Monday Update

Monday

This morning was another morning of eggs and juice!  When Kathee and I came out to join the land of the living, Esther was curled up on Karl’s lap in a blanket, sick.  The girl was burning up!  And so she spent the rest of the day at home, on the couch or in bed, getting rested and hopefully better before our LONG return trip home in a few days.  

So after breakfast, with Esther sitting on the coach with Karl, and Eve in her bed sleeping, Kathee, Gideon, Hope, Aslam, and I headed out on another adventure!  This morning’s plan was to go to Starbucks and buy an India mug (to join our Saudi Arabia mugs Karl brought us back when he visited Kathee’s sister’s family in Riyadh).  The first location we went to didn’t actually have a Starbucks, as it either went out of business or didn’t exist.  As we stood there, and with my iphone having no service in India other than wifi, I said that I had looked up Starbucks locations in Delhi back at the house and that the closest one was at Hauz Khauz.  The only reason that sounded familiar was that last time we came to India, Kathee and I went geocaching (okay, I went geocaching and Kathee walked alongside of me and humored me) one afternoon while Gideon and Hope were napping and we ended up walking around Hauz Khauz (there are some old ruins there and a huge deer park).  So I told Aslam that, we loaded back up and drove to Hauz Khauz.  He drove us by where the businesses were and we didn’t see it.  So he said we should go up to the village and maybe it would be there.  As we got closer, I said that I recognized the area and that I thought it would be up here as that area was a trendy place where we saw other nationalities and Galena, IL/Stillwater, MN- type shops.  We parked, got out, and started walking, goose-necking to find the Starbucks.  I spotted the green logo and in we went.  We bought our mug, Kathee and Aslam got coffee, and since I hate the taste of coffee but enjoy a good cup of tea, I bought a green tea latte.  Kathee and Aslam’s drinks were fine.  Mine was the worst drink I’ve ever had.  It was absolutely awful.  It tasted like grass shavings with frothed milk poured over it.  It was thick and gross.  I ultimately threw it away outside the next stop on our adventure.

So we loaded back up and headed to Dilli Haat, our second stop at this trinket market during our time here (though the first time was to eat lunch).  Gideon didn’t have a momento yet, Kathee saw a foot rest she wanted, and we had a few other things on the list.  Kathee talked her guy into selling the display (we got a good price on it), Gideon saw a magic box he liked and so he got that, and we found a couple other things we wanted.  One of the things I saw, wanted, but didn't buy, was a stand that Muslims use to hold their Quran.  I want one to hold a Bible for my office… after I graduate from seminary.  Seeing one, I talked to the guy, stepped into his stall (about a two-foot step up) and he gave me his sales pitch.  Since Aslam was with Kathee, I wanted to talk with him about it, so I told the guy I might be back.  Focusing on the two-foot step down, and not on the metal cross beam over my head, I absolutely drilled my head on the crossbeam.  Boy did that smart.  A LOT.  But being a man, and having pride, the first thing I did was look around to see who saw me, and sure enough 3 guys were sitting opposite and saw the whole thing.  So I shrugged my shoulders, laughed it off, and walked back to the group.  It was only after I turned the corner to feel my head to see how many inches into my brain I had metal shavings from the now-dented crossbar.  It was all good. No blood. No foul.  No problem.  But boy did I hit it hard.  So we bought our stuff, headed back to the car, and drove home for lunch. 

Aslam felt so badly for me that he bought me some tea from this teawalla

At 2:30, Aslam, Karl, Gideon, Hope, and I took another adventure.  This time into the village that we walk around each day.  This time, however, we flagged down a took-took and rode it into the village. This was totally for the fun and enjoyment of Gideon and Hope.  They were ear to ear smiles the entire time. It was so fun.  We all piled in, Hope in Grandpa’s lap on the outside so she could see, Aslam in the middle, and Gideon in my lap on the other outside so he could see.  We rode it for a short time and got out at our first stop.  They LOVED their first took-took ride.  

Our stops in the village included the grocery store for a couple things, the egg place for eggs, and then we walked home.  I wish I could post video on my blog as I got good video from the took-took and neat footage of Hope and Karl walking hand-in-hang through the village.  However, I won’t attempt it as just about each photo I add, my blog app crashes (so I add a picture, save the whole thing, add another picture, save it, etc).  Anyway, I digress.  Back to the entry.  

We got home, rested a bit.  I sat and watched an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on the iPad with sick Esther, and then it was time to get ready for supper.  Tonight we were invited to the home of an Indian family who attends church at DICF.  So, deciding that Esther was too sick to go, we decided that it was best for Kathee to stay home with Esther and Eve, sending the rest of us to dinner.  Since traffic was not as bad as we thought, we had much time to kill.  And since the husband works in the government, their home is very close to where all the embassies are in Delhi.  So we had about 15 minutes to drive by a ton of embassies (20-30 or more?), which Gideon loved!  Nigerian, Pakistan, Turkey, UAE, USA, Canada, Oman, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, etc, etc, etc.  It was so cool!  So cool.  Another side trip that Aslam wanted to show the kids was one of the slums in Delhi.  But as we turned the corner we were stopped by the water truck that comes and provides water to those who live in the slums.  This is needed since there is no water in the slums so the city was alive with people carrying buckets to fill with water.  I clicked a couple quick pictures as we turned around, and off we went to get to the house by 6.  

So we arrived at the house on time, entered, talked for a bit, ate supper, and then Gideon and Hope played with some toys and were the center of our attention.  The daughter just finished her first semester at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, so I peppered her with lots of questions about the school, the town, and the badger football team (had she gone to Camp Randall, had she done or seen “jump around,” etc).  We had a good discussion with her most of the evening.  Hope struggled a lot at supper, and her father was only all too good at quietly adding pressure to “sit up and try the food,” and be a good guest and not offend.  She ended up sitting on Grandpa’s lap crying until the daughter asked if Gideon and Hope would like to go in the other room and play with toys.  

And a funny side story.  When I eat food with any amount of spice in it I sweat like a toilet.  It’s disgusting.  And being basically bald, my head sparkles when I sweat.  And then it beads up and drips down my neck.  It is disgusting.  And Indian food is spicy.  Super spicy.  So the family had a ton of different dishes, and not wanting to offend, and covering for the lack of food my kids were eating, I said yes to everything they heaped on my plate.  Mid-meal my son totally throws me under the bus.  “Gee Papa, you are sweating like crazy.”  Followed by laughs.  FOLLOWED BY THEM TURING ON THE CEILING FAN TO COOL ME DOWN.  And the fan was on high.  And the room was small.  Thankfully they weren’t offended by my soaking wet head, and we were able to laugh it off pretty easily.  Just thought I’d throw that in there for your enjoyment.  

After supper, as the kids were playing, the man brought out a published book the daughter had written when she was 12.  While I think they were giving each of us a copy, we only took the one for Gideon.  We had her sign the book and he is excited to read it tomorrow (it’s about 

80-100 pages or so).  Since he’s read the entire Percy Jackson series since we’ve been here, I think he was pretty close to accurate that he’ll finish her book tomorrow.  But that was a nice gesture and a pretty neat opportunity for him. 

At 7:30pm, with conversation winding down and needing to get Hope home for bed, we left.  Hope was sleeping within a couple minutes of being in the car.  She was out cold when we got home, not even waking up when I unbuckled her and carried her up the three flights of stairs to the house.  Out for the night.  

That is about it for tonight.  We have our last full day of adventures tomorrow before we head to the airport to fly home tomorrow night.  Our flight leaves at 3:30am on Wednesday morning, which means we have to be there at 12:30am, which means we have to leave by 11:45 or so on Tuesday night.  

Tomorrow’s big plan is to drive by the Red Fort and maybe walk around a bit, take a ride on a bicycle rickshaw, have lunch at a very historic restaurant in Delhi, and go to one other place.  Then packing up and heading out.  That’s it for now.

Goodnight.

Sunday Update

Sunday- Christmas Day

We woke up Sunday morning and made a breakfast of eggs and juice.  The juices we drink are incredible.  We are most infatuated with litchi flavor.  And I’m a sucker for anything mango, so that’s great, too!

We left for church at 8am for the 10:30 service.  Church was good (again) and we enjoyed being there.  It is always good to worship when Karl’s pastoring.  One aspect of the service I love is that during the service they do welcoming introductions and departing goodbyes.  On Sunday there were people from Madagascar, Namibia, America, and I can’t remember where else.  It is always so neat to worship with people from many tribes, tongues, and nations as we see a glimpse of what that will be like when Christ returns!  

After church, Aslam drove us down a street in Delhi that is full of monkeys.  Hundreds of monkeys.  Just sitting on the fence like birds, watching, and waiting for bananas to be thrown.  It was lots of fun.  And there were lots of babies.  At one point I was able to take video of a man and a child throwing bananas and watching the monkeys eat them.  The kids LOVED it.  And so neat.  What an experience for them.  Certainly something they can’t do in America, that’s for sure.  

After church and monkeying around (see what I did there?), we came back to the house, and Kathee and I got dressed up to attend a party for a member of the Indian Parliament.  This man had become a Christian and a huge part was thrown for him.  Our friend Cornelia Bosman (from South Africa) had a piece of artwork that was given to the MP during the cermony.  So Chritiaan and Cornelia had a few extra invitations, and so they invited us to attend.  What a privilege.  So Aslam drove us to the address, we got out, and walked in.  We were fashionably late as the event began at 11 and went to 4.  We arrived around 2:00 or 2:30pm.  We walked by the side of the home, following the loud speaker.  The back yard was full of about 200-250 people.  Of them, Kathee and I were 2 of 6 that were lily white.  To say we stuck out is an understatement.  Plus, the entire thing was in Hindi, none of which we understood, so we did what we could to fit in.  We clapped as others clapped, talked as others talked, ate, etc, etc.  They had a guy making chai and it was delicious!  Absolutely delicious.  Kathee and I had two!  So good.  We also ate mutton, chicken, buryanie rice, and a sugar doughball that I love to eat when we go to our favorite Nepalese restaurant in St Louis.  As an aside, and as a bird nerd, I thought this was funny.  There were 20 tables of buffet-style warmers full of food.  When it was time to eat, a kite flew overhead (a kite is a bird of prey about the size of a large red-tailed hawk.  They are the scavengers in Delhi.  They are absolutely everywhere).  In a few minutes there were 20 of them circling overhead.  The closest I saw one come was about 20 feet overhead.  I was close enough to see his feet come down like he was going to grab some food and take off.  IT. WAS.  AWESOME!  As a further aside, Kathee didn’t think it would be a good idea (like I did) to put a plate of mutton on the standing table we were at and then start filming with my phone.  I guess she was right.  But it would have been awesome!  As part of the ceremony was a Sufi band that came and played.   We were told by multiple people that it was a real treat that this Sufi band came and played (they are Muslim devotional music).  While they are certainly not my cup of tea, everyone else seemed to think they were great!  As they were finishing up, a young man from the church approached me/us, wanting to meet us and have lunch with me sometime in the next couple of days.  As part of that, he shared with me his business/ministry plan and how I could get involved.  He got his MBA in Delhi and was excited to share with us his heart.  While it would be nice to meet with him, I don’t think we have time this time here.  After chatting with him, we called Aslam, followed the crowd, and left.  What a privilege and opportunity.  To be invited to something like this was huge.  And the cost/danger for this man is huge to “come out” as a Christian like this.  So it was great to be at a place, celebrating what Christ has done in one of the most powerful people in India’s life, surrounded by 90-95% of the other attenders there who do not know Christ as Savior and Lord.  What a great and fun day.    

When we got home from the party, we hung out, ate supper, put the kids to bed, and read!  Another great day in India!  

Saturday Update

Saturday- Christmas Eve

Saturday began with opening Christmas presents.  Since Kathee had sent some presents via the APO, the kids were able to open a couple presents a piece (Legos), which was perfect timing.  We wanted to give them something new about a week in to the trip so they didn’t get bored with things.  They are still playing with their new Legos and it’s now Monday morning!  Christmas Eve morning was relaxed and we just hung out around the house.  

For lunch, we had ham, which is no small feat.  In a Hindu country which doesn’t eat meat and a place with many muslims, who don’t eat pork, it takes quite the determination to procure said delicacy.  The interesting thing is that the ham was only smoked, not cooked.  So we had to figure out how to cook and how long it would take and so forth.  The ham was delicious!  So good.  

In the afternoon we hung out around the house and played with toys and I finished reading a book I think I’ll have to read next semester for my elective class on Francis Schaeffer.  I think I’ll have two of his books read by the time we hit the air to return home in a few days!  So that’s a win for next semester (unless of course those two books aren’t assigned and then they go from the category of “planning ahead strategically” to “fun reading.”  Either way I’ve been enriched!).  

The Christmas Eve service started at 6 or 6:30, so we left at 4 to get there, get everything set up and situated, for what turned out to be a packed house.  The service Karl led was songs and Scripture reading.  And it was good.  Karl had asked us to read the Advent reading, so Kathee and Gideon read the Advent reading and I helped the two older girls light the candles.  Eve just hung out in the baby backpack.  I was really proud of Gideon and how well he read.  

After the service we hung out, talked with people, and then came home, put the girls to bed, hung out, and then went to bed.  It was a pretty great day!