Our concept of time has officially been skewed. Myrtle Beach felt like last year, but it seemed like we were just getting settled into Indore. That being said, I’m writing this in Jaipur as we’re already on our midsummer excursion.

Monday was the last day at the hotel; when we go back to Indore we’ll be staying at the M’s houses. It was quite a scene transporting all of our luggage with rikshaws. Carly wasn’t feeling well all day, so she stayed in with Heath and Rachel (don’t worry, she bounced back the next day beautifully). The rest of us went to Rajwada with the main goal of riding an elephant; Nathan, Alecia, and Mary Emily were able to do so when they spotted one on their way back.

The 3-tier red-eye train to Jaipur from 10:30 Monday night til 8:30 Tuesday morning went well for some, not so much for others. Rachel, Rebekah, and I sang hymns, Nathan got stepped on by an Indian; Kelsey had the best night of sleep so far in India, Heath had one of the worst nights of his life, spending a large portion of it in the bathroom (AKA hole in the bottom of the train).

We got settled in on Tuesday to our hotel; went swimming and ate an expensive hotel lunch. Jenna arrived safely right as we were having our bible study on 2 Peter. All but Heath and Rebekah (also didn’t feel well, but just Tuesday afternoon) went to some markets. The pushy shopowners were frustrating, but some were able to buy art or textiles. Dinner was at a rooftop brick-oven Italian restaurant.

Heath still feeling bad and staying in on Wednesday. Busy, exhausting day. We went to City Palace; the guys were pretty awed by the weapons and the girls were able to have people draw some weird designs on their hands with bad-smelling brown liquid that leaves an orange residue for 10 days (henna tattoos). We took pictures in front of the water palace. Everyone was able to ride elephants, parading around a village with children running in our wake yelling hello. The group went to the restaurant Anokhi for lunch and the girls got some stuff at the adjoining store. Just as Heath started feeling better Wednesday night, Kelsey started feeling really sick with similar symptoms. She picked a better place to get sick, though; luxurious hotel sure beats an Indian train.

Please pr@y for continued intentional, missional living through the rest of the trip and after. Pr@y for health as well. 

Posted by Travis.