omg...internet, for the first time in days!!

We got these net-card-modem things when we were in Hyderabad, thinking that we would be able to use them while traveling...but they only worked in Hyderabad (and, now it seems, Delhi). whoops. HOWEVER, we were in such a rural area for so many days, that we probably wouldn't have been able to get much service anyway.

So, now we're in Delhi! We have been to Hyderabad (where I posted last), Dumka for a couple of days, then in "interior villages" throughout Jharkhand and Bihar, Bhagalpur, Allahabad, and now Delhi. The time has passed surprisingly quickly...we have been very busy. Now, we have the rest of today and tomorrow in Delhi, then I fly home tomorrow night! yay!

I got a bit of sickness yesterday, but have been attacking it with antibiotics and electrolyte fluid and as much rest as I can get, so I'm feeling better today. yay! I can make it through these last couple of days!

Overall, it's been a really good trip. In terms of work, it's been really productive, but it's been a really good trip for me personally, too. I had a rough first few days (I usually do), but then I settled into my groove. It was good that we didn't have internet or cell coverage...I think I needed a chance to be totally separated from my "connected" life, which allowed me to experience a sort of spiritual cleansing...a lenten fast, if you will. Plus, we were in the middle of Beautiful Nowhere...Bihar and Jharkhand...very rural villages, beautiful scenery...most of the places we stayed barely had electricity (for only a couple of hours a day, if at all). It was a good time to reflect.

Plus, being placed in a culture that is sooo different from your own allows you to examine your own culture, and habits, and lifestyle, and thought patterns. (You would think that I would be used to this by now, since it's my fifth trip to India!) This process can sometimes be unsettling, but when combined with the rural exile, it allowed me to have a particularly reflective time. ahhhh.

So anyway. Really only a day and a half left...and I'm ready to come home. I miss my little home in Kansas City. :)

hyderabad...

Well, I made it safely to India...barely. My flight out of Kansas City was delayed a couple of hours, so I was literally running through Chicago O'Hare (a la 'home alone') to make my connecting flight. I did make it, but my bag didn't.

The bag was supposed to be delivered to Hyderabad yesterday, but wasn't. Now it is supposed to be sent to Calcutta tomorrow evening so I can pick it up on my brief (very brief) stay in that airport...PRAY FOR MY SUITCASE! I was able to go shopping and have a few extra outfits, but not enough to last for 10,236,273 days or however long it is until I get home.

But, I've been in Hyderabad for the last couple of days, and it's been good. Very busy (though I did have some down time this morning...loooove the down time). And we've been to a few gatherings where we have been the "honored guests": this is nice, but it can be exhausting (literally) to be treated like a celebrity all the time. I'd rather just sit in the back row and watch everyone else.

So, tomorrow we have a few more meetings, then we fly to Calcutta (Kolkata) in the evening where I will RETRIEVE MY BAG and then we will get on a train to...somewhere in Jharkhand.

It's the middle of the night now, and though I'm having a hard time sleeping (hooray jet lag), I should probably try. I really miss everyone, and Kansas City!

(and: phone tweets work! you can view them at http://twitter.com/sarainindia)

bye! pray for my bag!! :)

tweet tweet

I'm contemplating a new way of keeping in touch while I'm in India. I've set up a twitter account that I will try to update while I'm there, either from the internet OR *crossing fingers* from my cell phone. We'll see if it works. My twitter username is "sarainindia" (@sarainindia). If you're a twitter user, you can "follow" me. If not, you can visit http://twitter.com/sarainindia to see my updates! (If it works, of course!)

Oh, and...I'm going to India on Saturday. In case you didn't catch that. ;) It should be a good trip...I'm looking forward to the HOT weather! woohooo!!!

I think it's about time...

...that I also announced the launch of KC Bookies, the official blog of my book club.

Our book club is the best. We have great members, we read great books, we drink great wine, we eat snacks.

Our blog is a way for us to share our books with the world. You should check us out.

first post of the new year, apparently.

I offer you a quote:

"...we are all invited...to discover, through following Jesus, that this new world is indeed a place of justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty, and that we are not only to enjoy it as such but to work at bringing it to birth on earth as in heaven." -N.T. Wright, Simply Christian

It doesn't exactly have the same effect out of context. But it's still good if you let it simmer for a little while.

I would like to start writing more. For me, though, it's not something that I can just do...it has to overflow. I'm working on 'simmering' my life a little more so that a little more spills over. I guess we'll have to see what happens. Lent is a good time to 'simmer'...

top albums of the decade.

A few days ago, a few friends and I had an email exchange in which we shared our top 20 albums of the decade. It was one of the most fun exercises I’ve done in awhile: flipping through the ipod to see what it really IS that I’ve been listening to for the past 10 years.

The albums that made the list are ones that I just LOVED, and still love now. 20 is a remarkably small number...there are many more albums that were highly qualified to fall on this list.


20. gnarls barkley – st. elsewhere
19. feist – let it die
18. arcade fire – funeral
17. sufjan stevens – seven swans
16. over the rhine – the trumpet child
15. ryan adams – heartbreaker
14. andrew bird – armchair apocrypha
13. damien rice – o
12. over the rhine – drunkard’s prayer
11. iron and wine – the creek drank the cradle
10. coldplay – a rush of blood to the head
9. glen hansard and marketa irglova – the swell season
8. patty griffin – 1000 kisses
7. bon iver – for emma, forever ago
6. over the rhine – ohio
5. thom yorke – the eraser
4. regina spektor – begin to hope
3. sigur ros – takk...
2. radiohead – kid a
1. radiohead – in rainbows

****

In other news, I find myself here on the eve of a New Year and I am, unexpectedly, INCREDIBLY EXCITED. Looking forward to what is to come in my life and in community. Excited to keep learning and growing. Hoping that I will continue to be transformed by the renewing of my mind.

(I also turn 28 in a few days, and that IS giving me anxiety. Minor late-twenties crisis. I’m sure I’ll be fine.)

belated

...written during the trip, but not posted. so I'll post now.

(that means that I'm back! I'll update with more soon.)

**********************

Cookies and orange soda…that’s what I had for dinner.

Honestly…I don’t like Indian food that much. >.<>

One thing we have found that we can eat in restaurants, etc is Chinese food. It’s actually pretty common on menus in the cities. So…in the last couple of weeks, I have eaten more chicken fried rice than I probably eat in a year. It’s good, but after this trip I probably won’t be eating it for a long, long time.

On other occasions, people are usually aware of our eating habits ahead of time, so there will be some plain boiled vegetables or “chicken no spice” prepared for us. But, of course, nobody else eats it because they don’t think it tastes like anything.

If all else fails, I eat the trail mix that I brought along. (My travel companion, Ilene, brings enough food with her to last the whole trip. She could probably bring a small suitcase full of food.) I have discovered that my favorite trail mix elements (I mix it myself from the bulk bins at Wild Oats) are ALMONDS (I could probably survive solely on them), craisins, and M&Ms (the Wild Oats version). I could probably live without the soy nuts. Um…you probably don’t care about my favorite trail mix items…

One thing I do love when I’m in India is FRUIT. It is so fresh and sweet! I’ve read that you are only supposed to eat fruits that can be peeled, so I eat a lot of plantains (tiny bananas) and oranges. Last night I ate an orange that had green skin…and greenish flesh…but it wasn’t as good as the regular oranges (which are EXCELLENT).

Okay, so…that was a blog post about food. We had a good day today, but I can’t imagine that anyone wants to hear about our all-day staff meeting…

Coming home soon!