Wow.
Can I just take this moment to say that God is so amazing to me.
All of my goals and desires are fulfilled in his love, demonstrated on the cross. He is so faithful to me. I have been reading through Genesis about how Noah was in the boat for over half a year, and yet God was faithful to save him from the flood, and his family.
His eye is on the sparrow, how much more then does he care for me?
Recapitulation of my time since my last blog:
Going to the Taj Mahal- all together a peaceful and beautiful experience, defiantly a bonding love felt between my new friends during the day. Road on a camel rickshaw, and a scrawny "blackbeauty" horse, called a Tibetian Wild Ass. Bumpy ride, and so much fun! My heart still remains in muddles of love from the overwhelming magic of this beautiful place. One of the teachers marked the Taj Mahal as the place where her future fiance proposed to her. So sweet. We had to put little booties around our shoes to keep the palace clean, and enjoyed after walking in a large garden with the peaceful breeze sending kisses on our cheeks. We shared a taxi there, with a powerful airconditioning, and the boys made Carmel, and jam sandwiches for snacks. The sunsets here are incredible!
The next day I was feeling rather sick, so spent the day relaxing and sleeping.
My day of rest had prepared me for the next day long journey from Delhi to Rishikesh- the world famous hill town known for yoga. The drive was really draining- driving through dusty roads, it felt as if my lungs were filled with mud. I arrived really late, and after some searching and a crazy tuk tuk driver, checked into Om Cottages. I got some Paneer Lentels for dinner, and enjoyed hot tea- resting from the drive up. That night i felt delirious- and my nose started bleeding, I couldn't stop coughing. My mind felt like it was going a million miles a minute. I felt so sick I started crying on the bathroom floor- lacking the energy to get up. It was awful.
I slept as long as I could, and checked out at noon.
The sunlight hit my eyes and sent energy to my blood. I felt immediately stronger, and looked up at my surroundings- glorious mountains. Huge and towering above me. Clean air, and friendly people around. I felt safe, and restful in my soul. I promised I would be back- and now I returned to you my love- goddesses of mother nature.
I went down to the market- and drank a huge bottle of water, then saw this little tawny brown, long legged skinny boy about 13 making chai tea, in this huge metal pot. I sat there and talked with him as he made me a hot cup, putting some fresh herbs on the top, and handing it to me with a huge white smile. That was such a lovely time- sitting and watching the people walk in the street, women carrying things on their head, children playing with tires, and listening to the men shouting orders, and hitting cattle on the back with a stick. Beautiful.
I then went in this organic food cafe and had the best meal of my life! Carrot and coriander soup, with radish and cucumber salad, and date chutney. It was so wholesome and I felt like I was on slowmode soaking in the ingredients and gaining this incredible energy flow. Ah that meal so so nourishing. I sat up on this balcony where i could see this river cutting through the mountain side, and a huge bridge stretching across both sides. I decided after lunch to walk across this bridge, and then bought some almonds, and raisins from this farmer- who also let me try popped lotus seed- like popcorn, so cool!
I wanted to go up higher. It was still really hot in Rishikesh, and I took a 2 hour bus to Dehera Dun, then Mussorie, a little hill station in the mountains. It was dark, yet I could feel this overwhelming power of the cool mountain air and towering pines, as the bus made it's way up this tight windy road. I had to hold on the bar in front of me to avoid from falling into the middle isle in the bus. I had a great feeling of excitement.
When the bus stopped, I was immediately greeted by 15 taxi drivers who offered to take me to a cheep hotel for a mere price of 20USD. I researched this place to stay before hand and this nice Sik (relegion) man with a tall black turban spoke English and helped me.
I needed to go to an ATM, and he led me up this creepy little staircase, and I jumped on the back of his moterbike to go to an ATM. He said the guesthouse was 7K away up this little dirt mountain. I told him I could walk it- but he insisted then to drive me. So we bonded up this little road driving like the wind to a cozy little cottage lodge on the top of this cliff. I thanked the man, and he drove off. It is called Rugby Mannor. Super plush and rustic, they even had a fire going. It was cold outside, and they announced 1 room would be 8,000 rupies, which is almost 200dollars a night. No way! So I asked if there was anything cheaper around this place- since my ride left already... :)
One of the Manor staff made a phone call and took me on his bike even further up the road until there wasn't a road except a huge white building with wooden window frames, and from what I could see only a couple of other motorbikes. He met with the man, and we looked at a room together for a really good price. Once in my room I crashed in a soft warm bed with my sexy warm fleece sox on. (thankyou Acacia)
I woke up early the next morning, and could see my breath foggy on the window pane. My room had a desk, a kingsize bed with a heavy quilt, bathroom with mountain cold water shower, and toilet from the 1600 hundreds. I was so content. It was perfect. I did a few jumping jacks to prepare myself for the shower then screamed a little bit as the artic water hit my skin. Burrrr!
7am and I walked from my room outside, in aw of the majestic tall snow capped mountains in front of me. Chilly and so warm inside. I walked on the wooden floor into this huge hall like building surrounded with windows. There was a long wooden table with a huge group of young mid twenty's people sitting around eating breakfast. I asked to join them, and quickly struck up conversation. 5 of them were from the US! 2 from Oklahoma, and 3 from K-State. I was so elated to meet other Americans, in the middle of nowhere! What are the chances? I ate 2 omelets, tried playing the antique piano, then went for a hike up to this Tibetian flag hill. Tranquility, gazing off into the endless mountain ranges of Mussorie, and listening to the distant cowbells, while breathing heavily hiking up through pines. Once at Flag Hill, I stopped and meditated. Then headed back for one of the girls had invited me to lunch and help me find a place to stay in town.
We went down to Rugby Mannor, and ate a picnic outside with the incredible mountain view and windchimes sending fairy sounds like sweet kisses to our ears. She was so incredibly nice, and paid for my salad, and hummus. I am indebted to the people's kindness around me. She is at a language school located in this old cathedral in the mountains and is learning hindi. My body felt weak at the time, and I feel like God had put her in my path to show me kindness and to encourage and strengthen me. She was so nice! We found a flat in town, with an incredible view of the mountains, and next to the main street where the deals go down. I showered and then went out for some "special green dal," the best dal I have ever had in my life. I then went to a book store where I bought a journal and some books, then went to the post office to send some letters, and asked for a pen to fill out a post card to send back to the USA. I sat on the steps of the post office writing a letter to my family, and by the time I was finished I turned around and the doors to the office were closed. Slipping my letters in my bookbag, I turned around, went back to my guesthouse, then went out for a hike in the mountain terrain. I hiked until it was too dark to see, and then used my senses to guide me on. The sun was just setting and a foggy cold haze had gathered in the mountain valley. I sat suspended on this rock singing praises to the God of creation.
I then went back, and got a wintermellon and banana for dinner, and used the computer for awhile. Sleep came easily, and I drank deeply of it. I awoke in the morning and had breakfast at this small family owned business. This man was so happy to have a white blond girl eating breakfast in his shop and gave me a 5 rupees discount. I was nourished and strengthened by his kindness.
I then walked to the bus station and took a bus back to Delhi. On the way back, I met this man who insisted on showing me around the city, but I told him I needed to get back to my house. When he saw I was in a hurry, he stopped in this shop and bought me a vegetarian corn burger- and a soda. I didn't know it was corn, and bit into the...um..thing, and it burnt the entire roof of my mouth, to which I am still recovering from. Ouch! It was so hot, and really nice, and so sweet of him to buy me dinner. I took the metro back to the Botanical Gardens (the name of the stop for Noida) and was escorted by this engineer student who gave me his card and warned me that it wasn't very safe to be here at night for a girl- and if I had any problems I could call him. He was really helpful and sincere, and even told this one guy off who was following me.
I walked out of the metro and this fire was going outside. It looked like a riot, but I couldn't tell in the dark.
I went over to the bus stop and asked this girl and her boyfriend if they were going to Greater Noida. She said yes, and we could go together. She was by far one of the sweetest people ever! She was a student at Noida University and we shared the bus to Noida, and she paid for my tuk tuk ride to Silver City. On the way she told me about Lord Krishna, the love god, and shared some sweet balls of cardamon and spices inspired by the love of this god. They were so incredible! I was overcome by her kindness and we plan to meet soon and go shopping. :)
My adventure had just begun though, as the next day was church, then this whole past week has been teaching for the first time. A challenge to me. But so fun- I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I am teaching a speech class and a general English class. I must admit that I am more enthusiastic about the speech class because I can use a lot of drama and games- yet with the general English class- it's mostly studying the 15 tenses. Past perfect, Present perfect, Present perfect continuous... even I had to refresh my knowledge of these things. It is challenging to me to teach such advanced English and that's why I'm enjoying it so much.
The students impress me so much with their large vocabularies, and are really funny! The Koreans are always putting on creams and lotions, using eye wrinkle products, and showering at least 2wice a day. I thank God for such genuine people, all of which have a huge heart for him, and are dedicated to learning. One of the weakest and nicest students, David has come to me and asked to have conversations 30 minutes, 3 times a week. That is so humbling for him and so incredible I think he really has a big heart. We had our first conversation yesterday and it was really touching. He's a sweet guy.
Thankfully I am slowly recovering and gaining back health. I was really sick just last week and feel so strong now, but know I need to still take time to let my body rest. I've enjoyed going to the top of our tower, on the roof and doing some bodyrock workouts, singing, and just relaxing. Since I'm teaching for a ministry, there is a dress code, of no sleeveless shirts, or shorts above the knee. I can be myself on top of the tower, and relax in whatever I want soaking in the sun, and looking at the smoggy city below. Actually where Greater Noida is, is really a privileged area. We don't have a/c in our room, which right now Miya and I are having a battle with the mosquitoes. But in the middle of all the towers there is a garden area with huge fountains, a pool, nice gym which i use often, pool table, locker rooms, showers, a shop for anything you could need, and also a shop with just veggies and fruit. This is all inside the gates of Silver City- oh ya, tennis courts, and a racquetball court, badmittion court, parks, and pathways for walking in the morning. It's so plush and nice, i don't feel as if I'm in India when I'm here.
Muni- the cook, his son Manprit (only 2 years old) has Typhoid. He has to get a really expensive shot every day now, and was super sick all of this week. He had a high fever and couldn't sleep. Oh my goodness, I wish I could do something, but he would just scream and cry because he didn't feel well. Now he is feeling great thanks to his father taking him to the hospital. I am considering taking my Doxy again for Malaria, and any other ailment that might come my way. I can't decide if it's worth it....
Tomorrow is the weekend, and on of the teachers Adaline, and Miya and I are going into town. Adaline is taking an English exam trying to get into a British school, and Miya and I are going shopping. I'm on the hunt for Kava, a rare intoxicating and rich herb good for mental activity, and she is looking for handbags. It should be fun, but I have to get to sleep now.
The time difference is 12 and 1/2 hours ahead of Oklahoma time. For example right now it is 11:30pm on May the 6th. Back in Oklahoma it is 11:00am May the 5th. Confusing enough? Not at all. :) I wish I could blog more, and wish that Skype was at the ready for me to use, but basically I have to borrow Adaline's computer to use, and where I am there aren't any Internet cafes within a half hour drive. So if Adaline is not using her computer then I can skype, which I usually get on around 8 or 9pm. That's about 8:30 to 9:30am Oklahoma time on Sunday.
Tomorrow I venture to get a Indian phone- so hopefully I can call you lovely beautiful people. I miss you all so much! Kisses, hugs, and a big plate of rice.
My love to you comes like the blessing of a rain on a hot day. I love you all so much!
Blinding Light: has been stuck in my head!
Can I just take this moment to say that God is so amazing to me.
All of my goals and desires are fulfilled in his love, demonstrated on the cross. He is so faithful to me. I have been reading through Genesis about how Noah was in the boat for over half a year, and yet God was faithful to save him from the flood, and his family.
His eye is on the sparrow, how much more then does he care for me?
Recapitulation of my time since my last blog:
Going to the Taj Mahal- all together a peaceful and beautiful experience, defiantly a bonding love felt between my new friends during the day. Road on a camel rickshaw, and a scrawny "blackbeauty" horse, called a Tibetian Wild Ass. Bumpy ride, and so much fun! My heart still remains in muddles of love from the overwhelming magic of this beautiful place. One of the teachers marked the Taj Mahal as the place where her future fiance proposed to her. So sweet. We had to put little booties around our shoes to keep the palace clean, and enjoyed after walking in a large garden with the peaceful breeze sending kisses on our cheeks. We shared a taxi there, with a powerful airconditioning, and the boys made Carmel, and jam sandwiches for snacks. The sunsets here are incredible!
The next day I was feeling rather sick, so spent the day relaxing and sleeping.
My day of rest had prepared me for the next day long journey from Delhi to Rishikesh- the world famous hill town known for yoga. The drive was really draining- driving through dusty roads, it felt as if my lungs were filled with mud. I arrived really late, and after some searching and a crazy tuk tuk driver, checked into Om Cottages. I got some Paneer Lentels for dinner, and enjoyed hot tea- resting from the drive up. That night i felt delirious- and my nose started bleeding, I couldn't stop coughing. My mind felt like it was going a million miles a minute. I felt so sick I started crying on the bathroom floor- lacking the energy to get up. It was awful.
I slept as long as I could, and checked out at noon.
The sunlight hit my eyes and sent energy to my blood. I felt immediately stronger, and looked up at my surroundings- glorious mountains. Huge and towering above me. Clean air, and friendly people around. I felt safe, and restful in my soul. I promised I would be back- and now I returned to you my love- goddesses of mother nature.
I went down to the market- and drank a huge bottle of water, then saw this little tawny brown, long legged skinny boy about 13 making chai tea, in this huge metal pot. I sat there and talked with him as he made me a hot cup, putting some fresh herbs on the top, and handing it to me with a huge white smile. That was such a lovely time- sitting and watching the people walk in the street, women carrying things on their head, children playing with tires, and listening to the men shouting orders, and hitting cattle on the back with a stick. Beautiful.
I then went in this organic food cafe and had the best meal of my life! Carrot and coriander soup, with radish and cucumber salad, and date chutney. It was so wholesome and I felt like I was on slowmode soaking in the ingredients and gaining this incredible energy flow. Ah that meal so so nourishing. I sat up on this balcony where i could see this river cutting through the mountain side, and a huge bridge stretching across both sides. I decided after lunch to walk across this bridge, and then bought some almonds, and raisins from this farmer- who also let me try popped lotus seed- like popcorn, so cool!
I wanted to go up higher. It was still really hot in Rishikesh, and I took a 2 hour bus to Dehera Dun, then Mussorie, a little hill station in the mountains. It was dark, yet I could feel this overwhelming power of the cool mountain air and towering pines, as the bus made it's way up this tight windy road. I had to hold on the bar in front of me to avoid from falling into the middle isle in the bus. I had a great feeling of excitement.
When the bus stopped, I was immediately greeted by 15 taxi drivers who offered to take me to a cheep hotel for a mere price of 20USD. I researched this place to stay before hand and this nice Sik (relegion) man with a tall black turban spoke English and helped me.
I needed to go to an ATM, and he led me up this creepy little staircase, and I jumped on the back of his moterbike to go to an ATM. He said the guesthouse was 7K away up this little dirt mountain. I told him I could walk it- but he insisted then to drive me. So we bonded up this little road driving like the wind to a cozy little cottage lodge on the top of this cliff. I thanked the man, and he drove off. It is called Rugby Mannor. Super plush and rustic, they even had a fire going. It was cold outside, and they announced 1 room would be 8,000 rupies, which is almost 200dollars a night. No way! So I asked if there was anything cheaper around this place- since my ride left already... :)
One of the Manor staff made a phone call and took me on his bike even further up the road until there wasn't a road except a huge white building with wooden window frames, and from what I could see only a couple of other motorbikes. He met with the man, and we looked at a room together for a really good price. Once in my room I crashed in a soft warm bed with my sexy warm fleece sox on. (thankyou Acacia)
I woke up early the next morning, and could see my breath foggy on the window pane. My room had a desk, a kingsize bed with a heavy quilt, bathroom with mountain cold water shower, and toilet from the 1600 hundreds. I was so content. It was perfect. I did a few jumping jacks to prepare myself for the shower then screamed a little bit as the artic water hit my skin. Burrrr!
7am and I walked from my room outside, in aw of the majestic tall snow capped mountains in front of me. Chilly and so warm inside. I walked on the wooden floor into this huge hall like building surrounded with windows. There was a long wooden table with a huge group of young mid twenty's people sitting around eating breakfast. I asked to join them, and quickly struck up conversation. 5 of them were from the US! 2 from Oklahoma, and 3 from K-State. I was so elated to meet other Americans, in the middle of nowhere! What are the chances? I ate 2 omelets, tried playing the antique piano, then went for a hike up to this Tibetian flag hill. Tranquility, gazing off into the endless mountain ranges of Mussorie, and listening to the distant cowbells, while breathing heavily hiking up through pines. Once at Flag Hill, I stopped and meditated. Then headed back for one of the girls had invited me to lunch and help me find a place to stay in town.
We went down to Rugby Mannor, and ate a picnic outside with the incredible mountain view and windchimes sending fairy sounds like sweet kisses to our ears. She was so incredibly nice, and paid for my salad, and hummus. I am indebted to the people's kindness around me. She is at a language school located in this old cathedral in the mountains and is learning hindi. My body felt weak at the time, and I feel like God had put her in my path to show me kindness and to encourage and strengthen me. She was so nice! We found a flat in town, with an incredible view of the mountains, and next to the main street where the deals go down. I showered and then went out for some "special green dal," the best dal I have ever had in my life. I then went to a book store where I bought a journal and some books, then went to the post office to send some letters, and asked for a pen to fill out a post card to send back to the USA. I sat on the steps of the post office writing a letter to my family, and by the time I was finished I turned around and the doors to the office were closed. Slipping my letters in my bookbag, I turned around, went back to my guesthouse, then went out for a hike in the mountain terrain. I hiked until it was too dark to see, and then used my senses to guide me on. The sun was just setting and a foggy cold haze had gathered in the mountain valley. I sat suspended on this rock singing praises to the God of creation.
I then went back, and got a wintermellon and banana for dinner, and used the computer for awhile. Sleep came easily, and I drank deeply of it. I awoke in the morning and had breakfast at this small family owned business. This man was so happy to have a white blond girl eating breakfast in his shop and gave me a 5 rupees discount. I was nourished and strengthened by his kindness.
I then walked to the bus station and took a bus back to Delhi. On the way back, I met this man who insisted on showing me around the city, but I told him I needed to get back to my house. When he saw I was in a hurry, he stopped in this shop and bought me a vegetarian corn burger- and a soda. I didn't know it was corn, and bit into the...um..thing, and it burnt the entire roof of my mouth, to which I am still recovering from. Ouch! It was so hot, and really nice, and so sweet of him to buy me dinner. I took the metro back to the Botanical Gardens (the name of the stop for Noida) and was escorted by this engineer student who gave me his card and warned me that it wasn't very safe to be here at night for a girl- and if I had any problems I could call him. He was really helpful and sincere, and even told this one guy off who was following me.
I walked out of the metro and this fire was going outside. It looked like a riot, but I couldn't tell in the dark.
I went over to the bus stop and asked this girl and her boyfriend if they were going to Greater Noida. She said yes, and we could go together. She was by far one of the sweetest people ever! She was a student at Noida University and we shared the bus to Noida, and she paid for my tuk tuk ride to Silver City. On the way she told me about Lord Krishna, the love god, and shared some sweet balls of cardamon and spices inspired by the love of this god. They were so incredible! I was overcome by her kindness and we plan to meet soon and go shopping. :)
My adventure had just begun though, as the next day was church, then this whole past week has been teaching for the first time. A challenge to me. But so fun- I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I am teaching a speech class and a general English class. I must admit that I am more enthusiastic about the speech class because I can use a lot of drama and games- yet with the general English class- it's mostly studying the 15 tenses. Past perfect, Present perfect, Present perfect continuous... even I had to refresh my knowledge of these things. It is challenging to me to teach such advanced English and that's why I'm enjoying it so much.
The students impress me so much with their large vocabularies, and are really funny! The Koreans are always putting on creams and lotions, using eye wrinkle products, and showering at least 2wice a day. I thank God for such genuine people, all of which have a huge heart for him, and are dedicated to learning. One of the weakest and nicest students, David has come to me and asked to have conversations 30 minutes, 3 times a week. That is so humbling for him and so incredible I think he really has a big heart. We had our first conversation yesterday and it was really touching. He's a sweet guy.
Thankfully I am slowly recovering and gaining back health. I was really sick just last week and feel so strong now, but know I need to still take time to let my body rest. I've enjoyed going to the top of our tower, on the roof and doing some bodyrock workouts, singing, and just relaxing. Since I'm teaching for a ministry, there is a dress code, of no sleeveless shirts, or shorts above the knee. I can be myself on top of the tower, and relax in whatever I want soaking in the sun, and looking at the smoggy city below. Actually where Greater Noida is, is really a privileged area. We don't have a/c in our room, which right now Miya and I are having a battle with the mosquitoes. But in the middle of all the towers there is a garden area with huge fountains, a pool, nice gym which i use often, pool table, locker rooms, showers, a shop for anything you could need, and also a shop with just veggies and fruit. This is all inside the gates of Silver City- oh ya, tennis courts, and a racquetball court, badmittion court, parks, and pathways for walking in the morning. It's so plush and nice, i don't feel as if I'm in India when I'm here.
Muni- the cook, his son Manprit (only 2 years old) has Typhoid. He has to get a really expensive shot every day now, and was super sick all of this week. He had a high fever and couldn't sleep. Oh my goodness, I wish I could do something, but he would just scream and cry because he didn't feel well. Now he is feeling great thanks to his father taking him to the hospital. I am considering taking my Doxy again for Malaria, and any other ailment that might come my way. I can't decide if it's worth it....
Tomorrow is the weekend, and on of the teachers Adaline, and Miya and I are going into town. Adaline is taking an English exam trying to get into a British school, and Miya and I are going shopping. I'm on the hunt for Kava, a rare intoxicating and rich herb good for mental activity, and she is looking for handbags. It should be fun, but I have to get to sleep now.
The time difference is 12 and 1/2 hours ahead of Oklahoma time. For example right now it is 11:30pm on May the 6th. Back in Oklahoma it is 11:00am May the 5th. Confusing enough? Not at all. :) I wish I could blog more, and wish that Skype was at the ready for me to use, but basically I have to borrow Adaline's computer to use, and where I am there aren't any Internet cafes within a half hour drive. So if Adaline is not using her computer then I can skype, which I usually get on around 8 or 9pm. That's about 8:30 to 9:30am Oklahoma time on Sunday.
Tomorrow I venture to get a Indian phone- so hopefully I can call you lovely beautiful people. I miss you all so much! Kisses, hugs, and a big plate of rice.
My love to you comes like the blessing of a rain on a hot day. I love you all so much!
Blinding Light: has been stuck in my head!
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