day-to-day life

settling in india

the team before leaving Colorado Springs

It's hard to believe that we have been in India now for over a week! On the second leg of our journey from Denver to Newark, I started to get really sick with flu-like symptoms and am now finally feeling like my healthy self here. We are finally over jet lag (well, almost) and thanks to a neighborhood scavenger hunt yesterday, we are learning our surroundings and settling in pretty well.

our building

Things are different here in almost every way you could imagine, from our drinking water, to our daily interactions, to our living arrangements!

the little kitchen in our flat

david hanging in our dining room

I'll start by describing our flat. I love it. The building is a charming three-story, red brick flat with wrought-iron balcony railings and gate. Our flat has three bedrooms: one shared by Alyssa, Amy and I, one for Christine and one for project volunteers who visit briefly! When we arrived I was so excited to see that each room was painted a bright, vibrant color! The main room a rich, warm yellow, our room a deep, royal blue and Christine's an unfortunately offensive powdery green. Unfortunately, we will be repainting all of the rooms in our free time this term. Which, I was initially disappointed about but I think they are going to look really nice once we are finished. Even though I love the colors now, there are many signs of age that could stand to be covered. It's a great space and I already love it. 

david and alyssa

girls shared bedroom (before settling in)

It's different from anywhere I've lived, though. We have marble floors which are prone to becoming clammy after a shower or in the heat of the day. Each room has at least one fan, as we have no central air conditioning. Our bedroom has a window unit - which is a HUGE perk and blessing! I even got chilly in my sleep two nights ago which was a delight! It has suprised me how quickly I have adapted to the constant sweating and constant stickiness, even often times indoors. The weather, however, is starting to turn - we can tell already - and though it's still very warm and muggy, we are starting to get some sporadic cool breezes that hint of the cool fall that promises to come around October. By the way mom and dad, I apologize for complaining about keeping our house at 76 degrees this summer - I didn't know what I was saying.

everyone at work in our office

The water and electricity are much different here, as well. It makes a lot more sense to me from a cost and sustainability standpoint than our systems in America. All electrical outlets have a switch so when not in use can be completely turned off so that no currents continue whatsoever. We also turn on a water heater in our bathroom about 15 minutes before we need to take a shower and turn it off thereafter. Other than that, the water is not heated which I'm sure saves a ton of power and I really haven't noticed any difference in shower experience or convenience.

our new vegwala

We also must filter all the water that we drink, so we have a purifier above our sink in the kitchen. We use the hose that comes from it to fill a huge container that sits on our counter. We also fill four smaller containers and keep them in the fridge for cold water. Again, another thing that seemed like it would be a hassle but just really doesn't make a difference in day-to-day life. I decided to go ahead and try to brush my teeth with tap water and so far so good - no sickness yet! The only time the water issue is a hassle is that we have to wash all of our produce in potassium permanganate... which is poison. So that's a bummer. But if you rinse it in filtered water, it's no biggie.

lunch comes to the office every day from the tiffinwala (each silver container in
the tiffin holds a different component: chapati, rice, daal, veg)

I bought lemons and ginger root from the veggiewala earlier this week and made a ginger lemon honey drink for Alyssa and my sore throats and everyone's tummies. This is a drink that my Aunt Nita taught me to make last time I was in Delhi and it has remained one of my favorites ever since! We also have been enjoying mangoes as much as we can before they go out of season - which I think is about now. The mangoes are huge and so delicious.

in an autorickshaw... on the highway...

Another thing that has become a part of everyday life is haggling with vendors, autowalas, everyone you meet. Blonde hair and fair skin makes me and my friends targets for the nationals to charge a 'white man tax.' Even though we are becoming more aware of fair rates and prices, it can be so discouraging to be taken advantage of at every turn. Luckily, we have found a few fixed-price grocery shops for those days when we just want to buy something without discussion. I am so thankful for my Aunt Nita being my introductory teacher to market haggling on my last visit. We went to the central market at Lajpat Nagar yesterday and I recognized instantly that I had been there with her in 2010! It was such a comfort. I am reminded of my family and that trip so often each day. It makes me feel close to them and miss them and be so thankful for that time we had together. 

spotted a mouse during a morning session

huberth got it.

Just as He did two and a half years ago, God is using India to open my eyes and wake me out of the Western dream that I unwittingly settle into so much more easily than I would like. He shows me at each turn the gifts and blessings I have been given and how huge a disparity there is between my lifestyle and the majority of the world. It has been a confusing process to get acclimated alongside my friends who are here for the first time. I have noticed that the extreme poverty is not as impacting and heart-breaking as it was to me on my first trip: as though I have put up a wall so that I would not have to feel as deeply as I did the despair that surrounds me here. I am just praying that God knocks down that wall and gives me back a breakable heart. I don't want to walk around numb to the pain around me - I don't want to be destroyed by it but I want to be shaken by it so that I never forget and never stop feeling for these lost people. I know God called me back here and I want to be used for His fullest while I am here - not just used the amount that my cautious heart would allow.