America

So being away teaches you a lot of things about America. Last night we had the opportunity to talk with the leader of a church here and compare our challenges in trying to make disciples in very different environments. I spent some time further explaining our government and the various ways that it protects or inhibits our rights to faith, to free speech, etc. In comparison, what we have looks so good! We may complain about social security, but when you come to a country that has NO safety net for its people, no social welfare system, you realize how blessed we really are. So as much as I realize how unappreciative we are and how entitled we believe we are back in the West, coming over here has made me so much more Patriotic. I told Casey that I've started singing the nation anthem before I go to bed at night and saying the pledge of allegiance before meals. And I awaken each morning by seranading Brad and Joe with a moving rendition of "America, The Beautiful." We really are blessed beyond what most people can imagine. Just answering these people's questions about the US is almost embarrassing. My grandma and I have decided that the penalty for complaining about America should be one year of forced exile to another country. THAT might teach thankfulness :-).

In an unrelated note, Joe's crotch was groped today by an Indian transvestite. I so wish I had a picture for all of you to see.

Brad Dancing and other various and sundry things

I'm once again having a very frustrating time with video and pictures. I'll put this all together in a way that makes sense soon.

So we've been pretty busy the last few days and I haven't had time to blog, mainly because Brad has been hogging the laptop :-) (not really)

So Friday night we got to meet Mark Templer, the head of Hope here in India and also an old acquaintance of my parents. He has a beautiful family and he is quite a character. We went and ate mexican fast food, which was pretty sweet (but definitely not tex-mex). Then we went to their campus ministry meeting. Their campus group is where ours was quite a few years ago—a group of some students, some graduates, and some young singles. There were probably about 20 of them. Worshipping with them was awesome. Not only did we get to sing some great songs that I remember from when I was young (Soon and Very Soon is one of my favorites), but they were full of excitement and seemed to really care for one another. Brad and I both had the chance to share about what God has taught us about ministry. As usual, the hospitality was awesome!

vid 310

Saturday we went sight seeing around Delhi. It was pretty cool. One thing we have discovered is that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the prices we pay for taxis, autorickshaws, etc. On Friday night, when we went to South Delhi (we stay in East Delhi), a driver from Hope took us. However, we had to pay for a taxi on the way back. It was 500 Rupees for about an hour drive. The next day, we reserved a taxi for the entire day (up to 8 hours and 80 km) so we could go sightseeing around the city and it cost 800 rupees. On Sunday morning, an autorickshaw took us from church to a mall right next to our house. It drove us halfway across the city for 50 rupees. Then to get back to our hotel from the mall (maybe 2 km), cost us 70. And that's after we turned down the first two who wanted to charge us 100. Basically, our white skin means they won't take us anywhere for less than double what it should be. If an Indian makes the arrangements for us, we might get a slightly better price, but they are pretty stubborn about charging us higher prices. They will completely turn down our business if we won't pay their outrageous prices. To me this seems like bad business practice, but then again, who knows if rickshaw drivers get courses in good business practices. (Maybe they have some sort of pact that most of them follow to keep prices high for foreigners.)

So back to sightseeing; we went first to the Raj Ghat, which has something to do with the cremation of some very important people, namely Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, and her son Rajiv. All three of these were important leaders of India (though I'm pretty sure the second two aren't related to the first). They had monuments set up in a big park area. Next we went to Red Fort, which was some sort of big castle that had lots of palaces inside. When we got in, we paid a guide to lead us around and explain everything to us. That was really worth it; he painted some cool visual pictures of what these things looked like when they were first built. Much of it was built by the same guy that built Taj Mahal. We also got to see some old weapons from the area in a museum.

We hung out down around Connaught Place, which seems to be a big commercial district in central Delhi. The day before, a driver from hope had taken us to Connaught so we could buy tickets for a tour bus on Saturday. We were in this non-a/c car (the worst way to travel in India) and he just kept driving in circles, stopping at least 6 times to ask for directions (these moments were the worst since at least when the car was moving, the breeze would come in through the windows, but when he stopped and got out of the car, there was no escaping the heat). The part that made this extremely frustrating was that we quickly figured out the pattern of this area and how to get where we were going, but since he spoke no English, he never seemed to go where we directed. When we finally got to a place to buy tickets, we were informed there was no tour the next day. I was in such a pleasant mood. :-)

But anyway, we wnet back in our cab the next day and ate at McDonalds. It was pretty sweet. We had the McChicken and fountain Diet Coke!!!!!!!!! Fountain Diet Coke!!!!!! Mark informed us that it was probably safe as long as the restaurant looked clean and we didn't get ice. So that was tasty and then we were harrassed by random a random salesperson while we walked around. First he was trying to sell Brad a bong. I guess Brad just looks like the type. Then he pulled a snake charmer's flute thing out of his pants (he had multiple ones hidden inside his pants) and began trying to sell it to Brad. He would not leave them alone (I have mastered the art of remaining aloof, so they leave me alone quickly. Brad, on the other hand, tries to talk to everyone, so they never leave him alone. For example, he tried to explain to the man (who obviously had very limited English) how bad for his health using a bong is). Eventually both Brad and Joe purchased snake charmer flutes, for way too much money I'm sure (though they both got “very good discount”). They have to be the most useless purchases so far this trip.

After this, we went to a place called something like Gandhi Smriti. It was a museum and such set up in the house where Mahatma Gandhi lived his last 144 days and right next to the place where he was shot and killed. They had much of the story of his life and many quotes about him. We were able to see the very few possesions he had when he died and the monument put up where he was killed. He was far from a perfect man, but he was definitely a great man. He was wrong or confused about some things, but he mapped out a path for the world that actually has some hope of getting us somewhere good. One of the things that always stands out to me is how deeply he was influenced by the teachings of Jesus in forming his core ethic of non-violence. (Ironic how a Hindu can hold so closely to Jesus' teachings on non-resistance while Christians can be quickest to take up the banner of war) He also exchanged letters with Tolstoy (author of War and Peace and one of the most prominent Christian novelists of the last century) concerning the power of non-violent resistance to stand against corrupt governments. They apparently saw eye to eye. I am always encouraged and inspired when I contemplate the stories of men who refuse to be conformed to the patterns of the world we live in. Such men make many mistakes, but they don't make the same ones that everyone has been making over and over for years.

So that was sightseeing. Other things of note:

1. Joe cannot seem to read a clock, even though his watch isn't digital. Twice now on this trip he has woken me up freaking out about how we have to be ready in just a few minutes, only to have me inform him that he has read the hour hand wrong and we have an hour and a few minutes. Twice. Then I get the wonderful task of trying to go back to sleep with my heart pounding from such a drastic awakening.

2. We've been learning some basic phrases in Hindi from some of the computer students (18-19 yrs old) at the colony. My favorite time was when I asked “what is this” (in Hindi something like Yaheck Yahey?) pointing to Brad and one of the guys informed me at least 3 times that he was “very handsome boy”.

3. We did some Indian dancing today. I'll include a video of Brad getting jiggy with his male teacher.

4. The kids LOVE having their picture taken. They crowd around when the camera is out yelling “one picture” with one finger (sometimes two :-) held up. After you take that “one picture”, they just keep that finger up and start yelling it again. It's pretty funny.

5. Brad got to see an elephant on the road today. So he got out of our auto and went to take pictures while our auto took us on to the colony. This resulted in our guide getting in trouble from the head of the colony because none of us are supposed to be alone at any time around the colony. Henri (the head guy) says it's definitely not safe for us to be alone, but we'll be fine in pairs or with one of them. But I'm glad Brad got to see his elephant.

6. Joe is so special. We were driving today and saw these kids throwing water out onto the dirt streets. I asked Yash (the guy leading us around) what they were doing. At the same time, Yash was explaining to Brad that we were at the border between Delhi and Utter Pradesh (sp?). So Joe starts talking about how those kids are throwing water into the streets to mark the border of Delhi as if Yash's comment was in answer to my question. Joe says this as if it makes perfect sense. Brad and I spend so much time just staring at him and trying to figure out what goes on in his brain. :-) But he definitely keeps things fun.

7. We are deep into season one of Heroes, completely hooked. I'm so thankful Brad brought his laptop and movies because the only English TV over here seems to be sports. Like Crickett.

8. So I'm the only one who hasn't working the bandaging room yet and Brad and Joe have me thoroughly freaked out about bandaging these open wounds. In one sense I'm excited to serve in a way that makes me uncomfortable, truly washing feet, but in another I'm not sure how well my stomach will handle it. More on that when I've had the experience.

We arrived safely in Delhi (and other thoughts)

So we made it to Delhi yesterday and are starting to get our bearings here. Until now we had no real phone access or Internet access or other-English-speaking-people access which has made our world basically the three of us. Our room at Ram Niwas Tourist Lodge is pretty nice and the a/c is freezing--on the lowest setting. Now one thing you don't really get in India is blankets. A top sheet will usually suffice, even with a/c. But not at Ram Niwas. Oh no. I found an extra blanket to go on top of mine, but Brad was on the floor and when I tried to put it over Joe he threw it off in his sleep. So I was warm, but I think they froze. (Incidentally, Joe kept trying to get all three of us to sleep in the same bed. Now it is about king sized, but it is made up of two twin mattresses, so aside from the fact that neither Brad nor I want to sleep between two men (Joe wasn't offering), we also did not want to sleep on the crack between two mattresses. So we got an extra mattress and put it on the floor.)

My travel sickness seems to be mostly over after two days completely in bed. Tuesday night, before we went to Delhi on Wednesday, I go to go to the doctor in India. My favorite part was when he had me lay on his table and then pushed and thumped all over my belly. Then he put me on a strict diet of bland food for a day or so and gave me four medicines. Now the doctor visit and all the medicine cost me about 150 bucks. Indian bucks. Which means about $3.50. So I figured I could live with that :-). I don't know what I would have done without Ram and Vikram taking care of me. They have truly been a family away from home.

Also last night I had the pleasure of fishing a dead fly out of Brad's eye. It apparently flew in, Brad blinked, and it died in some hidden back corner of his eye. Joe first tried to fish it out with his sausage fingers (jk), but when that didn't work (though I'm sure it gave Brad a nasty eye infection after all we've touched here) I saved the day by getting it out with the strap on my digital camera (I'm sure it was 100% clean (right, Neil?)).

By the way, if any of you have ever laughed at "Don't Mess with Texas", shame on you. India has been messed with and it is not pretty. Piles of trash all over and dogs and goats and cows (and people) roaming the streets eating out of it. It also contributes to a special aroma. Nothing in the states compares. So please, don't litter. Ever. :-)

We went to the leprosy village today and it looks like we will have quite a bit of work to do there. We start tomorrow. We'll be painting, planting trees, doing arts and crafts with kids, teaching in their computer training center, helping in their bandaging room, etc. So we're excited to be doing something useful over here.

Kids love to say hi to us, though some seem afraid to touch us. I think for some we may be the first non-Indian people they've seen. A big difference between here and home is the lack of diversity here. Everyone is Indian. EVERYONE. I mean, we've seen maybe 20 other white people (and no people of any other color) in the time we've been here. That's counting the airport and tourist sites. So we really are strange to look at and people stare at us wherever we go. (At least, Brad says people stare at us. Joe and I are obliviously unobservant. I see people looking at me but when I make eye contact, I look away and assume they do the same, like normal human beings. Brad on the other hand stares them down. Which to me means that they are probably at home telling their family and friends how white people just stare at Indian people when they come here ;-).) Back home, we see so many people of so many backgrounds and it seems to natural. I guess it never registered just how diverse the US, and especially our universities, are. But overall Delhi has seemed much more Western than Chennai. In Chennai we hardly ever saw a woman not in traditional clothing. In Delhi, most seem to wear shirt and pants like western women. Even the traffic isn't quite as crazy, though that might just be where we are or because the roads are wider.

I was pondering today the overwhelming needs in the world and their diverse nature. Trying to help at all is less than a drop in the bucket. Where do we even start? (I am always encouraged by the story of the boy throwing the starfish back into the sea: When asked why he did it when there were so many starfish beached that he could possibly make a difference, he replied, "I made a difference to that one.") Some have tried to meet purely physical needs, saying "how can we expect them to listen to stories of bread from heaven when they have no bread in their stomachs?" And I agree. But I often wonder where that ends. As I noted the other day after visiting the AIDS home, we are so wrapped up in our comforts and conveniences that we fail to realize that people who have only enough to live can be so much happier than we are (though that doesn't mean they necessarily are). The Bible calls wealth a trap, a snare. But it seems that we often want to keep improving the quality of people's lives until it is like our own. But these kids aren't bringing guns to school, and terrorists aren't out to destroy their opulent way of life.

Others have tried to meet purely spiritual needs, but neglected the immediate ones, the needs of this world. They remember Peter's words to a lame beggar in Acts 3: "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." But he didn't just tell the man about Jesus, he healed him, gave him the means to start working for a living and stop begging. I remember Jesus saying on one hand "The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me," justifying the woman using the expensive perfume to anoint Him rather than selling it to give the money to the poor. But I also remember his words in Matthew 25:

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

And I think about Paul giving instructions to the Corinthian Christians about not worrying about their status in this life (1 Corinthians 7):

Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

and

What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

We don't think much on those passages in the US, where the American dream is getting more for me and mine--advancement in this world at all costs. As we've probably all read in a chain email somewhere, we give up our health trying to make lots of money, and then give up our money trying to get our health back. I don't really understand what Paul meant. Maybe his comments were meant for a specific situation in that city. But I think there must be a principle beneath that applies to us.

My good friend Deepa (Neil's wife) responded to my comments about the happy kids at the orphanage in this way: "the kids take me back to old memories. I always remember kids in India, in whatever area or status, being much more appreciative and simply happy than kids here, even when I was a kid." So what exactly are we really trying to give people.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on how we can best bless others in this world, doing what's most important, or most immediate, or most impacting, or most [insert yours here]. These questions aren't just for India. I think they can tell us something about how we treat one another day to day, because it's so easy to get engrossed in the things of this world when, "this world in its present form is passing away." Each day we have opportunities, and no matter how many good ones we take, we have also passed by other good ones. So how should we choose?

The Videos I Wanted to Add

I love the music playing in the background at the restaurant. This Indian man had this incredible country singing voice. I was really loving it and wished he had a cd or something. Isn't it amazing how people with strong accents can sing without one?



These kids crack me up. Note how much they like giving their name on video. As much as I included here, it's not all the name giving footage I have. :-)

I hope ya'll enjoy these cuz it took me forever to get them up!

It's Been a Few Days . . .

So finding time to blog has been challenging the last few days. First off, we've been busier. More than that, whenever we are on our way home for the last time each day, we are always overtaken by extreme exhaustion. Brad especially. He goes to bed before us and gets up after us everyday. And sleeps more in the car. In fact, if you factor in his random disappearances with no warning or explanation, I'd say I spend about five or six hours of waking time each day with Joe but without Brad. I think he might be on a different trip than we are.

Here are some updates:
Mosquito bites received: 0
Mosquitoes slaughtered by me: approx 19

I am a mosquito killing machine. I got tired of them being in our bathroom so one night I went in with one flip flop in hand (if it's just one, is it just the flip or the flop?) and just went to town. It took three separate entries over the course of a night to get all the ones hiding from me, but I got 11 that night alone. Now I'm down to regularly scheduled maintenance—about 2 a day in the bathroom.

Funny things said by Joe:
Well, there was the time when we were sitting with a . . .

Make that 20 mosquitoes.

. . . middle-aged Indian woman travel agent booking a trip to Delhi. Joe, referred to there being a lot of “eye-candy” around. (He was apparently referring to the many billboards around. Yeah right, Joe!)

Joe also freaks out whenever bargaining occurs with a shop vendor. He gets all giggly and runs away even if he is not the one bargaining.

Hmm, what other funny things. We went to a concert yesterday that Vikram's brother Vinay was playing in. This is the Indian punk rock scene which is very tame compared to our punk rock scene—like collared shirts and jeans tame :-). They were very big on no cigarettes at this event, to the point that they had a guy feeling all of our pockets on the way in. So I had my bottom thoroughly groped to prove that I didn't have any. We all did. We couldn't look each other in the eye afterwards. But I did check Brad for cigarettes one more time :-) (I thought he might have been trying to sneak some past.)

Every car in India is a compact car. So when Vikram and his girlfriend Shoba take us out, Joe, Brad, and I sit across this tiny back seat basically on top of one another. Now to be fair, this is only because we fight with Shoba to make her sit in the front. And no one is capable of driving except Vikram, but it's still pretty funny when compared with how much space we are used to in the US. The Elantra, the little car that Brad and I both have, is like a big luxury car here. As Brad asked the other day, what on earth would they do with a hummer?

And eating has been interesting. I've had more pizza in the last four days than in the last four months before that. It seems to be the easiest way to get food that is safe for us (and sometimes we crave it). We have had pepperoni made from both pork and lamb. Brad thinks the lamb kind tastes like dog food. Then again, I thought his chicken salami tasted like dog food so I guess we both ordered correctly. Other than that though, we've had great food. The only thing we really haven't liked is chat. Chat is some sort of snack category. I'll put up a video tomorrow to explain chat to you.

We did have an incredible meal at a really nice hotel yesterday. I'll put up another video explaining the soup, etc.

We got to go to Mahabalipuram yesterday. It was pretty awesome seeing these ancient temple ruins and just trying to imagine how amazing they would have been when they were first finished. Most of the temples and such were carved from a single rock, not put together with mortar or anything.

Here are a few pictures:









On a more serious note, we got to spend the afternoon today at the Home of Hope, a facility for kids and women with AIDS/HIV. Most of the kids (24 of them total, I think) are orphaned due to AIDS and all of them are HIV positive (they have another orphanage for those that test negative). I think the thing that struck me most was how happy and joyful and loving the kids were. From the moment we arrived they began singing us songs and dancing for us and there was continual smiling and laughter. In fact, any time they were told to smile, they didn't just smile, they all laughed until the picture was taken. It's pretty awesome when smiling is audible. They only have a few things, they don't have parents, they have no choice in food beyond what's given to them, they have to take medicine everyday, and they are so full of joy, and so ready to share it with us. How did we get so off track that we have so much and yet, so often no joy overflows to those around us? How did we get to the point where we give our kids so much and they aren't thankful or friendly? Being . . .

Make that 21 Mosquitoes.

. . . I don't remember what I was saying before the mosquito. The kids loved to be on the video too, so I'll put up some clips of that tomorrow too. (I'm really annoyed that I can't get youtube to work right now). You can't imagine how cute these kids are, but I'll put a few pictures of them up as well:








So tomorrow we are going to a museum and maybe a Bollywood movie. Tuesday we'll visit one more Hope Foundation project here and then we're off to Delhi on Wednesday! Hopefully I'll get videos up tomorrow.

Taking Snaps and Pushing Cars

So life definitely moves at a slower pace here. Today was our big start in volunteering and we were gone from the house approximately 3 hours (that includes 1 hour of harrowing driving experience). We showed up at the computer training center to be greeting with handmade flower necklaces and many smiling faces. Then we spent a couple hours trying to explain basic computer skills. We had no curriculum to work from so we just went at it. Brad was teaching typing skills, I was explaining how to set up and use an email account (on gmail), and Joe was explaining income statements in Microsoft Excel--which Brad and I find infinitely funny because it was so far advanced compared to what we were teaching. Joe rocks.

Teaching gmail was fun. Of the 8-10 guys I was teaching, only 1 had an email address or knew how it worked. (Technically the class I was in was the web browsing class) And the other teacher had an email. So I would show them something and the other teacher would translate/reexplain. That's not to say that no one spoke English, but the accents can be a challenging communication barrier. They find our accent as hard to understand as we find theirs. So communication looks something like this:

Brandon: How long have you been with the Hope Foundation?
Paneil: I know Ben. You know Ben?
Joe: No, how long have you been with Hope Foundation?
Paneil: Ben? You know Ben?
Brandon: No.


or

Joe: (as we pass a billboard with a pretty woman advertising fruit juice) She's a big movie star isn't she?
Paneil: No. Orange juice.

or

Brad: How long have these students been studying here?
Paneil: 2. There are 2 of us.

Now this works the other way around as well. The teacher in my class would speak to me so fast in English but I would only catch about one word in ten. Also, I never figured out his name--you can only ask so many times.

Teacher: How mumble mumble noise noise email mumble mumble know mumble mumble picture?
Brandon: (thinking rapidly) They want to know how to attach a picture?

I would then explain how to attach a picture, hoping that's what was asked. Joe also had trouble since Indians will shake their heads to say both yes and no, making closed ended questions quite exciting.

Overall, I think the biggest benefit is us explaining how important computer skills are in getting a good job. Tomorrow we are supposed to spend time teaching them about that rather than the how to of specific programs. And they also will get to keep the snaps (photos) they took of us.

So other than that we tried to go shopping and ran out of gas. Now over here, we get a lot of extra attention not being brown, so imagine how people on these crowded streets reacted when they saw Brad, Joe, and me pushing a car with an Indian driving. And not just a few feet. More like a few blocks. It was midday and we were sweating a lot and people were laughing and pointing and waving at us. It was great! I think Brad took a video of sorts so maybe he'll post it.

And tonight we saw Shrek 3--very Indian. :-) The other thing is that drving in India is a whole other experience. Brad and I have both tried video clips, but it is such a 360 degree experience. I mean, when the people driving past you are actually closer to you than the people sitting next to you--well, it's exciting. And lot's of honking. Joe was trying to count to three without hearing a car horn honking, unsuccessfully. And that was inside the house, not even driving! There are tons of small vehicles, no lane markings, and people on motorcycles, bicycles, and on foot are all over the streets. And most of all, the right-of-way is definitely taken, not given!

Here is one video clip I took today. I'd encourage you to search for India driving on youtube to see some more exciting footage.



Hopefully tomorrow will give us a better idea about a few things. We are starting to get a more definite plan for the coming weeks.

First Day in India or Brad and Joe get eaten by Mosquitos

Well the flights went fine. The stewardess (or stuartist as Leah likes to say) on our first flight somehow knew Brad and Joe were American but thought I was German. Thus she only spoke to me in German even though I never understood her and always responded in English. One time she woke me up and started talking at me, telling me to do something. I tried everything--moving my seat forward, lifting my tray table, etc. She only became more emphatic with her guttural grunts and throaty syllables and began making seat belt motions, which I didn't really understand since my seat belt was on. I finally figured out that she wanted to see that my belt was on since it was under a blanket, but she never figured out that I don't speak German. I think she was confused by my Nordic good looks--blond hair, blue eyes, impeccable fashion sense and all that.

But everything went smoothly. Joe is getting to experience what travelling with Brad is like. Which means that if we see an area that looks like it might be off limits, that's where Brad will go, with no sense of warning or preparing us :-). I think he belongs in India though because no one really seems to care where he goes here.

Vikram has been a very gracious host and is taking great care of us. In some ways everything seems so normal, in others so foreign. Here are a few pictures of the area where we are staying:

These trees with these orange-red flowers are spotted throughout the area and in full bloom. Vikram says they are called Flame of the Forest.


There are some beautiful houses around here. Each one is unique. I took pictures of these two when we went on a walk today.

We also went to this tower in a park nearby and took some pictures from the top.

(I totally didn't know what to do with my right arm in this picture. And I'd like to point out that Brad is wearing a fanny pack.)

One last story: I don't know if it's complete overkill, but after all our reading and doctor appointments and such, we are completely terrified of mosquito bites (theoretically they carry many dangerous diseases like Malaria and Dengue Fever, among others). So of course there are mosquitos all over the bathroom we use. Actually I think there are only two, but they work in tandem, one distracting while the other tries to get a quick bite. They have defied my every attempt to kill them. They are so FAST! So when they have hidden themselves after my initial attack, I have to try to pee. Now let me tell you something: you haven't lived until you have tried to pee while trying to fend off mosquito attacks from every direction. I mean, there I am, waving my arms all over to make them think twice about getting close to me (and you can't just wave in one area--mosquitos love both my ankles and my neck) and trying to pee a little between each ankle protecting swipe. It's both challenging and rewarding. But I haven't gotten one bite (even taking a shower in there) while Brad and Joe have both been bitten--on the ankles while in the bathroom. Maybe I should show (or just teach?) them my method . . .

So tomorrow we are heading out to see some of these non-profit sites where we want to help, so we'll acually get to see the city and such. Here's my last pic of the day:

Another blog option

If anyone is looking for a slightly less interesting and considerably lamer blog concerning this trip to India, you might try indiabrad.blogspot.com. But (thanks Robby) my blog is definitely bigger and better. And bigger.

Here is a recent picture of me and my beautiful family:

My first post

I feel so free, so powerful, so communicative, so UTD. I am a blogger. This is my attempt to communicate and record my India trip experiences. This coming Sunday I will be leaving for India where I will stay for a month with Brad and Joe.

They are both crazy.


I have read about all the diseases and am fairly certain I will contract at least one or two of them. I fully expect that I, as the most cautious of the three, will probably get the most sick. I think that's how my luck usually runs. :-) I plan to keep good records of Brad's radical mood swings and Joe's parrot comments and hard-of-hearing moments. But who knows, I may never post here again!

I guess I'm going on this trip in an attempt to get outside my current life and look at it from the outside--to gain perspective. I think it's going to be an amazing and challenging experience.