day five.

the town is still yet to get used to us apparently.. the great picture war is still going on.. but today these chicks were gettin funny with it.. there was a glass wall between our group and a group of college girls.. and they were trying so hard to be inconspicuous with it.. you know, like, "hey (insert indian lady name here)! let me get a picture of you!" and then they position themselves in front of us and then they move when they actually take a picture.. yah.. but as they do this for yet another 4th time, i just turn my head and cheese hard for that picture.. and this girl was so shocked.. hahaha.. but we shared a good jolly laugh together.. through the glass wall..

***

alright.. now.. we have been hearing this one particular indian song EVERYDAY.. it must be a very popular one.. well, of course i can't make out the words, but i know the tune so well i can't help but sing it.. and i feel it must not be in english.. it has to be another language.. well, i know a little spanish.. Jesus te ama.. so there i was singing spanish to this popular indian song.. ALL the time..

and it occurs to me as i'm singing Jesus Te Ama, that NO ONE here knows spanish!! if anything, they might know some english.. so i drop that song and pick up with 'Jesus Loves Me'.. and as i'm ever so cheerfully singing this, 2 guys ride by on a bike and start singing along!!! yes!!! they know Jesus Loves Me!!! and sang in unison with us the whole song.. until their bike pedaled their voices away..

how cool is that??

i'm thinking they were some angels, yall..

God is everywhere. no doubt.. people just need to look around a little bit..

((this was the ONLY dumpster in the WHOLE town where the trash was actually IN the dumpster))

day four.

oh man.. one of our girls got sick.. like reeeeeeeeal sick.. so we spent a lot of time with her at the hospital.. we thought she'd enjoy our company.. but i don't think i was very helpful.. i just kept telling her to get up.. and just leave..

i thought she was fakin it.. so..

(she wasn't.. she was actually very ill.. but she's good now!!!!!!)

***

oh man. they have chicken lolly pops here.. how cool is that!!! yes, like chicken sucker looking things.. soooo good.. and they sell cups of corn!!! like where in america, you would see a maggie moos selling cups of ice cream or people walking around with an auntie anns pretzel.. nope, here, it is a cup of corn.. 

((and i took it upon myself to quote one of the all-time greatest movies ever, NACHO LIBRE.. and yelled across the mall, "hey!! hey!! save me some of that corn for later!!!".. not thinking the guy would actually hear me and save me some corn.. but when we went up the escalator, the little corn guy was yelling "hey! don't you want your corn?!!"..))

my snaps..

***

its still weird over here.. like, the ways you would normally show the love of Christ, would just send a totally different message here.. like talking to people of all ranks, would show that you are disrespectful..  :(   and smiling at people would show that you are just apparently a little promiscuous.. and hugging would send the same message..

so, i was out of ammo for a little while.. those were my best love tools.. 

((on a side note, i believe that eventually people just realized i was american and that was the way we love and respect people, so i feel that ultimately they knew i was showing them something new and something real..))

day three.

man.. the people here in india, and well, americans too, just do not get what a christian is.. and i must admit, its because we have skewed the image.. they don't get christianity as a different religion.. ugh.. religion.. i don't even consider it even a religion.. it's a relationship.. but people see it as dropping things, habits.. setting your 'life' aside, taking it easy.. but where the heck does God say that?? we are supposed to be taking risks!! there is a REAL war going on here.. and God wants us to be fighting in it. front line.. we are to be the wildest of them all.. adventurous.. not sitting back, hiding.. not doing all we can to try and "earn grace".. (oxymoron!!) maybe we should clarify that following Christ is not church every sunday, bible at five o'clock every morning, but putting your life at risk and fighting for Christ.. loving.. and SHOW them real christianity..

just sayin..

day two.

so today we met up with a guy that lives there in Pune and has dedicated his life to the Lord and to the people of Pune.. he gave us a run-down of the culture and things to expect and whatnot.. and we all shared our testimonies.. and that was just such a blessing.. it was nice to hear everyone's story.. it was just crazy encouraging.. these people in my group all had a sincere and wonderful heart.. and i was more than glad to be a part of it..

and while we are sharing our testimonies, one of our mentor man's friends comes in.. abishek.. he was in college there in Pune and he shared his testimony of how he came to accept Christ.. awesome.

and he prayed for us.. and it was honestly one of the most beautiful things i've ever heard.. having a thick indian accent, praying to the one TRUE God, instead of the 36 million others, was so refreshing.. 

***

oh.. and as if not talking to everybody wasn't hard enough on me, guess what else i couldn't do?? SMILE. what the heck?!! of course, if a girl caught it, well that would be alright.. but i could not smile to everyone.. 

see, we are walking along and i guess i was just cheesing it up.. ((cause i'm in india, duh..)) and mentor man was like 'oooh.. look, you might not want to keep smiling at these boys.. cause you're sending out a tooootally different message than what you're probably trying to send..'

really?? yeah.. so, that was absolutely hard to control.. ((i'm going to say all in all i failed in this not smiling area.. i couldn't help it.. sorry indian boys, i was just trying to say 'hey, i notice your presence' via smile..))

***

and today was our first day 'out' really.. we were off to meet college students!!! :)

we would just bop up into college hangouts (i.e. coffee shops, movies, malls, and whatnot..) and meet people.. cool, huh?? ((fyi, this is how i've ALWAYS wished people meeting/friend making was..)) so we would literally sit down at someone's table and just start talking.. these people are SO friendly.. i mean, it was not weird in the slightest that we just plopped down at their table and started conversation.. and seriously, after 5 mins of talking, we would exchange numbers and hang out later.. and they thought it not creepy at all.. ((like most americans would))

so yeah, definitely diggin their friendship customs waaaaaay more..

***

oh man..

we were walking out of the mall, and the beggar children always run up to us ((b/c we're white)) and beg for money.. ((but we don't give money, because that would only go to their like gangster owner.. so we just give them food and water or clothes and stuff like that..)) well, my crew had managed to zip through the herd of little kids.. and i was stuck behind.. and had nothing on me at all to begin with.. but this one little girl.. oh this little girl.. she grabs me.. tight.. and is pushing me backwards.. ((yes, she had a super strength)) and man.. you could just feel these bad spirits.. my body instantly turned stone cold.. this girl was chanting the most evil things.. and you could really feel and see the demons.. it was so sad.. and it was so weird.. you see God's creation and you see demons all in this beautiful little girl..

so. here we go. day one.

well we get out and about the streets of india!! we first go to the indian gate.. apparently a huge landmark and need-to-see of the indian people.. but when walk up to check it out, we quickly became the attraction.. 

people were running up to us and taking pictures of us.. and then they would ask to take pictures with us.. how crazy is that?!?! we were total celebrities.. for once in my life, i was excited to be white.. they loved us.. and the rest of the group was getting a little tired of this 'paparazzi'.. but man, i was loving it.. they were so pumped up about seeing an american.. i couldn't let them down by being too proud to take some pictures with em..   ;)

***

a lady blew me a kiss.. and it actually wasn't that creepy to me.. well, i thought it was the norm, since girls only talk to girls.. but later i learn that that was not a common way of saying hey.. but, oh well.. 

***

and i met snoop dog. ((yeah, the guy finds out we were from america, and well, that's all they know about us.. snoop dog)) and as he introduces himself as such, and i question the sincerety of his claiming to be snoop.. he says 'oh yeah!', while busting an air guitar move.. ((didn't know snoop played guitar like a rocker.. haha..)) 

and then he invites me to come back and take over his business of selling maps.. i politely declined..  

friendly people

((oh and if you're confused about my earlier comment on the no boy/girl talking, boys can talk to girls if it involves business.. and you can talk, of course, if you are a little rebellious to your culture.. duh..))

***

oh man.. i LOVED this!! we were just hanging out.. and this dude walks up to one of the guys in our group and was like 'dude, you have something in your ear'.. so he brushes his ear off.. and the guy was like "i'll get it".. and this kid starts CLEANING HIS EAR.. what?!?!! yes.. we were laughing SO hard.. i mean, this little kid breaks out a fanny-pack full of ear-cleaning utensils and just goes to town on my friends ears.. 

and then he wanted him to pay..

***

oh man.. you have to straight make your shower.. well, really you just turn on a geyser.. ((spelling??)) and well, first night.. i kinda break it.. ((sorry emily turner..)) and as i'm taking this FREEZING cold shower, i just have to chant consistently "i love the lord.. i love the lord.. i love the lord!!!!" reminding myself why i was there.. fun times.. really.

***

oh man.. and PRAISE the LORD there was mcdonalds.. ((lame, i know..)) and it is waaaaay better than ours.. just sayin.. everything is just a tad spicier and the ketchup just a bit sweeter and in india, mustard=HONEY MUSTARD!! could this place be ANY more beautiful??!!! i don't think so.. oh but it was..

and cool tid-bit.. you automatically get coke.. no choice.. you have to get it.. AND if your food isn't served in LESS than a MINUTE, you get a coke for free.. i know.. i know.. amazing..

***

and for supper, we went to a top of the line indian restaurant.. so im trying out this whole indian food thing.. fun.. very fun.. ((and indian food is absolutely delicious, by the way)) but the first thing i tried clogged every artery i ever had in just one bite.. it was saltier than salt.. intense.. but everything was sooooo good!! 

***

oh. and i accept candy from strangers.. so what?? ((turns out, it was a hindu blessingish thing.. but hey, we didn't know.. and we have Jesus.. so no biggie..)) but definitely won't be doing that for a while.. good candy though.. 

arriving into INDIA!!

so. i made it to india. and i just could not believe i was actually there. but, i guess i really was.

we landed in bombay and had a hired driver drive us to Pune, which is the town we would be staying at. and anyway, our driver was a dude. and they DO NOT speak to girls. DO NOT! for india is basically a male dominating country. and women are valued less than cows. yeah. antyways, it kinda hurt me. i mean, i was in INDIA!! i wanted to make a million indian friends! i didn't care if you were boy, girl, 5, or 80. i wanted to be your friend. but no, we can't talk to guys and they can't talk to us. and God made Eve for a purpose, you know. and it was not to be quiet and disrespected by guys. i'm pretty sure.

STILLLLLL on the plane!!! 15 hours later..

ok, well.. here i go again, thinking i'm some sort of poet/songwriter/something of that effect.. (toooootally not, by the way) but when i sit on my swing, i just bust a little rap, or dish out a little folk tune.. ((hate to admit to all this, but this must be prefaced to show how God will let your little dreams come true..)) 

but here's a little "verse", if you will..

i want to be at the bottom of the cloud,

that's ready to pour out and flood this town

of the hearts that have dried up and broken apart

from lack of fulfillment and loss of their God

and as i'm piercing through the clouds (via airplane), God kinda nudges me and says, 

well, you're at the bottom of the clouds.. are you ready?? to pour out my love and flood this town?? and to quench the dried hearts in my name?? that i may mold them back into the likeness of me??

wow. that's what i was like. wow. 

He loves me, don't He??