What is normal? I mean really? How do you define what’s “normal” and what’s not? Who’s to say that your normal is the same as mine? And why is my view right and yours wrong? I once heard it said that “normal is just a setting on the washing machine” but I’m finding out that even not all washing machines 1) are in English for me to read or 2) have any kind of ‘normal’ setting. (One machine in Bulgaria was written in German with a setting labeled by a butterfly picture?!)
At the beginning of the week there were lots of things I didn’t understand about my new little home in the village of Tanguturu, India. There were many sights that I’d never seen and methods of doing things that weren’t exactly ‘normal’ to my North Carolina mind. For instance, it’s not “normal” when pigs are allowed to roam everywhere around the village to rummage through trash and drink/eat from the sewage. It’s not “normal” for me to use the entire country as an open trashcan or to “flush” the squatty potty into the ditch that runs by the road. It’s not normal to see naked children running through the village without a care as they push a bicycle tire for amusement. It’s not “normal” when you have to brush your teeth with clean water from a water bottle or pump water from the well to wash your hair. It’s not “normal” to sleep on a concrete floor with lots of friendly ants, geckos and mosquitoes to keep you company as well as crows and pigs to sing you to sleep. It’s not “normal” to have the sunrise before 5:30 and the streets to be full of horns and people by 6:30.
Just your friendly neighborhood pigs. These guys hung out in our front yard.
Day 1: Village tour guided by a 13-year-old boy. He took us to see the ostrich/emu birds…
Or should I say, it wasn’t normal at first. Well, not normal for me anyways… but for the villagers this is their normal, everyday life. From the beginning of the week to the end I can see a change in many things that I once held as normal for my life. From the beginning of the Race there were normal things that I’ve had to give up, some much more easily than others (Like having a cell phone or car or the freedom to go somewhere alone). Some normal things weren’t even worth keeping because routine can hold you back from living your life at times.
In the past few days that I have lived in India I have eaten food so spicy that my lips puffed up like I’d had a Botox treatment; walked past cows, goats, buffalo, pigs, chickens, monkeys, emus, and other various animals; used a squatty potty and taken bucket showers; tossed my broken spork and embraced eating with my right hand; walked around barefoot most days; made a game of brushing my teeth by trying to spit on a pig from the balcony; ridden with 9 people and our luggage in a very small auto rick-shaw; lived out of a bag smaller than my bookbag; been taken to the principal’s office and offered a Sprite after being “show and tell” to the entire community's school; sanded and painted an entire home/church for some awesome orphan boys; preached on Sunday when I was asked to on Saturday night; played cricket with most of the village boys; and loved letting my “normal” be redefined.
Amazing Indian food prepared by Lily, the pastor's wife. She's a fantastic cook!
By the time Friday rolled around it was no surprise to hear the kids run in and kindly slap Blake to wake him up for coffee before 7am. It wasn’t a huge deal to eat rice…again, or to throw my trash over the balcony and into the field nearby. While it may not be a good idea to change everything depending on your surroundings, it is good to be open to see how others live. Different isn’t bad or wrong, it’s just different. Even within the differences I can see similarities. No matter the type of food or the method of getting it into your mouth, there’s always a desire to fellowship around the “table” (our table was the floor this week). No matter what the classroom looks like (open air classrooms with no desks and one chalkboard) there is always a desire for education and order. No matter the language spoken there is always a desire for communication and fun jokes or games. No matter the nationality there is always a family connection when believers come together and desire to pray for each other.
This trip has done lots to help me learn to adapt to new living situations. It’s been very different in each place, but I’ve felt at home each time. The people you’re with (or continue to think of back home) and the beliefs you carry are the most important things to keep hold of. Everything else that’s “normal” could change at any moment. I’m glad that I’m learning to change my normal and accept new ways of doing things. I hope that you’re willing to look into others’ lives as well and to see more than how they do things. Look at who they are and the fellowship and acceptance that they desire. Everyone desires to be valued and loved. And we as Christians should desire to give that love freely from God.
Some pretty amazing young men that never ever run out of energy!
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews…To the weak, I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
1Corinthians 9:19-23
