Back in Bangalore

Aaaaah.  Bangalore.  My Indian home base.  The Green City.  It truly lives up to its name.  It's way more lush and beautiful than I remembered.  The auto guys tried to get me to pay astronomical rupees (like 450), so I just blew them all off and took the bus.  Two hours and two buses later, minus ONLY Rs 16, that's right folks, I feel like I beat the system.  I refused to be shook down like some common clueless tourist.  What do these guys take me for?

I went back to Krupa Supermarket, and Uncleji gave me a free drink!!!!  That was pretty sweet.  I felt like family.  It's like the convenient store owner hookup.  AND the ROAD was paved!  This was probably one of the worst roads in India, and I didn't even know I was ON Hormavu Agra because it was so smooth.  Aah, with a lightning storm on the rooftop cafe and Narendra and Siddhant from SHS next to me, life couldn't be much better.  It is so nice to see all the staff from before.  My little family.  I miss my batchmates though!  This Mansion just ain't the same without them.  The band and outreach team and all the girls...wah.  I felt such a deep sense of nostalgia.

Hyderabad was hot.  I got to drink one of the best mango shakes I ever had in my life though!  Thanks to a certain space engineer named Bunny.  ha ha ha.  And my poetry was appreciated.  ; )

Dehradun

It's hard to believe I was there for two weeks.  The time just flew.  As we said our goodbyes last night, it was really overwhelming. 

Time with Shanu and family, time with Australian team (made up of no Australians, just Americans, French and Norwegians), Team Mamaji and the Dehradun team.  Thank you all for my special time there.  It all came together so perfectly, with God's perfect timing.

Jai's village outside of Mussoorie.  Amazing elder smoking the hookah pipe.  Mela on the mountain.  Swimming by Kempty Falls in the pool.

Blind school: God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.  God created each of us so magically.

Washing the kids in the slums: Rena.  What a doll!

Getting my plane ticket to Egypt!  Whee!  Trusting in God to deliver it.  Yes, my faith was weak.  But He came through anyway.  (yeah, so I am going to Egypt.  God does answer my prayers!  Firstly, to visit Africa/Middle East...my final continent unvisited (besides Antartica) and secondly to see the pyramids.  It will so amazing to be in the land where Jesus himself grew up.  It was such an amazing miracle for me when my travel agent pulled up to the base at the EXACT TIME God said he would!  I think God was testing my faith, and he certainly encouraged me to grow!)

Spending time on the roof watching the sun go down on the gorgeous Doon mountains.

swimming in the Ganges (fourth time) on the last day of Kumbh Mela with Maya.  Wonderful.

Crappy things: like 2 weeks of loose motion.  Ugh.  Some days better than others.

Waking up at 3 :45 am to catch the train.  There are few things more horrible than getting 1 hour of sleep.  And Dumb and Dumber was SUCH a letdown.  (It turns out that I have seen the end before.)

Glad to be back in Delhi.  I want a pedicure so badly...

Pray for my friend that I met on the train, that he finds peace and the Lord in it.  Pray that my last three weeks in India are safe, brilliant and fun and I stay close to the Lord and I get rid of some of my belongings.  : )

Why would anyone love this place?

i dont know, 

its just super cool, 

fun to be in, I love the ghats, 

I love the atmosphere, peaceful and intense, 

life and death in your face, amazingly beauitful, 

so much culture, tons of hippies, 

tons of opportunity, good food, organic, good coffee

says my friend Marcus, on why he loves varanasi.  Yeah, it pretty much hits it on the head.  And this guy has seen A LOT of India!

My love for India

There is a little tree growing inside my heart.

It's name is India.

I didn't even know the seed was planted.

I don't even know when it started to grow.

But as I begin the slow move back to Boston, 

I can feel something tugging at my heart...

It's name is India.

A little tree can still have roots, and those roots are tugging at my soul.

Whether they will be strong enough to pull me back, 

only God can really know.

It could be Banares.

It could be the love of the people.

A certain fondness you can have for only certain friends.

My heart aches for a place I have not yet left.

My heart aches even as I still breathe in its air.

My heart aches even as I am here.

Oh, India.

How you've captured my soul.

Oh, India.

How you've captured my spirit.

Oh, India. 

How you've captured my imagination.

Ohhhhhhhh, India.

Still in Varanasi

Had a beautiful time in Banares, or Kashi, the City of Lights.  Went up to Saranath where Buddha preached his first sermon.  It was pretty boring, although the archaelogical museum where many of the original stonework from the ancient temples that housed about 1500 students were still there.  That was breathtaking and definitely my highlight.

In Ashapur, I got to see the Widow's Home and their awesome little bakery.  Their cookies and muffins were delicious.  It was also so cool because I ran into Luke and Bethany, who I met in Kona!  Talk about a small, small world.  The work they were doing in the prison was simply amazing.  It was the best outreach I think I had ever.  They were young boys, about 12 to 18, and 6 or 7 of them were in for murder.  But you could tell that our testimonies and stories made a really big difference in some of their lives.

Now, I am back in Banares.  I love where I am staying.  It is so beautiful.  The gardens, the peace.  And most of all the teenagers.  I got to teach a 7:30 am taek won do class to the boys...it was so cool.  Deepak's form is really really good.  And I have been playing a ton of volleyball so my arms are really sore!  I'm getting ready to move on to Dhera Dun, and it is making me very sad.  But of course, I look forward to wonderful new adventures!

My birthday in Varanasi

Hello!  I thank you so much for the lovely birthday wishes!  I am missing home so so much.  Particularly, the lack of horns blasting in your ear as you walk down the street (sure wish I had some noise cancelling headphones!  Ha ha.), clean streets, clean air with no dust, people who understand you and get cultural references, the diversity of food choices and fresh blueberries, strawberries, salmon, sushi, etc etc etc.

But what I love about being here: Indian food. Lovely people who embrace you even though you don't speak their language or really know their culture.  The friends I have met at this school are OH so lovely, especially the family in the next room, Aarti, Sanjeev, and son Ankur.  Then there are all the girls who have their very distinct personalities and are all so loveable in their own way.  They really made me feel special on my birthday.  Presha made me a card AND a sign, Monimala and Shubnam wrote me a card, the family gave me a chocolate bar (yes, I am always craving chocolate or any food that is slightly American or Korean), and all the girls sang to me and prayed for me.

       Jeevan took me out to lunch at the lovely Lotus Lounge where I found nirvana in the spaghetti with mushroom and peas in cream sauce (I always get that dish at the Cheesecake Factory) with Presha and another friend.  It was so mindblowing to be sitting on the ghats watching the river go by and a man on a white horse run on the other side of the river bank in the OLDEST city in the world.  Not to mention Brad Pitt was here in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  It really is gorgeous and one of the nicest places in the world I have been to, which is saying a lot given all the nice places I've been to.  (Sorry, bragging a little, aren't I?) : P  Watching the sun set or rise on this river is like being there when God first created the world in ALL its divine glory.
        Then we watched this night ceremony to one of the gods after visiting a silk factory.  I got to share God's love to the factory owner after he asked me how I looked so young.  I told him what it says in the Bible:

Psalm 103 of David

1  Praise the Lord, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 

2  Praise the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits— 

3  who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases, 

4  who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion, 

5  who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

I told him that the love God gives me keeps me young.  He gave me a beautiful scarf for free.  And TRUST me, no one gives anyone anything for free in India.  Okay, that's not true, I have been given so much free stuff here, by the Grace of God!  My dad really treats me like a princess!  : )  I came back home and everyone prayed for me at dinner and actually at breakfast and throughout the whole day!  I really wanted to be home, but it was just as sweet with my Indian and international family!  I am telling you, my last two birthdays have been stupendous! 

Okay, a little more about my last month....went swimming in the Ganges River again on the boat ride home from the ashram.  Two times, and no second head growing out of my armpit.  Though I did get a little freaked out in the middle.  Yes, I know I am a little crazy.  I have chosen to embrace it.  It's how God made me, blame Him!  : P  I stayed at an ashram for two weeks and it was such an amazing spiritual experience.  Brought me back to my Buddhist days.  Though it was very different from meditating in the Buddhist temples in Korea.

Stayed in a Catholic ashram called Matridham.  Wow.  I was silent for four days.  I know.  I know.  Even I didn't think it was possible.  Greg will probably recall my ONE day silent protest against Columbus Day and genocide against Native Americans and racism and how incredibly difficult it was to keep quiet.  It was so AWESOME.  I want to try it in the States, too.  What I learned:

• it's hard to keep quiet. 
• it really helps one realize how much unnecessary talking we do in life.
• what it feels like to be mute.
• it's nice to not always feel like I have to be the center of attention.  lol.

And I was really weirded out when I started talking again!  I felt like I lost something.  Especially that we don't listen so much when we are talking all the time.  Duh!  That's why we have two ears and one mouth, so we can listen twice as much as we talk!  I highly encourage it on one of your off days.  Just go somewhere and be silent all day.  (Just bring a notepad because people will want to talk to you and get you to talk.)

I decided to enroll in school again, and am attempting to raise money to pay for the school and for my plane ticket home!  My life as a student and "worker" is coming to a close in June, but I am attempting to make the most of my time here in India.  My visa ends June 2nd and I will probably fly back to Boston on that date.

Please let me know (you can send a check to my parents' address) if you are willing to support me in the Great Commission here.  I did have one supporter who gave me his tax return check as a blessing, which bought my one way ticket to India!  And I have ONE supporter now who is really the only way I am staying here at all. Yes, God is good.  And if you don't believe that if you trust in Him to supply your every need, read Faith and Finances by Loren Cunningham!  Anyway, that's just where I'm at.  Miss you.  Talk to you later! 

Loving life, Loving God, Loving YOU!

Varanasi

I am in Varanasi right now with the School of Hindu Studies. It is really awesome. I am in an ashram, meditating on the Lord. It's pretty amazing. There is a really cool Nepali guy here, so I got to speak all ten phrases that I knew! Missing you guys all a lot! Yes, I am crazy, I swam across the Ganges today...hey, if I can swim in the Mekong River in China, I can swim in India.  Please pray for me.... ♥