded as the Bangalore Central Railway station. We were smoothly en route to London when somebody on our plane got REALLY sick. As a result, the pilot had to make a detour to Montreal to drop the person off (not literally). We couldn't land with all the jet fuel that was on board the aircraft, as a result, we had to jettison off the extra fuel from the airplane. It was quite an interesting sight to watch liquid being shot out of the wings of a jet. If the pilot hadn't told us about it ahead of time, I'm sure we would have been a little concerned. So, Montreal ended up being an hour long endeavor. We had to refuel and after the medics were able to take the woman off the plane, we proceeded on to London. Fortunately, since our layover was over 5 hours long, we still made it to London with plenty of time to catch our connecting flight to Bangalore. The rest of the journey was smooth as well. I was proud of our time because, in essence, they had taken 2 back to back 10 hour flights! We are officially now on the other side of the world. It was easy to be up in the morning but the afternoon sapped us of the initial adrenaline rush. I was glad to finally get to bed around 8:30ish or so last night. We packed a lot in yesterday. The girls got to get clothes stitched for the second leg of our tour. The guys got to play some cricket. Also, there were motorcycle rides for everyone. So all in all, it was a 72 hour day (or at least it felt that way). We are going for a walk in a bit after which we head out to an orphanage to visit with some kids and play with them. Tomorrow, we are off on a safari. We also have to lead the youth group tomorrow night at the church here. So lots to do..but we'll keep you all updated! Thank you again! We love you all! :) 6月17日 Sundays before departure...Its 8:15 AM right now. Katy is getting ready to head to church while I am, as usual, checking up on emails and cricket scores. We are mentally in India while physically present here in the US. Our living room is now being used as a temporary "packing" room. We have suitcases, gifts, clothes, books, music, and just about every other thing strewn everywhere. It really isn't a mess, just a little chaotic. It's almost as if we are trying to finish this puzzle...make all those pieces fit into these two boxes. The last couple of weeks have been interesting. When you are leading a group, weeks prior to departure, you begin to get goosebumps thinking about all the fun you will have, all the relationships that will form and all the adventures we will be a part of. However, the last week, just prior to getting on the plane, you begin to wonder about last minute stuff. Katy and I have been running around getting things set up. It is not just the things that you need to take with you but it also involves what you leave behind. We have lined up some wonderful people who will care for what we leave behind, and we will have wonderful people help us in India when we realize that we have forgotten something essential! Still, it can be a tad harrowing. Our flight leaves on Tuesday night from Chicago. We hope to be there with at least 3 hours to spare (factoring in the traffic in Chicago). Once we all sit in our seats on British airways and buckle in, I think you will hear a collective sigh of relief!:) We are so very excited! Please do keep us in your prayers and please do keep checking back! 6月3日 P.S. My favorite online video ever!There are MANY great video clips but this one has easily taken over my top spot!
12月22日 The road trip of the yearKaty and I are in the middle of a pretty intense road trip. This past week has been a blur. We have had to wake up early on EVERY day save Wednesday. The beginning of the week was more of less relegated to shuttling our Japanese girls to the airport. We had a very early morning yesterday. If you recall, it was the day of my green-card interview. For all those of you who called to check in, thank you. For the others, here is a mini-update. The interview by itself went great. The questions were very simple and were more of less to corroborate the facts in the documents we had filed. However, when the interview was done, we were told that we had to wait for FBI clearance before a green card can get issued. As soon as both Katy and I raised our collective eye-brows (as you probably have/are), he explained that there might be a backlog in the FBI, plus the fact that we had our interview so soon could have something to do with it. The officer told us that he was approving us to get the greencard. So all in all...pretty anti-climactic and so we now wait for the green card to arrive in our mail. Meanwhile, while all that drama was going on, we got a call from the bank (when we got into our car after the interview). It was from the ATM division that suspected that something was not right with my debit card. They suspected that somebody had stolen my ID and were making online purchases. They were absolutely right, somebody did steal my information and did buy things and so I told them to cancel out my card and my account. I should be getting a new debit card in the mail but I was absolutely impressed at how clever the fraud division really is. It didn't take too long for them to figure out what did not add up and they voided all the transactions. I am still trying to figure out where exactly my info was stolen.. but also how exactly the fraud division picked up on it. Quite impressive on both counts. Way to go Macatawa Bank! Katy's sister Amy and her boyfriend were en route to Michigan from Seattle for Christmas and unfortunately, they got stranded in Las Vegas. We were supposed to do another early morning today to pick them up but instead we ended up having to look for plane tickets and other options. It was another circus of a day. We did figure everything out.. Amy and Kyle should be arriving tomorrow.. Katy's brother Ben and his wife Heather will be picking them up in Detroit and driving them up here to Glen Lake. And finally, the last part of our road trip begins on the 27th. Katy and I head down to Holland and meet up with a group of Hope College students and we head down to St. Louis for Urbana (one of the largest mission conferences for college kids in the world). It should be fun but also a recipe for plenty of adventures!:) So here I sit, next to a Christmas tree in this warm Wing household typing up my blog! Life does get crazy but thank God for moments like this. I can smell dinner cooking, cookies that will be baked tomorrow and the warmth of family. I hope we can slow the next couple of days down. I wonder if there is a little "time-freezer" for me under the tree this year! We love you wherever you are today.. Stay warm and I hope you feel loved in a special way. 10月10日 A "staple" mealLast week was an eventful week. If you are interested in hearing the talk that Katy and I gave at Hope College last week...here is the link http://www.hope.edu/admin/ministries/index.html/files/10_02_06/10_02_06.mp3. I hope it works! There is a pause that is followed by a huge burst of laughter...you cannot hear it well but there was a huge rumbling of thunder. It almost seemed a little too perfect! I was also gone this weekend. I had the opportunity to head back to north-west Iowa and speak at a church there. In addition, I was able to meet up with some friends from Northwestern College. I love heading back to that corner of the US. The people really are the best part of it all. I got in late last night and hence the long break between "blogging." If you had to eat at a certain breakfast joint in Sioux Falls, please do talk to me first. Before my trip back to Michigan, I stopped by to join my friends Randi and Adam for breakfast. It was fun to catch up and chat about both, the good ol' times and what we have been upto these days. Everything was great including the service except for halfway through the meal, I found a STAPLE! It wasn't even a small staple but a pretty hefty one that could hold a things up on a bulletin board, or in this case, hold the cheese on the omelette. I am going to include a picture I took with my phone...see if you can spot it! Needless to say, when I did share my discovery to the ashen-faced waitress, the manager joined in to express her horror. I really didn't want to be a jerk about it considering I caught it well before it got caught in my esophagus. Nevertheless, a free meal later, I discovered that it was just going to be a bad day. I was driving back to catch my flight back to Grand Rapids. I don't speed. In fact, Katy and have this spotless record of being good drivers. That record came to an inglorious end when I was pulled over for speeding. I was going 70 in a 65 mph zone. I was surprised that I was pulled over for that but like Katy said..."speeding is speeding." Profound!:) Well, considering I did not fish out a nail from my coffee this morning or a blade in my corn bread, it was a good day. Hope this week is off to a better start for all of you!
8月1日 NYC, a recap.What a weekend.
The people I was with: Lori; Tom; Jill & Alex; Erin, Dave & Caleb... the Gilmore Gals and company, basically.
The Places We Went: All over New York City. Fairfield, Connecticut.
Where We Stayed: The Sheraton in Times Square. And, Jill and Alex's house, which is under construction, but very beautiful. It's master bathroom will soon have a shower that is 4'x6' with four shower heads, and a walk-in closet with stackable washer and dryer included. So cool!
Modes of Trasportation: Midwest Airlines (my new favorite airline-- only in part because of the fact that they serve warm chocolate chip cookies on their flights as part of their courtesy service); Tom's car; Jill's car; a few taxis; a few subways; and lots of walking. Oh, and a boat. Plus, Erin and Dave had a darling new camper for their travels, but I didn't actually ride in it.
The Foods I ate: one Nutella Crepe, one mango smoothie, a variety of Pan-Asian cuisine, Apple Cake from a French cafe, one good ol' New York style bagel and a large coffee, snacks of various nutritional value, fish-n-chips, a huge Florentine omlet, and one pack of M&M peanuts. My favorite, I admit, was the bagel.
The Show we went to see: The Producers. No, there were no "famous" people in it. But, it was hysterical. The best show I've seen in quite some time. I highly recommend it.
Combined Hours of Sleep over three nights: 18, which isn't really enough for me. Did it ruin my time? No way! Did it make my Monday difficult? Yes, sir!
Number of Outfits I wore: Well, I don't know, that is a good question. I guess I probably changed my clothes about every 5-7 hours this weekend. I'd give myslef an "A" in packing, though. I'm so proud of myself! I even got to wear my gold shoes twice.
The Books I finished reading on this trip: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and The Secret Life of Bees. I was in the middle of both of them. I throughougly enjoyed each book. They're both packed with marvelous quotes, and stuff that prods you to think about wishing you were smart enough and creative enough to write books like that.
Souvenirs purchased: Lori got the best deal, with a gorgeous brown silk halter dress, marked way down at Kenneth Cole. But, I came home with a very pretty, long strand of creamy light green beads from a Flea Market near Jill's house called the Elephant's Trunk. It will make many a fine piece of jewelry, so I 'm real happy too.
Number of Good Conversations and Heartfelt Chuckles: countless.
Mostly, I'm just so very thankful for my dear friends, the ones who made it out for the trip, and the ones who weren't able to make it this time. God has blessed me with a deep cool well of amazing friends. Not to mention, my adorable husband who let me go on this trip without him, leaving him to slave away at our house in stinkin hot weather.
thank you thank you
7月26日 A Weekend Away-- NYC!!Tomorrow afternoon I'm heading off to NYC for this year's Gilmore Gals' reunion. The Gilmore Gals are my friends from college, and we came up with that name long before the show ever aired on television. We lived in Gilmore Hall at Hope College, and we are the rightful owners of the name. Each year we gather together for a little weekend-long reunion, in one of the places where one of us lives. This year we're headed to NYC because Jill and Alex, and Tom all live and/or work in the area. (By the way, not all of the Gilmore Gals are gals, but it was a girls' residence hall, so we named ourselves the Gilmore Gals. I am thankful to say that even when we lived in girls' only residence halls we still had guy friends.) Anyway, YAY for New York City!! The plan is very flexible for right now. We'll be in the City on Thursday night and Friday, to take in the sites, and the shopping, and a show. We'll be at the Lake on Saturday and Sunday, where Jill and Alex live. Our time will likely involve a host of memories, and catching-up stories, and lots of laughter in general. I'm always happy to spend some time laughing with the Gilmore Gals, who for a long time have been my favorite group of people to laugh with. I guess that makes sense 'cause I've known them longer than anyone, and so I'm most comfortable with them, and most silly. Plus, history makes for hilarity, doesn't it? I'll bring my camera and see if anything catches my eye. Last time, in Minneapolis, it wasn't even the sites, but a Paella Dinner cooked from scratch that caught my eye. You just never know. I'm trying to stick more with black and white these days. If anything turns out decently, you can see it soon on the blog. I know I'm weird, but I'm still working with hard film. I like the idea of a digital camera for the instantaneous nature of sharing pictures, but I like the artistic-ness of working with film. Plus, there has always been something fun about the anticipation of waiting to get the pictures back from the developer. I like the unknown, hopeful feeling. And, I like when that feeling turns into pleasure for the pictures really having turned out well. Let's hope for the best! I'll give my heartfelt greetings to the City for all of you. If you get a moment, give JP a call. I think he might get lonely. 7月10日 "Normalcy" and the continuing sagaIt's still a little strange to be back. This is a feeling that I always have regardless of where my trips take me. Bangalore is so very different from Holland, MI and yet, when I land at my destination, it begins to seem normal. Nothing really does shock me anymore and I am still debating if that is a good thing. I drove to my ASM office this morning and had no difficulty guiding our Elantra through the straight roads strangely bereft of cows and auto-rickshaws. The power-steering is nice but unnecessary for Holland. What I really need is power-steering for the Gypsy in India! There is a deafening silence on the roads here and yet, that doesn't bother me either. All in all, I am glad to be back in one piece. A gift that I have been blessed by is this...I have flown back and forth to India about 9 times through all sorts of countries in Europe and the Middle-east (I have also been travelling all over the US and in India)...and I have not lost a single piece of luggage ever. People always say that I would jinx that by openly stating it... I'd like to think of it as some sort of a record that I'd like to proclaim till the day I cannot! So, Katy and I begin a new chapter in our crazy lives. We look forward to working on our house. We also are thinking strongly about getting a dog soon. We have already had close to 3 groups of people who want us to lead their groups to India soon. That will be fun to plan out. Plus, that also means new adventures to look forward to on the other side of the world. It is very cool to have you all be a part of our lives this way. The saga continues... 7月1日 The Video-shootChad and I tried something new today. We have been trying to shoot a lot of video footage this past week. We want enough to work with this summer and fall. While we were able to get some amazing shots, we wanted to try out an idea that we both have had for a while. Our desire was to get some video shot from the back of the motorcycle. We have done similar shots in the past on people's digital cameras but never with an actual video camera. To make things a little more complicated, Chad and I devised a plan. Chad was going to sit backwards on the motorcycle and I was going to drive through the busiest streets in Bangalore as people were out for the weekend. I did not realize how difficult it would be initially to balance a motorcycle that way. Regardless, we started slow and after my first turn when the motorcycle did not quite bank the way I wanted it to, I realized that Chad had no idea which way I was turning. So, from that point on, I would announce my turns to him. Chad had his camera on for almost the entire ride which lasted close to an hour. We drove through streets that I have never taken my motorcycle through. It was quite an adventure, not to mention the looks we got from people. Some stared at him as though he was some freaky American who did not know how to ride on a motorcycle. Some looked at me like I was some sort of jerk who would not tell my freaky American friend how to sit properly on a motorcycle. BUT, everybody had a great time being on camera...from people grooming their mustaches to cops doing double-takes, it was a ride to remember. I cannot wait to look at this footage to see how it all turned out. Besides the motorcycle ride, we have had a pretty busy day today. We did a safari trip today and got within six inches of a tiger this morning. He peeked through the window of our bus. We also had a big lunch with the staff of World Cassette Outreach of India, some of the board members and other friends. The women went on their way shopping after that, while I took the guys to the technological museum in town. Our motorcycle ride came after all this excitement, so needless to say, I think I need to get some sleep! I will try to get some pictures of our rides put up when I get the chance. Hope you are all having a good weekend! Driving Tip: The horn is the most essential part of a vehicle. The only time I hit somebody on the road was the day my battery was not working, the horn as a result was rendered useless. I can drive better without a steering wheel but it is an impossibility to drive without a LOUD horn. So make sure it works and then use it as often as you can because the very first question the mob will ask you when you run over a little kid is, "DID YOU USE THE HORN?" If the answer is a resounding yes, then you are off the hook till the next time you hit the same kid. 6月29日 Monsoons and powercutsBangalore has been very pleasant this week. It has been raining off and on but no torrential downpours. We are right in between two monsoons. The first one is milder than the second monsoon but it can still be quite a handful. My home here is about 5 feet below street level. So, everytime it pours, we hold our breath. Water from the street begins to flow into our campus when it has nowhere else to go. To make things worse, the power usually goes out when it rains so it gets dark and this water starts to collect in our little courtyard in front of our home. We made a little tank to collect any water that flows in from the street, we then pump that water back out into the street gutters. Unfortunately, because the power usually goes out when it rains, it always posed a big problem. The solution was to buy an additional pump that is kerosene powered. This has worked pretty good although a really good rainfall will flood our home. I remember those days quite well!:) We make sure we dont keep any valuable things on the floor, including electronic equipment. Two weeks ago, yet again our home almost got flooded. Katy and I were pretty oblivious to this. We slept through the night. Samulu, our caretaker, was up all night getting the pumps going and clearing up all the debris (dead leaves mostly) from the bottom of the tank. If it weren't for his constant vigil, we may have had to wake up to suitcases floating around our bed. This has been a constant problem since we moved into our home back in 1989. The group that is here from the Holland/Zeeland area is partly here to check things out and brainstorm with us about what could be done to remedy this. That has been fun to check out. Hopefully, we can take care of it in due time. Tomorrow, we are off on a village visit to see how our work has been going on, with regard to scripture listening programs. That will be followed by dinner at Zaks. Yum! We went on a market visit today and I got Teresa to take a picture of a sign today. See if you can spot what is wrong with this picture!:) It is a little dark but that should make it more challenging. I will include a driving tip in my next update! Keep checking back. Love you all! 6月23日 An engagement to rememberIt's friday and tonight we are off to Tamil Nadu again for a rather fun weekend. Our train departs at 9:30 PM and one of the biggest headaches I have for the moment is trying to figure out how we are going to fit 6'5" Chad in one of the sleepers in the train. But that is a pleasant headache because there are about ten of us travelling together. Train rides can be a lot of fun especially with a big group like the one that is journeying tonight. We are headed to Sivakasi, my birthplace. My friend Raja is finally getting engaged. Its been a fun process so far considering that Raja has yet to speak to the girl that he is going to be marrying! It was funny the other day when after asking all kinds of questions I finally asked him what her name was. There was stunned silence becaue Raja had no idea! I have been trying to pry into his thoughts about all this because it is certainly a fascinating journey of life. Like, I was wondering to myself, if I was going to be married in this fashion and I was given a few minutes to talk to this girl, what questions would I ask her. We have been trying to help Raja out. Some of us have been helpful with questions that would matter. Others of us have not. Raja has seen this girl for maybe 10 minutes and so I can't really blame him for being a little apprehensive. Insecurities aside, all of us know that this girl of his is soon going to be a part of our family as well. This is cause for celebration. We are excited to be supporting Raja in this. I will post more details about how his engagement goes. It has been great to have Chad here. His technical expertise is something the office here in India sorely needed. There is another group from the Holland/Zeeland area arriving in Bangalore on Wednesday. That should be great too. Its always fun to share India with people! We will be back on Monday morning (India time), so do check back on Sunday evening/night for our next update! We are encouraged by the responses to our blog and will continue to be faithful in updating all of you. 6月22日 The kinds of clothes you should pack for a stay in IndiaIn regards to the question asked in our comment section (thank you, by the way!): 6月18日 Andhra Pradesh (That's a State in India)Ten snippets from our trip that you may or may not want
to know:
Home sweet home it
is.
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