So, I'm having a difficult time with the whole "re-entry" thing. It is difficult to explain mostly because it is difficult to understand myself and therefore difficult to process internally and there you have it....difficult. I am so happy to be home but the weird thing is that it is like I never left. But, I did. What I saw affected me deeply, but I don't know how to mesh the two worlds that I have now experienced because like I said, in so many ways it is like India never happened. The temptation to view my trip like a "dream" is very real. To just walk back into life here in America and say, "thank God I live here in this wonderful country with Starbucks and Chickfila and Publix grocery stores" is a very real temptation. It would be somewhat easier to do that than to wrestle with God about what to do with "India", but I don't really want to forget. How could I forget? So I will wrestle with God and wait on Him to tell me what to do. In the meantime, when I can't sleep I will pray for the people I met, the school I was privileged to experience and its financial needs, my sweet Mercy girl, and my teammates who are probably going through the same struggles as me. Learning to embrace all that God puts in my life is a challenge I will willingly take if He will continue to allow me to minister His love to the world. Not just that world, but this one as well. In the meantime I have been thinking of the top ten things I do not miss about India....and the top 10 I do.
TOP 10 Things I Do Not Miss About India:
10. men urinating on the side of the road
9. the traffic...be still my poor heart
8. the horns honking
7. hot water coming out of the cold tap
6. unreliable internet service
5. the street vendors and the shopping
4 the unfriendly stares
3. the dust that coats everything
2. the HEAT
and the number one thing I do not miss about India...THE FOOD :-) and since I'm not very good with top ten lists, I have to add that I will not miss the never ending poverty
Things I Really Miss About India:
the children on the way to school and at the school, Ananthi and her sweet leadership, Mercy my sponsor child, the 6th grade girls:Shootsie, Ulma, Ushi, Napur, and Joyce, laying in our bunks and talking with the gals on the team, laughing at Tyler, skyping with the fam at home as they all crowded around the computer to talk with me, Laura Marie and Frances, karaoke on the bus, dinners at the Continental Curry restaurant(not the food, the fellowship), Sanjay and the chai tea he fixed every day for us, the precious children at the MK school, the kiddos in the slums that loved to have their pictures taken, the bus rides where we talked about real stuff, cute little naked babies toddling around...the people...that is what I miss about India...the people.
The Strangest Things I Saw In India:
cows eating garbage, a naked man walking down the road, endless piles of garbage with cows eating it(said that already didn't I?), naked babies out in public, people sleeping on any surface any time of day, work camps with temporary homes, children sleeping on the cement ground under overpasses, very skinny dogs(I only saw one healthy looking dog the entire 12 days), a vet clinic in a posh shopping area, a water slide park, craziest driving experiences ever(now I know why there are so many Indian taxi drivers)
Well, that is all I can think of right now. Thanks for reading my India blogs and praying for me. Say a prayer for the school of the Good Samaritan today.
With love,
Jackie Sue
