The girls shopping experiencing was a bit overwhelming at first, but we had our first taste of bartering with natives. We won some and lost some, but our skills are improving each time. The boys are still sore from their "man adventure" which turned out to be battling to the death in Squash. Heath dominated and despite his arms being so weak he must use both of them to drink a beverage, he says that the cost of victory was worth it. Nathan has tried to understand women's minds by creating flow charts to make dating and the feminine mystique as "logical" as possible. Overall, the boys are experiencing more culture shock from their female teammates than from the Indian culture.
After our separate activities, we all gathered to celebrate July 4th. The American traditions that may have seemed simple to us before were relished because they were little pieces of home. We basked in the joy of hotdogs, cupcakes, American flag decorations everywhere, coordinated red-white-blue outfits, dancing on the roof of the house while watching fireworks. We were all glad to survive after one of the fireworks fell over, shot the wrong direction, and started a field fire. Don't worry Mom and Dad, our fearless leader Heath ran over and stomped it out.
The next day, we were let loose in the wild country on our "Big Fat Indian Adventure." We split into smaller groups and our days consisted of: playing cricket in the slums with some children, visiting the market (Rajwada), trying many new Indian "delicacies," met an elephant, and almost played with snakes against our will. Everyone enjoyed these different adventures and the insights they gave into Indian culture.
Yesterday was a more trying time for our whole team. We traveled to Ujjain and visited a holy place of worship for Hindu's. The things we saw and experienced that day can never really be explained to someone who wasn't there with us, but here is our best shot. We were ushered into the temple and placed in never-ending "Disneyesque" lines, where people will wait for hours just to have 30 seconds with their god. Their time is so short because the priests of the temple are shuffling the people in and out so quickly. It was hard for us to see this as a religious place because it had all the qualities of a business. As we walked barefoot through the temple, our feet were soiled with the remnants of sacrificed flowers and milk that covered the ground of the inner room, where the idol is kept. Our team had many different responses, but each of our hearts were gripped and our spirits left that place broken for the lost who remained.
Today, most of us have been experiencing sickness, but thankfully were still able to enjoy the great day the Lord gave us. We separated into different coffee shops or locations throughout the city for half day with the Father to reflect on all that we have experienced and seen. After that time, we ventured as a team to a local park, where we found ourselves riding camels and ponies (Kelsey), teaching Indians how to play frisbee, and battling one another in the bumper car arena.
We then went to house church, where we shared in a delicious American meal together, as well as musical worship and teaching of the Word. We are now back at the hotel for the night after a typical near death experience in the rikshaws and Indian roads. It was our most exhilarating rides yet, because traffic was outrageous, our driver was fearless, and all nine of us were stacked into two rikshaws which usually seat maybe 3.
Our Indian adventure continues...
Much love,
Kelsey and Rebekah
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