thanksgiving

just a little different

the frank flat, malviya nagar

I have to say, it was difficult to be away from home on Thanksgiving this year. I skipped one or two Thanksgivings in college, when I was 'too stressed out with a project' to leave Austin or something else equally delusional. I heard a sermon not too long ago about how missionaries submit to a life of fasting: fasting from family, friends, home, comfort, etc. I think missing this holiday with my family was the first time I felt I could identify with how they must feel. Even at other times, when I have missed family or friends or some daily comforts of American life, God has given me comfort and reminded me that I am here for such a short time to serve, enjoy and grow. On Thursday, preparing for the meal, it really hit me: if it's this hard for me to miss one holiday, how hard must it be for missionaries around the world to miss all holidays, all family gatherings, all year long for an indefinite amount of years? A new conviction and respect for their commitment to God's call has taken root in my heart.

so many taters I needed two pots

we got to use ryan + dannah's kitchen
it was a treat!!

we lost power for most of the morning
luckily we had one outlet working on the inverter
ps - apparently I look like toddler when I cook?

alyssa, however, looks like a proper southern belle

the okra was SO good

this is how we transported the goods

Anyhow, having said that, Thanksgiving in India was a really special and different experience that I will always remember fondly. The Koenigers and the Coffeys were out of town, but the Franks graciously hosted the rest of us at their home for a potluck-style dinner! It was Jonathan's first Thanksgiving so I felt the pressure was on! I decided to make homemade, roasted-garlic mashed potatoes. David made a chocolate lover's cheesecake, Christine made pumpkin cookies and scones, Alyssa made applecrisp and fried okra (bindi), Huberth brought a Buffalo dish and the Franks had fruit salad, green beans, canned cranberry something and ordered a tandoori chicken! It was truly an impressive spread. Oh, also, the Franks made a super-delicious cider that I still need to get the recipe for! It was awesome. 

our beautiful collection of Thanksgiving dishes

24 and still at the kids' table

hudson looks excited for sweets!

everyone just hangin' out

After we ate, we watched both Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials and Elf! During the second Charlie Brown film, my full tummy got the best of me. For those of you who know me well, you will be able to imagine what followed. My head started bobbing in all directions (I even accidentally head-butted Hudson once) until it finally came to rest on the back of the couch for a solid 30-minute nap. Oops. 

watching our shows
everett has the best seat in the house

christine gave everett a turban...

so priya needed one, too

It was so special for me to really get back to the story of the pilgrims. We had devotions about thankfulness in the three days surrounding Thanksgiving and in preparing for mine, I went back and read the pilgrims' story with new eyes. What trials they faced, beginning in the fear for their lives in England, during their long, hard journey in insufferably close quarters on the Mayflower, and finally in the disease and death that greeted them in the New World. These Plymouth Pilgrims went through so much in following what they knew God had put on their hearts to do and they made the decision daily to remain faithful. Putting myself in their position, I think I would have majorly questioned if I was truly following God's will. How could I be if all these hardships and death were befalling the mission? But the pilgrims' faith did not waiver.

My dear friend Blair gave me a great book called The Valley of Vision filled with puritan prayers and I especially enjoyed reading it with this knowledge fresh in my mind. 

Praise and Thanksgiving

O my god, 

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,

my heart admires, adores, loves thee,

for my little vessel is as full as it can be, 

and I would pour out all that fullness before thee 

in ceaseless flow.

When I think upon and converse with thee

ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,

ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,

ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,

crowding into every moment of happiness. 

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created, 

for adorning it, sanctifying it, 

 though it is fixed in barren soil;

for the body thou hast given me,

for preserving its strength and vigour,

for providing senses to enjoy delights,

for the ease and freedom of my limbs,

for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;

for they royal bounty providing my daily support,

for a full table and overflowing cup,

for apetite, taste, sweetness,

for the social joys of relatives and friends,

for the ability to serve others,

for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,

for a mind to care for my fellow-men,

for the opportunities of spreading happiness around,

for loved ones in the joys of heaven,

for my own expectation of seeing these things clearly.

I love thee above the powers of language to express,

for thou art to thy creatures.

Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.

Revisiting the story with new eyes was so encouraging and convicting for me. The pilgrims followed God's call on their lives with joy, thanksgiving and devotion that is inspiring. They wrote this and many beautiful prayers of thanks and love even after all that they endured: they maintained a spirit of thankfulness in all things. Through their hardship and struggle I wonder if they ever could have imagined that God was using them to found a nation that would one day be as strong as the United States is today. I definitely wonder if they would be proud of where our nation is now or fearful for us, but that is another blogpost altogether. 

I am so thankful for each of the blessings God has and continues to pour out upon me, but especially for the people He has put in my life and on my heart: for friends whose love I can feel from miles away and for family who I love so much that it hurts to be so far separated. 

weekend getaway

breath of fresh air

mussoorie, uttarakhand

(a touch overdue... 19-21 October)

A few weeks ago... well, a month ago actually, my friend Christine and I decided to take a weekend trip to a small town at the foot of the Himalayas called Mussoorie. I needed a break from the heat of Delhi, and Christine having just returned from a cooler place was excited to get to visit a friend at the Himalayan Torchbearers! We were unable to get train tickets on the way there, but our friends Jonathan and Huberth assured us that it was 'so easy and cheap' to take a bus. I was excited to get two of the last seats on the overnight bus. When I told Huberth what I had accomplished with pride, he asked as if in disbelief, "you're going to take a BUS?! Are you sure?!" I reminded him that he said it would be a great idea, then he assured me we would be fine. Well, we were fine but it was... not ideal. It was freezing, super bumpy and the two young lovebirds sitting in front of us reclined their seats into our laps in order to better canoodle. No joke, neither of us could move our legs. Picture a charter bus... but 8 inches less legroom. However, the bus did it's job and at 8 am... we were in beautiful Mussoorie!!

our getaway spot!

doma's inn

Some friends of eMi2 helped us find a place to stay before we came, so one of them met us at the bus drop off and led us up the hill to our place! His name was Raju and he was so easy-going and wonderful, all my grumpiness from a rough night just melted as we climbed. Not to mention the beauty surrounding us. It's hard to feel anything but awestruck when you're surrounded on all sides by the beauty of creation. 

okay, this was taken through a window
but I had to capture the way the sun set over
the mountain tops hits the other mountaintops

so beautiful

mussoorie reminded me of tuscany
...but different

sunset

mussoorie only grows in beauty as
the sun sets and disappears

We settled in a bit and had some breakfast and then hiked up even further. We went with purpose, actually besides just the Himalyan Torchbearers. eMi2's office was located in Mussoorie for the past 14 years before they relocated to Delhi one year ago. We have heard SO many stories of Mussoorie and its wonders and wanted to see for ourselves. Our director, Matthew, sent us to Oaklands (the old building) with a mission. First and foremost: bring back homemade peanut butter. Also, we were supposed to pretend like we were looking for the eMi2 office and see what the new residents of Oaklands would say. We did so, and after they politely told us eMi2 was now in Delhi, they started asking lots of questions... like what brings us to India.. which is eMi... so we were kind of stuck and got out of there as soon as possible. The new tenants are teachers for a local Christian school called Woodstock, which has been there for a very long time. 

I can't imagine what it would have
been like to call this place home

the opposite pillar used to hold an emi2 sign
which is now in our delhi office

In fact, when we attended church on Sunday, there were a ton of older folks who were having a reunion: the Woodstock Class of '63! It was wonderful to get to chat with them after the service and hear some of their stories. 

the silver-haired woodstock class of '63

sweet little St. Paul's church

All in all, Mussoorie was a pretty quiet place and because we only stayed one night we really didn't get to explore it in-depth. But it was a much-needed escape from the smoggy, loud chaos that is New Delhi. 

moti

Confession: I have been repulsed by dogs since arriving in Delhi. Never in the past 4 months have I felt the desire to touch, pet, embrace or even look kindly upon a dog. Street dogs are dirty, loud and to be honest, sort of scare me. Living on the streets can harden a dog - I don't even know what they're capable of. Then, in Mussoorie, I met this dog, Moti. Moti means pearl in hindi and indeed Moti was as delightful a suprise as finding a pearl in an oyster. He is the first and only street dog who has penetrated my cold heart. He came and sat at my feet and just looked around like he had decided he would protect me and give me company for as long as I would allow. I loved him and I wanted to bring him home. Engulfed in the moment, I even reached out and touched his sweet, soft ears for a minute. Then I sanitized. I haven't completely lost my mind.

the himalayan torchbearers' school
pretty sweet!

day in the life

it's pretty normal, y'all

malviya nagar, south delhi

It has, once again, been a loooong time since my last post. I think part of the reason why I have been struggling with motivation as of late, is that my days really do feel normal at this point. 

I live in a great little neighborhood called Malviya Nagar in South Delhi. 

From my front door it takes me about 5 minutes to walk to the park, 15 to the Malviya Nagar metro stop, and about 20 to get to the post office, which is about the end of the neighborhood. We are within a 50 rupee auto ride to most important places around the whole of Delhi - though we almost never pay that little. The metro is even better, it only costs about 17 rupees to get as far as Old Delhi. 

My normal day consists of waking up, running (sometimes), eating, reading, getting ready for work and then walking out my front door, down my front steps and into our office which is in the basement. There is actually an interior staircase that leads from our flat directly to the office but it has been closed off to encourage 'healthy boundaries.' 

We have devotion at 8:30 until usually about 9:15 and then we start working! If I don't have any errands to run that day, I stay in the basement from 8:30 until about 5:30 and then walk back up my stairs to my home. The day-to-day is probably less eventful than the life I will lead when I get back to Dallas! 

(Not to downplay in any way how much fun we have or how much I love being here, 

just to paint you a picture of how things usually work!)

We do a good job of thinking up errands to run and getting out of the flat every day. Running has also been a really wonderful addition to life here. I think I have briefly mentioned the park situation here. It is absolutely beautiful and especially early in the morning - the weather is fantastic and it draws out a specific crowd. The park people are focused on fitness and are unafraid to look silly in the process! It is so liberating because sometimes when I run, I get caught up in the music (I have to or else I will never make it through) which leads to some wiggly running, twirling or even brief dance breaks. Don't get me wrong, I never full-out stop running to bust a move, but every now and then I just need to put my hands up or to some head bobs... especially when Jay-Z tells me it's 'on to the next.' He's got a million ways to get it, y'all... choose one. 

Anyways, the park people are comfortable in their own skin and I just know deep down, they're glad that I can be, too. If I were bolder and had brown hair, I would let myself do what I really want to do: join them for group yoga or group laughing. There's no way I could infiltrate the group without calling some attention.

There were a couple of weeks when almost all of the staff and other interns and my roommate Amy and upstairs neighbors were all out of town. It was restful but lonely. Culture shock started setting in about this same time and I was making some tough decisions about the future after India... I was a bit of a mess, really. I started realizing at this time, too, that it can be pretty tough to be cheerful in India. Especially when I was alone, I felt like I needed to be extra hard. I would walk from place to place, errand to errand with my very best don't-mess-with-me face on. I didn't want anyone to see me smiling and think I was nuts, promiscuous or dumb enough to fall for anything. What I started to realize is that I was starting to feel on the inside the way I was trying to look on the outside. It's easier in a group or with another person. I don't feel like I have to be quite so on-guard. But going to work and not talking to anyone except for lunch with Jonathan and then walking to the home I was taking care of with my mean mug and not talking to anyone again all evening was rough. 

The running in the mornings or even evenings totally saved my mood. Not to mention, since then I have reevaluated my place in India. I have gotten over trying to fit in - anyone could have told me that would never happened. I have what my mom calls 'porcelain' skin and blonde hair and eyebrows. I'm also at least a head taller than most Indian women... and men. It's just never going to happen. So I'm done trying and I'm done mean-mugging... unless a man tries to take my picture. Then I just give him a death stare and tell him NO PHOTO. But I'm walking around now with a song in my heart and a slight smile on my lips. And you know what, sometimes I even sing. It's so loud on the streets with all the honking.. I'm fairly certain no one can hear me. And if they do, lucky them!

I have gotten to run in some really great places in Delhi and see some really cool and strange things. My roommate, Christine and I signed up a while ago for a 10k in Gurgaon on December 1st. I think that may have been a bit premature but I'm excited even if I have to walk it! Our roommate Amy is running the half marathon - go Amy!! (My training has slowed a touch because with the cooler weather, Delhi has become a smoky, smoggy mess) 

I just thought I'd share some of the things I've encountered while working on my fitness!

our park

a beautiful scene, complete with wild boar

all I can think of is how delicious he would be

I think it's a buffalo- totally edible

pick up cricket

the 6:30 am yoga meeting I've been casing

do you see the men on top of begumpur mosque?
and more boar/cingale

I sometimes just do neighborhood runs
also scenic

lodi garden

more lodi garden

a slightly more formal scene
but still recreational laughers

love it there