India is different. It’s different than America, it’s different than Nepal, it’s different than I expected it to be.
Someone described it as an “assault to your senses”. Yes. That’s what I have to say to that. Yes.
It’s loud. Churches project the service through a loudspeaker attached to the outside of the church. People sing at the top of their lungs. Keyboardists play weird techno beats. Autos play crazy music so that you can’t have a conversation. Fans run constantly. As do generators. People just talk louder. One of the teams got told they weren’t praying loud enough.
There are smells. People in India have high regards for personal hygiene and cleanliness of home, but no regards for the environment. As you drive, your nose is forever being presented with smells that you’re not quite sure you want to know what they are. And there are water buffalo everywhere. And they leave behind things that don’t smell so great. But then the cooking. You’ll be walking, and you’re mouth just starts watering. It’s magical. You smell things that you didn’t even know could smell so good.
There is so much to see! Everything is colorful. From the saris to the buildings to the cars to the environment. Outside where we’re staying is this big tree with these beautiful red flowers. And every sari is different. And cars have decorations and lights and pictures. And buildings are purple and green and yellow all at the same time. And the people have the biggest smiles you could ever imagine.
It tastes spicy. Curry run rampant here, as I’m sure you can imagine. Everything is spicy. Literally everything. I bought Cheetos the other day. And they were spicy. We are in the spiciest city in the spiciest state in all of India. Each meal, we have chapatti- tortilla-like things, rice, and different sauce/soup/mixtures to put on top. The meat is spicy. The potatoes are spicy. The vegetable soup is spicy. And it’s all so good.
And the things you can feel. You feel sweaty. You feel your skin sticking to your sleeping pad. You feel sweat dripping down as you try to sleep. But you also feel the wind. The breeze when you’re in the open. You feel the sun. You feel the warm water as you dive into the Bay of Bengal. You feel the silkiness of a sari, or the goodness of a shower. You feel free yet confined at the same time. You feel like a celebrity. You feel God working in big, big ways.
