India: the place of so many World Race horror stories. As this month approached, our team prepared for the worst… really spicy food, obnoxious stares, lack of sanitation, mosquitoes and malaria, diarrhea, nonexistence of toilet paper, and the feared squatty-potty. Yep, India was going to be a rough month. Most of us prepared ourselves for this to be our toughest month on the Race.
I’m pleased to tell you that our expectations have been broken… at least most of them. Our plane landed in Hyderabad at 2:30 am where we were greeted with smiling faces and lots of awkward stares from spectators. We spent our first 2 nights staying at a hostel with our entire squad. During orientation, we learned the “dos” and “don’ts” of India. Don’t use your left hand to eat or touch anyone. Don’t drink the water or fruits that contain a lot of water. Women: don’t show ankles, shoulders, or ANY curves. Don’t look at men and smile, that is flirting. Wear head coverings when praying and preaching. The list goes on.
The next day, we left early to our own team ministry locations. Team Entrusted will be a part of village outreach and church-planting. Our journey was to be 7 hrs long. As the journey began, we experienced culture shock as we quickly learned that Indians have no reserve about staring. We were treated like royalty at some bus stations, as some people would attempt to help carry our bags. But we were ALWAYS stared at EVERYWHERE we went. We made it safely to our village at about midnight, after 13 hrs and 3 bus rides with very poor translation. It was an adventure to say the least! We were greeted by the smiling faces of nearly the whole village.
Handsome, little chai servers
Since then, we have eaten some of the best Indian food and experienced the best hospitality anyone could ask for. We wake each morning to fresh chai and breakfast. Our hosts won’t even let us do our own laundry. They wash all our clothes by hand too. None of us have been severely sick or seen many mosquitoes. We have fresh well water to drink and have been able to buy napkins as toilet paper. (I’ll be honest, squatty-potties aren’t that bad. You’ll be just fine if you have ever pooped in the woods.) 🙂 The women of our team have experienced buying traditional saris and were treated as royalty when we wore them on Sunday.
The people of India are the most servant-hearted individuals I have ever met. I thought my mother-in-law couldn’t be compared to, but I think our hosts might have her beat! It is such a beautiful culture of community sharing and hospitality. Every night we sleep under the stars atop the church and I lay there amazed at where I am and the people we encounter. The best part is, this is only the beginning of our stay in India. This is going to be a great month!
