WE RAN OVER A MAN ON A BIKE!!!! Oh my goodness! So driving in Varanasi is no different than Kolkata... today we got an autorickshaw (or as Erin likes to call them... tuk tuk after experiencing Thailand) Our driver was a sweet little man who spoke pretty good English and as we're driving along a biker comes out of no where and our right side crashes into his sidebars and off to tumbling he goes. We all have various reactions.... gasps, shrieks, etc (you can imagine) and our rickshaw driver turns around to all of us and says "All okay for you?" Mind you, we have not stopped to see if this biker is okay... no no no... we keep driving and our driver doesn't give a backwards glance to that poor biker. So needless to say... we finally got into some kind of accident which was bound to happen at some point on this crazy journey!
Also, I realized today why feet washing was so special in the Biblical times. The middle east must be like India where man and beast poo in the streets and everyone walks around in it... I was looking at a mans feet today and thought "Ew!" and I looked at my feet today after just taking a shower three hours earlier and they were caked with dirt and grime.... YUCK. Last night I stepped in some kind of poo as we were walking into the train station... If someone offered to wash my feet here, I would look at them like they were crazy. So now... Dave S., Dave M. and Dad from the Boundary Waters trip... the washing of the feet might mean a little more to me after this trip than it did before:) Lovely story huh:)
Love you all and see you in less than 2 weeks!!!!!!! We are so excited!
DK
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Ready or Not!
As we approach the end of our time away from home it seems like more and more all of us are thinking about what life will be like when we get back home and how we will ever communicate to everyone our experience in India. I am still a big believer in that you will truly will never know until you have been here yourself, but we did have an experience yesterday while traveling back to India that maybe you can relate to if you have ever boarded a plane and will give you a little picture of what our time here has been like.
It happened yesterday when we were boarding our plane in Bangkok to fly back to Kolkata. We had cut it a little close on time and we were some of the last to board the plane, we were also seated in the back of the plane. As the four of turned the corner on the airplane to make our way down the long aisle to our seats we were met with a plane full of mostly Indian men who were seated and ready to fly. It was amazing how everyone was literally staring at us like they have never seen an american girl before. Many of the men had even taken out there digital cameras, video cameras and picture phones to take picture of the four white girls. We were all just amazed at this and how it just felt so backwards and rude. There was one guy that was cranking his head around so he could read my passport upside down to see where we were from. Once we were seated and getting our bags situated you could not fail to notice the overwhelming odor on the plane....holy B.O.! We were convinced that it wasn't just us that was noticing the smell because right before the take off the flight attendants walked the aisle with air freshner and sprayed the entire plane. We knew that even if we were ready or not to go back to India we were already there in some regards.
Tonight we leave Kolkata on the train to go to Varanasi. It is around a 15 hour train ride, we will stay there one night and then take another 12 hour train ride to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures Danielle posted.....there are about 10,000 more :)
Thank you for keeping us all in your prayers,
Lexi
It happened yesterday when we were boarding our plane in Bangkok to fly back to Kolkata. We had cut it a little close on time and we were some of the last to board the plane, we were also seated in the back of the plane. As the four of turned the corner on the airplane to make our way down the long aisle to our seats we were met with a plane full of mostly Indian men who were seated and ready to fly. It was amazing how everyone was literally staring at us like they have never seen an american girl before. Many of the men had even taken out there digital cameras, video cameras and picture phones to take picture of the four white girls. We were all just amazed at this and how it just felt so backwards and rude. There was one guy that was cranking his head around so he could read my passport upside down to see where we were from. Once we were seated and getting our bags situated you could not fail to notice the overwhelming odor on the plane....holy B.O.! We were convinced that it wasn't just us that was noticing the smell because right before the take off the flight attendants walked the aisle with air freshner and sprayed the entire plane. We knew that even if we were ready or not to go back to India we were already there in some regards.
Tonight we leave Kolkata on the train to go to Varanasi. It is around a 15 hour train ride, we will stay there one night and then take another 12 hour train ride to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures Danielle posted.....there are about 10,000 more :)
Thank you for keeping us all in your prayers,
Lexi
Monday, November 10, 2008
PICTURES!
Go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/danerbridglex
For a selection of pictures... it's a bit deceiving... we truly did volunteer! We just couldn't take pictures to prove it:( Hopefully our blogs have painted you a picture of those experiences:) Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/danerbridglex
For a selection of pictures... it's a bit deceiving... we truly did volunteer! We just couldn't take pictures to prove it:( Hopefully our blogs have painted you a picture of those experiences:) Enjoy!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Beautiful Days
Thailand... I think that God couldn't decide what his favorite shade of blue was and so he made rainbows of blue here. The ocean, the sky... whew... it's beautiful.
Our first day we stayed in a bungalow on the beach called Ton Sai and hung out with pot smoking, party loving, rock climbers... every way we turned we were offered a smoke. It was quite entertaining. I got to go rock climbing and met some fabulous Aussie men who befriended me and took pictures of me being spider-woman on the walls... It was great fun:)
Our second day we met up with Andrea (Lexi's sister), caught a ferry to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced like pee pee which has elicited plenty of laughs from us very mature ladies) and tried to cram a whole lot of fun in the three days that she was with us which we did successfully I might add. We rented a long boat that gets it's name from its super long "motor-stick" (I use very technical language as you probably have noticed alread) and toured around the island. We saw "The Beach" beach... Leonardo DiCaprio, scary, never saw it... but the beach was cool:) We went to a Lagoon and swam around until Andrea told us she saw a water snake:) We snorkeled and saw some amazing fish... How did God make everything in only 7 days??? Even if one day was actually like 1 million years... how did he come up with some of those fish!?!? We also went to monkey beach where we got to feed monkeys and Erin was absolutely fascinated by their little human like hands... she gushed over them... it was funny:) Andrea had her head on her shoulders and kept the water behind her and the monkeys in front so she could make a quick escape in case of any crazy monkey business occurred... which of course, with our luck, it did:) I'm sure you'll all hear about it later:) We ate Italian Gelato a few times, got a massage at least once a day, Lex and Andrea made us all wish for our sisters and we just had a fantastic time together. I think we're all planning our honeymoons in Thailand actually:):):)
Today it is raining and so we are spending our time reading, getting massages, facials, manicures, watching movies on our rented dvd player, writing to friends and family on the internet and just enjoying our second to last day in Paradise. The pictures are incredible and we are all SO excited to share them with you. We discovered a restaurant that offers GREAT salads and we are going to fill our tummies with wonderful veggies and fresh fruit before we return to India:)
Continue to pray for us... we are returning to India for a lot of traveling and we are all anxious to see our families and friends... sometimes the end of a trip is the most difficult. We are having a great time and repeatedly comment on how lucky we are to be able to do this trip. Whodathunkit 18 months ago when we walked into Allen College that we would be in Thailand and India sharing life, culture shock, and total relaxation with some of the girls in that room. Thanks for sharing this trip with us, following our blogs, writing us emails, praying for us... My cup runneth over:) See you in 17 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, pumpkin and apple pie here we come!
DK
Our first day we stayed in a bungalow on the beach called Ton Sai and hung out with pot smoking, party loving, rock climbers... every way we turned we were offered a smoke. It was quite entertaining. I got to go rock climbing and met some fabulous Aussie men who befriended me and took pictures of me being spider-woman on the walls... It was great fun:)
Our second day we met up with Andrea (Lexi's sister), caught a ferry to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced like pee pee which has elicited plenty of laughs from us very mature ladies) and tried to cram a whole lot of fun in the three days that she was with us which we did successfully I might add. We rented a long boat that gets it's name from its super long "motor-stick" (I use very technical language as you probably have noticed alread) and toured around the island. We saw "The Beach" beach... Leonardo DiCaprio, scary, never saw it... but the beach was cool:) We went to a Lagoon and swam around until Andrea told us she saw a water snake:) We snorkeled and saw some amazing fish... How did God make everything in only 7 days??? Even if one day was actually like 1 million years... how did he come up with some of those fish!?!? We also went to monkey beach where we got to feed monkeys and Erin was absolutely fascinated by their little human like hands... she gushed over them... it was funny:) Andrea had her head on her shoulders and kept the water behind her and the monkeys in front so she could make a quick escape in case of any crazy monkey business occurred... which of course, with our luck, it did:) I'm sure you'll all hear about it later:) We ate Italian Gelato a few times, got a massage at least once a day, Lex and Andrea made us all wish for our sisters and we just had a fantastic time together. I think we're all planning our honeymoons in Thailand actually:):):)
Today it is raining and so we are spending our time reading, getting massages, facials, manicures, watching movies on our rented dvd player, writing to friends and family on the internet and just enjoying our second to last day in Paradise. The pictures are incredible and we are all SO excited to share them with you. We discovered a restaurant that offers GREAT salads and we are going to fill our tummies with wonderful veggies and fresh fruit before we return to India:)
Continue to pray for us... we are returning to India for a lot of traveling and we are all anxious to see our families and friends... sometimes the end of a trip is the most difficult. We are having a great time and repeatedly comment on how lucky we are to be able to do this trip. Whodathunkit 18 months ago when we walked into Allen College that we would be in Thailand and India sharing life, culture shock, and total relaxation with some of the girls in that room. Thanks for sharing this trip with us, following our blogs, writing us emails, praying for us... My cup runneth over:) See you in 17 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, pumpkin and apple pie here we come!
DK
Monday, November 3, 2008
Goodbyes are never easy
Today is our last day in Kolkata. I am a little bit sad to be honest. Saying goodbye to the volunteers we've met and the women we've gotten to love on... it isn't very fun. There are a lot of things we didn't do or see here...but that just gives us an excuse to come back someday when we only remember the good things about the city:) Hopefully that will come sooner rather than later.
We have been buying our own fruit and bread to eat lunch and we had some left over today so instead of throwing it out, all we had to do was walk out the front gates to the begger who sits there and offer the loaf of bread which she accepted with many shakes of my hand, a hug farewell, and gibberish (to my ears) in Bengali. It's the little things in life for these people:) And they teach us that it really is the little things that mean the most.
:)DK
We have been buying our own fruit and bread to eat lunch and we had some left over today so instead of throwing it out, all we had to do was walk out the front gates to the begger who sits there and offer the loaf of bread which she accepted with many shakes of my hand, a hug farewell, and gibberish (to my ears) in Bengali. It's the little things in life for these people:) And they teach us that it really is the little things that mean the most.
:)DK
Sunday, November 2, 2008
God moments and Sunday in India
We had a God meeting on Erin's birthday confirmed by today. We were at the shopping center that is nicer than the Cedar Falls and Waterloo mall... super nice... examining the array of chocolate and double chocolate cake choices that would help Erin forget that she indeed is celebrating her 23rd Birthday in India! A white woman comes up to us and asks us if we are Americans and proceeds to introduce herself and ask what we're doing here. She is from Canada and her husband flies for Jet Airways and they live here! So we tell her about our volunteering and our plans for going to Thailand (P.S. We're going to Thailand for 10 days for a Holiday!!! Laying on the beach, suntans, kayaking, thai massages, and swimming here we come!). She got super excited and said she lived in Bangkok for one year and offered to meet us for dinner and give us lots of tips for our trip. So last night we met at a great restaurant called Afraa Restaurant and Lounge where we had great food and it was like a NYC night club... cool lights, white couches, outside patio on the 7th floor overlooking a shopping center that is all lit up and beautiful. She gave us all kinds of tips for Thailand and also invited us to her Kolkata apartment which turned out to be fantastic! Now we understand how people live here in Kolkata for longer than 2 months!
At her house she had a bible by her bedside and so I asked if she was a Christian and she invited us to an Assemblies of God church this morning. It was great with a choir, special music, basically very similar to an American service. Afterwards she invited us out to lunch with a family of four who is just beginning a 3 year committment here in Kolkata. We had the most wonderful conversation about the church, fundraising, God moments and just how cool God is. It was SO great. These are the days when it is so fun to be here--Meeting people who are brave enough to live here and have a relatively normal life. It is inspiring.
So there's an update... I am sorry that I keep posting...I know you all want to hear from each of us... the different perspectives give a better idea of what we're seeing and feeling. Hopefully when we get home, you will remember some of these posts and be able to ask more specific questions so you get a clear picture of our trip:)
Lots of love!
DK
At her house she had a bible by her bedside and so I asked if she was a Christian and she invited us to an Assemblies of God church this morning. It was great with a choir, special music, basically very similar to an American service. Afterwards she invited us out to lunch with a family of four who is just beginning a 3 year committment here in Kolkata. We had the most wonderful conversation about the church, fundraising, God moments and just how cool God is. It was SO great. These are the days when it is so fun to be here--Meeting people who are brave enough to live here and have a relatively normal life. It is inspiring.
So there's an update... I am sorry that I keep posting...I know you all want to hear from each of us... the different perspectives give a better idea of what we're seeing and feeling. Hopefully when we get home, you will remember some of these posts and be able to ask more specific questions so you get a clear picture of our trip:)
Lots of love!
DK
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Prem Dan
Well I have just completed two mornings at Prem Dan spending time with women who need long term care. These women are mentally disabled, have wounds which handicap them, or are just plain old and sick. I met one girl who is 18 years old and haven't figured out why she is there and another woman who is OLD (hunched over, skin and bones, shaking from the Parkinsons that is ravaging her body). Huge range of women. I am not sure how they come to be at Prem Dan, but they are beautiful women.
I met a nurse who has been there for about 1 week from Switzerland and I became her little shadow and apprentice. She showed me how to dress one wound and let me loose for the rest of the time. She took awesome care of the wounds... she kept saying "They're beautiful!" while I tried not to gag! She told me that when she first came in the wounds had maggots and she had to take them out with dry gauze and one lady's middle toe was black and she had to cut the toe off! The bone was still attached though so the sister said to leave it hanging on! I asked the nurse how she knew what to do and she just pointed to her head... oh dear I have a long way to go! I am dreading tomorrow because today was her last day and will I be able to stomach and do some of the things she did?!? Only time will tell:) The sisters are the medical help although they have no formal training. So she just encouraged me to ask the sisters whenever I have questions!
The volunteers I have met are incredible and from all over the world! I met some from Switzerland, Holland, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Spain, France and of course the good ole USA:) It is incredible how serving the poor brings people together. Yesterday I asked God what the point was. What difference does it make when there are thousands more on the street who need help that is not available. There is no easy answer, but I remembered the wonder thing and maybe I can wonder at the goodness of humanity. It is incredible that people from all over the world come to get their hands dirty and spend time with these people rubbing their backs, brushing their hair, painting their nails, feeding, cleaning, and just plain loving them. There are a lot of ugly things in the world, but this is something beautiful that I have had the blessing to witness with my own eyes and even take part in it.
A song that I listen to on repeat is by Brandon Heath...
The chorus goes:
"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see"
It's not very fun to see the things God wants us to see though. It's also easy to see those people here... I hope that I will continue to ask for his eyes, arms, and love when I return to the safety and comfort of Cedar Falls, IA.
Lots of love! DK
I met a nurse who has been there for about 1 week from Switzerland and I became her little shadow and apprentice. She showed me how to dress one wound and let me loose for the rest of the time. She took awesome care of the wounds... she kept saying "They're beautiful!" while I tried not to gag! She told me that when she first came in the wounds had maggots and she had to take them out with dry gauze and one lady's middle toe was black and she had to cut the toe off! The bone was still attached though so the sister said to leave it hanging on! I asked the nurse how she knew what to do and she just pointed to her head... oh dear I have a long way to go! I am dreading tomorrow because today was her last day and will I be able to stomach and do some of the things she did?!? Only time will tell:) The sisters are the medical help although they have no formal training. So she just encouraged me to ask the sisters whenever I have questions!
The volunteers I have met are incredible and from all over the world! I met some from Switzerland, Holland, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Spain, France and of course the good ole USA:) It is incredible how serving the poor brings people together. Yesterday I asked God what the point was. What difference does it make when there are thousands more on the street who need help that is not available. There is no easy answer, but I remembered the wonder thing and maybe I can wonder at the goodness of humanity. It is incredible that people from all over the world come to get their hands dirty and spend time with these people rubbing their backs, brushing their hair, painting their nails, feeding, cleaning, and just plain loving them. There are a lot of ugly things in the world, but this is something beautiful that I have had the blessing to witness with my own eyes and even take part in it.
A song that I listen to on repeat is by Brandon Heath...
The chorus goes:
"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see"
It's not very fun to see the things God wants us to see though. It's also easy to see those people here... I hope that I will continue to ask for his eyes, arms, and love when I return to the safety and comfort of Cedar Falls, IA.
Lots of love! DK
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