My team mate addressing the bugs in our room: “First of all, you were not invited to this party. Second of all, when you do crash a party, you don’t bite people.”
There are bugs everywhere. I am not squeamish around bugs, and I am perfectly content to live in my space, and them live in their space. However, “personal space” does not exist in India.
I have found these little black beetles in my hair, in my clothes, and in my bed. They smell, they bite, and they crawl all over you and your things. Last night, we came around the back entrance because the front steps were covered with little black beetles.
The amazing thing is this is normal life in India. During the rainy season, they get tons of bugs everywhere. They come from nowhere, and die within the day. Last night they swept the hallway and all of the beetles were in one pile, which was very disturbing cause most of them were still alive. Sometimes, I feel like one of those addicts on withdrawal that sits in a chair mumbling about bugs, twitching, and scratching their skin off. Randomly, my squad mates will stand up and start violently shaking their head because somehow a beetle got into their hair. I guess you could call it a bonding experience as we pull bugs out of each other’s clothes, hair, and even face.
Living in uncomfortable conditions is something that we knew coming into the Race. Each of us knew that we might be living in little huts or nice houses or in our tents in the middle of the woods, but nothing could have prepared for us for the massive changes that we have had to grow accustomed to, and appreciative for certain things back home in America that we take for granted every day.
I also know that one day far in the future, I will look back fondly on the night that I was woken up in the middle of the night because another girl on my squad screamed when she walked in the bathroom. I will tenderly remember that my team mates and I doused our room in bug spray and covered ourselves with several different types of bug repellent. I will happily remember that we ran around our room smashing bugs with our shoes and shouting in victory over every satisfying *THWACK*. So to everyone back home reading this, enjoy for me the lack of bugs, access to cold water, personal space, feeling clean, and fresh air.
Sure, the bugs are hard. Eating with your right hand was an adjustment at first. Only being able to wear a certain outfit and constantly having to adhere to dress code is tedious. Living with 43 other people is complicated. Following the rules that have so many variables is tough. Through it all, the Lord is good. We have ways to avoid the bugs. We have good food to eat. We are able to trade clothes and feel there is at least some variety in our wardrobe. Community with these people is an amazing thing that I am so glad I get to experience. There are ‘rules’ put in place for our safety and growth, but room for variability depending on the situation.
It is a massive adjustment, but there has been so much grace from everyone involved. Our hosts give grace when we accidentally use our left hand. Our leaders give grace when we ask silly questions or cross a line. We give grace with each other as we adjust to no personal space or alone time, and the crazy emotions that come with that. The Lord gives so much grace as we try to navigate through life, and I am so blown away by it all. “We must keep in mind also that the grace of God is infinite and eternal. As it had no beginning, so it can have no end, and Being an attribute of God, it is as boundless as infinitude.” – A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
I will always be blown away by the continual mercy of God. It is freely given, and freely received. It is boundless, never diminishing, and never ending.
India has been such an amazing growing experience in so many ways. We have grown in our love for these people, our faith in the Lord, and our grace and mercy towards each other as we learn what community on the World Race means, and there is so much to look forward to as we continue to grow over the rest of the trip.
