the latest from "the three friends"

It’s been a while since Trevor, Sid, or I have written anything about India. I think it’s about time for an update!

Trevor got back this week from his trip with his mom. We sat in our kitchen, like we do very often, and he shared with us all the wonders of sights he saw and we oohed and awed over his descriptions of the clean streets and great food of Singapore. Sid and I have not actually left our school, besides going on walks or runs through the surrounding villages, since February 23 when we went to Kadapa to pick up Trevor’s mom! We are starting to feel a little stir crazy.

We seem to cook a lot!

                

While Trevor was gone, Sid and I were subbing 5 or 6 classes every day and by the end of the two weeks we were dead tired. Then to add to the fun, I preached for church one of these Sabbath’s and we continued our Bible study lessons on each Sabbath afternoon. (Trevor spoke the week before I did, and Sid is up next!) Thankfully we have had a small break this week and our job has switched to secretaries. Like we did before Christmas for half-yearly exams, we are typing up the portion and question papers for the final exams. These are basically study guides for the kids. There is one for each subject for each grade, so it takes time! But it seems relaxing compared to keeping kids under control in class all day.

We make delicious banana mango smoothies!

Our daily schedules have turned into something like this: I wake up around 6:30 am, drink some tea, do my devotions, eat breakfast, and then wake up Trevor and Sid 10 minutes before worship. We all go to worship on time at 8:40 am and then get our daily assignment from the headmaster. We then go to class, type some portions, and read our books in between. At lunch time we cook up some delicious food. We have become pretty good at using our resources to make really good stuff. Sid and I blend up the best banana mango smoothies in the ‘mixie’ everyday (and that’s not just a nick name for a blender, it’s actually called a mixie!). We also make our own ‘curd’ which is the same as home made yogurt. After school is over at 3:30 pm, we reluctantly do an insanity work out video to get some exercise, drip sweat all over the floor, and then mop it up. It’s gross but we’ve adjusted to sweating most of the day, so it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal! There is some afternoon tea drinking with our brother Ramana somewhere in here as well. 

This is Nancy

The kids have recreation period around 5 pm so we go play volleyball most days. Afterwards we go straight to the home of our friends Vara and Prim where we skillfully bust out like 15 chappati on the stove and help with some other dinner preparations. This is also play time with our little sister Nancy who is almost three years old now and has changed so much since we first met her. She knows who her ‘acca’ (big sister) and ‘anna’ (big brother) are and likes to draw on us, dance with us, and instruct us to “come!” She is the cutest!

More cooking at Vara and Prim's... 

Most days we end up eating around the time the boys start there evening worship. Vara is the boys dean so his house is a part of the boys hostel and we get to listen to their singing while we eat! Sometimes it takes a minute or two to decipher what song is being sung. The boys seem to enjoy the challenge of “who can sing the loudest” and end up yelling the words.

The rest of our evening is usually spent in our little house. And that’s pretty much the average day!

It’s funny to think about how things have changed since our first month here in October. When we entered this culture, we were scared of curd and buffalo milk, eating with our hands was kind of weird, and we thought we weren’t going to survive because all there was to eat was rice and dal! Now we are making our own curd and buying buffalo milk everyday, we don’t think twice when we shovel food into our mouths with our hands, and our creativity in the kitchen has us cooking up meals better than Martha Stewart! You enter a new lifestyle, and you adjust and move on. You can always make the best out of your situation. Even though it may take time!

Just last week, on March 15, school became half days because of the heat. This is a government required thing! The temperature is almost 100F or more everyday and the power that keeps our fans going seems to go out at the hottest time of day. At these points we find ourselves plastered to the floor trying to stay cool. In December we would boil water at night to add to the really cold water from the faucet for our bath, now we are putting water in the fridge to mix with the water from the faucet which comes out at a very warm, unsatisfying temperature. It might feel like winter in Idaho when we get home in May, but I will definitely not be complaining!

This post is getting much too long, but I am almost finished!!!

This last weekend, we celebrated Women’s Day by having all the church services run by the women on campus. For vespers on Friday night, our sister Chandu sang a telegu song that was probably the best special music I have heard since I’ve been in India! (maybe I’m a little biased, but it was SO GOOD!) On Sabbath, I trudged up to the stage in my sari for both Sabbath school and church programs with all the women. Our sister Prim gave one message for church that actually made me tear up. She talked about Heaven and how there will be no more pain, fighting, or goodbyes. I was already thinking it in my head, but she went ahead and said, “next month we will have to say goodbye to our three friends…” and that did it! It hit me that we really only have five more weeks with these people and I have no idea when I will see them ever again. It makes me sad to think about leaving this place that has become our home, but at the same time I am anxious to get back and see my family and friends. It will be a bitter sweet feeling when we leave for the Chennai Airport on April 23!

-B

the campus hens are here to keep away snakes and scorpions.
 they are extremely obnoxious and squawk
outside our window in the EARLY morning...
we don't really like them :)

enjoy

Family Portrait

Blunt-Trevor

I recently finished the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  The book isn’t overly complicated or long but packs a powerful punch with every page.  The book deals bluntly with the topic of being a lukewarm Christian.  The author addresses the topic of truly living your life for Christ.

Chan writes, “You have a distinct choice to make: to let life just happen or to actively run towards Christ.” I feel myself every day, even as a student missionary struggling to make this choice, I am comfortable with letting life happen to me or at least making my own plans.

Maybe it’s the fear of failing, or just my own obstacles, but I find myself fitting Francis' descriptions of a lukewarm Christian in so many ways.

For so much of my life I didn’t understand the desirability of God or trust in His love enough to submit my hopes and dreams.  I lived in a constant state of trying to be “devoted enough” to Him, yet I never quite made it, “writes Chan.

I know that God wants all of me but I fear what the complete surrender to Him will mean. You would think that while being a student missionary would be one of the best times to come to terms with what being a Christian is but it doesn’t feel that way.  Here I am in a foreign country, and I haven’t truly surrendered to the person I should be putting all my trust in.

I’ve given 7 months of my life and the comforts of home up, had amazing experiences and memories I will never forget, but so often fail to realize that I’m here for more than myself.

In Chan’s words, “Jesus, I need to give myself up.  I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own.  I can’t do it, and I need You.  I need You deeply and desperately.  I want You.  And when I don’t, I want to want You.”

-T

Next on the menu: delicious homemade tomato sauce

Delicious Fresh Chunky Homemade Organic Garlic Tomato Sauce

First go to expendia.com and book a flight to Andhra Pradesh, India. (Tirupati or Hyderabad airports are good options)

[Hint: tuck a box of Mezze Penne pasta into your baggage]

Next, locate your local vegetable market and pick up some organic fresh tomatoes and garlic. Bartering is encouraged and advised (if you are white).

Next: THE SAUCE

6-7 Tomatoes (10 Rs per kg, or 0.20 USD)

8-10 pieces of Garlic (5 Rs per kg, or 0.10 USD)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Jeera (cumin) seasoning

1 tsp Black pepper

Salt to taste

Chop up 6-7 tomatoes into fours and put in a pot on the stove over medium heat. Add about a tsp of oil to keep it from sticking. Allow tomatoes to cook, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft and become nice and juicy!

Mince 8-10 pieces of garlic and add to the tomatoes.

Add sugar.

Add Jeera, black pepper, and salt for some extra flavor and simmer for a few minutes.

Make sure the tomatoes have cooked down until they are “saucy” but still have some chunkiness to them.

And you’re donzo.

Toss with some delicious mezze penne pasta sent from Seattle, WA of the USA and enjoy!

Indian style, delicious Banana Chocolate Protein Smoothie

Ever wondered how to make the best protein smoothie you've ever had? With just a few key ingredients, you can make a delicious smoothie full of nutrition that will leave your taste buds tingling!

We will begin this adventure with a few key instructions:

1. Pull out your blender (or magic bullet, or food processor if you are in America)

2. Make sure there has been power for several hours before beginning the smoothie making process so the freezer has had time to do its work.

3. Locate the following ingredients:

• 3-4 frozen bananas
• 2 Tbs peanut butter
• 1/2 - 1 scoop delicious chocolate protein powder from Costco (not sure what brand!)
• 1/8 C oatmeal
• 1 1/2 C ice

(ps. peanut butter and delicious protein powder must be sent in a parcel from America)

Add all of the ingredients to the blender and then add just a little bit of clean mineral water. Start small, you can always add more if needed! You don't want your smoothie to end up like a watery Indian milkshake.

Blend on multiple different speeds (just for fun) until all ice and banana chunks are smoothed out. And there you go! A delicious smoothie full of protein and flavor...

Makes about 4 servings. Save extra in the freezer for a special treat when you are sweating in the Indian heat and need something cold to refresh you!. :)

Thank you Peach Orthodontics for sponsoring this message!

ENJOY

-B

Blend

Today, after the church service, we went to Mr. Tirupati Reddi's house for lunch. Mr. Reddi is a Hindu man who donated all the land our school is located on and currently lives in the village directly behind us. He is a farmer and we occasionally see him around the school paying visits in his white dress shirt and white lungi with a towel thrown over his shoulder. This is the traditional attire for older men that we see in our area. So Mr. Reddi invited all of our staff and many of the villagers to his new home for lunch and served us all some great food. After finishing our meal, we were standing out front chatting with some of the staff kids and witnessed something I've never seen before. A man was standing outside the front door of the new house, holding a large melon of some kind that was on fire and moving it around through the air. He then took the melon and smashed it on the ground. Except it didn't break apart all the way, so he picked it up and smashed it again. Then he placed one piece at each edge of the stairs going into the house and someone came with a pot of blood that he poured over each piece. Actually it was colored powder mixed with some liquid, not blood, but it looked like blood.

All the while, we stood a few feet away watching with some major curiosity. Other cultures and religions are much more interesting to see in real life than they are to read about. What is the most fascinating to me, is that a Hindu man donated all of this land for a Christian school to be built on. And not only this, but he is active in the school and pays regular visits. Today he had all of the staff for lunch, and then provided dinner for all 450 students as well! And even more generous than this, he is paying all of the teacher's salaries now who haven't received  them in three months because the money from the division is extremely delayed. He is an incredibly nice man and it is awesome to see different lifestyles blending together, sharing food and space.

Lately we have been talking about how we feel like our time here is ending and that we should be going home shortly since we have passed the half way point. The only problem is that we really aren't going home that shortly...and we still have about three months left. It's hard to get rid of this mindset for some reason. But I keep reminding myself that this is a once in a life time experience and NOW is my chance to learn more, because there is always more to learn about and ways to blend with this culture by spending time with these people we have come to love so much. It's so important to live in the now. Every day we make a choice about what our attitude will be and where we will involve ourselves and if we don't put our effort into NOW, that time is wasted. And that time is precious!

-B

Let It Go, Bro - (Sidney)

During our 6-hour layover...

    The train station was freezing. We didn't expect a country like India to have temperatures in the realm of freezing, but just like everything else in India, things never go as expected. Fortunately we were prepared with coat layers at the ready and scarves at the neck. We bundled up nicely and I spent some spare minutes doing some extra breathing exercises so I could see my breath freeze in the air - the little things are appreciated when you go without them for so long. Trevor Carstens, Brooke Bauer, Evan Kinne and I scoped the neon red schedule board for our train number, "Uuuummmm - English Section! Bottom Left! Cool, there's our train number. Wait did that say Gorakpur or Gokafur or Gkeydufa?" After finagling around the Hindi we saw that our scheduled overnight train from New Delhi to Gorakpur was going to be about 6 hours late, meaning that it would arrive at the station at 3 in the morning. 6-hour layover? No problem. Realizing our unusual situation, we killed about ten minutes joking about the train being late. It's on a track right? Good. Only 5 hours and 50 minutes to go. At about this point we're all thinking the same thing - let's go get more food!
    Earlier in the day we had found this awesome omelet maker on the street in the center of the tourist beat area of Old Delhi and I knew that's where I'd be headed. Trevor is really good at researching things in the Lonely Planet guidebook so we knew most of the nicer restaurants around to set up camp for a while. We try to skip the ones titled "Food Plaza" or anything of that sort. That doesn't even sound appetizing. I think the place we finally landed at had a rooftop restaurant. Oh wait, every restaurant is a rooftop restaurant in Old Delhi, only a few aren't, and they all have the same menu. With two big pots of tea we were ready to wait out the duration.
    I was the only one craving omelets so l went out solo to find this omelet making wizard in the center street area. Dodging vegetable piles and fruit carts while rickshaws and motorcycles were dodging me I forgot about the bitter cold for a brief moment. Crossing the street in India is an adventure in itself. There was this one time in Bangalore where it felt like we were actually in a real life game of Frogger. Anyways, where wer- oh yes, omelets. I could only see part of the omelet stand around the giant rock pile that blocked my view. What is a giant rock pile doing in the middle of the city? I don't know, ask the thousands of people that walk by it every day and don't even give it a thought. Such is India.
    Arrival accomplished. The egg-crafty guru whipped out an enticing omelet display that included fresh vegetables and the latest combo of hot sauce madness. I thought that after three months here I had gotten used to spicy Indian food, until I realized my mouth was on fire. The kids around laughed as I choked down the omelet inferno. "Maybe a little less green sauce on the next one," I muttered to the omelet maker while next to him a scrawny and ragged man (his business partner maybe?) smiled back at me through a twisted collection of yellow and brown ivory chomps. I noticed the omelet maker was laughing too. He must've seen the incessant mouth fanning and look of horror on my face as my eyes desperately scanned the area for the nearest bottle of Aqua Fine - India's knock off version of Aquafina. "No I'm not crying." A few minutes after being an H2O vacuum, I was myself again.
    The city was starting to slow down and most of the shop owners had packed up for the night. We were halfway through our layover! It's amazing how a city with so many millions of people can shut down so quickly. I don't blame them for closing early though because it got uncomfortably cold, even with a coat. Seeking warmth I drifted over to a fire that three guys were building out of some random things like plastic trash, clothes, and cardboard – probably toxic. Getting into a good conversation with people in India is always a struggle, but always worth a try. It's not often you'll find the good English-speaking ones. I tested out some Hindi phrases I'd learned on a train as the three of them smiled happily in approval. We casually exchanged some choppy English dialogue and went through the list of routine questions. "Where are you from?" "How long you stay?" "What is your name?" Done. Usually these questions go in that specific order. Immediately after interrogation, we chose the privilege of silence.
    A break from the surrounding chaos and warmth from the makeshift fire lured me into a dreamy state. I joined the small circle on the gritty pavement as we sat in peace. We were an untouchable community of unfamiliar brothers, glowing on the inside and tired on the out, as thoughts of the day paraded through our minds. It was unusually surreal. Fifteen minutes felt like half an hour and those minutes have become cherished memories. Following this unexpected fellowship I had to depart. Saying a quick goodbye, I left the scene with not a care in the world, and it was at this simple moment while walking back to the rooftop restaurant I realized that things never ever EVER go as expected in this country. I should've known. I already knew. This was an interesting realization. It was like one of those lessons you already know, but you still have to learn. The fact that Indian schedules are all screwy and hardly anything goes the ‘right’ way, made me think.

    Thinking is a good thing, but if you think too much you'll go crazy. Sometimes crazy can be a good thing, but then people will avoid you. But sometimes being avoided can be a good thing - it gives you time to think! :)

    Even before deciding to come to India in September, we discussed the prospect of a month long tour of India. Of course this was a fantastic idea because no one knows if we'll be able to come back to this country ever again. As we moved closer and closer to Christmas break this talk became a reality and before we knew we were finally in the middle of it. None of us knew traveling in India would be so difficult. The time it would take anyone to drive 60 km takes Indian drivers four times as long. This can be attributed to the fact that every meteor shower seems to hit Indian roads and Indian roads only, causing potholes and other miscellaneous decay. Of course that's a drastic exaggeration, but it's an accurate description. It's one of the many examples of things going awry and people being okay with it. They live with it, and get along just fine.
    All this difficult travel, nine-hour periods of "time pass," people ripping us off because we're white, and many other unexplained phenomena told me that even though sometimes life is C-R-AZY, everything is going to be okay. I'm still breathing, I'm still seeing, I'm still loving, I'm okay, and I'll still have a place to rest my head at night. I should let it go.
    Seeing happy people with no material wealth whatsoever put something in my heart that I can never forget no matter how deep I dive into American Culture. The more I care about what's going on in my life, the less I care about theirs. There's a saying I tell my students in class, it goes, "You can't listen and talk at the same time." It works to keep them quiet for a while but then they start talking again. In my life I need to do more listening and less talking, for if I never listen I'll never learn! And in India, when my voice goes unheard and lost in the noise or drowned in the silence, I get to listen. I get to let go. It's fantastic.

    Leaving New Delhi, India's bright and shining capital city, I felt at peace within the chaos. We were all ready to move on to our next stop. Goa, Mumbai, Jaipur, and Agra were all memories while our eyes looked forward to Nepal and Darjeeling - the last few stops of this 28-day backpacking adventure around the country. This night was December 21st, just a few days before Christmas but also the night before Evan's birthday. We all felt pretty bad that his birthday would be spent under the fluorescent lights of our Sleeper Class train car but at least he could purchase 5-rupee chai at his bidding desire. We try to think positively as best we can and by doing this we can make the best of things. "Brooke a mouse just ran over your shoe!" Sweet.

Making the best of things…

- S.

Night Market in Old Delhi