And the Adventure Begins

Namaste to you=)

Well, let's begin with the exciting news we received when we reached the airport. British Airways informs our group that if we take their plane we will miss our connecting flight in London to India. So they rescheduled us to fly to Doha with Qatar Airways, which none of us were familiar with, and when we asked what country Doha was in they did not know. FYI, Doba is the capital of Qatar in the Middle East next to Saudi Arabia. After a slight uproar between the parents because of recent terrorist attempts Mom was satisfied when a friend told her that Qatar is filled with American service men and is one of the safest airports. Needless to say, I was excited and was looking forward to this adventure.

Little did we know, this airplane was a Boeing 777 with wonderful service and better amenities than any US or European line that I have ever flown. There was much more leg room, a large screen tv on the back of the seat with over 1,000 movies (bigger than US plane tv screens), ben and jerry's unlimited ice cream, stewardess' that actually cared about what you needed, clean bathrooms, an adorable souvenir purse that says Qatar on it for each seat, and a full set of toiletries. It was fascinating! Not to mention the fact that I had a window seat with no one in the middle for this 13 hour flight. I slept well.

In Qatar we had a 4 hour layover, and so we all went on a mission to buy souvenirs proving that we have been in the Middle East. haha. I found a cute rug patterned pouch with Qatar written on one side, and a map showing where Qatar actually sits in the Middle East. It was a very clean airport, but it was awesome looking from my airplane window at the piles of sand everywhere and the walled-in communities with red and yellow lights shining in every direction. We got on the next plane for Delhi, which was just as nice, and got in around 3am (two days after the day we left). We then stood in line for customs for about an hour and half. This is when we started to feel the lack of sleep and were a tad grumpy, but over all we were just excited to finally be in India.

When we walked outside we could barely see anything or breathe well through the thick hazy fog. We got on a bus to take us to the Rai Foundation, and had an hour drive on the bumpiest road that I have ever seen. Delhi is very dirty and dusty, and there is unfinished construction projects everywhere. There are the occasional architecturally beautiful buildings, but it is not what you think of when you imagine a capital city. There are not sky scrapers, but there are old run down buildings all attached to each other with open roofs, where the children play. It feels like we have been pushed back to the past and it doesn't feel like we are living in the 21st century here at all. It is very sad, but eye opening. What I saw in Thailand does not even come close in comparison with what I am seeing here. I will try to attach pictures on here soon.

This morning after we got back I could not sleep like everyone else who slept until 1 in the afternoon, so I went on a walk around grounds and found animals that were a cross between a squirrel and a chipmunk everywhere outside playing in the dirt. They were cute, but of course I only got a few pictures and then went back into the building (just saying Mom, so that you don't get upset that I was outside alone... lol).

After lunch (which was INCREDIBLY spicy chicken), we went on a bus tour of Delhi and we saw the Parliament building, which was one of the only beautiful things that I have seen here yet aesthetically speaking. However, the people and the culture here is beautiful to me from what I have seen so far. The women dressed in bright Sari's and Punjabi suits caring their babies and children through the streets to find food in the market, the men working hard to sell their products on the streets to support their family, and the children that are carefree and running around smiling. Even though there is incredible poverty, the people continue on their daily lives and make due with what they have. It is a beautiful thing. We then went to a fabric store, where I bought a blanket for my bed (because it only has one blanket and no sheets and it gets to 40 degrees outside and is cold), I bought a towel (because the ones here are not very sanitary looking, and a new Indian shirt as the first addition to my Indian garb I will be sporting here shortly.

I am trying to see everything in a positive light (which most of you know is hard for me to do sometimes.. lol), but I am running on very little sleep and there have been many little things that just have not been going right. At first I realized I had the wrong kind of adapter that would not charge my computer, then we thought that there was no internet because it was not working and they could not fix it, the beds are basically a bit on cloth on top of a wood panel, the rooms are very dirty with bugs everywhere, corroding walls, and layers of dust on the furniture, and the walls are so thin you can here every word spoken by any person within a mile, every car that passes by, and for some reason there are alarms nearby that constantly go off. This morning, instead of sleeping, we were cleaning and trying to straiten the room the best we could. I was close to crying, and as I heard my roommate say "I wish I stayed home," I finally turned toward God to give me the strength to continue. I opened My Utmost for His Highest, and of course as always, it confronted me with my selfish behavior. This morning I was wanting to have everything go my way because that was what I was expecting. God really challenged me just by the title of the devotion for today (Dec 29) "Deserter or Disciple" with reference to John 6:66. It reminded me that God told me His will for me, which was the original reason for me coming to India, and every time I complain I am taking a step away from doing God's will for me, which takes away even more joy from my life. I realized that I am choosing to not accept God's plan and His timing when I complain for a different way. So I am embracing what I thought was just an educational tour as a step on God's Mission field, where I know there will be rough conditions that will alter my view of what is best for myself.

So, After this time with God, I then read it to my roommate, Mariam, who is a first year in my Chi Alpha sister core group. We then talked about it and decided to claim this trip for the Lord and not for ourselves. It seems to be working =)

ok, well I am exhausted. I love and miss you all and I hope that you have a wonderful New Years Eve if I can't write you before then.

Love,

Christy