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

the trip

sarah's covenant homes

eMi2 project 8211

Our project trip took us 30 hours by train to the south of India. eMi's newly appointed CEO, John Dallman, flew into New Delhi and rode down on the train with Graham (our project leader), Christine (eMi2 long-term graphic design volunteer), David (engineering intern) and myself. It was a fun ride for the most part and went by quickly. When we first found our seats, we were all separated and language (or perhaps stubbornness) prevented anyone from switching seats with us. We accepted our fate and settled in, and then I just decided I would give it a try and speak to the men myself. To our surprise, a sweet older man switched with me right away and so Christine and I were able to have the two slightly separate seats near the window. It was so nice because we could draw the curtains to avoid unwelcome stares, of which there was no shortage. We read and talked and I stitched, and we drank lots and lots of chai with buscuits.

my cozy little train home

delicious egg biryani on the train

Before I knew it, 24 hours had passed and we were in Hyderabad...

We arrived at our guest house in the evening and our two volunteers were already there waiting for us! Nick is an engineer from Florida and he would be helping with the surveying and civil planning for our site. Mark is an architect also from Florida and he would be the chief of our design partnership for the duration of our trip until he handed over the reigns to me to finish our report. They are both wonderful and it was great to share a late dinner at the guest house and begin to get to know one another. The next day, we explored and took an auto into town. We visited the Charminar (four minarets). Once up inside, I was taken back to my time in Italy. The view was incredible and there were winding alleys radiating from the central Charminar. Just like Italy, but completely different.

the charminar

our CEO, John!
it was an honor to be on his first (of many) eMi project trips

We walked around the market just a bit and looked around. There were really interesting things being sold that I had never seen in the north. On one road, it was like a sidewalk, antique-junk fair. After we visited some pearl shops (Hyderabad is famous for its pearls) we went to our final and most exciting destination: lunch. Hyderabad is also famous for a dish called Biryani. Biryani is served all over India but originated in Hyderabad. So, we went to the best restaurant for Biryani in Hyderabad - in essence, we had the best Biryani in the world. It was delicious.

cool flea-market-esque things on the street

this guy I think wins coolest stuff on the block...
and best sneaky attitude

autos are painted differently in different regions of India!

just walking around getting everyone
acclimated to the hustle and bustle of India!

Then, it was time to head for Ongole to get to work! A 6-hour train ride and we were there!

the whole team ready to get goin'

Very early in the morning: 5:50 am to be exact. Some men from the ministry picked us up and took us to the flat we would be staying in for the next week. I have to be honest, the town and the accommodations were not quite what I was used to. The first night sleeping on my cot, I was mauled by ants and mosquitoes. I was a little nervous about how the week was going to turn out, but after getting settled in and learning to spray on the repellent before bed things started looking up!

Ongole was pretty different from the home we were used to in Delhi. Because it is smaller and more remote, it's far more conservative and I think it sees fewer white folks. 

Anyways, we had a devotion and then had about an hour to regroup and settle before we would go tour the existing facilities. Here I am regrouping... on a pile of towels:

oopsies

After we were refreshed, we began getting to know the people of SCH, mainly Eric, and touring the existing facilities. Mark and I took measurements of the facilities and observed the current organization, construction methods, and programmatic needs. The engineers observed the current systems (water and waste). 

After that, it was time to go to our site! It's about 15-20 minutes outside of town. Ongole is apparently growing rather quickly. There is a gigantic, brand-new engineering college across the street from our site, there are development plans for two of our adjacent lots and land prices are skyrocketing. It was excited to see the land as a blank slate, but over the course of the week, I realized that there is no such thing as a blank slate. Our site presents many challenges in many areas. As my watercolor teacher Gouranga always says, "we are never free." 

There is one building already going up on the site. It will be the headquarters for the parent ministry, India Christian Ministries. The vision is for the site to one day include a bible college, school, SCH facility and maybe even residential space. 

ICM building

We explored the building and the surrounding area and had the opportunity to ask someone from ICM who was with us tons of questions about the ministry, the vision, the site, etc. We looked around from the roof of this building and right as we were getting ready to walk our 11-acre site, it began to rain. We sought shelter for a few minutes while it passed.. .and then we walked the muddy, muddy site. 

crazy props to Christine Gerhart for this epic project team photo

We were a mess by the end of our exploration and so several of the guys from the ministry helped us clean our shoes before piling back into the car. It was a really moving way for them to serve us. Especially because shoes are kind of offensive in India.

david most likely said something funny
that david

So now we had the basis to begin our work. The engineers would spend the next few days in the field to survey and determine fixed boundaries, topography and to do perc tests for the soil. When I thought I was hot, I remembered that they were outside all day and stopped whining to myself. 

As for Mark and I, it was to the drawing boards to start laying out and programming the facility. Mark has a lot of work and life experience and coming straight from school, it was nice to be on a team with someone who was such a bank of knowledge. We worked sometimes in the ICM office and sometimes in the flat where we were staying. We were drawing mostly by hand in the beginning and then shifted more to the computer towards the end of the week. It was challenging to work in Ongole because there are scheduled power outages twice a day, though they are not always at exactly the same time every day. One from about 9 am to 11:30 am and then again from 3:30 pm to 5 pm. They were often longer than this. Because Ongole is more conservative, if we left the flat we had to wear kurtas and pants complete with dupattas (long shirt, big pants, and scarf). Ongole was around 93 F average while we were there - even hotter than Delhi! This made working throughout the day with no fans a bit of a challenge.

hard at work

I love Mark's sketches

Anyhow, we worked days and nights taking breaks to eat and to have meetings every now and then with Eric and Tisrah (sch) and James (founder of icm). It was great to get frequent input from them and really have a dialogue about the project, the needs and the design.

meeting with James + Eric one night

we worked late... but we had cake

One night after a particularly long day, I realized it was already dark and I would not be able to go out to grab any treats. As if he read my mind, David had gone out to buy ice cream!!! There were some very interesting flavors and it was fun to try them. It's not the same - not even close to the same - as ice cream in the states but, hey, it does the trick. This particular night, we were also having unpredictable power outages.. so we had to be prepared. And we had to eat all of the ice cream. Hey! It wasn't going to keep if we didn't have power!!

honeymooner's delight
just saying.. it was funky and fruity.

just in case the lights cut out
I was not going to let this go to waste

Before I knew it, our time in Ongole was coming to an end. The night before our final presentation, our friends from the ministry took us along with their friends and families to a private beach on some land that ICM owns on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It was wonderful. Completely undeveloped and in the middle of nowhere. There were huge ants and tiny crabs, but everyone just got along. We brought dinner with us and some s'mores ingredients. The kids ran around and some people swam. It was really beautiful and quiet and I got some time to walk alone down the beach in the dark. I could see stars but I couldn't distinguish between the water and the velvety-black sky. It was, perhaps one of the darkest places I've ever been in my life but I didn't feel scared walking alone. I felt so blessed and so free. Once I got away from our bonfire, I knew that no one could see me if they were trying and I think that was the first time I had been really alone in months. I just sat and took my hair down (scandalous and suggestive in small towns) and let the wind blow through it and I just reflected on the week and all the hard things God had brought up for me to face and address and grow through and I just felt so thankful that in the midst of chaos and difficulty, God brought us out here to just enjoy His creation and each other's company. I stood there and moved around letting the tide wash away the foot prints I had made, letting the water restore the sand to the pristine, smooth surface it was before I ruined it. I couldn't help but see this as a symbol of what God does for us. The world leaves it's mark on us, we leave marks on one another, and perhaps most of all we tend to leave marks on ourselves. We can take hope that our mighty God made the oceans and knows how many grains of sand there are and even how many are displaced by my every step. And in the same way that He can restore and replace that sand after I move and disturb it, how much more can He restore and redeem our hearts. We come to Him so warped and broken and lost, and as simply and easily as an ocean wave, he makes us whole and smooth and beautiful again. It was a wonderful, refreshing way to finish our week in Ongole.

We still had one more meeting - which I will tell you all about in my next post! I am off to Mussoorie this weekend for retreat from the heat and a little quiet time! 

Work on this project has been keeping me busy and excited, but I promise not to disappear for so long between posts again!

I miss you all and would love to hear from you!