may 17th:
arrived in Aizawl, Nic's old pad, to see some of his friends and check out the people of Mizoram. THe state is a mixture of both India, China and Myanmar but it's not at the same time. We went to some schools and talked in front of giggly 8th and 12th graders about our lives in Canada. One of the girls said she loved me, so I guess I know I can always go back to Aizawl. we met some of nic's good friends; Mr. Supreme and his supreme family, LP and Daisy (best cook in India so far) and some beautiful young Mizo girls. Nic met Sentai (age 18) last time he was there and so we were invited to there house for our last night. Sentai's older sister, who is 21, is a Mizo pop star and has put out a CD. the house was incredible and by far the nicest and biggest we have seen in India so far. we are not sure where the money is coming from though, but the mom does grow roses in her huge green houses and sells them all over the world. or they could be drug lords, you never know.
May 21st:
We head on our first train journey to SIliguri for a wedding of Nic's old friend. We miss our actual train becuase Nic is discharging from both ends and is very sick. We hop on a train the next day and are picked up at the train station. We had no idea where we were going, but the dudes had a sign with our name on it, so it seemed legit. We showed up at a wedding and the putting on of the rings was interrupted to invite us, the guests in. It was awkward to say the least. A meal followed to ceremony which was also delicious and then we went in search of our hotel.
May 22nd:
Took a jeep up to Darjeeling, one of the famous hill stations in India , sitting at 2800 m. You are able to see Everest and Katamungo on a clear day, but there were none for us unfortunately. We visisted some sights; the zoo, the himalayan mountaineering institute, some religious places, a tea estate and some good restaurants that served us up some pizza's.
May 24th:
We took our big train ride to dehli. The train was nice and we had our own little compartement with four beds. It was also 9 hours late, making the journey a total of 33 hours. We arrived Dehli and found the way to the hotel. This morning we headed to Agra and got ripped off by a taxi. As much as that sucked, seeing the Taj Mahal is unbelievable.
So here I sit in Agra. We have one full day here tomorrow to catch the sunrising behind the Taj and then the red fort. Train back to delhi on Wednesday, see some sights and then hop on a plane for Oman on Friday. I am very excited to go back to Oman.
We are safe and continually blessed on this trip. See you guys at home soon.
T.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
namaste
we are back in the city for a couple of nights to regroup, get some clothes washed and eat some solid canadian food at the McMillan's. They are doing a great job feeding so many mouths and we truly grateful for their hospitality.
it is crazy to think that a huge cyclone has hit so close to where we are and I have heard almost nothing about it. please keep those people in your prayers. for a read about the country and what has happened, click the "Kori and Lisa" link on the right. they visited the country very recently and have some good insight on the situation.
our time here in kalapani / guwahati has gone by both quickly and slowly. we decdided that we would stay in the village, sleeping in a room at the back of a school and paying a local nepalese woman to cook meals for us. we call her "didi," the respectful nepalese term for sister. she is a little taller than my waste level and her face lights up when we try to communicate with her through the little hindi and nepali that we know. i like to think of her as our own oompa loompa, without the singing and dancing unfortunately. every meal is complete with rice and dahl (boiled lentils, chili's and some sort of spice powder) complimented by a small dish of another type of curry. In the mornings she cooks roti, which is a small chipati or naan bread along with a curry. the food is delicious. we have been taking a risk by drinking the water there, and a lot of it, as it flows down from the surrounding mountain somehwere. THey put it through a slow sand filtration system, and then it is filtered again in an indian equilavent to a Brita Filter, except it looks like a church coffee urn. Boiling the water would be best, but so far we have been safe. I will not be suprised if we have some nice stomach parasites upon returning to Canada. Worth it.
every morning we wake up at 6, have tea and then work on the fence for two hours. breakfast is served around 8:30 and then we try and work for a little while longer in the heat. most days have been 30 plus with 100% humidity. the school starts at 9, and we teach the older students english from 11:30 to 1 and then eat some lunch. the afternoon usually consists of a nap. everything shuts down in the hot hours of the day. if we feel like it, we do some more work around 4, or play cricket and football with the local kids that come up to the school in the afternoons. tea is served around 5, we have a small devo for whoever wants to sit down with us and listen to us speak in a language they don't understand, and then we hang out by candlelight until dinner at 8.
the village people seemed very shy at first, but everyone is becoming more friendly as they get used to us. many of the men in the village drink heavily at night, which has been causing some problems. none for us thankfully.
we will stay in kalapani until saturday and then head to another city, Aizawl on the 19th for a visit. on the 23rd we will come back to Guwahati in order to catch our 30 hour train ride to Dehli on the 24th. 4 days spent in Agra and Dehli will be followed by a 6 day visit in Oman.
emotionally and spiritually, we have all been feeling the same things. the short term mission dilemna has hit again, all of us wondering if we are being more of a pain than help. it is interesting living in the village. you are constanty dirty, sweaty and hot. We wouldn't have it any other way.
India is such a diverse country, with so many different cultures and languages. All of us are pretty bummed that we only get to see a small portion of the country. You could easily spend 4 months travelling around here and still not be bored.
Check out Nic's blog (link on the right) for some good stories too.
peace and love from everyone here in India. namaste.
it is crazy to think that a huge cyclone has hit so close to where we are and I have heard almost nothing about it. please keep those people in your prayers. for a read about the country and what has happened, click the "Kori and Lisa" link on the right. they visited the country very recently and have some good insight on the situation.
our time here in kalapani / guwahati has gone by both quickly and slowly. we decdided that we would stay in the village, sleeping in a room at the back of a school and paying a local nepalese woman to cook meals for us. we call her "didi," the respectful nepalese term for sister. she is a little taller than my waste level and her face lights up when we try to communicate with her through the little hindi and nepali that we know. i like to think of her as our own oompa loompa, without the singing and dancing unfortunately. every meal is complete with rice and dahl (boiled lentils, chili's and some sort of spice powder) complimented by a small dish of another type of curry. In the mornings she cooks roti, which is a small chipati or naan bread along with a curry. the food is delicious. we have been taking a risk by drinking the water there, and a lot of it, as it flows down from the surrounding mountain somehwere. THey put it through a slow sand filtration system, and then it is filtered again in an indian equilavent to a Brita Filter, except it looks like a church coffee urn. Boiling the water would be best, but so far we have been safe. I will not be suprised if we have some nice stomach parasites upon returning to Canada. Worth it.
every morning we wake up at 6, have tea and then work on the fence for two hours. breakfast is served around 8:30 and then we try and work for a little while longer in the heat. most days have been 30 plus with 100% humidity. the school starts at 9, and we teach the older students english from 11:30 to 1 and then eat some lunch. the afternoon usually consists of a nap. everything shuts down in the hot hours of the day. if we feel like it, we do some more work around 4, or play cricket and football with the local kids that come up to the school in the afternoons. tea is served around 5, we have a small devo for whoever wants to sit down with us and listen to us speak in a language they don't understand, and then we hang out by candlelight until dinner at 8.
the village people seemed very shy at first, but everyone is becoming more friendly as they get used to us. many of the men in the village drink heavily at night, which has been causing some problems. none for us thankfully.
we will stay in kalapani until saturday and then head to another city, Aizawl on the 19th for a visit. on the 23rd we will come back to Guwahati in order to catch our 30 hour train ride to Dehli on the 24th. 4 days spent in Agra and Dehli will be followed by a 6 day visit in Oman.
emotionally and spiritually, we have all been feeling the same things. the short term mission dilemna has hit again, all of us wondering if we are being more of a pain than help. it is interesting living in the village. you are constanty dirty, sweaty and hot. We wouldn't have it any other way.
India is such a diverse country, with so many different cultures and languages. All of us are pretty bummed that we only get to see a small portion of the country. You could easily spend 4 months travelling around here and still not be bored.
Check out Nic's blog (link on the right) for some good stories too.
peace and love from everyone here in India. namaste.
Friday, May 02, 2008
a lot can happen over coffee
Nic and Bonnie have been journaling a lot, recording the events that have happened so far. I find it difficult to journal for some reason. Maybe it is because I feel like I am talking to myself. At least on here I know there are one or two people who will read it, so that makes typing things worthwhile.
There are too many stories to tell so far. We went to the Mother Theresa house. Unfortunately it was closed on Thursdays because it is the sisters day of prayer so all we got to see was her tomb.
We saw a sweet bollywood movie called "Tashan." It was all in Hindi but it was still the best 50 rupees we have spent so far. The action was ridiculous and the dance moves were intense. I learned a few to show you when we get home.
After that we went to New Market, a touristy bazaar. the salesman and beggars were very aggressive. many of the beggars followed us for awhile, grabbing on to and cutting in front of us. they seemed to target bonnie the most, so we made her walk in the middle of us boys to shield her a bit.
On the way home we stopped at the Golden Fast Food restaurant and had some rolls. These are chipati and egg with a bunch of vegetables. delicious, filling and cheap.
We had met some boys on the street the day before and played cricket with them. As we walked home they were already waiting for us to play. Eric, Nic and I actually won a game.
Today, we went to a big mall that was A/C'ed and hung out for a while. We didn't really shop but it was a nice place to escape the heat. We enjoyed an espresso at Cafe Coffee Day. Espresso is one of those things I always think I will like and I always end up hating it. maybe one day I will learn.
We made it to the airport and waited for our flight that was delayed 2 hours. the weather was bad so the flight was pretty bumpy. one spot we hit was the worst turbulence I've ever experienced, but we made it to Guwahati in one piece.
Ray and Ellen's should be fun. I'm sure Nic will put a much better blog up than this one soon, so stay tuned for that.
There are too many stories to tell so far. We went to the Mother Theresa house. Unfortunately it was closed on Thursdays because it is the sisters day of prayer so all we got to see was her tomb.
We saw a sweet bollywood movie called "Tashan." It was all in Hindi but it was still the best 50 rupees we have spent so far. The action was ridiculous and the dance moves were intense. I learned a few to show you when we get home.
After that we went to New Market, a touristy bazaar. the salesman and beggars were very aggressive. many of the beggars followed us for awhile, grabbing on to and cutting in front of us. they seemed to target bonnie the most, so we made her walk in the middle of us boys to shield her a bit.
On the way home we stopped at the Golden Fast Food restaurant and had some rolls. These are chipati and egg with a bunch of vegetables. delicious, filling and cheap.
We had met some boys on the street the day before and played cricket with them. As we walked home they were already waiting for us to play. Eric, Nic and I actually won a game.
Today, we went to a big mall that was A/C'ed and hung out for a while. We didn't really shop but it was a nice place to escape the heat. We enjoyed an espresso at Cafe Coffee Day. Espresso is one of those things I always think I will like and I always end up hating it. maybe one day I will learn.
We made it to the airport and waited for our flight that was delayed 2 hours. the weather was bad so the flight was pretty bumpy. one spot we hit was the worst turbulence I've ever experienced, but we made it to Guwahati in one piece.
Ray and Ellen's should be fun. I'm sure Nic will put a much better blog up than this one soon, so stay tuned for that.
one quote from the Blessed Theresa that struck me: "We can do no great things...only small things with great love."
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