Goodbyes and Hellos

Hello all!

So much has happened since my last post, and so much is yet to come. I hope this finds all of you doing well and having your own, unique experiences wherever you are. Remember, you can have an extraordinary experience every day, if you know how to look at things.

This past week  and a half, my friends and I have spent volunteering in lower Dharamsala at an Indian childcare program down there. It's a 15-20 minute ride down the mountain, and though I'm used to it now the trip is really a game of 'get as close as you can to pedestrians without hitting them...' The road is narrow and there are constant switchbacks. It's a wild ride, to be sure. Don't worry, I took a video this morning to remember the experience. The daycare itself is a one-room deal, literally. There is a table to set your bags on and a couple of benches, and the far side of the room is largely off-limits to the kids. There are a few 'toys' hanging from the walls, but we are forbidden from taking them down so the kids can play with them. We think that perhaps they have so few nice things there that the teacher and her assistant, an older lady who comes accross as pretty mean much of the time (she's been known to hit a kid or two) but then finds some things hilarious and has a delightful little cackle, are reluctant to let the kids demolish what they do have (sorry for the runon sentence). There are posters of the alphabet, numbers, body parts and other charts on the walls which are mighty useful, and we do have one ball that we use sparingly with the kids too. The whole thing has been a very interesting experience. All of the kids are adorable in their own way, but there are a few we lovingly call 'devil children' (aren't there always). The 'hitting' method runs rampant in Indian culture, and it shows in our daycare. Even the sweetest child will punch another kid in the face if he/she doesn't get their way, and I've watched them abuse and kick the two stray puppies who hang around outside the building multiple times. It's very frustrating, because I want to teach correct behavior but I know that, realistically, it's a lost cause. Many of the children are very intelligent, and it shows in the way they studiously complete the exercises their teacher prepares for them in their notebooks. Overall, it's been a great experience and I'm sad to leave the kids (especially the ones who have taken so long to open up), but tomorrow is our last day there.

Speaking of last days, the last member of my original group from Delhi, Suzie, left this evening. It was a very sad goodbye, and I am especially sad to see her go because I think I bonded with her more than any of the others. Not that they weren't all fantastic people, but Suzie and I clicked really well and have experienced the most together. Peggy and I will most certainly be visiting Suzie and her boyfriend in Quebec someday! (Hear that, Suzie? Be prepared for awesomesauce.) I feel very much like I am in transition mode today: new people have come in, one placement is ending and new experiences are beginning. I know that those are the tides of life, and I am truly excited for this next stage in the adventure, but there is always a sense of loss that accompanies saying goodbye to friends and places of comfort. There is always a sense of foreboding, of the unknown, when you venture into new experiences, but if you don't leap into the fray with your colors on your sleeve, what are you really doing with your life? I hope, as I've said before, that I am always displaying my colors proudly, and that the path I tread towards Christ would be well-seen and duly noted by others. It has been my greatest striving, this whole trip, to lead by example and show what a true Christian thinks, believes, and acts like. Hopefully my actions and behavior have glorified Him.

In the past two weeks, I have seen the Dalai Lama, witnessed angry Tibetans burn the Chinese flag, eaten delicious (and deliciously cheap) street food, shared a hard cider or two and enjoyed good times with some excellent people. Now, I look forward to this weekend and beyond: Tomorrow afternoon, Dawa, myself, the three new girls here and a group of Tibetan students studying German, are leaving Dharamsala to go experience a Buddhist pilgrimage south of Bir. Dawa hasn't been since he was a boy, and invited us to go along with him. Apparently a large aspect of it will be centered around meditation, which I am fine with. I could use a few hours of alone time with God. We are going to stay with Dawa's parents one night, and hopefully find a hotel room the next one, or two, nights. We don't actually know. It's a huge pilgrimage, so many people are participating and rooms are hard to find. However, I don't think we're coming back to Dharamsala until Saturday or Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it! It will be very interesting, and I get to have a sneak peek at Bir, where I'll be spending the last three or four weeks of my placement. There is a Tibetan monastery there, and I'll be teaching young Buddhist monks English. I hear it's an even nicer, more peaceful locale than Dharamsala so I'm certainly looking forward to that.

After we get back to Dharamsala, we start the 'real' volunteering, with Rogpa again. It will be a 'baby daycare' program, up to age 3, so I'm STOKED about starting! It's going to be a wild time, I just know it. Plus, March 10 marks the 53rd anniversary of the Dalai Lama's retreat to India from Tibet, and he will be giving a speech. There will also be, we hear, a massive demonstration of some sort.

Thank you for catching up with me! I'll post more pictures soon I'm sure. Please continue to pray for me, those I work with and those we are serving. So many people need the light of Christ in their lives here. I wish to continue being an example of what following that light looks like, and your uplifting prayers are much appreciated in that endeavor. Please also let me know how I can be praying for you! Send me a private message, or a fb message, or an email. I am happy to do whatever I can for you.

Take care all!

From Dharamsala,

Aaron

Tibet Burning

Good morning everyone,

I promised you a blog post about my first week in Dharamsala, and this is to be that post, but the events I experienced tonight have made me alter the last portion of the post to reflect the incredible, and incredibly horrifying, events of the evening.

Warning: there will be a video of a flag burning; it was not a riot, but might seem like one. Don't worry; I was in no danger.

First, the week until tonight:

The ride into Dharamsala took a little over 11 hours and was bumpy the entire way. Thank goodness we shelled out for the nice bus! I don't want to think what condition the other three types of buses could have been in. For their purposes, though, the drivers were exemplary I thought, and we even received free 1L bottles of water before we set off. Somehow, I managed to sleep most of the way through (aside from the moments I was jerked forward but a massive lurch of the bus).

Dharamsala is absolutely breathtaking. A view from the road I traverse every day:

... and that's not even a picture of the mountains to the east, which are spectacular!

The tent structure that you see on the bottom left of the bottom picture is the Dalai Lama's temple complex, and just past that is his residence. Part of me still can't believe that I'm living here. It's crazy.

I walk up and down steep hills multiple times a day, so I'm certainly getting my exercise and have already lost some weight. The people here are very friendly, and Mcleod Ganj is a very small town so it doesn't  take long to get places. In some ways, it is very similar to Delhi. There is still rampant trash everywhere, dogs are everywhere and a few cows straggle around too. In many other respects, it's completely different: the air is much, much cleaner, the moisture on the ground is more often rainwater than urine, and the population is dominated by Tibetans and Buddhist monks in red robes. We are staying with Dawa's cousin, who is married and has a 12/13 yr. old son named Balin (most likely not how it's spelled, but it's pronounced 'Buh-lin' and the LoTR dwarf Balin popped into my head as a wonderful pnemonic device) and a 2 1/2 month old terror named Jordan, who loves to throw things and shoot at you with cards. They are a lovely family, and have breakfast and dinner ready for us every day. Tonight, our host family dad made dinner: a soup with gnocci-style pasta and these delicous sweet-tasting little red things I later found out were ghoma(toma?), which it turns out is a root grown in Tibet and brought over. I'm hoping I can find some in the market to bring back home, because it was a rare treat.

As for my volunteering, everything has become a little convoluted because we arrived just as the biggest Tibetan holiday of the year, their new year Losar, so the childcare program we were going to be working with is closed for 3 weeks. Our weeks have thus been split between different organizations: this past week we assisted with a 5-day daycamp program for the Tibetan group Rogpa, which was finished up today. Starting tomorrow, we spend the rest of this week taking a taxi down to lower Dharamsala to help at a daycare program down there and then next week, I'm not sure. My longterm plan is to stay here in Dharamsala with the childcare program I'll eventually get to for three months, and then I'm going to transfer to Bir (about 2 1/2 hours away) to teach English to Tibetan monk children aged 7-19. Here's the thing about all of this, though: I don't know any Tibetan. My Hindi has not found much use up here. So, I bought a book today aptly titled 'Speak Tibetan Like a Tibetan', and am going to teach myself to speak Tibetan in the next three months. The children, thankfully, know some English and conversing with them isn't too difficult, but the monks don't know any English or Hindi. I think this book will become invaluable. As a side note, I also bought a book of Tibetan Folk Tales I'm absolutely stoked to read.

I received a rare opportunity the other day: Pema, the founder of Rogpa, asked me if I would be willing to write an article in the free Dharamsala newspaper about the organization, in an attempt to 'get the word out'. I wrote it today, and am quite happy with it. I'm going to hand it over to her in two days and hope it goes over well. I'm going to have something published in a newspaper in Dharamsala, India! Definitely bringing a copy of that (or two, or twenty) home with me.

This post is becoming very long, so I'm going to try to end it soon here. First, though, I need to get out what I experienced tonight. Since I've been in Dharamsala, there have been two candlelight vigils held to bring attention to the atrocities happening in Tibet by the Chinese. The first one I made it to and walked around the town with the crowd and my own little candle lit, then headed home after a bit. Tonight, my friends and I went to the second one, and I ended up staying through the whole thing. After the very long procession that went around town multiple times, the crowd gathered down in the same courtyard where we held our Rogpa activities.

At first, we were overlooking the courtyard. The showed a 15 minute video that contained both photographic and videographic footage of monks self-immolating (putting themselves on fire). It was gruesome and heartwrenching. After the video ended, I left the others and made my way down into the courtyard, where the leader of the candlelight vigil was speaking emphatically. Shortly after he ended, a woman took the mic and spoke in English about the videos. She brought up the question of why a person would commit suicide when, even in Buddhism, it is one of the most horrendous acts against the self. Here is her speech:

After she spoke... they burned a massive Chinese flag in the ultimate symbol of defiance. Here is that video:

I was speechless. Still am a bit. It was such a powerful moment, such a powerful evening. After the burning of the Chinese flag, there was a short 'thank you' to everyone who showed up to support the movement, and then they handed out a limited number of pamphlets. Luckily, I was able to grab one. The title is 'Tibet Burning', and inside is a horrifying booklet that's a 'factsheet' of every monk who has self-immolated, including details before, during, and after the act. Some details include Chinese police beating burning monks with sticks with nails on the end, not even bothering to put the flames out. In others, the Chinese police forbade the gathered crowd to weep or mourn for the monk who had died in front of their eyes, and stated they would haul away those who did. Such heinous, deplorable acts. Also in the pamphlet is a statement from the organization and a petition to the World Leaders... as well as a copy of the DVD they earlier showed of the monks self-immolating. I actually received two of those. I have in my hands two copies of extremely rare footage of monks setting themselves on fire and dieing for a purpose much larger than themselves. People risked their lives (some died) to get this footage out. Now I have two copies. My hands are shaking as I write this.

Friends, I hope you have been staying with me throughout this post, and that you feel as revolted and shocked as I am feeling. Hopefully, this draws attention to a wider audience of these inhumane acts being commited in a defenseless country. If you would like more information, please head to www.tibetanyouthcongress.org. That is the name of the organization who put this pamphlet out. Please keep the Tibetan people in your hearts and minds, and most definitely in your prayers. They are in great need of God.

I must go now, but hopefully I'll have another post up in a week or so (probably sooner rather than later). Take care all, and goodnight from Dharamsala!

In peace,

Aaron

The Unpreparedness of Sudden Purpose

WARNING: This is NOT a blog post about my first week in Dharamsala. That one is coming soon, but this is a special one about an absolutely unforgettable experience I had last night. Also, this post is very long... but it's full of juicy stuff!

As I mentioned, this all happened last night. I was so overwhelmed by everything that I had to get up early this morning just to write it all down so I wouldn't forget anything. After this experience, I must say that I truly feel like a missionary in a foreign land for the first time. It's terrifying. And thrilling, amazing, and feels a little bit ludicrous too. But doors are being opened in front of me, and I must go through.

I don't know how to begin this, so I'll just dive in.

Suzie and I were catching up on the day when Dawa (our IVHQ coordinator here in Dharamsala) and his friend, a very charismatic and engaging Tibetan, came in. When I asked his name, the man said ‘Bond. James Bond.’ and said he was from England. This was his type of humor, and he used it all night. Really a very funny, likeable guy. I never found out his real name, so I’ll just call him James as I did last night.

After a while of talking about unrelated topics (during which time Eddie and Sara got home and joined us), James started talking passionately about Tibet. As it turns out, he had come back from visiting Tibet for the first time only two months ago. James was born in India and grew up here, but visited his home country for the first time for two months. He said that getting into Tibet wasn’t difficult and that he had to get permission from the Chinese government as well as carry a piece of paper which stated clearly that he was a Tibetan from India. However, he said that paper meant nothing in China and that he feared for his life. Truly, he was not sure he would make it out alive because it’s extremely dangerous for a Tibetan to have come from India to Tibet, as the Chinese know then that his family had fled at some point in time and could us that knowledge as grounds for annihilation. He could easily have been killed. Killed. KILLED.

James said that, in China, rules and laws concerning Tibet are only ceremonial and that Tibetans really have no power. China has all the power, and there is no space for Tibet to move. Tibet never had a large military, and James said the border between Tibet and India used to be ‘the most peaceful, with only 75 policemen protecting the border’. Now, he said, there are tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers guarding the border. In the last ten years, it is estimated that at least 1 million Tibetans have been killed. James and Dawa explained that the Dalai Lama, as the political as well as religious seat of power in Tibet, has had numerous talks with China and that there is little leeway being given for Tibetan rights by the Chinese government. The Dalai Lama is asking that Tibet remain under Chinese rule, but be allowed to cultivate their heritage and way of life. He cannot ask that Tibet be autonomous of Chinese rule because that is simply impossible and they would be wiped out easily. The only choice really is the aforementioned request, but even that is not proving fruitful as the Chinese government is requiring that Tibet ‘acknowledge’ two things: 1, that Tibet has always been under Chinese rule, and 2, that Tibet acknowledge that Taiwan is under Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama cannot acquiesce because firstly, he cannot change history which shows blatantly that Tibet was not before under Chinese rule and secondly because he cannot speak for Taiwan. Hence, he cannot meet their demands and they will not move. Right now, it seems they are at an impass.

James said that, when he visited his home country for that first time, he felt two things very strongly: great joy at seeing the home of his people and great sadness. The sight of his country brought him to tears; it was almost magical. I am amazed that he made it out of Tibet alive, to be honest. We cannot comprehend what that type of persecution must be like, and we tried  to express what we were feeling to James and Dawa last night. James explained that he knew how difficult a situation it must be for us, because our countries (America especially) understands the moral abomination happening in Tibet but cannot do anything because of our dependence on China for goods and our indebtedness to them. It’s extremely frustrating to me, that our country can well see what is happening but is fairly powerless to do anything, and moreso that we are in fact supporting China financially. James quoted multiple occasions where American governmental heads have expressed support and sympathy for Tibet and anger towards China (Nancy Pelosi, Obama, etc.), and did not hold us responsible for our countries’ actions. In fact, he pointed out that when you cannot do what needs to be done at the national level, you can still work at the individual level and truly, that is what we are doing here. That was encouraging to hear, knowing that I can still make a difference for these people in my own capacity here during my visit to India.

Things are looking worse, though: James and Dawa told us that, four days ago, China prohibited any foreign media inside Tibet. No foreign newspapers, cameras, etc. This is largely because the anniversary of the date the Dalai Lama fled from Tibet is in March and that is the day the Tibetans have their largest riots. Basically, the Chinese government doesn't want the world to see how they react/behave on that day. My guess is that many more Tibetans will be slaughtered.

James (he liked to talk) then started talking about religion and stated that he is not very Buddhist because he prefers to rely on reason. He is one of those people who have looked at all of the horrible things that have been done in the name of religion and become disenchanted. However, he did wax heavily on the points of Buddhism that talk about how people should live their lives, essentially those ‘right’ ways of treating others and morality issues and such. I suddenly found an opening where I could share about my religion and faith. I firstly brought up the empathy I felt with James, in that I am all too aware of the many ways ‘Christians’ have abused our religion to do horrible, mindless acts on others. I conveyed that I understand the propensity of many people, then, to call us hypocrites and say that our religion is meaningless, that if we truly believed and followed our religion we wouldn’t behave these ways. On one hand, they’re totally right in their reactions to those situations. Heck, even if you go back to the Bible (which you always should), the Old Testament has multiple occasions where God instructs his followers to kill and pillage. How do you justify that? On the other hand, those people are wrong in generalizing us because of a few crazies. I get their frustration, but hopefully most of us are truly trying to live God-pleasing lives and hopefully those people would recognize that.

I didn’t go into some of that with James, but I did express my empathy and then talked about the Fruit of the Spirit, and about Jesus, and how a central aim for Christians is to strive to lead lives that are as close to Jesus Christ’s as possible. All of a sudden, I was being a witness of my faith to a room full of people, and it felt so good, so natural. We found common ground in this talk, in the points of both religious teachings that paralleled, and hopefully it opened the door for further conversations about religion down the road.

(By the way, if you want to know more about the struggle in Tibet and the monks who have been self-immolating in defiance of Chinese persecution, the fb group 'Students for a Free Tibet', is chock full of information which they update regularly. I've been a subscriber for more than a year now.)

Before all of this happened, though, there was another experience that I was also not prepared for at all. When James and Dawa first came into the room, Dawa sat by me and James by Suzie so naturally I started talking with Dawa. Dawa, by the way, must be only a few years older than me. He’s single and our host family mother, Dolma, is actually his cousin (I thought he said she was his sister at first, but in India and Tibet they often call cousins their brother or sister) so he’s here quite often. Interestingly enough, I found out tonight that the host family in Bir, where I’ll be going in a few months for my last volunteering stint, are his parents. I guess it’s a family business! Anyway, Dawa asked me what I was studying in school, so I told him psychology. I then had to explain the difference between psychologists and psychiatrists to him, but as soon as I did he said, ‘I can be your first patient!’, and completely unloaded on me. He talked about having taken a drug four years ago to ‘cure’ something that gave him hallucinations, and since then he’s had these uncontrollable fears about death, going to new places by himself, and being in new places with other people, as well as a few other things. Then he asked what I thought all of that meant. I spent at least a half hour with him, asking questions and trying to find out more information so I’d have something to start with. I gave him a few basic instructions, such as to stay away from funky drugs, think realistically about the fact of death but positively about his day-to-day living and some breathing instructions. I asked about the possibility of getting psychiatric help here, and he said that there are really only people down in Delhi and that they are too expensive. He said that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to go to someone and get real help, so he was pleading with me to help him. How can I not? I told him I would do my best to research his ailments and come up with possible scenarios, and I also said that we should continue to talk about all of this, try to probe deeper.

I feel completely inadequate for this. I never expected that I would be serving this way whilst over here. Serving children, yes. Having some conversations about faith with my fellow volunteers, sure. But talking with a Tibetan about national struggles and religion? Being thrust headfirst into counseling sessions with my project coordinator? I don’t even know where to begin. I’m not qualified for this. I haven’t had any training. I think I’m beginning to recognize the fact that I am a true missionary here. I think I’m beginning to understand God’s voice, telling me that I have a lot of time here and that He’s going to make sure I’m using it fully for Him. Last night, He was yelling in my heart. I’m scared, really, to be doing these things. However, I have great comfort in knowing that God has placed me in these situations to do the best I can, to stretch me and stretch others through me. I know that God does not give me more than I can handle and that I will be OK. I just pray I have the strength to keep up, that I don’t fall behind or become complacent and fall into the trap of believing that I’m not cut out for this. Please, folks, pray for me as I’m being confronted by these unexpected challenges. It would mean so much, and I need strength. Pray also for Tibet, while you're at it. They could use some compassion.

Take care, all. 

Peace,

Aaron

Catch-ups and Highlights

Greetings, all, from Dharamsala in the Himalayan mountains! It has been over a week since I’ve posted, which means I have a lot to catch you up on including all of orientation week. For the sake of time and brevity, I have decided to focus on my thoughts during the past week more than on the actual events, though they will certainly be mentioned.

For how much I and my fellow volunteers have experienced this past week, there has been certain passivity to our day-to-day activities. Every day had something specific planned as part of our orientation week, as you could see by referencing my previous note on that. Some days we went sightseeing to specific places around Delhi, some days we had Hindi lessons. Mostly, though, we were given plenty of free time to do as we wish. This worked out quite well I think, as we had space and the opportunity to acclimate ourselves to India without being over-exposed in a short amount of time. I think that, if we had jumped right in, the culture shock would have been much worse but our easygoing days allowed elasticity and the opportunity to also get to know each other.

For much of Orientation Week, there were nine of us living together (the Fellowship, as I called us in my head a lot…yeah, that’s right. LoTR reference.). Four of the girls were doing Women’s Empowerment programs around Delhi: Natalie from San Francisco, Crystal and Heather from Canada, and Mathilde from France (her program is in Jaipur). Kathy from China was teaching English around Delhi, and Eddie, Sara, Suzie and I are all doing the Childcare program in Dharamsala. I developed a great fondness for our group throughout the week; I felt like we were sort of an archipelago of little nation islands clinging to each other in the sea of India, or something like that. There was an unspoken call for safety that we each enacted when walking places together, doing such things as surreptitiously checking every once in a while to make sure we were all together. Another unspoken rule we played out was the choice to walk in silence or the company of each other rather than playing our ipods or talking on the phone. We left space for each other to enter into conversation and respected one another that way. To be honest, while all of our sightseeing trips were fascinating and it was nice to see those hot spots of India, I think all of the volunteers would agree that the best moments came when we decided to go out on our own and make our own adventures together. As a group, we went into downtown Delhi twice; the first time to Connaught Place (a huge shopping district set in a wide circle) and the second time to an absolutely amazing bazaar, where we found quality items for very cheap prices. Our ventures closer to Ananta’s place, around Gurgaon, were exciting as well.

The monuments were very nice, but really they are mostly extravagant tombs. It’s a little creepy really, walking through the Taj Mahal with the knowledge that you’re actually in a mausoleum. It was beautiful, yes, and the 23 years of work that went into making it showed in the jewel-inlayed marble the tomb was made of. Afterwards, we even got the opportunity to go to a shop where they gave us an instruction class in how the work of setting jewels in marble happens. It’s a fascinating process, and takes so long! Depending on the number of stones, a kitchen table-sized tablet took them anywhere from nine to eleven years to complete. That just seems mind-boggling to me, and I’m amazed and so impressed at the guys who have the patience to do that kind of work.

Things I’ve learned:

1.                          Many more Canadians than Americans volunteer abroad this time of year. I guess our time is in summer, but right now it just looks the USA look sort of inhospitable.

2.                          Most Canadians don’t say ‘eh’, they say ‘hey’. It’s actually a noticeable difference!

3.                          Nahi danivad (no thankyou), is both very effective, and license to get laughed at by locals if you don’t know how to say it correctly. Really, just garbling everything in my mouth a little as the words come out makes them sound closer to the real thing.

4.                          Bartering is tough, and there are rules. Sometimes, there are fixed prices and you can’t bargain. Who knew?

5.                          Don’t go to the emporiums. You’ll only get ripped off.

6.                          The Indian National Zoo is the best zoo I’ve been to, but I’m judging that solely on the basis that all of the animals were out and about, coming right up to the fence. I was two feet from a jaguar. He looked hungry.

7.                          If you go to the Indian National Zoo (pronounced ‘ju’ in Hindi… fun!), you’re pretty much guaranteed an entourage. I think we were more exciting than the animals for the 5 or so guys who followed us the entire time.

8.                          The French might seem meek, but man do they like party music!

9.               Saying 'no' consistenly to beggars (especially the malnourished children) is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I hate it, but I have to.

10.                          Punjabi music is extremely fun, and gets in your head. Don’t worry; I downloaded an mp3 CD from our driver for the week, so I got 130+ Indian Punjabi songs free! Score.

11.                      Learning Hindi is tough, but exciting. Now, I’m trying to tackle learning Hindi AND Tibetan, so I can teach English to Tibetan monk children (aged 7-19) my last two (maybe one) months here when I transfer to Bir at the end of my volunteering stint.

12                      Monkeys are fun. And mischievous. Chalk that up for the children here, too.

13.                      Dogs are extraordinarily annoyingly loud at night when you’re trying to sleep. This nighttime warfare between the dogs and monkeys (they like to sit in trees and throw poop at the dogs. I’ve seen it.) needs to end. Or I need to invest in earplugs.

14.                      The people here are lovely and inviting. The children are so much fun, too!

15.                      The Himalayas are breathtaking. End of story.

Much more to come in a couple of days when I plan to blog again, especially about my first week in Dharamsala. So much has been experienced, and it’s difficult to believe I’m already into my volunteering! However, I’m having a blast and have been so blessed during my stay so far. I’ve met many new friends, seen once-in-a-lifetime sights, and I have the incredible opportunity to show the love of Christ to everyone I encounter (especially those kids!). It’s wonderful to be an example of outward-focused living in a world where so much is focused inward. Even if I can’t directly preach the Gospel to people, I know that I am living out the fruit of the Spirit daily by my actions  and demeanor. Please continue to pray for me as I start on my volunteering journey, that I may keep this points as the focus of my work. Pray for strength for me, as I continue to be challenged and stretched in myriad ways I can’t possibly yet unravel. Also, message me and let me know how I can be praying for you! I’m halfway around the world, but I hear prayer has excellent reception worldwide.

Take care all! Sorry for both the delay in posting and the relative briefness of my experiences. I’m sure there are tons of things I’ve left out, which I’ll remember in an hour when I don’t have internet access. Meanwhile, this is goodbye for now from McLeod Ganj!

Peace,

Aaron

Indian Immersion 101

Welcome to my first post from India! It's only been two days, but I've seen and experienced so much already that I hardly know where to begin. I'll start with my first flight out, to London, because I had one of the best experiences and found so much assurance towards my purpose.

When I got my flight tickets, I realized that I had not asked if window seats were available so I went back to the counter and asked. The last two window seats were taken as she was looking at them. Not too dejected, I accepted my original seat thinking I might be with 'fascinating people I have great conversations with', to quote myself to my family and Peggy. It was like God heard me and said, 'Let's make that happen!', because I got the privilege of sitting next to an extraordinarily caring British woman, Beth, and her four-and-a-half month old son Reuben. Now, before you get all exasperated over the endless commotion possibilities, take a look at the little guy:

I know, right? The kid's got it goin' on. But the best part of the trip was my conversation with Beth, who was right in the middle of a nasty situation and had made the terrible choice to do what was best for her and her child. I was given the humbling opportunity to listen to her story and provide advice to someone who needed it badly. The conversation went on for half the trip, and I was so blessed to find blatant assurance from God that I needed to be in that seat, for that woman and her child. Divine orchestration. Those moments consoling and just being there for someone I'd never met before set the tone for this whole trip, and I found myself confident in my abilities, for whatever capacity in which I find myself.

I spent a few hours in downtown London, complete with shots of Parliament and Great Ben, Buckingham Palace and the changing of the Guard, and a breathtaking tour of Westminster Abbey. The day was cold, and I wore sandals. Wasn't too bad actually. I slept most of my other flight and got into Delhi right at 5am, breezed through customs, exchanged currency and found my luggage. I and another IVHQ volunteer, Mathilde from France, were picked up around 6 and brought to the IVHQ coordinator Ananta's apartment where some other volunteers are also staying. I decided to stay up so that I could make the sleeping transition easier, which has fared well so far. This morning was a breakfast of toast with peanut butter and jam (so Indian, right?) with hot tea (scratch that: British). Then the three volunteers  already here and I spent the morning wandering around the mostly sketchy, completely fascinating neighborhood. Back home to an Indian lunch of rice, a curry of some delicious sort with cauliflower, and fresh naan, then the five of us (Mathilde joined this time) decided to take the train to downtown Delhi for the afternoon: a most excellent choice.

How do I begin to describe this place, these people and the shopping district of Delhi? Things I experienced: many many stares; a dogfight wherein the winner limped away with the food and a bleeding ear; languid cows and pigs; a child sitting on an elevated bed under a tree waiting for passersby to request one of his many coconuts, which he then would chop open with a machete; many well-dressed Indians (most of them, actually) nonchalantly walking through garbage-laden streets (a paradox I still can't fathom); every rickshaw in Delhi slowing down next to us, hoping we'd hop in... then the drivers staring at us while slowly driving away into traffic unawares; an obviously rabid dog with most of it's hair gone; more people in one rickshaw than I could count; more shops selling the same items than I could count, and more pungent smells than I've ever before experienced. To name just a few. On the trip in, I sat next to an Indian fellow around my age named Garin who struck up a conversation with me. We covered a broad range of topics, mostly discussing differences between the U.S. and India and disparity within India and how he believes it's changing for the better more and more each day. Did you know that, once you complete school in India and go into the workforce, you never get a vacation day? Garin also said that family binds make it extremely difficult to leave the country and that he has wanted to get out for years. He's finishing up his Masters though, and going into the workforce soon so he had little hope in his eyes of travelling. He especially liked to hear me try to explain snow and delighted in trying to prove to me that Indian people are polite, curious and engaging. It was really a lovely talk, and I was glad I got that opportunity.

I have few complaints healthwise, other than a cold which seems to be confined to my nose (a blessing actually, as I can't smell the putrid air as much) and my one reaction to Indian food so it seems: Gas. De-airing your derriere, tooty fruity in my booty, cutting the cheese... no matter which way you say it, Indian food has given me a bit of flatulence. I know you really wanted to know that. You're welcome. Actually, I don't think it's disgusting at all here, after the things I've already seen (dog going number 2 in the middle of the street, anyone? a person going number off the sidewalk, like some sick trick shot that probably completely missed the bowl. Goal? Net. That's the word.), a little fart doesn't even reach one's ears or nose. It is a rather fascinating combination, though: farting and nose sniffles.

Now, it's off to bed with me. Going to start my project of becoming a morning person and doing prayertime/devotion reading in the mornings so I need to get up early. I think that, with my last sleep being on a plane and having walked miles and miles today, I shouldn't have trouble getting to sleep even with all of this noise. Oh, did I mention that I scored a full-size bed in a room of my own? Yeah, holla. The internet connection is great too, so I shouldn't have any problem there.

Tomorrow morning: the beginning of Orientation week! SO excited to find out the details of my placement and get rolling on learning Hindi!

Take care friends, and I shall leave you with a parting gift. I read this on a poster a vendor was trying to sell: 'If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a dear. Wipe clear.'

Heh.

Goodnight from India!