Bandh

It's 8am here and I'm back in my room, shortly after leaving home to go visit a slum community. Usually, by 6:30am, I could hear the honking noises outside our apartment complex, but this morning, it seemed unusually quiet. I got ready and walked outside to catch an auto-rickshaw around 7:30am and quickly realized that there is a bandh (a strike) today. I only saw motorcycles, cargo trucks, and army vehicles pass me by. I was anticipating a bandh as I have been reading about the agitation in Nandigram over land issue, so I'm not surprised in a way. I guess I'm learning more how things work around here...

My plans for the day have been completely shot, businesses will lose a day's profit, children lose yet another day in the classroom (although many are closed for Hindu holiday), and many people's travel plans and daily lives completely interrupted. It has been a while since we had a bandh, but I wonder if we're in for more because I don't think this agitation in Nandigram is going to end any time soon. I have also heard that our state of West Bengal is known for bandhs and the rest of India even laugh at us for being so archaic in how we deal with our problems! Oh well... I'll just have to change my plans for the day!
****Update**** Ha! LOL!! It's only 9:30am now my plans have changed such that I'm leaving for Kalimpong around 3pm with Cindy P. and some other folks (if that is no one stops us.). The strike continues on until tomorrow and they were concerned that I might not have a ride up tomorrow, so I'm leaving this afternoon. Plans are made, they change, and may change again! Who knows, we may not be able to leave today. Oh, the joys of living here! :)

On a different note, I am loving the cooler weather these days!!! It's cool, dry, and as I write, I could feel the cool breeze through the open windows!! I have lived through all seasons in India--hot/humid, wet/hot/humid, and cool/dry! Winter will be here soon. :)

A new photo album

I decided that shutterfly takes too long to upload photos and etc. So, I switched to Picasa. Hopefully, I will update it more frequently. Picasa seems much more user friendly. You can view our photos by clicking where it says, "click here" under Picasa Web Album. Or your can go to this website. http://picasaweb.google.com/grafsbiz/October2007?authkey=GY98elR3SwU

Enjoy!

Three Unrelated Thoughts

Thought #1: We are currently in Mirik, another hill station to conduct training for the leaders of the Winter Gospel Trek. Fifteen FECA India staff are here to receive training for 90 hours of Bible Study that they will be leading for a month. They will trek through various villages sharing the good news and doing survey of the needs in these areas, and doing Bible Study in their teams 3 hours a day.

I'm having so much fun! Our Nepali has improved (although not as much as we would like), but significantly enough that we can carry on conversations and understand a lot! I can now ask people about what is happening in their fields and understand what they share. Also, it's nice to have a small group of people to train and get to know in depth. Anyway, I'm really enjoying myself. I love leading small group discussions.... it's my preferred method of teaching.

Thought #2: I learned today that I am going to have a niece!! I am so excited! I have four adorable nephews, so it would be fun to have a niece too. My nephew, Jeshua has been praying for a baby sister, although Seth has been hoping for a baby brother. My sister shared that Jeshua is thrilled!! She is also overjoyed as she has been hoping for a girl.

Thought #3: It's been surreal to read about the mass evacuation in SD due to the raging fires in the area. My brother and sister-in-law were evacuated, but have returned home. I hope that the Santa Ana wind dies down quickly. Those of you who are in S.Cal are in my prayers.

Personal Retreat in the Queen of the Hills

We spent the last four days on a personal retreat in Darjeeling, also affectionately known as the Queen of the Hills. We were lucky to have clear skies, crisp but not too cold temperature, a hotel with an awesome view (the developer of our apartment is the owner), and lots of time to read, sleep, pray, reflect, and talk. I also got a hair cut and my eye brows shaped (the Indian way--see photo)! (I finally have a beauty salon I like thanks to my friend from church who recommended this place!) What a treat!! Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Mt. Kanchenjunga (the third highest peak in the world) is the mountain that I saw in my dream sometime in October of 2003. I never get tired of gazing at the mountain for it is a very tangible reminder of God's call upon our lives.

LA Traffic is Nothing!

If you think Los Angeles traffic is horrendous, Siliguri traffic is even crazier. I learned that it takes an hour just to travel about four miles (3.7 miles to be exact) on public transportation during the rush hour. I timed our travel time from our flat to the training venue. We had two hours of commute every day to travel eight miles! Now, that’s traffic for you when you share the same road with cyclers, pedestrians, cargo trucks, cars, and cows!!

Here are some photos of some FECA India women who ended up staying with me this week due to lack of accomodation space. I learned how to make some Nepali food and they got to taste Korean food. It was a lot of fun but I am tired. I'm glad to have my husband home and for some time to relax a bit! :)

A Cake and a Cobbler

We celebrated Paul’s birthday today with Daya (FECA India director) and his family. In India, you eat the cake before dinner, we learned. We’ll be celebrating his birthday again (just the two of us) on Saturday with an apple cobbler. I’ll let you know how it turns out. My birthday gift to him by request: One apple cobbler per month for one year! I’m ready for the challenge. ;)

Update: The apple cobbler turned out great! We didn't have any tart apples (in two months we will!), so it lacked the tang, but it was still pretty good. Paul has been munching on it all day long! :)

What is she?

I have been noticing that people have been staring at me... When I sense a stare, I usually stare right back at them with a smile and I usually get a smile in return. Once in a while, someone would be bold enough to come and ask me, “What are you?" or "Where are you from?” I’ve been attending a training seminar for children’s ministry workers and I have been finding that people (both whites and Indians) are not sure what to do with me. It’s quite funny actually… the white westerners are quite taken back when they hear my perfect English because they had assumed that I was Nepali/Indian. The Indians are taken back because I speak Nepali (these days, certain phrases I sound like a native) and English and I seem to feel comfortable mingling with the westerners and Indians.

During dinner Januka, one of my friends shared that a couple of people from the training had approached her and asked what I was. She told them that I was Korean, but that I came from America and I am married to an American. Then she said to me, “Didi, they were all surprised that you were married. They all thought you were a young 20 something year old girl!” Maybe that’s why people have been staring…trying to figure out my age! ;) j/k Gosh, the last time I heard something like this was when I was 27 years old and someone at the gas station thought I was a sophomore in college! What’s my secret? No make up and my mom’s gene. :)

Premonition?

For the first time since leaving the States, Paul and I are spending the next three to four days away from each other. He left today for Sikkim to train the accountant on some accounting stuff, while I stayed behind to attend a children's ministry training which begins tomorrow. Basically, I will be home alone until Wednesday or Thursday until he returns.

After Paul left, I thought to myself, "Now that Paul's gone, I bet a mouse or something like it will turn up..." (I'm serious here. I seriously had this thought...) I look to..., no, I depend on Paul to take care of things like this in the house. (We haven't had any problems with rodents so far.) Wouldn't you believe it? To my utter astonishment, while I was watching a movie, I noticed a small blackish gray thing scurry across the dining room into the kitchen and then into a bedroom. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a small mouse. I was so afraid of it that I went downstairs and knocked on my neighbor's door. Our neighbor kindly came up but we couldn't locate the darn thing. "He's a lot smaller than you. He won't hurt you," my neighbor reassured me as he left. I thanked him and wondered where in the heck did it hide?

I decided to relax and try to enjoy my movie again. Then, I saw it again out of the corner of my eyes and it went inside the kitchen. As soon as it was in the kitchen, I quickly shut the door so that it couldn't get out. Then I ran downstairs to my neighbor's again. He kindly came up again laughing. He searched all over the kitchen and couldn't find that little rodent! I was flabbergasted. Where could it have gone?? I went inside the kitchen to help with the search. As I lifted a cereal bag, I saw something move really quickly. I must have let out a big scream because it made my neighbor jump! I was certain it was going to jump on me and eat me alive!! My neighbor saw it and tried to go after it, but it was too fast. I should have kept the kitchen door closed, but I had left it open and it was gone again!!! The search continued, but we finally gave up when we couldn't locate it any where. I said thank you again as he reassured me, "Don't worry. It will just go and look for some food but it won't bother you." Unfortunately, I didn't feel very reassured.

About five minutes later, I saw that small black gray disgusting rodent scurry itself back into the kitchen. Now, it's kind of late so I don't want to bother my neighbors again. So for now, the kitchen door is locked so that I can get some sleep and tomorrow morning, I hope we could get rid of it! Where is your husband when you need him?!
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UPDATE: It is dead. I'm glad to have gotten rid of it, but I must say I feel a little guilty for killing it.... I have noticed that ever since moving to India, I find myself sometimes feeling bad for killing bugs, (except for mosquitoes). Maybe it will be another blog entry, but I actually worry about how I'm going to get rid of the bugs. I hate using the bug sprays because I think they would suffer as they die... weird, huh? Maybe that's why geckos are my new best friends.

Encouraged by the News

Our director in India asked me to edit a letter that one of his coordinators had written with some specific information about the work happening in Assam. There are over four million Nepalis in Assam and the majority have not been reached with the good news. It is a new field for our workers and the majority of the new staff are being sent there.

As I edited the letter, I was very encouraged by the report. Many of the names were familiar from the new staff training in April. When joining FECA India, the staff must be open to being sent anywhere. Many of them come from the cool hills where Nepalis are the dominant group. Assam is extremely hot, Nepalis are in the minority, and it is even less developed. When we were there in 2004, they had put us in the nicest guest house in town, but it had no running water because the pipe was broken. It was the monsoon, so we had buckets collect rain water to take showers. Recently, one supervisor from Assam shared with me how even the Nepali dialect is quite different there, and how hard it has been to adjust. The state is known for its instability and many rebel movements. For many of the new staff, Assam is like a foreign country to them.

I can still remember some of them crying at the new staff training because they were assigned to go to Assam. It was a scary idea for them... they were going to be far away from their family, friends, and familiar surroundings. But, they chose to go, accepted their calling, and many are doing well. Here are a few excerpts from the report.

Mr. N. Sherpa has been diligently working in this place, sharing the gospel, and trying to win people to the love of Jesus. He has been visiting house to house. Presently, he is working among the youths who are found to be more receptive than their parents. He is greatly loved by the people.

Ms. N. Lepcha and Ms. D. Lepcha are at work and doing good ministry.....More children are being added in the Sunday school and their residence is no longer suitable to hold the Sunday school. They are currently looking for another house. Please pray for this matter.

Mr. A. Subba is doing a great job and he has five families assembled for Sunday fellowship. But, he is facing difficulty in locating a place to hold the fellowship. Many youths are coming to the fellowship to lean more about Christ.

Mr. P. Tenzing started Sunday school and tuitions from last month . About 35 children are attending both..... Many of the people here struggle with addictions. He continues to share....He has been staying at another believer's house because the Nepali people, to this date, has yet to give him a house to reside in. Please pray for Mr. Tenzing and this field.

I thank God for them as I remember them in my prayers. I hope we get to visit them sometime soon. Please pray for them.

2922 days of Marital Bliss!

We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary today. As Paul reminded me, we have known each other 9 years and 11 months…almost a decade! We often laugh about that fateful November day at the Rose Bowl where we met. Paul likes to call it “the day when she tricked me into sitting next to her.” I like to call it “a well planned strategy that worked beautifully to my advantage.” I had orchestrated a perfect plan by making sure that there was an empty seat available on the bleacher for Paul to sit, if he chose to. Yes, it was very crowded, but I tell him he could have decided to sit somewhere else. My guess was that he was drawn to that empty seat when he saw a cute 25 year old girl sitting there. I say he wanted to be “tricked”! That day was almost 10 years ago, but I can still remember how I felt as I kept my fingers crossed that no one other than Paul would sit next to me at the very end of the bleacher. He did and there has been no going back since then.

As I reflected on our marriage, something that we have been blessed to have is a lot of time together. When we started dating, I lived across the street from him. We saw each other almost every day. Our dates did not consist of once a week dress up, go out to a movie, dinner, and fork out the dough - although we had some of those too. But mostly, I remember cooking together, going to the park and taking lots of walks. Since then, we have been able to spend a lot of time together as we did ministry. This past year, we probably spent more time together than ever! The good sign is that we still really like being around each other and working along side each other. There is no one else I would rather be with.

However, our marriage is not all roses either. This past year living in India has tested our marriage at times. We have discovered some new dynamics in our marriage that we have had to evaluate and are still working through. Just last week, we had a big argument. No, we didn’t yell, scream, throw dishes, or pull out each other’s hair, but we were both pretty darn angry at each other. We worked hard to work through it and come to a better understanding of each other before going to bed. But we were both raw from it for a couple of days. It helped us realize that we both have some things we need to change. Our marriage is not perfect, but one thing I appreciate about our marriage is that we can have good fights. It may take us a couple of tries to really understand where the other person is coming from, but for the most part, we work really hard to listen and understand. I am so grateful that God brought Paul into my life as a life partner and friend. I love you babe and Happy Anniversary!

So, what do I love about our marriage?

I love that….
Conflict is never easy, but for the most part, we fight fair
Both of us are committed to growing
No matter where we are, we can have fun together
We are each other’s comic relief and laughter is always readily available
Deep trust and mutual respect are easily given
A little kick in the a— is appreciated and received, when done well
My dear husband never tells me something I am wearing looks great, if he really thinks it looks hideous! Of course it doesn’t mean I always agree, but I still appreciate his honesty. :)

Us celebrating!

Our friends, Joseph and Januka surprised us by bringing a small cake and a card to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was so sweet of them. Our anniversary date falls on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, so they remembered.