Unbelievably we have now reached the 10 day mark! This has been by far the fullest 10 days I have ever experienced – physically, mentally, and spiritually.
To start it all off, we had 4 days of training in Georgia which was full of learning, growing closer to each other and the Lord, and Signs!
It was then time to head to India! We had a long bus ride, followed by a long wait in the Atlanta airport, followed by a long flight, followed by more waiting – this time in the Dubai airport, followed by more flying… Then, we finally arrived in Hyderabad, India! And proceeded to take an 8 hour bus ride to our ministry location. Although it was a long ride, most of us got some much needed sleep and there were plenty of new sights to see…
This seriously gets funnier every time I look at it! 🙂
Then, after over 50 hours of travel, we arrived! And we crashed. Hard.
So, here we are. As we embark on day 4 in India, I look back and think of all the things I’ve already learned since being here:
1) I’ve never really experienced heat before I arrived. It is hot and humid and from what I hear it cooled off for us.
2) I love eating with my hands and I love that that is completely acceptable here! I plan to master this art before coming home.
3) Cows roaming the streets is completely normal. I’m still getting used to this one…
4) Brushing teeth out of a water bottle is hard – especially with a sink right in front of you. I almost forget every time.
5) If you are riding in a vehicle and the driver hasn’t honked the horn in the past 10 seconds, he might not be okay – check to see if he’s still breathing… I counted one time just to see – the average time between horns was 5 seconds with a top time of 16. That’s just the way it is.
6) Chai is delicious – very delicious. It is also hot – very hot! Do not bump your neighbor and cause her to drop hers on you – it is painful and leaves its mark. I know this first hand. Not fun.
7) Every meal here is going to be spicy – at least for a wimp like me. I am hoping to get used to it as the time goes by – we’ll see…
8) The girls on my team are amazing! Every day I am more blown away by the love and desire to serve the Lord that I see in them. They are an amazing group and I can’t wait to get to know them better and learn more about each one of them (and for Nadia and Roxy to join us again – miss you guys! Can’t wait for Tuesday!).
9) I am in love. In love with the girls on my team, in love with the country and culture that I am in, in love with the people that I am meeting. As we are all sitting here writing we are surrounded by the sound of Indians worshiping in the next building over and by little children full of curiosity wanting to talk to us and see our electronics. I am blessed.
10) God is incredibly good! I obviously already knew that, but these past few days have been a great reminder. From the travel to our incredible housing to the time we got to spend with the kids yesterday, He has been showing us over and over how good He is!
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – I AM BLESSED!
My amazing team!
