The Journey Begins...

Early this morning (Sunday), at approximately 1 a.m., our team stepped off the airplane into a whole new world (no reference to Aladdin intended). Suffering from body odor, swollen feet, messy hair, bad breath, and the oh-so-lovely symptoms of jet lag, we walked outside the airport into a sea of bustling Indians staring at our group of extremely white, disgusting Americans wondering what on earth we could have to do in India! We met up with our very welcoming and generous host, who welcomed us with handshakes and a bumpy ride back to the base, which will be our home for the next week. In this 45 minute to an hour trip to the base, I figured out a couple of things:

1) Those yellow and white lines in the street—more like suggestions than actual guidelines.
2) Those handles beside the steering wheel that turn on your blinker—completely unnecessary.
3) The horn in the middle of your steering wheel—that’s REALLY for letting people know you’re coming and can get out of your way…or else.

So, mom and dad, now that I’ve learned these valuable lessons that you and driver’s ed never thought to teach me…I’ve got a whole new perspective on driving for when I get back to the States ;).

Well, needless to say, this was only at 2:00 in the morning! We’ve had a few more experiences on the road since then. I’m sure you’ll hear several more driving stories as the trip continues. Anyway, the only bad part about arriving in India in the middle of the night was that we couldn’t really see much. What we did see, however, was heart-breaking and beautiful all at the same time. They are such beautiful people and India is filled with beautiful sights! The heart-breaking part was seeing hundreds of people laid out in lines beside the street (in the pouring rain, I might add) because they have no place else to sleep for the night. It was seeing the trash covering the street while the stray dogs and cats search through it for some food. It was the faces of people who are searching for something to live for. As we have seen a little bit more of India since then, we are struck over and over again at the two extremes in India. We found the most beautiful, majestic buildings right next to the dirtiest slums.

So, after we got to the base, we found our rooms and prepared to get a few short hours of sleep before church at 9 a.m. We weren’t alone, however…the geckos in the window-sill made for some great company ☺. The spiders on the walls seemed pretty friendly, as well. Once we woke up we cleaned up, ate, walked around the base a little bit, and headed across the road for the church service. We were all pretty proud of ourselves at how awake we were able to stay during the two-hour service, hmm, well some of us. The two people nodding their heads off and on during the service can remain nameless (ahem…Eric and Ben J.). After church, we had some chai and were able to meet quite a few people. Everyone has been very kind and welcoming and we have all really enjoyed our time here! While that is certainly not all we did the rest of the day, I’ll leave those stories to someone else. Meanwhile, I should get some sleep!

God Bless,
Kalen