We're currently visiting our awesome friends in Kolkata - we got to briefly see them in Chiang Mai last summer when they came through the city for a conference, and we thought it would be fun to make the jump over to India while we're here in SE Asia to spend a little time with them before we leave this part of the world.
On my last trip to India (6 years ago or so) I came and worked at Mother Teresa's Mission House. I remember it as a blur of traffic and rain and heat and languages and bright colors and smells and dirt and people. The emotional impact was similarly confusing and tangled! I went home with head lice, malaria symptoms, and a bag full of questions about how God could be good when so much hardship existed in the world and who someone became and the life they lived seemed to dependent on circumstances and one's place of birth.
Of course, if you know the story of how Gabe and I fell in love, you know that it was the "India Aftermath" for me (and a similar "Mozambique Aftermath" for him about the same time) that led to us processing our experiences in these different countries with each other and then realizing in the processing just how much we appreciated having someone around to talk through and explain the mix of emotions and thoughts.
Fast forwarding to present time.... On this trip, I braced myself for a similar repeat of my last time here, but I should have known better because rarely does God seem to walk you through two identical situations!
I think this time around, I've been able to see the people of this region separate from the environment. Maybe that's because the pace of this trip has been a little more relaxed. Rather than heading out many days to go to the Mother House and catch a bus to my duty assignment and spending four hours washing clothes and visiting with other volunteers from around the world, we've spent time just being with our friends in their home, playing with their kids, and sitting around their table or in their living room talking, and really trying to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the subculture they live in and the people around them.
The honking is still there, the women still wear beautifully vibrant colors, and it's still warm, of course, but there's a little more time to sit and talk with the "Auntie" that comes to help clean the house and cook and watch the kids when our friends are needing to focus on the language class in their home or running their business. She loves to embroider, and she was telling me how much she's enjoyed embroidering saris. She worked in the home of a consular employee in America for a year, but when he was relocated to Dehli, she asked to come back to Kolkata. Her knee was hurting yesterday, so I asked if I could pray for her. That lead to an interesting conversation about her experience with Catholic and Evangelical organizations here in the city, and the significance of this weekend with today being Good Friday.
Earlier this week I joined my friend, Stephanie, on a visit to take a surprise birthday cake to a young woman in her community of friends. We sat on a mat on the floor eating a delicious pile of rice and meat and spices with our fingers, laughing at the children of the house, and visiting about birthday traditions and food and family members and fashion. Stephanie prayed for her friend before we left with many hugs exchanged at the door.
Every morning our friends run a little language class in their family room for two of their interns and another couple that is new to the city. Stephanie helps pace the class and plan it and then co-teaches with a local native-language teacher. The teacher brings little food treats for our friends youngest daughter each morning, and it's so fun to watch the toddler spot "Auntie" coming in the door and abandon whatever she's doing and beeline over to sit with Auntie on the couch and eat her morning snack. I love seeing how the toddler and the language teacher relate to each other and participate in this morning ritual. Gabe and I got to sat in on the language class one morning and it as fun to also see Auntie teach these adults using many of the same techniques we used in our ESL class at Bawrirak Suksa - apparently beginning-language learning is similar across the world! Lots of using pictures and pointing 😊
Language class happens for 2 hours each morning, and the language learners lock themselves in the family room while the kids have the run of the house under the watchful eye of the Indian house help. We've been able to play Uno, teach the older ones (8 and 6 years old respectively) a simplified version of Qwirkle, talked about Star Wars, built train track complexes, visited the roof, and clean up after the two toddlers. The couple that is doing language learning adopted their son from Eastern Europe. He has multiple developmental delays - possibly due to his time at the orphanage and being under-stimulated or possibly genetically related. It's been sweet to see how the house helpers respond to his needs and seek to encourage him and contribute to his continued developmental progress.
In the afternoons we've been able to run to the market with Paul, visit The Loyal Workshopoffice and production house (if you're looking to invest in a quality leather accessory like a purse or messenger bag or wallet, check them out! Their work is awesome - both on an ethical level and quality level!) walk to a coffee shop, make fresh salsa, and Gabe visited their business office with Paul.
This weekend we're planning to head to a flower market for a photo-taking walk early in the morning. Paul has promised that we'll have great images to send out in our quarterly newsletter next week. I think dying Easter eggs might be on the agenda as well, which will be fun to do with the kids!
Among all these activities and outings and projects, though, we've most enjoyed the chance to share space and conversations. They've asked us some thought-provoking questions and provided insight and perspective into living and working overseas through their experience, and we've been able to pick their brains on various topics which has helped (and I think will continue to help!) as we progress through this Vision Season.
So far, India has seemed a lot more manageable than the last time I came through here!
- Dani
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