I am currently in the villages in the jungle of Nepal! We will be here for a week, so our sweet Squad Content Manager, dani (she hates uppercase letters), will be posting my blogs for me while I’m gone!
Now that I’m finished with my first month on the field, and I’m in Nepal for my second month, I finally feel able to think back on what I wish I had known about India. Keep in mind that I was in Bangalore, which is a large city, so things will be different if you are in a village. I got a few of these from some girls who were in villages, so I think this should cover it!
1. Don’t Bring All of the Clothes – Most likely, you will buy kurtas or punjabis and wear them with leggings or elephant-style pants. Kurtas are like tunics that go to the mid thigh, and pujabis are similar, but longer. You’ll wear kurtas with jeans or elephant pants, but you can wear punjabis with leggings, because they’re long enough to hide the shape of your legs (but, sometimes if you’re working with kids, you’ll have to wear elephant pants with these as well. It depends on the ministry contact). You will be able to buy the tops once you get there. I came on the race with 3 loose tops and a t-shirt, 3 loose fitting pants, and one pair of leggings. This was perfect for me, because I bought 3 kurtas and was able to wear those with my leggings and pants pretty much all the time. Since I was in Bangalore, I was able to wear my regular tops too. Girls, it would be good to bring a scarf or two to cover your head and wear over your chest. For some cultures in India, it’s inappropriate to go without a scarf on.
2. Bring Shower Shoes – you can even buy a cheap pair of flip flops in India for like $1. You’ll want this because you will almost definitely be taking bucket showers in the middle of the bathroom right next to the toilet. You’ll want clean feet.
3. You Will Likely Get Sick – it’s very common for people to get sick in their first couple of weeks in India. It’s a new environment with new foods. Don’t let this keep you from trying street food though! Remember, if a lot of locals are in front of a street vendor, it’s safe and good. Go get some!
4. Be Prepared During Travel Days – Feel free to go and read my blog called “This is India: Three Short Stories”. The second story is about how I got sick on the 10 hour bus ride from Hyderabad to Bangalore, and I was so glad that we were smart enough to being wet wipes and a grocery bag. I wasn’t the only one who got sick either. A couple of girls actually had to get off of the bus a few times. Even if you don’t get carsick (I don’t either. I just happened to be sick that whole day, unfortunately), just be prepared and bring toilet paper, wet wipes, garbage/grocery bags, hand sani, etc.
5. Toilet Paper Isn’t Really A Thing – Indian bathrooms rarely have toilet paper, even in the cities. I so wish I had known to buy a roll of toilet paper on my first day in India. In fact, world racers are usually in the habit of hoarding any tissues or extra toilet paper in their purses or pockets in case they run into a tricky bathroom situation. I’m finding that it’s the same in Nepal, because AS I’m writing this in a restaurant inw Kathmandu, one of my teammates asked if anyone had any toilet paper stashed, and almost everyone at the table said “yes”… Come prepared, especially if spicy food could be tricky for your bowels.
6. Speaking of You Bowels, Get Ready To Talk About Them ALL The Time – With the food situation in India, things change in the ol’ bod. If you don’t like talking about “gross” things like that, too bad. I’m not a fan of talking about gross things either, but honestly, it’s easy to talk about and it’s a quick way to bond with your squad.
7. Squatty Potty – No, not the little stools you can buy off Amazon. Toilets in India (and most of Southeast Asia, really) are often just holes in the ground. And bring your toilet paper, because there won’t be any in the stall!
8. Hand Sani is a MUST – I thought about bringing my hand sanitizer and holder, but I didn’t and I regret it all the time. One teammate, Caitlin, was smart enough to bring hers, along with a holder to keep it attached to her backpack. She’s nice enough to let us use it all the time, and is just buying new hand sanitizer and filling up her current bottle that fits the holder.
9. You SHOULD Bargain – Anytime you buy pretty much anything, you’ll bargain. Don’t get scared, because people EXPECT you to bargain with them, especially auto drivers.
10. They’re Called “Autos” Not “Tuk Tuks” – You’ll hear the word “Tuk Tuk” all the time when people talk about the little three-wheeled cabs in India, but almost no Indian will actually know what you’re talking about. Call them Autos (or sometimes Rickshaws).
11. Mosquitos are Everywhere – I brought these deet-free bracelets that I LOVE. They don’t smell gross and they work great for me! Also be aware that you CAN buy bug repellant in India. They’re very aware of their mosquito problem.
12. Ask A Local How To Do Bucket Laundry – You almost definitely won’t have a washer or dryer. Most Indians do their laundry up on the rooftop using buckets and clotheslines. Our sweet cook, Regina, showed us how to do our laundry using three buckets and a stone table. Don’t assume you know how to do it yourself, and please don’t just swirl your clothes around in soapy water and hang it out to dry.
13. You Will Probably Be a Vegetarian in India – We rarely had meat. I think we may have had mutton once, but the only other time we were able to have meat at our ministry home was when a couple of my teammates went out to a chicken stand, picked one out and had it butchered for some chicken fajitas. It was pretty fantastic.
14. Get Ready To Be in a Bunch of Selfies – Just know that you will be the center of attention in most social situations. You will be in a lot of selfies, especially if you are a girl, and ESPECIALLY if you have blonde or red hair. Just make sure to be safe in these situations. Sometimes, men will ask to take a selfie but will ask to use your phone… obviously, say no.
15. Church Services are LONG – Our first church service was about four and a half hours long. Worship was well over 2 hours long (and all invery loud Kanata), and the sermon was about an hour and a half. We spend another hour taking selfies with church members, praying over people and their cars (we’re still not sure why). You will also likely go to a church members home for lunch afterwards, which will add on several hours. Our first Sunday, we went to church at 9am, and didn’t get back till past 4pm. I would suggest bringing your Bible and journal, especially if it’s a service without a translator. That way, you’ll be able to look like you’re going along with it, while also getting some reading time and journal time in.
16. You Can Buy Pretty Much Anything You Need in India – A big racer mistake is to bring a whole bunch of stuff that you could have bought in that country. Indians use shampoo, deodorant (but not powder), toilet paper, wet wipes, mascara, body wash, and pads. There’s really no need to bring a year’s worth of these things. The ONLY thing I would stock up on is tampons.
17. Get ready for a lot of new smells – You can walk down the streets of Bangalore, and one minute you’ll smell amazing food, and then you’ll smell urine, then you’ll smell chai, and then you’ll smell cow feces. I’d come prepared with some peppermint oil to rub under your nose when it gets to be a little much for your nose.
18. Don’t eat too much before house, village and slum visits – They will most likely feed you quite a bit when you visit a home, and it’s rude not to eat what they’ve given you. Also, it’s nice to bring snacks or candy for the kids of the homes you’ll be visiting.
19. Going off of #18, you will be sick of soda by the end of your time in India – Especially in the villages, and when you’re doing a lot of home and slum visits. Even the poorest of families will, at the very least, have someone run to the corner store and grab a bottle of Thums Up.
20. Don’t Do Too Much Research on India Beforehand – Maybe this is silly to tell someone who is reading my blog about India, but no matter how much you research, you will not be ready for India. It’s not possible to be truly prepared, so rest in that and know that the Lord will provide what you NEED.
21. “Time is Eternal” – This is what lots of people will tell you. Your bus driver said he’d be there at 6pm? Bring a book, because he’ll be there around 7:45pm. Also, time STOPS for chai. It doesn’t matter how much you’re in a hurry, if chai is served, everything can wait.
22. The Indian Head Bobble – When an Indian wants to say “yes”, he won’t actually say it. He’ll bobble his head from side to side. It can get really confusing, especially because they’ll sometimes do a bobble/shake, so it looks like they’re saying no. You’ll get used to it, and you’ll probably start doing it too!
23. Indians Really Admire What You’re Doing – In India, it’s completely unheard of for someone to leave their job and family for missions in another country. Their duty to their families is above all else, so that fact that I left my job and family to meet and help them was a big big deal to them.
24. Being a Widow is the Worst Thing You Can Be in India – This was a big culture shock to me. When a woman’s husband leaves her, her entire life stops. She is immediately homeless and extremely poor unless she is very very educated, which most woman aren’t. Coming from a country where women leave their husbands all the time, this was kind of crazy to me. I would suggest reading the book The Gospel of Ruth: Loving God Enough to Break the Rules. I started reading this book a couple of weeks before the race, and it speaks a lot of Ruth and Naomi and their roles as widows in that culture. These women in India lose all worth when their husbands die or leave them. In fact, there used to be a ritual called sati, where a widow throws herself on her husbands burning funeral pyre because her life is disposable. Although sati is now illegal, many women lose all hope. This is something to prepare for. Ask the Lord to place understanding in your heart. If you’re going to India, you will have to lose any expectations of feminism.
25. Poverty is Everywhere – Maybe this one is obvious, but I think it’s good to prepare yourself. It can be shocking. You will run into many homeless women and children begging for food or money. All they see is that you are American, and that you almost definitely have more money than them. They have no idea what you gave up to do this. If you want to give money, great! But if you can’t, then there’s little you can do but look the beggars in the eyes and acknowledge their existence. It may feel uncomfortable, but it’s better than pretending they don’t exist.
26. Ministry is What You Make It – My team and I often struggled with what ministry we were working with. We LOVED our ministry hosts, and got very very close to them, but we had very little consistency and were rarely prepared. Sometimes we did things as mundane as chopping vegetables or trimming shrubs at the AIDS center, or snipping threads at an embroidery factory. We would sometimes go back to our house and wonder what kind of difference we had made. BUT, there were so many ways we could have made the most of our ministry, but didn’t. For example, we saw Maria, our “snack dealer” every single day. We made friends with her and talked to her a lot, but why didn’t we see her as a ministry? Why didn’t we see all of our Uber and auto drivers as ministry opportunities? If you’re not satisfied with the amount of ministry you got, then find your own.
27. Schedules Aren’t a Thing – Just go with the flow. If you feel like you need schedules and structure, you’ll probably struggle in India (you’ll struggle with the whole race) but ask the Lord to change that in you! Ask him to give you patience and adaptability. I asked for adaptability, and I got it.
28. Erare the World “Missionary” From Your Vocabulary – In India, the word “missionary” isn’t seen as a good or godly thing. When people hear the word, the think of the crusades and very harmful things. We heard someone say that we were apostles, and I like that word better anyway!
29. Don’t Spend Time on Your Phone – This is a good rule for any part of the race, but you WILL regret spending too much time on your phone or in correspondence with the people back home. It’s so hard to stay focused on your mission when your heart is still in the U.S. with your family. I was in Bangalore, but I still almost never had access to wifi, which was great! It made bonding in our team SO much easier! But if you’re in a village… you don’t really have a choice. Enjoy it!
30. Be Excited About India! – Really, my advice about all countries is to find ways to be excited about that country! Most of us have a country on our route that we’re not all that pumped about (*cough* Cambodia *cough*) but if you get to that country already disappointed, you’ll miss all of the cool things that go along with being on an adventure! Don’t do that to yourself. There’s SO much to love about India!
