A Year in a Life for the Lord: March 2011

Jīt Masīha kī! (A greeting I've learned that is used here. It means "The Victory is in Christ")

Things have been going really well here! During the week I've been teaching English a few times a week: one beginner course and one 1-1 beginner as well as helping here and there with other classes. I find it a bit intimidating sometimes, but I really enjoy it when a class understands something. Right now I'm just learning how to teach. It's one thing to know the language and be able to speak it, it's another to teach the grammar to someone else and give them advice on why they should use it that way. I think some of the upper-level students know more about English grammar than I do. It's good to have the team and all their experience, otherwise it would be a train wreck!

There have been quite a few interesting moments in class, including trying to teach the "TH" sound, which comes out "Tuh", and imitating cars to practice the "V" sound. I've also discovered that using sarcasm, however mild, is a very bad idea in beginner English class. It confuses people. One student thought he had offended me by sitting at the same table, and jumped up faster than I've ever seen anyone get out of a chair. I felt bad, then tried to explain that it was a joke, which I didn't do very well at all. I think he got it in the end...

Weekends are for relaxing and getting things done around the house. Iwent with a group to the zoo last week, which was a lot of fun! It was nice to just wander around and talk to the girls I was there with, even if we did have to constantly decline requests to have our pictures taken instead of the animals.

I'm struggling a little with the amount of staring I get, but I'm learning to let it amuse me when people nearly trip or run their bicycles into poles instead of letting it bother me. And it does make you feel good when a crowd of small children runs up to you shouting "Hello! How are you?" Other than that, I haven't experienced as much culture shock as I thought I would yet!

I've had quite an adventure learning to do day to day things here. Getting to-and-from places, shopping, cleaning, communicating (we're still working on that one) and cooking for myself. Not a lot of baking really goes on in India, which is my preferred method of cooking, but we do have a toaster oven, so I can improvise! I've also learned to get creative with rice and veggies. I'm going to come home an expert on fried rice!

Getting around has proved to be the biggest challenge. It's easy when you know exactly where you're going, how to get there, and how much to pay for it. But when you just climb into a taxi and tell him the name of a place, the results can be interesting.

I think my favorite part of going anywhere is travelling in the kamikaze auto-rickshaws (picture below). They're made to seat three people, but like any transportation in India, you can get at least twice that many people inside. So with six or seven people (including the driver) we speed through traffic (speeding through traffic in this city means you go a whopping 15 mph), playing chicken with things five times our size, managing to never hit anything and get there in half the time it would take anyone else. Adrenaline is a good way to start the day!

Well, that's all for this update. I leave you again with a few pictures and prayer points!

1) Health again! I'm battling some kind of stomach bug at the moment. It seems to be getting better, but prayers would be much appreciated!

2) English teaching. Emma and I are teaching a class of total beginers, and we're finding it challenging to have that as our first experience. Pray that we would be able to teach well and that they would really understand the material.

3) Rest. That we would get enough and be energized!

Thank you all for your support and keeping up to date with me! God bless!