(I'd just like to say for the record that I planned on using this title a long time ago and I'm so happy I finally get to use it! :)
Well, we're in India! I feel as though so much has happened-was it only Monday that I typed my last post? Interestingly, I am still wearing the clothes I was wearing on Monday even though today is Thursday. No, I'm not that crazy about my outfit; the fact is that our luggage is currently floating around Bahrain somewhere and so we are all sporting rather familiar outfits by this point. Hope our bags are enjoying Bahrain, haha.
We left on Monday evening for our first flight. It was a very long but very smooth journey the whole way for the most part-two whole days of travel! Our flight to London was delayed for 2 and a half hours-once we were on the plane we were told we needed to deplane because there was a crack in the plane somewhere that required repair. Once we were all off the plane, we were told to come back on because the plane had still received approval to fly. (I was enjoying the image of our airbus soaring over the Atlantic, duct-taped. How else could they have fixed it so fast?) And then once we were back on the plane, we had to wait awhile because there was a hard-of-hearing passenger wandering around the airport somewhere who the attendants had to go find since he hadn't heard the announcements. It was a rather bizarre and amusing beginning to our journey. I didn't sleep a wink all the way to London, but enjoyed watching lots of TV and movies on the plane, as well as spending about an hour trying to figure out what language the people next to me were speaking, which sounded like it kept changing.
Because of our flight delay, once we got to London we had to book it! As we were going through security, they examined and waved a wand over every item in my purse and cosmetic bag, and threw some things out. We were really in a rush and I had forgotten to empty my water bottle so I downed the whole bottle right then and there. Additionally, I was having an allergic reaction I think because of the leaks in my room at Stony Point, so my eyes were watering the whole trip. Ian and I made a rather mad dash through the airport with my eyes watering and things all over the place and we were the last ones to board our flight to Bahrain. Whew!
We were only in Bahrain very briefly, where we ate at a Chili's (random) before our last flight from Bahrain to Cochin. This was the shortest flight-the other two had been between 6 and 7 hours. I sat next to a precious 7-month-old and watched a rather strange Bollywood movie. After two days of travel, we arrived in Cochin at about 4 am. I was surprisingly energized for having only slept a few hours the whole time; I was awake for most of the flights. When we entered the airport, there was a little boy gawking at us with his hands on the glass and his mouth literally hanging open. Thomas John met us, sans luggage, and he and his son Binu drove us to his wonderful house nearby.
It's been a very interesting and amusing few days-lots of laughs and warm welcomes. It's been kind of fun not having any stuff with me-makes me realize how little I actually need. To be honest, I completely forgot that we don't have our bags. When our flight arrived to Cochin, the luggage on the belt was from a flight from the day before. We have been provided with everything we need.
Since we arrived, we have mostly been sleeping on and off and spending time with Thomas John's daughter's family who are visiting from Bahrain. They have three adorable daughters with whom we have been spending most of our time. We are beginning to see glimpses of life here-but it has been pouring for two days straight and we can't really go anywhere (there was respite from the rain ever so briefly yesterday that allowed for a brief walk). We are learning to take bucket baths and to eat with our hands. I can't imagine having been more warmly welcomed by Thomas John, his wife Betty, and their family. They are so kind, letting us have lots of rest and helping us slowly adjust to our new lives here. The girls are so sweet and we love playing with them!
I'm feeling great and very excited about getting out and about once the deluge ceases...there's so much to see and explore! Thanks for all the prayers! God is so good! I'll leave you with a few interesting tidbits/random thoughts about India or Indian culture.
1) The little girls here wear bells on their ankles all the time-it's absolutely darling, and you always know where they are. Also, they were jewelry even at a very young age and love playing with it.
2) I've seen a bug here that moves very strangely-instead of crawling in a straight-forward line, it zig-zags around. Odd & seemingly inefficient. Hmm.
3) There are geckos on the walls sometimes but they eat the bugs, so they're valuable.
4) Last night, two of Thomas John's brothers came over for dinner and we enjoyed a time of music afterwards. Binu played guitar and we all sang; I chose songs from a huge song book that had hundreds of songs organized by funny categories such as "The Sea" and "Men." It was really fun to find some songs we knew to sing, such as Amazing Grace, some old hymns, and Danny Boy (shout out to mom).
5) In general, I am fascinated by all that I'm seeing here and all I've seen so far is the house we're staying in. Everything is just different. Even the things you wouldn't think would be different are, like the shapes of chairs, the bathrooms, the little sounds the kids make. The plants, the sky, the colors, the smells-it's all entirely new and fascinating.
Sorry for the length of this-but the Indians aren't concise and so maybe I can openly embrace my verbose nature here even in writing! Will post again soon. Prayers for our luggage and for continued rest are appreciated. Also please keep our teammate Rachel in your prayers-she could not travel with us because her visa still has not arrived and she's stuck at Stony Point. We're hoping and praying for her to come as soon as possible.
Love and blessings to you all.
Namaste,
Claudia
Well, we're in India! I feel as though so much has happened-was it only Monday that I typed my last post? Interestingly, I am still wearing the clothes I was wearing on Monday even though today is Thursday. No, I'm not that crazy about my outfit; the fact is that our luggage is currently floating around Bahrain somewhere and so we are all sporting rather familiar outfits by this point. Hope our bags are enjoying Bahrain, haha.
We left on Monday evening for our first flight. It was a very long but very smooth journey the whole way for the most part-two whole days of travel! Our flight to London was delayed for 2 and a half hours-once we were on the plane we were told we needed to deplane because there was a crack in the plane somewhere that required repair. Once we were all off the plane, we were told to come back on because the plane had still received approval to fly. (I was enjoying the image of our airbus soaring over the Atlantic, duct-taped. How else could they have fixed it so fast?) And then once we were back on the plane, we had to wait awhile because there was a hard-of-hearing passenger wandering around the airport somewhere who the attendants had to go find since he hadn't heard the announcements. It was a rather bizarre and amusing beginning to our journey. I didn't sleep a wink all the way to London, but enjoyed watching lots of TV and movies on the plane, as well as spending about an hour trying to figure out what language the people next to me were speaking, which sounded like it kept changing.
Because of our flight delay, once we got to London we had to book it! As we were going through security, they examined and waved a wand over every item in my purse and cosmetic bag, and threw some things out. We were really in a rush and I had forgotten to empty my water bottle so I downed the whole bottle right then and there. Additionally, I was having an allergic reaction I think because of the leaks in my room at Stony Point, so my eyes were watering the whole trip. Ian and I made a rather mad dash through the airport with my eyes watering and things all over the place and we were the last ones to board our flight to Bahrain. Whew!
We were only in Bahrain very briefly, where we ate at a Chili's (random) before our last flight from Bahrain to Cochin. This was the shortest flight-the other two had been between 6 and 7 hours. I sat next to a precious 7-month-old and watched a rather strange Bollywood movie. After two days of travel, we arrived in Cochin at about 4 am. I was surprisingly energized for having only slept a few hours the whole time; I was awake for most of the flights. When we entered the airport, there was a little boy gawking at us with his hands on the glass and his mouth literally hanging open. Thomas John met us, sans luggage, and he and his son Binu drove us to his wonderful house nearby.
It's been a very interesting and amusing few days-lots of laughs and warm welcomes. It's been kind of fun not having any stuff with me-makes me realize how little I actually need. To be honest, I completely forgot that we don't have our bags. When our flight arrived to Cochin, the luggage on the belt was from a flight from the day before. We have been provided with everything we need.
Since we arrived, we have mostly been sleeping on and off and spending time with Thomas John's daughter's family who are visiting from Bahrain. They have three adorable daughters with whom we have been spending most of our time. We are beginning to see glimpses of life here-but it has been pouring for two days straight and we can't really go anywhere (there was respite from the rain ever so briefly yesterday that allowed for a brief walk). We are learning to take bucket baths and to eat with our hands. I can't imagine having been more warmly welcomed by Thomas John, his wife Betty, and their family. They are so kind, letting us have lots of rest and helping us slowly adjust to our new lives here. The girls are so sweet and we love playing with them!
I'm feeling great and very excited about getting out and about once the deluge ceases...there's so much to see and explore! Thanks for all the prayers! God is so good! I'll leave you with a few interesting tidbits/random thoughts about India or Indian culture.
1) The little girls here wear bells on their ankles all the time-it's absolutely darling, and you always know where they are. Also, they were jewelry even at a very young age and love playing with it.
2) I've seen a bug here that moves very strangely-instead of crawling in a straight-forward line, it zig-zags around. Odd & seemingly inefficient. Hmm.
3) There are geckos on the walls sometimes but they eat the bugs, so they're valuable.
4) Last night, two of Thomas John's brothers came over for dinner and we enjoyed a time of music afterwards. Binu played guitar and we all sang; I chose songs from a huge song book that had hundreds of songs organized by funny categories such as "The Sea" and "Men." It was really fun to find some songs we knew to sing, such as Amazing Grace, some old hymns, and Danny Boy (shout out to mom).
5) In general, I am fascinated by all that I'm seeing here and all I've seen so far is the house we're staying in. Everything is just different. Even the things you wouldn't think would be different are, like the shapes of chairs, the bathrooms, the little sounds the kids make. The plants, the sky, the colors, the smells-it's all entirely new and fascinating.
Sorry for the length of this-but the Indians aren't concise and so maybe I can openly embrace my verbose nature here even in writing! Will post again soon. Prayers for our luggage and for continued rest are appreciated. Also please keep our teammate Rachel in your prayers-she could not travel with us because her visa still has not arrived and she's stuck at Stony Point. We're hoping and praying for her to come as soon as possible.
Love and blessings to you all.
Namaste,
Claudia
So, obviously I'm going to stalk your blog religiously--so keep writing! :) Glad you guys made it safe. It's funny how you don't need all the 'stuff' you think you need, right? Nevertheless, I'm sure you guys will be glad to get your bags back, if you haven't already. Enjoy the food and give my love to Achen and Kochamma!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to read about your adventures as they are happening. "Leave everything and follow Me", you truly are having that experience. To just "be" where you are and the people you are with. What a gift. And I can tell you are enjoying every minute of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing even the little details of such a different world.
Love you, Jaime