Random Refelctions with Rachel (Ha! Alliternation!)

Things I've felt the the need type at one point or another over the past three weeks.  Fair warning: these are in no particular order, and are not meant to make a whole argument. They also have been written at various points in the journey, and are not necessarily in chronological order. Just thoughts I wanted to share with the world.
1. Sarah MacDonald was right. In the book Holy Cow (a travel log/memoir about her two years traveling through India learning about various religions) she mentions that 'India makes you incapable of doing things for yourself.' She is right. Indian standards of hospitality dictate that, when you are an honored guest (which we have been honored to be at Augusteen and Lalitha's), everything is done for you. Seriously Everything. It is a wonderful way of showing hospitality, but the good Mennonite girl in me feels very unsettled about sitting in a chair observing as anything I could possibly need or any thing I could do to help gets done for me. And I do mean sitting in a chair. Even after a two hours car ride, the first thing that happens when we arrive at a new location is someone produces a plastic lawn chair, puts it underneath me, and demands I sit. And gives us a coconut with a hole cut into the top and a straw to drink the coconut water with. One or two in a day is lovely, our record so far is 7 in a day (Sam only counted 6). One note on that, though- I am grateful that coconuts can be presented to guests to honor them- since this area of Andrah Pradesh is basically made up of coconut forests, they are free to anyone with the ability to climb a tree to gather them. I am glad we can be honored without great expense to our host some times.

2. India is a Man's world. Especially the cities and all modes of public transportation. My understanding is that Indian demographics are about 45% female/55% male. But if you watched the streets, restaurants, malls, trains, planes, etc, you would think it was 80% men. They are everywhere. Whats more, they often are everywhere and NOT DOING ANYTHING. Sitting around drinking tea while busy women hurry around them, filling glasses, doing laundry, watching children, and tending to various other things. I find it a little mind bending. Also, the men (or at least many men, especially the Shiva worshipping 18-25 year olds in the north) seem to think that any woman who is out and about in the world (or at least any Western woman- even one clearly traveling with a male companion and dressed very conservatively) is open season for copping a feel. I'm DONE with it. The end.

2a. Given that India is a man's world, it is interesting to be in the middle of a tiny little feminist revolution going on among the Christians in the Province of Andrah Pradesh. Lalitha is an excellent person to be with- she is subtly challenging the hold men have over the church in particular in many ways, from referring to herself as a pastor (a title rightfully hers, as she holds more theological education than most of the male pastors, and she teaches and preaches frequently), rather than pastor-amma (pastor mama/ pastor's wife), to only covering her head for prayers, rather than through a whole worship service (I have been following her lead on this one), to grabbing herself a chair putting it at the front of a congregation (the honored place for visiting pastors, where Samuel and I are both asked to sit), even when chairs are only offered to Sam, Augusteen, and myself. She has repeatedly commented on the egalitarian nature of my relationship and lifestyle, and shared her concerns for the women in India. In honor of the work she is doing (and in honor of my own strong convictions on this issue) I have been focusing the content of my sermons on Bible stories about women being church leaders, places where Jesus analogizes God to women, and texts that speak to the equality of everyone in God's kingdom. Lalitha and Augusteen have both mentioned that they believe the women who hear me speak are encouraged and given a new and important perspective, so I hope they are right. I feel bad that I can't do more to help the status of women in India, but maybe telling women and men that everyone is equal in the eyes of God is a good start.

3. I was very surprised to find myself being asked to do as much teaching and preaching as I was with Augusteen and Lalitha. You all know that I don't claim the title of pastor as my own- I generally leave that to Samuel, and that I often find myself suspect of what is going on in 'mainline Christianity,' so being asked not just to speak to children, but to preach in worship services in places that have rarely if ever had women speak before has been a new, stretching, and unexpected experience. Discovering that I have the ability to preach 15-20 minutes (and a decent 15-20 if I do say so myself) with 15 minutes warning (as in, sometime during singing, Augusteen

4. Because of these experiences, I have been thinking about the fact that I am not the first woman in my family to live out the role of pastor in a foreign place. I have been thinking a lot about my great-grandmother Matilda Kliewer Voth, who spent her adulthood as a Mennonite missionary in rural China, raising her children as she was doing the work of seeding churches and taking an important role in the running of the Mennonite Mission in China. What strength of character, faith, and good humor it must have taken. I hope that my time this week has honored her.

5. Samuel mentioned before that we are asked to pray blessings individually on pretty much everyone who comes to a service we speak at. I echo Samuel's sentiments regarding his feelings about this, so I won't repeat them here. One thing that I have noticed, however, is that anyone who wants a blessing for a "woman issue" comes to me. I have had widows, women who are childless, women who's children are ill, all come and ask me to pray with them. And I've also had pregnant women. Lots of pregnant women. In the US, when we pray for women who are pregnant, the first prayer tends to be for a healthy baby, however each time a pregnant woman came to me, the concern was the same: "please pray for protection for a safe birth." The reality of women giving birth in a place removed from medical attention is clear in this place (rural Andrah Pradesh), which has a higher rate of fistula and a higher rate of maternal mortality than India in general, much less the USA, where most women have access to quality obstetric care at least at the point of delivery.

Mountain adventures

Hello friends,
I hope this finds you all well. We are happily typing in a restaurant with free wi-fi in the shadow of the Taj Mahal here in Agra. It was a smooth trip, as much as unairconditioned overnight bus rides on a bus with a cheerful 90 decible horn used freely can be. We were dropped off a few Km outside of town, but an autorik brought us safely to the Taj, where we found a hotel, and went to explore the Agra Fort in the morning.

But we'd rather post our mountain adventures, since we have Wi-Fi again.  We gave you highlights last night, so here's the whole kit and caboodle.

Monday, July 25th

Well, we've had adventures. In the morning we road with Augusteen, Lalitha, Pastor Luke Basca, and some random dude (SRD) who apparently wanted to a) honor us by seeing us off at the airport b) earn brownie points with Augusteen by sitting on his lap for 1.5 hours, or c) see an airplane. We both think c), probably. I imagine that watching an airplane take off for the first time as a 16-20 year old would be pretty interesting.
We had a tearful farewell with our friends before heading off for Delhi.
In Delhi, we had adventures! We successfully navigated both the pristine and empty airport express subway (nice) the crowded but functional subway system (getting hairy) but when we exited the subway into the chaotic streets of Delhi, our plan fell apart. We had the name and address of a hotel three blocks from the subway station, and had high hopes of a) being able to see it, or b) finding it based on the directions we'd received from google or c) asking for directions from a taxi driver.
Unfortunately, all three plans fell through. (Rachel would like to insert an I told you so here, noting that she suggested that we get a pre-paid taxi at the airport, since it was getting late and we didn't know our way around yet). So we found ourselves captured by a strange rickshaw driver taking us further and further away from our location, looking for someone who knew where he should take us. Luckily, he took us back by the New Delhi train station, and at an opportune time, Rachel and I leaped out into the teeming mass of men (apparently, women go to bed at 9:00 in Delhi. Good to know) to try and find our way back where we belonged on our own. Luckily, we found a very helpful taxi stand, where a government official with a cell phone spent 15 minutes trying to find our hotel, and eventually succeeded, sending us back with our original rickshaw driver (apparently he stalked us to the taxi station) to finally find our hotel, where he attempted to double his price. Luckily, I'm pretty good at ignoring people at this point, and he didn't try to follow us inside.
Its a very nice hotel-it has real sheets, both top and bottom, tile in the bathroom, cold water bottles, but most of all, it is quiet and off the streets, so we are glad to be here after a WAY too exciting adventure, and look forward to getting up early tomorrow morning for the train.
We should be able to find internet somewhere in Hardwar, but if not, we may not update again until we are back in Delhi on August 2.

Tuesday July 26th
We got up before the crack of dawn at 4:00, and had the hotel give us a hand getting a rickshaw to the train station. That was quite an experience, the streets were mostly quiet, filled with parked rickshaws with their sleeping drivers. It brought home to me again the differences in wealth-to sleep outside, in contorted positions on your glorified bicycle because you have nowhere else to go, and because you cannot leave your means of income without risk of theft. However, we eventually found someone to give us the short ride to the train station. Along the way, we found where we went wrong last night on the way to the hotel-I was 90 degrees turned around. We had been three blocks away and gone in exactly the wrong direction. Sigh.
The train station was chaotic, filled with hundreds of sleeping people. We found a small patch of urine soaked ground to rest for the 40 minutes or so until our train arrived (we couldn't quite bring ourselves to cut it any closer). The train, however, was lovely. We got an airconditioned sleeper car, and it was cool, quiet, and fairly comfortable. We both slept a lot, catching up after a few nights that were far to short, Samuel until 11:00 in the morning.
We arrived in Hardwar at about 12:00, and immediately went to Lonely Planet's recommended tour agency, to set up the next stage of our tour. We are going to head up to the Gangotri temple, which is the headwaters of the Ganges river over the next 4 days. It should be an incredible adventure.
After getting that settled, we grabbed a bit of lunch at a nice little restaurant, and then found a hotel to rest overnight. After laundry and a brief nap we headed out into the chaos that is Hardwar. This is one of the Holiest cities in India, so it is swamped with pilgrims, all wearing orange. It seems like there are parades all the time, with people with massive incense carriers, loud noise makers, and a festive spirit. Rachel noticed that the average pilgrim seems to be between at 18 and 25 year old male, who have little qualms grabbing American women in inappropriate ways in the massive crowds, so she's feeling a little gross.

Hardwar is the Ganga Aatri, a sunset festival where hundreds of people send prayers and lotus flowers and candles floating down the river, at a spot where Vishu is said to have set foot beside the river, so we came back out in the evening and found a beautiful quiet spot where people weren't constantly crowding around or asking for pictures or trying to start conversation to watch the flowers and flame float down the river, while the monkey's played on the nearby buildings.
We also watched people collect water to bring back home, and send ashes of their relatives down the river, so Samuel spent a little time crying, remembering his father, and all the suffering that we've seen in this part of the world.
Because of the early morning, and the adventure that begins tomorrow, we are turning in early tonight after a dinner of fried street food that Samuel proudly brought back after negotiating a meal with no common words with the vendor.
Tomorrow the mountains, we are excited to be among 20,000 ft. peaks.

Wednesday, July 27th
The Himalayas are awesome. The end.
Actually, we have some more stories than that. In the morning, we went to Mohans adventures (who we would recommend for medium budget adventures for sure at this point) to meet our guide, named Joshi. His English is excellent, and we learned he also speaks 6 languages from all over India, and is working hard on French (French guides make 2x English guides). Go Joshi. We also met our driver. We don't know his name.
We started off very very slowly-we learned that July 28-29th are particularly auspicious days in the Hindu calendar, so everyone is in Hardwar, particularly those worshipers of Shiva (God of sex and destruction-there's a reason everyone who worships him is a 18-25 year old man). This is why we've found it particularly nuts on a stick there. We had lots of time to talk, because traffic meant that it took 2 hours to go the first 15 km of our journey-or just a bit below our normal jogging speed.
We learned they carry large sticks with pots on either end of them that are ornately decorated because pilgrims used to have to carry all their food. We learned they blow horns and make noise because hey, noise is neat. We learned that they are collecting water from the Ganges between 2:00 and 6:00 tomorrow because that's the most important time, and then they will all rush down the mountain as fast as possible to their homes to dump the water on their personal/community statues of Shiva, hoping to set a record time, and certainly in a time frame such that the water is still 'good' (its a little unclear how this is determined, but there are trucks full of people and tanks of water advertising how long they will take to get to their home places, and I'm guessing you have to beat them). So, luckily, we're not going down the mountain tomorrow.
After crawling through Hardwar, we went through the jungle a little ways (yield to Elephants) and then through Rishkesh, another holy city, before hitting the mountains. And we mean that literally. Hardwar is about 750 ft. above sea level. Rishkesh is 1050 ft, a gentle uphill from Hardwar. As we came to the last street in Rishkesh, Joshi said in 150 meters we'll start climbing. He was right. We went straight up the side of a mountain, at pretty much as steep a grade as I've climbed in Colorado, up to over 6000 ft. within 30 km driving (much less as the crow flies). We went from foothills that were basically rolling hills to a cliff going up. It was very exciting. Within another hour, the air was cool and crisp, the trees were decidedly deciduous, and we were deep within the clouds and fog. We went upwards and down in this magical land around cliffs and ridges and by a huge man made lake from damming the Ganges (actually something else at point, but I'm too tired to look up what its called). We were stunned at the many small villages clinging to the sides of the mountains, and the terraced rice and bean fields that had been under cultivation for generations. Rock slides have frequently blocked the road (we had to turn around once and find another way) and it seems like there were at least 10 road crews we passed repairing the road.
We ended up at 6:00 (after our best 10 hour car ride ever) in Utterkashi, a larger town which is a major way station for trekkers and pilgrims alike. After wandering the market to stretch our legs and getting a tasty dinner at a local restaurant, we're looking forward to bed, and an early start tomorrow, when we'll arrive at Gangotri temple and enjoy hiking, seeing the sights, and apparently sleep at an Ashram (have we mentioned that Joshi is amazing?)

Thursday July 28th
The Himalayas remain awesome.
We got up early this morning, hoping to reach our destination in time to really settle in and enjoy the place. However, nature conspired against us. The steady rain we woke up to caused the 'soft mountain' (as our guide likes to remind us) to slide down over the road. Don't tell Carolyn, but mudslides are a serious problem throughout our route, we saw where an entire town had recently been washed away, and the road was blocked at three places about an hour into our journey. Because of this, we stopped for a leisurely and delicious breakfast, took a hike along the road towards the mudslides, gazing far down at the Ganges below us, and looking up at the spectacular mountains, and the waterfalls cascading down from the peaks far above.
After a couple of hours, everything was cleared (the Indian road workers in the mountains are AMAZING, and they are EVERYWHERE), and we proceeded up the mountain, though the traffic was bad for a while as we had to pass everyone who had been caught on the other side. From there, we got into the really steep parts, enjoying even more spectacular views and moving distinctly into a coniferous climate. Along the way, we learned stories about the Ganges, including how it came to earth (it used to be a heavenly river) to turn 82 angry brothers back human from stone, and how Lord Shiva caught it on his forehead (at Gangotri, where we are now!) We had a lovely lunch at a small spot beside the road, and crossed over what is apparently the highest bridge in Asia (Our guide claims 1300 meters, or almost 4000 feet from bridge to riverbed, but it looked more like 1300 ft. to us). We arrived at Gangotri temple at 4:00, and the sun was shining, the air was blue, the sky had cleared up, and we could see snow caped mountains overhead. What an increadible sight! We were delighted, because since it is monsoon, we were worried we'd never get a good Himalayan peak vista.

We wandered around the village, watching the raging river, seeing the bathing Ghats (where we may take a dip in the snow melt Ganges, which is said as to wash away the sins of 32 generations), exploring the temple complex, and admiring the cottonwood fluffs blowing in the wind (seriously-we have no idea what cottonwood trees are doing up here). Rachel was pretty tired, and was feeling the altitude, so Samuel went off exploring on his own for a while as well.
In the evening, we watched the temple's nighttime ritual, and received food offered to the God's for our trouble. Its pretty good stuff-rice mixed with almonds, raisins, and maybe honey. Samuel found it just slightly odd to eat food offered to idols, but was also delighted to have such a profound interfaith experience.
Now, we are both completely exhausted, so we've ordered room service (aloo gobi and bindi masala) and are quite ready to crash before another exciting mountain adventure tomorrow.

Friday, July 29th
One week to go in India-we leave next Friday bright an early.
Today was a highlight day.
We began with a dip in the Ganga river at 7:15 in the morning. It is fresh snow melt plus rain runoff from the mountains, and is every bit as cold as you might imagine. Luckily, it was not raining, and there was even a bit of sun, so it probably was no colder than 55 degrees outside.
We hadn't really been planning to get in until yesterday, when Joshi, our guide, said 'do you want to take a dip?' and Rachel and I looked at each other and thought 'you know, it is sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity...(or multiple lifetimes, if you're Hindu)' and Joshi helped encourage, since he kept reminding us that all Hindus are supposed to do this once in their lives, and it is a great honor to do so. So we went from uncertain to willing pretty quickly.
I brought running shorts, which served as my swimming trunks, and Rachel wore a Salwar Kami, which after watching people yesterday were both clearly appropriate wear for the occasion. We got in, kneeled down, and went under, and then quickly got back out again, since it was freezing, then dried off a little bit, and went up the hill to the temple. Because we were fresh from the holy water, we were allowed into the temple, where we received a red dot on our foreheads, a few sharp slaps on the back, a taste of sweet water, and some holy rice puffs and candy, before walking around the whole temple to complete the ritual.
It was quite outside our area of experience, but we were guided well by the Priests running the temple. It was a bracing dip, and also a profound experience to think of the millions of people who have found meaning and connection to God at that place.
After our dip, we took a nice walk in the Himalayas, wandering through the alpine forest alongside the Ganges for a little more than a mile. It was a beautiful trek, very Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp, and we felt connected with nature and with the world.
After our hike, we headed back down the mountain. We were a little worried-no cars had made it up the mountain since early the previous evening, and for the first hour and a half, we passed no one, so we were pretty sure we were going to find a point where we would be blocked, and would have to take a break of uncertain duration. Luckily, before we found the landslide area, they had cleared it, and the vehicles passing us up the mountain testified the way was open again.
Going down is faster than going up, so we did some sightseeing. We stopped at Pilot Baba's Ashram. He is famous for 1) being a former India Airlines pilot and 2) converting Westerners by the bucketload, particularly from Spain. We saw a sculptor at work, which was pretty neat, and heard some of the stories of Hinduism.
A note on Hindu mythology. Its remarkably complicated, with tons of gods and goddesses who have a host of complex relationships. Just for example:
This is the fuller story of the River Ganga: an important king sent out a horse for a grand tour of India during a fire ceremony. This is apparently a thing. After 210 days, the horse didn't return, so he sent out his 82 sons to find the horse, and get it back. They found the horse at the temple of a particular incarnation of the emotion of anger, where it was resting comfortably, not at all impeded in its journey. However, the Sons thought that the guru there had stolen the horse, so they got very angry at him and yelled at him, disturbing his meditation, so he awoke from his trance in anger (as one might expect, being an incarnation of angriness, and turned them all to stone. One of their sons (grandson of the first king), after a time, wishing to save his father and uncles, prayed to Shiva about how to save them. He learned that only the river Ganges, then a heavenly river, could deliver them. So he talked to the river, who was willing to come down to Earth, in fact she wanted to, but unfortunately, she was so powerful that if she came to earth un-mediated, she would flood the world. Luckily, Shiva was willing to recline in the Himalayas, and catch the river Ganges on his forehead. Then the king Bhagira led her down to the valley, which is why the upper reaches of the Ganges are called the Bhagirathi river. Then, the river washed over the 82 sons, returning them to life. The end-of that particular story

It is very old Testament, with stories of families with hundreds of children, people being turned into stone, God's getting angry, and lots of warfare. One thing I find interesting is that I (Samuel) am curious, interested, and fairly warm towards the Hindu religion as a whole. It has a focus on family, devotion, ritual, and recognizing God in one another which I honor, and think Christians might learn from. There is a stream of patriarchy it shares with most major world religions which is troubling for both of us. Also, Rachel is pretty weirded out by lingams, the primary way that people worship Shiva (one of the three main Gods), which are spherical rocks meant to symbolize the penis.
However, the two biggest stories in Hinduism are really hard for me. The Baghavida Gita, the epic poem that is the most important Hindu book centers on a battle between cousins, where the core message from the god Krishna to the hero is 'if I tell you to kill your family, then do it. Don't worry about your conscience, do your duty.' and the Epic of Rama centers around a family torn apart by a demon who steals Sita, the wife, who eventually throws herself on a bonfire to prove her purity to her husband after she is rescued. The fact that she is later resurrected is a rather cold comfort, particularly since the practice of forcing widows to commit suicide on their husband's funeral pyres was widely practiced, and still happens occasionally (forced suicide is a contradiction in terms, I know, but its the traditional language around the practice). Now, I acknowledge that all of our primary myths have their challenges-Abraham and Isaac, Lot and his daughters, Saul committing genocide trouble me, and even eating the body and blood of Jesus is one of the things Romans often pointed out as odd about Christianity, so I don't want to be insulting or dismissive, but my Mennonite soul has a lot of trouble with honoring those particular embodiments of the virtues of duty and devotion.
Anyway, back to the narrative at hand:
After Pilot Baba's, we continued down to Uttarkashi, where we visited a couple of temples. One was the temple that Uttarkashi is named after. A lingam to Shiva, held in a temple in the Indian plains south of Delhi, was threatened by the Mogul invasion, so they took it high in the Himalayas to be safe. Also there is a large temple to the goddess, and the central icon is a giant weapon, her weapon. This apparently descends deep underground, and is made of a strange and unknown type of metal. After a discrete question from our guide, Rachel and I were invited to receive a marriage blessing there, so we purchased a plate of offerings, received a red dot and a yellow dot on our heads, and circled the weapon three times. Then we moved on to Shiva, where I poured water onto the Lingam (as you may remember, today is a particularly auspicious day to do so) and Rachel whispered the desires of her heart to Nandi, his bull. We both thought about our hopes and aspirations for our continued lives together, and honored the ancient nature of the worship here.
Afterwards, we took a walk through town, stopped for fresh pineapple and pomegranate juice (very nice) and got to check E-mail, learning that Rachel's cousin had a baby! Congratulations and blessings on Eleanor Joy. Now, we are again enjoying room service, and looking forward to finishing our downward journey tomorrow, before planning the final stages of our Indian adventure.

Saturday July 30th
a quiet day of preparation
Today we rode the rest of the way down the mountain, stopping for breakfast (deep fried onion and potato sandwiches with a savory sauce-quite good, actually), to take pictures, to eat at a famous lunch spot (we are going to miss mountainside food stands-full lunches including bread, rice, a couple kinds of curry, and chai tea for under a dollar each), and to wait out a landslide which blocked our path. The landslide was most interesting, watching the bulldozer at work, plus 50 or so people from buses helping clear a path, and watching rocks roll down the mountain into the Ganges. It feels a little unsafe up here, but only a few people die every year. As our guide says, only the best drivers die. They are the ones who go to fast.
One note on the people we see on our journey-since we have traveled to one of the holiest pilgrimage sites in India, many people want to come to Gangotri, and there are rituals about how best to go. Many travel on foot, walking all the way from Haridwar the 700km or so to the 4 temples, and we say people from the youngest to the oldest walking on the road. Often these are Hindu holy men, marked by their ragged beards and appearance, but frequently just normal people hiking slowly along. A particularly interesting incarnation of this was teams of barefoot runners, racing up and down the mountain at a good clip without shoes, trading off their bundles of materials to fellow team members and taking their turns riding the cars or motorcycles. Often, these were the same young men wearing orange we'd seen in Haridwar.
We also got to see a famous international resort, based in the palace of one of the old Maharajahs, where we could stay for the cheap price of 1000$ a night. We passed.
The causal sexism of our guide is apparently infecting Samuel, who has a couple of times answered for both of us before checking in with Rachel. Hopefully cutting off contact will cure the problem. Joshi always directs questions to him, prefaced with 'sir' and while he usually checks first, a number of times, he's just answered outright, not always in the way that Rachel would have chosen.
Samuel speaking, its not really a pattern I expected to be a problem, but the presumption of everyone that I'll do all the talking (and decision making) is insidious. I'm working on being more attentive, since I'd really prefer to be a quietly liberating presence, rather than the contrary. I'll be doing penance as well, I imagine.
After getting down from the mountain, we pumped Joshi for information and assistance in making plans for our trip to Agra, which will involve a double sleeper bus tomorrow night, getting us to Agra early in the morning. It will be great, much better than our previous plan of burning one of our precious days in India driving cross country for 12 hours.
There we will see the Taj Mahal, of course, and other sights around Agra, before returning to Delhi for our final few days, including shopping and various touristy activities. Then, home. We would be happy to stay in the mountains another week (or month) and we'll both probably enjoy Agra and Delhi, but we are beginning to think of and talk about home more often, and we are ready, I think, for our journey to come to an end.  After these arrangements were made, we went to dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel we were staying in.  We both agreed that we were not hungry enough for two full Indian meals, so decided to split one dinner and order a few appetizers.  The menu had a section (after the Hot/Cold Drinks section) labeled 'appetizers,' with a few salads listed, and then several Indian words we didn't recognize.  We decided to pick two things from this list that we didn't recognize.  When the waiter came back, he handed Samuel a lemonade, and Rachel a cup of something that can only be described as fowl ocean water with little fermented rice chunks on top.   So this is Jal Jerra.  We each took two sips and called it good.  But a new foodie expereince.

Sunday, July 31st
We had a nice day in Haridwar today-we were able to sleep in, before exploring parts of town we hadn't seen before. We enjoyed our first trips on bicycle rikshaws, and had a 2 mile hike up to the top of Chandi Devi temple, where the torso of Devi, Shiva's first wife, fell to earth (she was cut in 12 pieces, after she committed suicide because her father insulted her husband). It was incredibly hot, and we were both completely exhausted when we arrived at the top. After catching our breaths, we bought a Coke, unfortunately, an onery monkey stole it away from Rachel. We had a good laugh at him trying to open the bottle, and when he gave up, an Indian man opened it, and another Monkey came and stole it and drank. We took the gondola down (we should have taken it up as well) and returned for a nice air conditioned lunch. Samuel fulfilled a personal goal of ordering Chinese food in India-not as sweet, more of a kick, pretty nice.
In the afternoon we went back to Har-ki-puri, the most sacred spot in Haridwar, and the reason the Kumba Mela is here (a gathering of some 20 million people every 3 years at 4 different spots in India) when it wasn't completely overrun, and looked around, seeing the temples and watching people bathing. Then we went shopping a bit for friends and family and checked E-mail, before investing in a shower at a local hotel before our overnight bus ride (we decided a few dollars was a small price to pay to feel clean after a sweaty day on a 12 hour non-ac bus).
Tomorrow, Agra. We're going to try and do the Red Fort, and a few other sites. We'll see how hot it turns out to be.

All is well

Hello friends,
sorry for not posting for a while. Wireless internet is a much rarer commodity in the Himalayas than in the United States, and we've been unable to find suitable hotels either, so unfortunately our pages of notes and breathtaking pictures of the mountains will have to wait until we can fully update.

We thought it would be appropriate to at least say hello to everyone, and jot down some brief comments.

The mountains are truly amazing. We have been blown away repeatedly by the beauty of our surroundings. Our travels to Gangotri, one of the holiest sights in India was an amazing journey, and we were both inspired by the scenery and our dip in the freezing river. We've been blessed to participate in some Hindu worship rituals, and have been reflecting on the similarities and differences we see between people around the world.

Just three stories on that front: we got lost in Delhi, late at night looking for a missing hotel with nothing but an address. We found ourselves in a filthy rickshaw with a man who spoke no English, getting further and further away from our target in the deepening dark, as he sought to find someone who could find our location.  Eventually, we passed a recognizable landmark and leapt out of his vehicle, finally finding a place to rest our heads thanks to a very helpful official security officer. We felt both very far from home, but also impressed to find help in a time of need.
In Haridwar, gateway to the Himalayas, we found ourselves in the midst of a festival honoring Shiva, lord of destruction and intercourse, and not coincidentally there were hordes of young men surrounding us everywhere we went, asking for pictures, and touching Rachel in very inappropriate ways.
After these events, we were very ready for a break. So our kind English speaking guide, our competent driver, the simple lives of the mountain villagers, the ancient rituals of Hinduism, and most of all the stunning majesty and peace of the Himalayas restored our souls.
From this point we travel to Agra- via sleeper bus!!!, to see the Taj Mahal, before returning to the chaos of Delhi to close our adventure, returning home less than a week from today.
We hope to be able to comment again, but if not, we will see you all soon.

wow, this is a lot

so, we haven't had internet for a few days, so this is a huge post.
No pictures either, I don't have the speed to upload. Soon, we promise. I'll drop some in the appropriate places in this giant post, plus others we like, since I know pictures are the most fun, and only our parents will read this mammoth thing.

Anyway,
Highlights:
I preached 11 times in 4 days, Rachel 5 times.
I named a baby (you're welcome Michael).
Rachel learned to Indian dance.
We personally blessed hundreds of people by praying with our hands on them.
We went to the beach 3 times.
We met lots of wonderful new friends.
Rachel is wearing a sari this evening.
Clearly, we're exhausted, but delighted by our most cross cultural experience of our lives.

Tuesday, July 19th
Another step deeper in
We knew we were in for an adventure when we flew to the Rajmundry airport, and saw nothing beneath us that would qualify as 'city' or even 'town', but more like 'jungle, interspersed with huts.' the Rajmundry 'airport' consisted of one runway, surrounded by a high fence. Baggage claim was a truck, driven up to the 'terminal' (a room smaller than the fellowship hall) which was unloaded in the middle of the room, first come first served. We were feeling 'excited' at this point (OK, enough with the quotes).
However, as we came outside, we were greeted by Augusteen and Lalitha's smiling faces, and we were welcomed with warm embraces, and traditional Indian garlands. It was a delight to reconnect after a year apart. His ministry and home are about 2 hrs. away from the airport, so we hopped in the car with the driver and Lalitha, and Augusteen followed behind on his motorcycle. (picture)
Its a very different part of India-palm and coconut trees, rice patties, water buffalo, lounging in lakes, prawn fisheries, and a much more rural setting. Rather than there being people everywhere, there are just people always in sight-that is, you can look at things other than the people without much trouble most of the drive. Its also an interesting place because of the contrasts. Most people live in grass huts, or houses with concrete walls with grass roofs, and the richest live in concrete or brick houses. But all over the region, there are large construction projects, schools and industries moving to the rural area for whatever reason. I hope that it promises hope to poor people. There are certainly good things being done.
(picture)
We reached Augusteen and Lalitha's, which is a charming cement home of about 4 rooms (depending how you count the mostly outdoor bathroom) next door to the as yet unfinished church. There we met his three daughters (Priscilla, Santa Sharut, and Susan) as well as his parents, and were given an hour to rest from our journey. We watched the sun set from their roof, had cookies, tea, and apples, and made friends with the girls, who speak a little English (In 6th grade, they take three languages-Telegu, the local language, Hindu, and English-as always, America has some work to do). Then we set off on the next step on our journey. Augusteen has set up a pastor's conference in Anapurim, nearly 100 km further away, and we needed to be there. We packed 6 people in a 4.5 person car, and headed off. About 20 km in, we stopped for supper, and dropped Augusteen and pastor Luke Bosca off to take the bus the rest of the way (fear not, they were only 30 minutes behind us. Buses work in India). After arriving, we collapsed in bed, exhausted.

Wednesday, July 20th-
Today, we awoke early, to have breakfast with Augusteen and Lalitha, and to be updated on the days adventures. We talked about appropriate cultural behavior (take off your shoes outside homes and places of worship, say hello (bagunara) and thank you (wandanalu) at appropriate times, don't shake hands with women unless they want it, things like that. Also, we shared the gifts we brought with us for them and their community, which were very well received, particularly the shirts, Lalitha's bag, and the nativity we brought Augusteen.
One particularly interesting discussion revolved around how to talk about Hinduism. Augusteen's perspective, which I really liked, is that they don't want to be in comparison with Hinduism, because comparison begets competition, which is not good for anyone. Rather, they want to share the love of God they have found in Christianity, and have a book about that love which they want to teach, but they acknowledge that Hindus have deep and sincere faith, and that they too worship God, even if it is the unknown God that Paul talked about in Acts. It was a simple and profound statement of both our calling to share the good news, and our calling to respect all the religions of the world, and to be good neighbors.
Then, after a brief morning nap, it was time to begin the adventure.
We gathered at the home of pastor Luke, and met his wife and delightful children (picture)
There, we received second breakfasts, *all day we ate like hobbits. My previously useless talent for eating way more food than a body my size should be able to hold was finely proven useful.* This meal including igli, a rice and plum (not our plum) fritter, chai tea (Delicious) and a freshly opened coconut to drink the water inside (you chop off the top with a machete, and drink it with a straw. A little sweet, a little salty, not bad. Rachel even likes it.

Then there was lunch-chicken curry (2 kinds) sambar (soup to go over rice) yogurt with onion.
After lunch, more worship, and more preaching, I spoke on the parable of the sower, and Jesus' teaching both how to be Evangelists, and how to prepare our hearts for God's word. Everyone who was at SLMF two Sundays ago will recognize the bones of the sermon. Its nice to have an audience who hasn't heard anything I have to say.
Then there was afternoon tea, with Pakora, and banana pakora, little fried balls, which are great, for lunch.
Following that, we went to another local congregation, 4 km away. This church building, rather than cement and well equipped, was wood construction, with only two walls, made of palm and coconut leaf. There we ate (of course), including a new fruit for Rachel and I-custard apple. I can't even describe it (but wikipedia can!) but if you get a chance, eat it-its amazing! We blessed the pastor and the building, celebrating this ministry as well. It was interesting to think of the economic and cultural differences between the two places.
The most interesting experience of the afternoon was the opportunity to name a child. A mother came with a 3 month old boy, and asked me to bless him, which I did, basically the standard child dedication prayer, adapted for India. Then she asked me to give him a name. I was a little taken aback-I'm reasonably nervous about naming my pets, let alone someone else's child on the spur of the moment, in a language where I now know about 7 names, total. But Augusteen said just pick a good biblical name. So I picked Micah. Which everyone but Rachel heard as Michael. So Mikaelu it is. I am quite content with how that turned out. So, if anyone sees my brother-in-law, let him know I named a kid after him.
After this, we were sent back to the hotel for a much needed rest before evening worship (Augusteen and Lalitha, gratefully, have put us up in a place with air conditioning, and an American toilet).
In the evening, more food (oof), before my 3rd sermon of the day (a new record!) this was to the whole congregation, and about 100 people crammed into a space maybe half the size of the SLMF fellowship hall, to hear my translated words. Rachel and I think everything went fine, though apparently we're blessing people the wrong way-we need to put our hands on their heads when they come up for prayer after worship. We live, we learn. We also got to sing the song Jesus loves me to the congregation, accompanied by Indian drums, which really helps the beat!
We are tired, but ready for tomorrows adventures-door to door evangelism for me (apparently, a white dude opens a lot of doors) and a high school/young adult Sunday school lesson for Rachel (she's apparently incapable of saying no). In the evening I preach, which will be exciting, since I brought three sermons with me to India, and so I am frantically trying to put together number 4 (followed, I suspect, by numbers 5 and 6 on Saturday and Sunday, and possibly more). They clearly are interested in getting their money's worth out of us, and we're happy to help.

Thursday July 21st
A very full day
Today was a great day, we had several amazing adventures.
After a huge breakfast (again with the way too much food) of Dosa made of green lentils and two kinds of chutney, we returned to the congregation where we've been working.
Samuel and Augusteen went off with 10 other pastors on a door to door evangelism trip, while Rachel and Lalitha stayed behind and drank tea. Actually, Rachel also worked on her sermon for the afternoon, talked about gender roles in the United States (Lalitha is a one woman feminist crusade-more on that later), and learned to dance with the young women from the congregation.
Samuel spent some time talking about high caste opposition to evangelism, and the troubles in Hydrabad (there are riots, we hope it doesn't affect our flight), and then set out distributing tracts among the locals. It seemed, in general, to be a chance for lots of people to get their picture taken receiving something from a white dude, and we were invited into every Christian's house for tea or Coke and cookies. The other pastors teased that without me along, no one would have invited them inside. I also got to pray with a lot of people, using the proper blessing on the head technique.
At lunch we had crab and coconut rice. Samuel saw lunch moving around 45 minutes before consumption when the crabs were purchased from a guy riding by the car on a bicycle. That's India-there are people on bicycles with live crabs you can purchase out your car window for 20 cents apiece. It is just a little bit of a cross cultural experience.
In the afternoon, Rachel taught a Sunday school lesson/preached a sermon, including teaching a bunch of Indian youth "Allelu Allelu" and "I've got peace like a river" they were willing participants, and particularly enjoyed the call and response nature of Allelu. Then she spoke on spiritual gifts. Her message was so impressive, that they requested later that she preach at the evening service as well (this time on 45 minutes notice, which was appropriately terrifying, but I'm getting ahead of myself).
After her sharing, which was well received, we went to the beach. Hadessa, a 2nd standard (7 or 8) girl, had a blast, and we all enjoyed getting our feet wet, and the experience of drinking fresh coconut water out of the coconut at the Indian Ocean, which is every bit as amazing as it sounds.
On our way back was when Rachel was asked to preach, and we sprang into action. We used my already prepared theme of all God's children are invited to the table, and Rachel put her own spin on the story of the Wedding banquet and the Samaritan woman at the well. Worship was wonderful, the church was full to overflowing, with people sitting outside listening on loudspeakers to hear the singing and the sermon. Rachel did a great job, its clear she could quickly put Samuel out of a job if she keeps this preaching thing up, SLMF doesn't know what they are missing.
After worship, we had a time for prayers of blessing, and it felt like nearly everyone in the congregation was interested in prayer from Rachel or Samuel or both. Since no one spoke the language anyway, we both found ourselves in a rhythm of 3 or four stock prayers, and rotating between them, but everyone liked it when we used the Telegu name for Jesus, Yesu Christu. We spent about 30 minutes praying without ceasing.
Now, after some laundry, its time for bed. Tomorrow we have a few worship experiences, and are visiting a few churches, and we'll see what else we'll be called to do. We are quite confident, it will be an adventure.

Friday July 22nd
Another exhausting day
Augusteen and Lalitha are hopefully getting their money's worth out of us. Today, Samuel preached four sermons (a new record) and Rachel preached two. Between the both of us, we must have laid hands on 200 people, praying for things as varied as cancer of the blood (bone marrow, I assume, but I don't know), to both of us together praying for a woman to get pregnant. Another new record-we drank 6 coconuts worth of coconut water each. We love the food in India, but we both feel like 1 a day is about right for coconuts.
In the morning we worshiped in a church building under construction, celebrating the construction of God's kingdom.
After a wonderful lunch (beef biryani, and potato and green curry) in the afternoon we went visiting smaller (poorer) churches, where we had shorter worship services, quickly ate what they offered us, and headed to the next place. Samuel preached that everyone is equal before Christ, and Lalitha was delighted when he mentioned that Christian men should be good to their wives, treating them with respect and love.
In the evening, we had the big final prayer meeting (we move on to another area, 2 hours north tomorrow morning), where we both preached. There were non-believers there (Augusteen's language) so we did our best to tell the story of Jesus, and Rachel's message was quite impressive-come become a follower of God, Jesus loves a good party, and Christianity is a celebration!
Afterwards, we had our pictures taken with everyone, and ate at the home of one of the local pastors who lives in a common compound with his extended family, including 6 aunts and uncles and most of the associated cousins. Its an impressive place, and makes up a good bit of the local congregation.
Its amazing to think we had a moment to get in a good hour long nap after lunch. Now, to bed, we'll see what tomorrow will bring.

Saturday, July 23rd
A time to relax
After three days of intensive ministry, we got a mostly restful day today, which is a good thing, because we woke up a bit over tierd and in need of a restful day.
After breakfast in the morning we returned to Augusteen and Lalitha's home in Pithapuram, about a two hours car ride, stopping at a giant statue of Jesus next to a huge river on the way.
Before reaching Augusteen and Lalitha's house, we stopped at the home of a family who works with Grace Gospel Ministires in the city of Kakonada, the nearest big city of their home. There we met the mother and father of the family, as well as the older daughter, a 16 year old who was on school holiday. She spoke English very well, and we had a nice conversation with her about school and her plans to become a doctor. I (Rachel) was struck that one of the first questions the mother of the family asked via Lalitha, who was translating, was weather Samuel and I had an arranged mairrage, or if we were a 'love match.' This led into a conversation about the custom of parents selecting partners for their children, which is still practiced strongly in this area of India. Lalitha told us that 'love matches' were very rare, and that most young women were considered 'mairagable age' around 16, the age of both the young woman we were talking to and Lalitha's oldest daughter. The reality of the lives of women (old and young) in India has struck me during this trip. I'll probably write more on that later, but sufice it to say, I'm thinking about it.
In the afternoon, we spent time getting to know their girls, Priscilla, Shantasa Ruth, and Susan, by playing pick-up sticks and chess, which was a wonderful time, and Rachel quickly became 'auntie'.
Later we drove to the nearby beach, which had been devestated by the Tsumani in 2004. There are still boat pieces laying around far inland, and the road is still washed away in some places. We talked about the devestation there, and how it still shapes the community.
Then, after a brief prayer meeting with the local church, we returned for supper, and we each got Henna decorations on our hands, and Rachel on her feet, thanks to Priscilla, the oldest. She did an amazing job.
We enjoyed just being with our friends, taking time to get to know their children, and we look forward to a day of worship and celebration tomorrow, before our independent adventure begins on Monday.

Settling in before moving on

Monday, July 18th, 2011

We had a quiet day today, resting late into the morning after our weekend adventures. Michael and the two of us adventured on our own for the first time without a more experienced guide, which was a satisfying experience-we are beginning to settle in to the different space.
In particular, we survived buying tickets for later in our trip, to both Hardwar in the mountains and from Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) to Delhi for our flight home. We'd waited, because we'd been told that those were easier to buy in person, and it was a fascinating experience, waiting with about a hundred other people looking to also travel from point A to point B in a little basically unmarked upstairs room. We ended up having to skip the train we would have preferred-an overnight train-for one leaving at 5:30 in the morning, because it was already booked, but all in all, an interesting experience with Indian bureaucracy.
Then we went to a tailors where we got some gifts for our friend Agasteen who we visit tomorrow, and a sharp new Indian shirt for me. On the way home, we stopped at a roadside stand, where I purchased my first roadside food, a delicious mango. I felt very triumphant, even if I got the westerner's price.
In the evening, we had a very different kind of adventure-we went to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2. It was a fascinating mix of a taste of home and a cross cultural adventure. The movie theater had both Popcorn and Paneer, that familiar language of entertainment palace with a unique Indian twist. The movie was fun, and it played more like a melodrama-oohing and awing and clapping at appropriate points, (and one unexpected cheer when Voldermort appeared, ready to attack Hogwarts), with all the emotions that I'm used to expressing quietly shared with the collective room around us.
Tomorrow we journey on from Chennai to Rajamundry, and begin our time with Agastine and Lalitha. It should be an interesting journey, we're looking forward to the experience, and learning about a different part of India, and experiencing the Christian community we'll find.
I'm not sure if there will be internet access, if not, we'll check back in on the 26th or so while we're in Delhi with a massive blog post that only our parents will read.
Now, its time for bed, tomorrow will be a busy day.
Samuel and Rachel

July 17-Samuel and Rachel's foodie adventure

Hello friends,
particularly those who are just getting out of worship as I write this. I'm thinking of SLMF this Sunday.

Rachel and I just got back from Mamallapurim, a small town about 1.5 hours south of Chennai on the Indian Ocean (or Bay of Bengal, to be perfectly accurate). It was a lovely adventure. The best part of Mamallipurim is you can walk everywhere-the town is about 2 miles by 1 mile, with the core covering just a few city blocks. It takes all of the noise and traffic and trash and chaos of India, and consolidates it into one neat manageable package, and adds a beach and several ancient temples.
We arrived yesterday morning, after a taxi ride with Michael and Aimee, Caroline, Whitney, and Roseline, a Malaysian woman studying in Australia, who is in India for study abroad like the other three. We grabbed lunch at a place that had omelets and crepes (those who have been here a month were craving western breakfast) and headed out to the temples. The Shore Temple is from the 7th century, and is known for a large sculpture of 'reclining Shiva' resting on the waves.

  We went wading on the way to the temple, at Mamallapurim's sandy beach, complete with surfers. After hiking through some hills with other ancient carvings, we went to The Five Rathas, which are chariot shaped temples from a few centuries earlier, plus a carved Elephant.

(can you see the Elephant?)
It is fascinating to see carvings from so many centuries ago, that remain vibrant and sturdy and communicate emotion and passion. These are all UNESCO world heritage sites, and its good that people are paying attention to this kind of history.

After a long hot day of exploring, we returned for naps and the first of several food adventures-a home cooked meal of prawns and small crabs in an amazing curry sauce. Our taste buds are slowly adapting to incredibly spicy food, and we retired completely satisfied.
Today, after shopping for more clothes for Rachel, (one of her previous tops ended up being too tight) we had a seafood lunch (also amazing) and wandered the streets of Mamallapurim seeing the sights and watching our friends barter for gifts. Our favorite bartering story involves a desperate stone carver, who negotiated in the shop for 15 minutes, then when we walked away first chased us down on his motorcycle to drop the price another 2 dollars, and hours later accosted us again in a completely different part of town on our way back to our hotel.
The afternoon was spent eating prawns on the third floor of a beach restaurant overlooking the ocean, watching the silly western tourists (like us) dance in the waves in very inappropriate swim suits (India has strong cultural norms against female nudity, which speaks to some complicated gender issues, but which the women try to follow as representatives of Western culture).
Finally, after supper we headed back to Chennai, braving nighttime driving past a huge political rally and other chaos before doing our first major laundry work and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is our last day in Chennai, which seems crazy, since we just got here. Hopefully Rajmundry will be as wonderful as our time so far, though internet is likely to be less available.

Oh, and I forgot, but on Friday, Michael did this:

we're glad nothing went wrong.
We're thinking of everyone at home, and send our love and greetings.
Samuel and Rachel

Hot and tired.

Friday July 15th
Hello friends,
we've had our first India adventure, and lived to tell about it.
Yesterday we got to visit the Social Work department at Madras Christian College, where Aimee is working and living. She has a cute little apartment she shares with Caroline, another woman from Denver. It is a bit of a walk from our Guest House, the campus here is just enormous. We had a bit of lunch in the student center, and then Aimee took all of us out on the town to explore the city of Chennai a little bit.
We took the train in 12 stops to Najapurum (or something like that). The train was full, but not packed, so we got to sit down. Most striking to me on my first Indian train ride were the beggars coming through the cars, singing a mournful tune as they went. (though the complete lack of doors was also notable). When we arrived, we got off in the midst of heavy city traffic, and waited by the side of the road for a 'share car' a small minivan which holds about 7 people that goes in a regular loop and picks people up from the side of the road along the way. Its like a little minibus, which is rather neat. We got very cozy as we headed off into the city to the Spencer Plaza mall (yes, an Indian mall. It was very interesting-some similarities to ours, but also a lot more crowded.) Rachel found two beautiful Salwar Kami's at a little shop where Aimee had been before, she is going to feel much more comfortable settling in as a pastor's wife next week I think.
After a snack of ice cream, (fig and honey as well as black currant-yum!) we headed back into the chaos, attempting to find St. Thomas Mount, where Doubting Thomas was martyred in the 1st century (according to tradition). However, the sun was fading fast, and our guidebooks said 'its near the train station' which is not very useful for directions, when 'near' is defined as within a mile or so, there are no signs, and no one speaks English. Stymied, we retreated to a lovely Indian restaurant restaurant for supper (so spicy, but not inedible), after which we returned home, to cards, and a good night's sleep, since we were completely beat.
Today, we went back out into the world. In the morning, I successfully traversed my first solo cross cultural experience. I was sent out to collect breakfast for Rachel, Michael and me. I went to the student canteen, and learned how to order, how to pay, how to ask for things to go, and what an Indian doughnut looks and tastes like (not sweet, and covered in slightly less spicy than usual sauce, but delicious!). A small triumph, obviously, but I try to be pleased with small triumphs.
The bigger adventures of the day were two. First, we all went to Aimee's placement for the summer, an Indian agency working on reducing AIDS among transgendered, homosexual, and sex worker populations. There we got to see their headquarters, hear that Hillary Clinton will be visiting them next week, drink tea (apparently part of most morning rituals) and visit the hospital where they treat AIDS and HIV patients, attempting both to manage the disease, and reduce transmission. They help about 100 people a month at the hospital, with 3 people on staff. It was very interesting to hear some stories, and the social workers had lots of good questions.
In the afternoon, we gave St. Thomas Mount another try. It proved to be more like 2 miles than 1 away, which is a bit much in the 95 degree heat, but we found it eventually, and after a 200 ft. climb, the mountain gave us a tremendous view of the city, with people sprawling out as far as the eye can see in every direction (Chennai is the 4th largest city in India). On top is a very Indian monument to St. Thomas, with bright colors, a gilded crucifix, statues to John Paul the 2nd and Mother Teresa, as well as a Portuguese cathedral. It felt like the end of a good quest, or a pilgrimage, after the long walk and getting lost a couple of times.
After a rest break in the late afternoon, as went over to the Center for International Social Work at Madras Christian College, Aimee and Caroline's official residence, for dinner of various Indian Cuisines made by Caroline. We also met Aimee and Caroline's friend Whitney, a social work student from Canada, and had a lovely evening of chatting and eating good food with wonderful people.
It has been a good day, we're ready to rest, and for tomorrows trip to the beach at Mamalapuram (I'll try to check back in on Sunday evening).

a few pictures

stories to follow.

Our plane in Chicago, getting ready to take off. 9 across is too big!

 Rachel, plus the view from our balcony.

this is where we're staying. Its a comfortable spot, and we're glad Aimee set us up here.

29 hours later, or are we there yet

Thursday, July 14th, 2011
Hello friends,
we have arrived safely in India, and I am ensconced on the porch of the International Guest House at Madras Christian College, our place of residence while we are here in Chennai.
Its about noon, we're waiting for Aimee, Rachel's sister in law to return from her placement before getting lunch and heading into the city proper for an afternoon of sights and shopping (Rachel is ready to dress more like a local).
Before my reflections on travel, a note. This is going to serve as an all-purpose diary for us-a combination of Voth family trip journal, a chance to update friends and family, an a place to reflect on any of the various cultural experiences we have, and anything else we want to throw in. Thus, fair warning, I feel no obligation towards subject verb agreement, or traditional concepts of narrative flow. This will be primarily for us, and our own enjoyment.
Anyway, first thoughts.
India is a long way away. It took us about 29 hrs. door to door to arrive at our current location, 15 hours of which were on the plane from Chicago to Delhi, squashed in the middle of the 5 across middle row, fighting for armrest space with strangers. It is not a good recipe to arrive rested and rejuvenated, though the novelty of playing tetris on a 777 did distract me for quite some time, and Indian food on an airline is a delightful treat.
Customs in Delhi were surprisingly non-anxious, they needed our word that we weren't smuggling anything illicit or dangerous, but there was no search. I presume they were content that anything Americans let on their planes is OK to allow in India. The men with big guns generally smiled and were helpful. At customs, they did need an address for our location in India, but "International Guest House, Madras Christian College, Chennai" was sufficient, so it seemed largely a formality.
The Delhi airport is nice (apparently, #4 in the world, according to someone), huge, and pretty quiet at 6:30 at night-the chaos of India had to wait until we arrived in Chennai, where there was ample chaos for everyone, from the busy baggage claim, the hundreds of people waiting to pick up travelers at the airport, and of course, the process of getting out of the parking lot.
It is of course cliche, but the experience of watching traffic flow completely naturally, with no concern for street signs, lane markers, pedestrians, or right of way takes some getting used to. As far as I can tell the only rules are stick to your side of the street (left) and don't hit anyone. It, I think, will continually flabbergast me that more cars aren't scraped and dinged up from their time on the busy streets. Even more fun, the Chennai suburban police randomly block off 1 of the 2.5 lanes of traffic on a regular basis with specially made barricades on main roads. They do this, I presume, to disrupt the flow of traffic and bring speeds down (or possibly they just like causing extra chaos). However, Sammy, our driver handled the chaos well, and we arrived in short order at our destination.
Sleep was a little tricky, since we got in at midnight local time, otherwise known as 1:30 in the afternoon, St. Louis, so we all got up early to walk around the quiet campus of Madras Christian College and walk with Aimee to get breakfast-fresh Mangos! The college is clearly an ex-British place, the amount of empty space and greenery seems to be quite unusual, and the shade of the banyan trees is very welcome.
The afternoon promises to be a hot and sticky adventure, but I think after our naps this morning, we will be ready to experience the adventure that is India.
There will be pictures later, I promise.
Samuel Voth Schrag
Thursday, July 14th (I'm going to try and keep track of days, it should be an adventure).