101 Things that I learned in India

1. How to relax – to not multi-task & enjoy being done work (e.g. just travel in a car ride)
2. How to cross busy streets – follow a bold crowd
3. Propriety… - and shame in the right context
4. How to take blatant physical criticism (e.g. One of the first comment of the morning from a Youth friend – “You’ve got a pim-ple! :) )
5. How to make a good cup of chai tea
6. How to cut mango
7. What goes in curry
8. That I do not like the taste of red wine
9. That children of any culture love being loved
10. How to push forward my palm to say ‘No’, to curl my hand upwards to say ‘In conclusion’, and to bobble my head to say ‘Ok’
11. How the game of cricket works
12. How to make origami camels (self taught – which means that you too can learn how to make origami camels!)
13. How to avoid meeting the stares of 30 male merchants – put on sunglasses
14. How to use a squatty potty
15. To not eat old curry
16. To not gorge on Indian wedding food
17. That Indians do not get sunburns – they just get darker, which is undesirable
18. That roses can be appreciated for up to 10 days if they are left on their thin Indian vine
19. That garlands and cake are two staple Indian celebration items.
20. Hindi and Telugu Numbers 1-10
21. That the Swahili, Spanish and Croatian languages are much easier to learn because their orthographies correspond very closely with their pronunciations – you can say what you spell (Unlike English, Telugu, Hindi and Urdu) (Thanks Merriam-Wester’s Collegiate Dictionary – 10th Edition)
22. That details matter when it comes to public proceedings
23. How to be a true hostess and restaurant waiter
24. How to appropriately honour professors and other persons of due respect
25. To never leave milk unattended on a gas stove OR …
26. To not smile at young Indian men or they might follow upstairs to your 3rd floor apartment when you are all by yourself!
27. That Fish eggs sometimes contain toxins in them that can be very harmful if consumed
28. That Indian sunsets are a very distinct light purple
29. That rose plants may grow to be smaller then Western ones as they are often unbothered by science.
30. To never mess with Indian mothers
31. That buffalo milk is much creamier than cow milk
32. That goats move their head in a very funny way
33. That you can get a nice hot shower in Hyderabad by waiting until noon when the sun has heated the water for you!
34. That canned or frozen guava, mango, and papaya can never be compared their fresh versions
35. How to cook rice
36. That supportas will probably be in heaven, judging by their taste
37. How to make good chapattis
38. That hair dries out in intense heat and sunlight (AKA Indian summer)
39. Never to hire the Indian working class as hygienic inspectors
40. To make JayRao laugh – it almost always makes me smile
41. That Indian protests are much louder and dangerous than the Canadian ones
42. That white or black people stand out in a city of brown ones
43. The art of the hymn singing competition
44. The art of Sunday drives (Note: not a super eco-friendly point)
45. The taste for charcoal-roasted corn on the cob (makkabutta)
46. That Full House, He-man and Home Alone are broadcasted on international TV
47. A few Indian dance moves
48. The value of watching the news
49. That you can learn cool and useful things the discovery channel
50. That water snakes have crazy hidden teeth..
51. That Indian rain does not linger but dumps and goes away
52. How to ride a motorcycle as a passenger
53. How to play drums Indian-style (with more finger tip action)
54. A hand full of Indian hymns & worship songs
55. That it can be very awkward to sleep parallel to an Indian man in a sleeper train
56. How to wear a sari
57. When to stop talking, and when to wait for further, light-shedding information on a matter.
58. That I don’t stomach the sight of real-life, uncovered, human abdominal fat very well (at least for my first experience)
59. That everyone needs a grandma to hold his/her arm and make them feel that everything will be better soon.
60. That every girl needs a father to protect her from dangers and tell her what to do.
61. That to believably compliment an Indian cook you must either ask for her recipe or eat a second helping of her food
62. That Indian restaurant servers are almost always male, and that Indian housekeepers are almost always female.
63. How an Indian parent goes about finding their child a husband or wife (and what they are looking for :))
64. How handy SUPER-blenders can be
65. How to make home-made peanut butter (*handy SUPER-blender required)
66. How to open coconut (wet along center and whack with a dull machete blade until it falls in two perfect halves
67. To appreciate star-sightings… you don’t see them much in a city of 6 million people.
68. That you actually SHOULD bring malaria medication to Southern India (Missed that one somehow, but did not experience the malady :S :))
69. That the buffalo is the King of the Hyderabadi jungle
70. That half-Paulmeranian half-Auscuasian(?) dogs can be very vicious
71. That there is a lot of inequity in the world.
72. That education IS an outstanding opportunity to improve a country’s well-being.
73. That what you know and how you put that knowledge into practice directly relates to the type, amount and depth of observations that you can pull from the world.
74. Not to touch bare electric wires.
75. Not to go anywhere unattended or unaccounted for.
76. That you might want to be prepared to develop diabetes if you develop an over-indulgent soft-spot for Indian sweets.
77. That you can’t really find fun/crazy stickers in Hyderabad, other than the scholastic gold star-type.
78. That they still use the strap in some schools around the world.
79. That violence against women is sometimes accepted as the norm when you aren’t in Canada
80. What the role of an Indian wife is like
81. To love biriyani
82. How much fun flaming/sparkling lotus birthday candles can be.
83. To listen closely whenever an Indian says a word that ends in ‘ear’ – super fun accent… (eg. Happy Birthday de-AH Jennifer)
84. That peoples’ noses can be an interesting study.
85. That Indian babies (and people in general) are 2-3 years smaller in size whem compared to their Western counterparts.
86. That Hyderabad (and India) now has money
(This is evidenced by their growing number of shopping malls and increasing obesity rates)
87. Tricks for dedicated study periods
(remember that some college students rise at 4 AM to go to tutoring before class)
88. That jetlag really can be beat by living according to the new time zone, although it still can take time
(at least, according to my experience)
89. How to conserve electricity.
90. That a power outage can happen even at the grandest of Wedding Ceremonies.
91. That to dress in a sari without bangles is an incomplete action
92. That it isn’t just what you wear though, but how you wear it that makes an outfit.
93. That humility is still one of the most attractive qualities a person can hold.
94. That if you go to a country to learn about and appreciate its culture, do your best to avoid the ‘In MY country we do…”’s, and sincerely love, you might get taken advantage of. Thus I recommend doing Steps 1-3 in the safe environment of native family friends. Then you really can do all 3.
95. That the more that you know, the more you become aware of what you don’t know.
96. Obedience to authority is more important than independent efficiency (although suggestions can sometimes be made to authority).
97. Initiative is best used in the context of knowing one’s surroundings.
98. That India is absolutely rich in culture.
99. That people, not money or accommodations, are the most valuable things that one can become familiar with when traveling abroad
(and actually, living at home)
100. That the world isn’t just what I think it is. That my opinions and values can be wrong. That there must be solid Truth and Moral Codes, even with cultural variations.
101. That I am blessed, to have been able to live in a very different world for the past 2 months, which in turn has given me a deeper perspective on how we do (and how I will do) everyday Canadian life for years to come.

Hats off to you for reading all that and thank you for all of your support as I interned for 2 months at the New Life Associates Mission in Hyderabad, India.
In Christ, The pretty pink girl,
Leona

Giving my chocolate to the blind man

The Lord did bring me through Sunday, fabulously. The video presentation that I had spent so much time on worked. The children paid attention during Sunday School, and several stayed behind after class to discuss salvation. So many children asked me for my e-mail address, which is a cool way to keep in touch with them. When I had begun a quick repack job once the kids had gone, I took out 1 chocolate from the jar of candy. Marie (my host-mom and the pastor's wife) send a sweet treat for everyone to enjoy every Sunday. According to the Sunday School teacher's instructions, each of the children get two candies.



So, I pulled out one for myself today. It was a Cadbury chocolate éclair – a namebrand that I recognize and a caramel candy that I have enjoyed from Marie's gracious hand before. This would be a good one! Inside me, though I heard the Holy Spirit say no to eating the candy. Still, I took hold of both ends of the golden-wrapper and began to twist, knowing what a treat laid at the other end.



But my spirit was disgruntled, and by the power of the Holy Spirit I decided that it was better to obey 'late than never'. I thoughtfully re-twisted the wrapper back onto the chocolate, tossed it on top of the pile of Sunday School supplies in my bag and hurried up with the minor cleaning. Jairo (one of the older paid staff) helped arrange the laptop, zoom-lens camera, bag and Bible onto ourselves, and began locking the door and shutting the gate to the double-duty New Life Associate Recording Studio/ Sunday School Classroom. Shifting the heavy bar gate doors can be difficult for me sometimes, so I stepped back to allow Jairo to do it. A curious and shocking event happened next.



A blind young man began walking towards Jairo and the closed gate. Thinking that he was one of the beggars that gathers around the entrance to the Church on Sunday, I became especially cautious. Beggars can be extremely bold and aggressive. After a while I realized that this man was neither asking for money or out to harm. He fumbled around, walking into the actual gate and into Jairo. When Jairo became aware of his presence he took his arms and directed him towards the stairs to the Church. 'He is here to attend Church' I realized. Holding onto the rail he began the trek up. The older woman already on the stair did not look down upon the man, even though he climbed in relative closeness behind her. The man's face contained a mouth of few yellow, crooked teeth and dark, sunken eye sockets. Perhaps it is the commonplace occurrence of debilitated persons in India that has toughened Indians to be visibly undisturbed at such a site. Indeed, when traveling on the streets, lame people will sit by on small, square, ground-level, wooden scoters just inches from where cars whiz by.



Anyways, the Holy Spirit brought everything together for me. I grabbed at the top of my bag, hoping that the candy wouldn't be too difficult to find. Praise the Lord, it was still there, not melted as it might have been if I had tucked it in my skirt. I bounded up the first flight of stairs to where the man had just turned the corner. With a light touch to his wrist, I placed the chocolate in the man's turned palm. Then I thought to give him a greater help – "God bless you" I said, and headed back down to find my Jairo waiting for the crazy white girl like usual. Oh, what good times I have with Jairo… I love it when he laughs at me, stretching his eyebrows wide to reveal his normally squinty eyes, giving me an 'aha!' and sticking his pink tongue out! Lots of high 5s to Jairo have gone!



In the small and appropriate ways, the Lord is answering my prayer as to how to help the poor as Jesus would have me. I was struck with the line from 'The Jesus film' where Jesus says to His audience, "Give to everyone who begs from you". The Lord will show me the Way, and I will obey.



Just like today, when I got to give my chocolate to a blind man.



What is your chocolate? What is that small thing that the Lord is prompting you to put back, to wait for, to give up for His will and work? Is it a relationship that the Lord has not ordained, or the dream of a relationship that you subscribe to above the call and commands of the Lord? Is it the pursuit of money, or the fear to give it up. I implore you – that this peace that comes through obedience to the Holy Spirit and the power by that same Spirit which enables the obedience is so much more worth living for. Come to Jesus. He is waiting on the stair to take your chocolate. But He won't wait forever.