I've desired to give you some more blogs lately but I've kind of been putting them off a bit to let some things settle in. We're currently in Bhubaneshwar for another few hours before we take off overnight towards Kolkata. There's a country-wide festival of sorts that will be going on in a few days which also means that finding a cheap hostel or hotel may be difficult…Regardless, we'll be there a few days before taking off further north and into Nepal. If you happen to know someone in Kolkata who wouldn't mind 4 guys sleeping on a floor, let me know 🙂
Anyway, to the blog:
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Critical Thinking…This is not the forte of your average Indian. In some ways I really have had a false perception of Indian people based on many of the Indians I know in America. The Indians I know tend to be very intelligent, driven, business savvy and well ahead of the curve. The average Indian here isn't. That statement probably is going to offend some people but it's out of my experiences the last two months. It would appear as though rote memorization is usually taught in schools and I'm sure what is taught in homes varies. Regardless, critical thinking skills are sometimes lacking which has at numerous times become a frustration for our team.
Here are some examples:
The other day we went to a beach and as the other guys were in the water, I waded and just watched over our stuff. I was taking in the sun and just watching around while this dude nonchillantly walks down the beach with a basket and a burlap sack over it. He's got my curiosity now as he starts digging with his hands. Then, as pulls away the sack, I notice a lifeless dog as he just mechanically takes it out, drops it in the ground and splashes a few bits of sand over it. Finally, he walks about 15 feet to no place in particular and drops his pants to pee before leaving…
About twenty minutes later, we decide to just walk down the beach and are met with some who want pictures of us, some who want to beg from us, and some who just wave while pooping on the beach. At one point we were forced to just move up to the sidewalk because there was just too much poop in the sand. The guys went out another time and found a beach that literally was a human litter box.
Yesterday, I went to put minutes on my aircel phone by stopping at like 4 aircel outlets…none of them knew how to put minutes onto my phone. Later, Branden and Nic stumbled onto a guy that put minutes onto our phone. He worked at a shop that just makes photocopies.
Also, yesterday we spent hours asking tourist and travel agencies about info to getting to a village just south of here and kolkata. Podagoda, is a place where my parents sponsor a child and I was hoping to go visit her but none of the travel agents knew of it. Kolkata on the other hand is kind of a big deal so they knew about it. However, they said that they couldn't get us a bus or train ticket for at least 3 days…They didn't even really try to help. They just kind of sat their in indifferance. It wasn't like some of the places where I've been where they just didn't like us and wanted to be in our way. Anyway, last night we went downstairs to order food and ran into a guy who made a few calls and brought us tickets this morning for tonight…he was a rickshaw driver…
It's entertaining to me that India has a "Backwards Caste" because I often feel like the whole country is backwards. We've been in hotels that won't let us buy water at night because the fridge is locked even though all five of the guys just sitting there have access to a key…and in the morning they harass you for a tip for all the work they did for us. We were honored for a week with so much food for Branden and I to put on at least 10 pounds and get sick (I'm actually being conservative which is ridiculous.) We've been given food we never ordered and then they were offended that we didn't like it and didn't want to pay for it because we all had more than enough to begin with. We've been awoken more times than you know for chai or room cleanings at a ridiculous hour in the morning…even when we arrive to a city at like 3 am we'll get people banging on our door to clean at like 7 am. I could go on and on and on but now isn't the time.
The point is this…critical thinking is something many Americans are taught whether in school or by family or just in life. Before this trip I would have probably said that most Americans lack critical thinking but if I'm going to compare to India, I'd say we're doing pretty well. It's a strength in many ways. Americans really aren't keen on someone telling them what to do, where to go or what to say. Everytime someone comes on the tv and makes a bold comment, we're there to be the critics and to take it apart…to challenge, to question it. Think about it. We're really good at that. I can be really good at that.
Well…I had a couple weeks in a row where parts of me were dieing and parts of me were coming alive. I want to say that I'm serious about truly living in freedom and dieing to myself…and then I stumble. Regardless, I think when our bodies know that we're serious about killing off our selfishness, it goes into all out war mode. Our bodies try to start clinging to anything and everything that we once struggled with in hopes that we settle for a enslaved status quo. Needless to say, the past weeks I've struggled with pride, arrogance, criticallness, selfishness and lust. I feel like I've had the kitchen sink thrown at me and while I've been struggling through a number of things, my team has as well.
One of the main things that's getting reinforced in me is that the road to freedom goes straight through the shadow of death where all things are set on fire. The impure needs to come to the surface to be burned away and the pure things need to be refined so they shine when you come out of itl. The path to life goes through death.
I've been known to have a quick tongue and a sharp one at that. I can tear people apart and I can encourage and push someone with my words. The last few weeks, I have taken a strength of critical thinking and changed it into thinking critically. I've been critical of others and myself and I don't like it but I also have to face it and let it die or it will just get suppressed and exposed at another time. Regardless, I wanted to let you know that we are thankful for your prayers and support and encouragement. This may look like a happy go lucky vacation from the outside but walking in faith takes vulnerability and honesty through the crap and we're at a place right now facing some of that. We've hit some depths this past week that have been missing but the further you dig, the more thigns need to be cleaned.
The next two weeks will be crucial and I ask for your prayers during those weeks. Travel times whether in the States or beyond is a time where most people let down their guard and struggle the most. It's the time where apathy kicks in hardest and we miss opportunities most. It's one thing for us to know that…it's another to choose to not walk that way…I'll hit ya up soon 🙂
love ya much
b
