Today I invite you to walk a day in South Asia with me. The only dilemma is that one day is never the same.
So I’ll tell you about today, 12 December, 2013
After waking up at 7:30 a.m., I have my usual instant coffee and toast. Often I’ll drink my coffee out on the balcony, but lately it’s gotten colder so I don’t always go out there to do devotions. Some mornings I’ll run with my roommate, while others I just get an early start on learning language. This morning after a workout, I prepared for our language helpers to come over. While we were waiting we started reviewing the vocab and phrases we learned yesterday about telling time and opposites. A text message a half hour later revealed they weren’t coming, we apparently had miscommunicated and they wanted us to come to their house. It’s difficult to set up language helpers who will come on a regular basis, especially when they speak little of each other’s language. So we changed plans. We studied for a while, went to get groceries and headed to the market for lunch, buying salwars, and more studying at a coffee shop.
Studying at the coffee shop takes me back to my college days. I thoroughly enjoy studying, drinking a Crunch Vanilla Frappe, and listening to Christmas music. Two hours later, I pretty much had a story memorized and now know how to tell time. At four it was time to go to the orphanage where three of us have been helping. It’s always an adventure getting to our destination in taxis. Today we got 2/3 the way there. For our last leg of the drive we got into a taxi that said they were going to our final spot. However after driving for a little bit we all noticed we weren’t headed in the correct direction. We thought maybe the driver was going in a roundabout way to get there, but he wasn’t. We finally got out, and just thought..”Where are we”… We knew the general location, but couldn’t name it. So we got on a bicycle rickshaw to take us to our final place. As we approached several drivers, they all wanted us to get in theirs. Of course they tried to charge us way over the proper price so we finally negotiated it to a reasonable amount and stuck three on the bench and started riding. Half an hour late, we had arrived.
We go during their study time so we can help them with homework. One of our girls specifically helps with calculus. I’m nooo help there. So I help with anything else if they ask. Today no one was really doing homework so I practiced language with one of the teenagers. He asked me questions and I answered. I’m proud to say I got most of it right. We stayed for their devotions before venturing back home in the big green autos. This time was less eventful.
We arrived home to supper almost ready, and before eating we decorated our little Christmas tree with bells and a star. Tonight’s menu was buffalo burgers (water buffalo), coleslaw, and fried potatoes..real cultural right?!?! It all tasted delicious as we sat around the table enjoying food and fellowship. We laughed, told stories, and even got to listen in on one of our team member’s skype with her family. As we cleaned up, we washed dishes while singing songs from Les Miserables…at the top of our lungs. As I write this now (9:40 p.m.), we’re finishing our night watching The Hobbit in preparation for The Hobbit 2 in theaters this weekend.