As my time in India is coming to a close, I thought I would reflect on the last four weeks here and share with you all some of the things I am going to miss about India.
- The food – Ok, I’m going to be honest here, most of this blog will probably be about food, but I really like food. Especially good food. And Indian food, real Indian food, is good. Rice, chapati, chicken curry, dahl, curd, potato salad, boiled potatoes, fresh cucumbers, carrots, and beets, bananas, mango juice, thumbs up, chai. I love it all. Even the boiled eggs every morning have grown on me (mostly cause they’re the easiest source of protein here, but I also seriously think they taste better and have better texture than boiled eggs back home).
- Mounibab – I am seriously going to miss our translator so much. She lived with our team for the month so I felt like she almost became another member of our team. At the beginning of the month, Mounibab was more quiet and reserved, but during the second week of ministry, she finally got comfortable with us and got so crazy. She would burst out laughing uncontrollably at the dumbest things. She would also do really silly things that would make us all laugh so hard. She has so much joy in her heart and is so full of laughter.
- The drive to ministry – Our drive to ministry everyday would take anywhere from five minutes to an hour and a half depending on how close the church was and if our driver, Hari, got lost or not. My favorite part of the drive was looking out the window and watching everything drive by. From the pedestrians to the street vendors, from the Indians on their front porch who have perfected the art of sitting to the different architecture of Indian buildings, everything around me that seemed foreign and strange at first, slowly became normal and comforting.
- Playing duck duck grey duck with the kids – This was easily one of my favorite parts of ministry (though it did get a little old by the end because we played it every single day). The kids loved playing it. A lot of times they would get excited and cheer for each other and clap when someone made it back without being tagged. One night, the kids literally screamed every single time anyone ran around the circle. It was so loud. I think my favorite part though was seeing how much the parents got into the game too. They would be roots for the kids too and laughed so much when one kid got out or a kid was confused or for anything really.
- Going to the beach – On one of our off days, we drove to the beach. We managed to cram 15 people into a car that usually carried 8 or 9, my team of six Mounibab, Lazur (our ministry host), his wife and two kids, three squad leaders, and our driver Hari. We also stopped on the way to the beach and picked up a birthday cake. Both Lazur and Hari don’t know their birthday’s so we gave them a little birthday part on the beach. It was really sweet and the cake tasted amazing. We then proceeded to spend the next few hours playing in the ocean. At some point, a few other teams showed up and it turned into a half squad party with all of us riding the waves together. So. Much. Fun.
- Mango juice – Its just so smooth and delicious. Its also usually cold which is a luxury here in rural India. Juice and pop in general seem better in India honestly. They’re less burn your throat sweet but more of a smooth understated smooth. Sprite and Thumbs Up (India’s version of coke) are also really good.
- Chapati – Basically tortillas made with flour and water, but they are so good. Some Indians make them thicker and some make them thinner. We would always eat them with our rice and chicken curry using the chapati almost as a utensil to pick up the food. I just really love that floury goodness.
- Potato salad – We didn’t always get potato salad, but when we did it was the best. Their potato salad is more spicy (obviously, its Indian) but it reminded me of home because we usually have some form of potato for dinner. For lunch, we also sometimes had boiled potatoes which actually were like a taste of home.
- Eating and drinking Indian style – Its crazy how quickly you can get used to something that at first seemed so weird and foreign. After three weeks, eating with just my hands (and only my right hand at that) seems completely normal. Sharing one water bottle for the whole table and “waterfalling” (pouring water into your mouth without your lips touching the bottle) as the Indians call it is just an everyday thing.
- Chai – So much chai! In India, they serve chai twice a day, in the morning, and in the evening. I never really drank chai tea at home, but chai in India is so good! It touches your soul and brings all the warm feelings. We usually had ministry in the morning and then again in the evening at ministry, but if we were lucky and left for ministry late enough, we sometimes got it a third time before leaving for ministry.
