New Blog Write: day 2
(specifics cannot be shared due to india govt. and possible risks)
It’s been a crazy chain of events since leaving Atlanta, and never in my life have I had to use my passport so much. It started once we set of from that plane in Atlanta, and from there we flew to Doha, Qatar, this being about a 17 hour plane ride, and then a four to five our layover in Qatar. From the middle-east, we flew to our host city, though some had a pit stop in Mumbai before that.
So I, and half the squad, flew to Mumbai Airport and spent a whopping 12 hours there waiting for our next flight. We arrived there around 3 in the morning, and that was probably the most awake I’ve ever been at such a time. Of course, by the time our flight was ready, we were all wiped out due to the jet lag, but it was a fun time in the airport. From Mumbai, we flew to our host city, and then from there we took a long bus ride to our final destination for the next couple days, which brings us up to the present.
While I am writing this now, I have spent a whole day and a half in India, and now on my second day, and it has been a blast all the way through (aside from the jet lag of course). We are staying at a host home in the city, which is in a wealthy area of our city, so the houses are quite spectacular. So far I have been amazed by the beauty all around, with the colors, the lovely plant life, the lively atmosphere, and the people of course. India is indeed a place of its own, and I am excited to see what is to come once I arrive in my next, and main, location in India.
So far the time has been quite the spiritual rest and preparation, as we have been dwelling on the word, prevalent in prayer, and we have excellent worship together! Yesterday morning, I had the enjoyment of worshipping with the squad, as I played the Keyboard, Tanner (our amazing lead) played his guitar, and my man Rodrigo jammed righteously on the Cahone. It was quite the experience.
I have to admit, the Tuck Tuck rides were quite the adventure and thriller, as I have never been so freaked out on a road before. They do their job right, but they are terrifying and the try to weasel in every single space they can find between cars. i met a Tuck Tuck driver named Aria, who was decent at english, and he was quite kind to me and we laughed and such. So far I have only seen kindness from the people of India, and I hope to extend that even more to them as well.
Pictures are to come once I get them fixed up, cropped, and organized. But for now I have just this blog post, as I have limited time for wifi, and probably will be without wifi for most of the time. I am right now sitting in a cafe located downtown of our city, and now looking at the leftover remains of my Russian medvic cake (:
Things are definitely well right now, for the last two days I’ve stayed here, but that is coming to a swift end, as I am to take a long bus ride to my host city, where the hard stuff will come in to play, and that is in need of prayer for I and my team. I will strive to keep all updated on all that happens and is to come, but for now I leave you with this recap, and I hope to talk soon!
-Garrett Stoecker
