There and back again: Bangalore edition

Here are some posts I wrote for our church's mission blog.  I thought I'd share them here. :)

7/12/2012
Amos and I made it!  We got to Bangalore at about 1:00 in the morning and waited an hour for passport control and baggage.   Our contact person recognized us and took us on an hour-long trip across the city to our final destination.
When I looked out the window this morning, this is what I saw:

The land of Mowgli and The Jungle Book!

Amos and I spent the day talking with T and J, visiting the mall for lunch and grocery shopping, and enjoying the 70 degree weather.  We hope to get started on work tomorrow!

7/18/2012

Well, Amos and I have been here for a week now.  Here is some of the wildlife we've seen.  You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Chicken lawn party

A butterfly eating someone's leftovers

A fishy conference hall at a local resort

A cow among onion skins at the weekly market

Some random pig running around the nearby village

We bought some catfish for dinner from these guys

One of the watchdogs

A gecko showed up in our room one night!

7/23/2012

T and J talk about being flexible in India.  Really flexible.

It isn't normal in the U.S. to have monkeys and parrots in your yard, trying to steal mangos.
It isn't normal to drive on the left side of the road and even to drive onto the dirt shoulder to get around a slow-moving taxi.
It isn't normal to be the only blue-eyed people around.
It isn't normal to have complete strangers come up and pinch young children's cheeks.
It isn't normal to have to tear up half of your class' papers because they copied each other (true story; they don't copy any more).
It isn't normal to eat rice every single day and enjoy it (Amos is in heaven).
It isn't normal to have so many light switches in every single room.
It isn't normal to listen to eighteen kids yell "Auntie!  Uncle!" whenever a camera appears.
It isn't normal to pass through security to get into the mall.
It isn't normal to watch your fish dinner being whacked to death before your eyes.
It isn't normal to have the options of McSpicy Paneer or McAloo Tiki at your local McDonald's.
It isn't normal to hang laundry out to dry on the roof.
It isn't normal to see five year-olds doing their own laundry.
It isn't normal to have your older students call you ma'am.
It isn't normal to yield the right of way to a bull that won't budge.
It isn't normal to use a switch to turn on your water heater every day.
It isn't normal to talk down the price of vegetables.

Oh, but it is normal.
All of these things are normal and then some.

We leave in just two days.  Our trip has been both long and way too short.  Hopefully some of you can visit T and J next time. :)

View from the mall

7/25/2012

Our bags are packed (almost), all papers are graded, final grades are assigned, and last-minute video is being shot as I write.  We're almost ready to come home!

It's been a great trip.  We are so thankful for T and J's hospitality and will miss them as we start our journey home in just three hours.

We are looking forward to helping T and J even as we leave!  Amos will finish up a support video, we'll report to friends and leaders on the work in this city, and I'll hopefully be able to set up a child sponsorship program for the children they care for.  So while we are sad to leave our new friends, we are excited to continue their work in a different place.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts.

So far...

Kids. Rain. Curry. Chapati pancakes. Skits. Songs. Paraphrasing. Water.  More water.  No water.  Dogs.  Motorcycles.  Heat.  Naan.  TGI Fridays.  Kurtas.  Homework. Ties.  Ill-fitting skirts. Videos.  Electricity.  No electricity.  Electricity.  No electricity.  Mangos.  Reading. Car rides. Butterflies.  Please, no more mangos.  Sleeping.  Jet lag.  Excitement.  Photography.  Impatience.

The purple college building!  Looking at the front and the men's wing.

This has been our trip so far.  On Thursday, I found out that I would have one hour for each of my classes instead of an hour and a half.  I also found out that I would have a class of students that knew almost no English.  That makes it rather difficult to teach hard subjects such as paraphrasing and figurative language.  We shall see how this turns out...

Sweethi, working school work

On Thursday, we slept through the kids' homework time, so we really didn't meet them until Friday.  I was greeted with shy smiles and big eyes when I walked up to them.  Amos, with his blonde hair and tall stature, was greeted with smaller smiles and looks of awe.  When most of the kids were done with their homework, Amos and I played a game with them.  In between rounds of the game, one boy rubbed Amos' hairy arm and stared. haha!  After church today he caused quite a disturbance with his big, black dress shoes.  One boy was fascinated with them and brought other boys over to look! haha!

Working on Hindi and Karnaka homework with two girls from the college

On Friday I taught my classes.  It is hard to teach English Language Learners in a big group!  I just hope that they are understanding the majority of what I'm saying, though I'm not too sure.  We went over paraphrasing.  Hopefully they understood enough to do the homework and to be able to paraphrase in the future when they have more important assignments!  The main reason I came was to teach, so please keep me in your thoughts as I attempt to help the students; I really don't want my time to have been wasted!

Beautiful old building that now houses a Hard Rock Cafe!

On Saturday we headed for the city!  We had lunch before going shopping.  Amos was able to work on part of his project by getting some footage of the streets and traffic.

In a small motor taxi, driving back to Timothy's car

Today we went back to the college for Sunday services.  Amos got some pictures of the kids doing a skit as well as pictures of Timothy speaking.  We then went out to lunch at a very fancy hotel/resort place.  I went back for a ladies' meeting at the college, and one poor girl was paired with me to practice her teaching!  She was so shy that she couldn't think of anything to say.  Sounds like me when I was younger...

Thanks for reading about our adventures so far!  It hasn't all been easy, but we are really enjoying ourselves.

Why I love Amos

If you're afraid this post is going to be mushy, you'd better stop reading.  In a few years, this list may seem rather incomplete.  I intend to love Amos so much more in the coming years.  However, I have a feeling that while this list may be a little silly and imperfect, it will still be true.

I love Amos because...

-he's my best friend.

-he's my encourager.

-he dreams big.

-he works hard.

-he is always there for me.

-he loves me very much.
-he is trustworthy.

-he helps me think through practical Christianity.

-he speaks with gentleness and love.

-he pays attention to me and responds to me.

-he listens to my "potato" stories (stories told over and over and over again).

-he laughs with me.

-he is always thinking about me.

-he talks to me.
-he is very patient.

-he asks my opinion.

-he helps me even when he'd rather do something else.

-he calms me down when I get overwhelmed.

-he leads me carefully.
-he trusts me.

-he provides for me.

-he isn't demanding.

-he accepts forgiveness.

-he tries hard.

-he forgives me.

-he teases me.

-he lets me tease him. a lot.

-he's my best friend.

Happy anniversary, buddy!  I love you so much.

A blurry picture from Easter Sunday