Easter photos

I just thought I'd throw up some quick picks

Ko playing around on a razor scooter with the little ones, and a teddy bear

A fun game where the wives try to identify their husbands underneath a bed sheet.
This one led to some interesting conversations....

Ko with some of the older guys that we play soccer and cricket with

Easter!

Hello again! I know this blog is a little belated, but I just thought I would quickly describe the Easter celebrations that I took part in this year. Things started Friday night when we visited our neighbors house to dye eggs. It was a nice relaxing night for us all, and I introduced everyone to my family's tradition of painting the eggs with melted wax. I think they turned out great. All this was in preparation for Saturday night, when we invited some kids from the slum over to launch fireworks, share some snacks, and talk about Easter. It was sometimes slightly awkward, since they didn't speak any english, but we all really enjoyed the fireworks. Indian fireworks are quite similar to what we get in the US (at least in Indiana...) except a little larger and less predictable. Nothing was dangerous (don't worry Mom...) but we did accidentally shoot a rocket into the neighboring school's grounds where it exploded. The chokedar (gatekeeper) came out and yelled at us.

On Sunday, we woke up bright and early to attend an Easter service down in the town proper. It was open to all in Mussorie, and it was a great time to greet friends that we normally don't see on Sundays. In the afternoon, each crch split off to hold a picnic for all of its members; my church had ours on a hilltop overlooking the surrounding area. Of course, they recruited us interns to haul all the food up the hillside (which was NOT easy), but I'm glad that I was able to serve in some respect. The whole afternoon was spent playing games, eating great food, singing, dancing in traditional Garwhalie (yes, they forced us interns to all get up and dance even though we had no idea what we were doing), and hanging out with friends. We all really enjoyed the time, but it was very tiring, especially having to tote all the food and gear around. Plus, we went off with some of the guys we met afterwards to play cricket for two hours. This was a lot of fun, too. If any of you know about my whiffle ball games, it was totally like that. We played in our friend's drive way, and had rules such as over the fence (and down the side of a mountain) is an out, hitting any windows, flower pots, or the upper roof is an out, the lower roof is four runs, and the side of the house is six. Luckily, we didn't lose any balls down the hill. It was a great Easter, but I went to bed at like 9:30 because I was sooo tired.

Rishikesh, Haridwar, and Hinduism

Well, these blog updates are turning into weekly affairs. No matter, we went on a really interesting trip this weekend to Rishikesh and Haridwar. This trip was not only a test of how well we could get around India on our own (which certainly created interesting experiences), but also an opportunity to learn about Hinduism firsthand in two of the most sacred Hindu cities. We were given a scavenger hunt with certain places to visit and things to find out and basically shoved out the door with little direction. In India, the concept of a map is not what it is in the West. You don't typically navigate on your own in a new place. If people are in an area they're not familiar with you rely on everyone around you for your directions. So, if we were uncomfortable asking for directions before, we are certainly much more open to it now.

Thanks to help from our taxi driver, vikram driver, bus driver, auto-rickshaw driver and a random shopkeeper, we made it safely to Rishikesh. this city is well-known as the premier meditation center of India, and has numerous ashrams (like meditation schools) and yoga teachers. As such, there is a surprisingly large foreign population both of people coming to visit and yoga/meditation students there to learn. You might imagine, most of these people fall into the broad category of 'hippyish'. The city itself kind of sprawls up along the Ganga, and is nestled in quite a scenic valley between two hilly outcrops. We spent the entire day walking around the city and observing/praying for the many pilgrams, tourists, beggars & cripples, and sadus (Hindu ascetics relying on donations from other that supposedly bring them good Karma). Perhaps the most interesting experience was going out for dinner with some guys that we meet by the river. They didn't speak hardly any english and we only knew a few phrases of Hindi, but despite it we were able to get many points back and forth and it was an interesting and rewarding expereince. On the way back to your guest house, we passed a Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Ram (often protrayed as a blue warrior with a bow and arrows).

In the morning we woke early to observe some of the rituals that people performed at the river. It was surprising to us to note that in the same places (and times) you would have people praying, meditating, washing, bathing, and worshiping idols. Later, we moved on to Haridwar. In an interesting turn of events, we tried to hire a vikram to take us to the bus stand so we could catch a bus to Haridwar. Apparently he misundstood us, and drove us all 20-some kilometers to Haridwar, but it was only 20 rupees so I guess it worked out in the end. Haridwar is a sacred place becuase it is believe Ram stepped into the river Ganga at that location, and it is one of the four locations of the Kumbh Mela, perhaps the largest festival in Hinduism. As it so happened, we reached Haridwar the day after a festival celebrating Ram's birthday, and there were just tons of people. And we've been told it gets much worse. The river banks are lined with these ghats, where people can bathe in the river and supposedly wash away their sins. We must have stood out amid the masses of Indians because the beggars (mostly children) and 'Ganga preservation fund collectionists' would hardley leave us alone. After a few hours exploring the city we walked to the bus stand (again with the help of about half a dozen shopkeepers), eventually found the bus to Dehra Dun and made it back to Mussoorie, thouroughly exhausted but gratefully for the ey-opening experience.

I won't lie, it was extremely difficult at times to expereince Rishikesh and Haridwar. There were many parts of the journey that were much fun and very enjoyable, but the fact remains that these are two of the most spiritually dark places in India. It was tough watching people celebrating and cavorting while consumed by the chains of idolatry and false ideologies. On top of that, it was extremely diffucult for me to kep my heart soft when the constant demands of the beggars really made me feel dehumanized and looked at as a moneybag. It will certainly give me much material to think about, pray over, and sift through for a while.

The Third Eye, an american-Italian-Maxican-Israeli
restaurant run by Indians where we had lunch in Rishikesh.

Ram Juhla, a pedestrian cable-stayed bridge over the Ganges.
And people were still riding motorbikes over it

Harry and Ko going for a 'dip' in the Ganges

The main bathing ghats in Haradwar, just after a Hundu festival

Some Sikh men who helped explain where we were... and a cool bridge in the background (engineers represent!)

Dehradun, Chamba and New Tehri dam

Hello again everyone. This post is a short update on my explorations in Garwhal, the region surrounding Mussorie. Last Saturday Harry and I took a taxi down to Dehradun to buy a guitar. Unfortunately, there are no good music shops in Mussoorie, so we had to head into the big(ger) city. Neither of us were dissappointed as this gave us an excuse to explore a little bit. Actually, there's not too much to tell. All we found in Dehradun was rows upon rows of shops stretching down all the roads we walked through. It was interesting to see how similar shops tended to grouped on one street, with a few exceptions. It almost felt like walking through a Home Depot the size of a city, with clothing and food and everything else for sale. We had someone recommend a music shop to us previously, but just for run we went into this small, small music store that was (no joking) literally 4 feet wide. Maybe 5 if you include the shelf space. I sooo regret not taking a picture of Harry trying out guitars while sitting with his legs half twisted around. Anyway, we finally found the other music shop (after much walking and asking directions), and got a good guitar for a great price. Hopefully I can learn a few songs here and maybe even help out on the worship team.

This weekend, Ko and I made a kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision to hop on a bus and head out through the mountains to New Tehri, where a government dam has been built creating a huge lake. Lukily for us, a large storm had just passed through the previous day so the skies were crystal clear. We were blessed with some really astounding views of the Himalayas that we had never seen before. However, the pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped since our bus had shocks that threw us off our seats. After a 2 hour bus ride, we made it to Chamba which lies on the junction of several major mountain roads. on our way back we had some time to look around, and I really liked it. Its small than Mussorie, so it has a more intimate feel, but it gets a lot of traffic so there's usually a lot going on. Lukily for us, we chanced upon a jeep that was ready to head to New Tehri, so we jumped in along with 10 other people. Comfy. The tenth guy actually sat on someones lap. It was only about 20-30 minutes to Tehri, and when we arrived we grabbed some lunch and started to walk down to the water.

An interesting note about New Tehri, this town was completely master planned by a famous Indian architect and built at once. It was created for the residents of old Tehri to move to, because old Tehri now lies at the bottom of the lake created by the dam. 80 villages were also displaced by the creation of this lake, and the government provided land and houses for them in the plains near Rishikesh.

Anyway, we had no idea how to get to the dam, but you could see the lake from where we were (about 500 feet up) so we just started walking through the residential district. After about half an hour, some kids in a cricket game informed us that the dam was actually 14 kilometers away and you need to take the bus. Luckily for us, the bus stand just happened to be about 200 feet away. We grabbed the next bus down to the dam (which was interesting because I don't think a single person on the bus spoke more than a few words of english), and the driver alerted us at the stop we were supposed to get out. And there was no dam in sight. Not knowing what else to do and slightly worried because the last bus back to Mussoorie would leave in 90 minutes, we just started walking down the road. I guess the guy knew what he was talking about, because after 15 minutes we reached a beautiful view of the dam. Plus, we started talking to some guys that were there taking pictures and they offered us a ride all the way back to Chamba, in perfect time to catch the bus back to Mussoorie. Great day. I think it has also convinced us that random bus rides through the mountains are generally a good idea, and bound to be an interesting experience at the very least.

Some friends that we met on the bus

a view of New Tehri

Tehri dam, and part of the lake


One of the glorious views of the mountains

The groove of things

Hello again, I realize that it has been a while since I posted on the blog. This is due, in part, to two reasons: first, that I just forget sometimes, and second, that sometimes I really don't have any time. Anyway, there hasn't been anything really spectacular going on lately so this is kind of just some mind vomit of events over the past week (vivid imagery, no?)

So this weekend we had some visitors from the Colorado office. They had recently finished a month long project trip in Afghanistan and came through India to visit before heading home. They shared some really cool stories about getting to know the Afghan people and living in the heart of the Muslim world. For example, as a people they love to laugh, and most of the older generations are all for laying down weapons and picking up books and computers. And while ladies are given almost no leeway in public, behind locked doors and shut windows they dance, laugh, and joke together.

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. This weekend we visited the local botanical garden and taxied to a waterfall in the area. Both places were interesting, but very touristy. The only strange thing is that I've had some swelling and pain in my jaw. I had to see a doctor/hospital (going to the hospital is going to the doctor, not something more serious) since it wasn't getting any better, and he said it looks like a blocked or partially blocked salivary gland. Weird. So I've been taking some meds and it has gotten better, but its still bothering me. If you could pray for my jaw I would appreciate it. I found a bunch of guys (many from the local hospital) that play soccer a couple of times a week, so I'm really pumped about that. Since were in the mountains, we play in a fenced-in terrace with rock walls and its very similar to indoor. This week in men's group we went swimming! I know it sounds bland, but the only swimming pool (other than the water fall which is FREEZING cold) is in the local 5-star hotel. They call themselves 5-star (and its better than what I stay in in the US), but they probably don't stand up to the really upscale places. Regardless, it was a really nice place, and it felt so refreshing! We had a great game of water polo and then went to the game room for pool and ping-pong.

Man Time

So, I have recently been participating in the men's fellowship at my church. This is a new thing that hasn't been done before in the community, nor is it very common in other places. Apparently after most Indian men (and women) get married, they rarely get together with friends for a guys (or girls) night out. Obviously, this is an attempt to foster better community and relationships specifically among the men of the church. Our pastor and one of the EMI staff have brainstormed some fun stuff for the guys to do together. As I mentioned in the previous blog, last week we had dinner and some air hocky in the bazaar. This week however, we drove a short way into the surrounding hills, climbed up to the peak and grilled. It wasn't tailgate-style like you would in the US however. First we had to collect our own firewood, which we did by literaly tearing branches off of the surrounding trees with our bare hands; some still with the leaves on. After starting the fire, we took a small metal grate, laid it over the coals and threw some chicken on it. More like five or six chickens, and some potatoes and veggies. And chai, of course. They used a soysauce-and-coke marinade, that actually tasted great. (A brief apology to the IV guys, but we didn't have beef (it is India...) although I found a summer sausage in the cabinet, so maybe later?) One of the best parts of the night was when we ran out of firewood. A few guys and myself went out into the surrounding forest (it was dark, but the moon was really bright) and found an old stump, which we actually tore out of the ground with our hands, feet, and a small rock substituted as an ax. I was in charge of bringing the dessert, and would you believe it, I found a place that actually sells a decent cheesecake. That is one item that is really hard to find in India (especially cheap) and also hard to make as cream cheese doesn't exist here. So, we got to enjoy a little taste of home as well. Definitely a good night.

A busy past few days...

Hey everyone, its been awhile since I could really sit down with quality internet and update again. I've been really busy this last week, mostly working on project stuff such as cad drawings, note recording, report write ups and a recommendation to publish and send to the client. My one concern was writing up and publishing this recommendation correctly, while my project leader is in Hong Kong on a visa issue. Of course, I screwed it up. Only slightly though. But the good side of it is now I no longer have to be in fear of botching something up since I've already done it.

Enough about the office, this weekend a bunch of us went on an INCREDIBLE day trip to a local village (no one even remembers the name of it). We drove about 4 hrs into the surrounding hills to see an absolutely stunning view of the mountains, ate lunch and continued home. The roads were incredible: they went from paved, to gravel, to rocks strewn on a mountainside. And half of us were on motorcycles too, painful at times. Oh man, but it was sooo worth it. I am continually amazed by the beauty of God's creation here. And there are so many trails everywhere so there is always something new to see. Great times. I think India is really forming me into an outdoors person. Not only does the incredible natural beauty move me to stay outside and hike, but the general living conditions (although perfectly comfortable) are much more like camping when compared to living standards in the US. That might be a little bit of a stretch, but I definitely feel much more comfortable in the uncomfortable than I did before. I consider it a good thing. Some of the pictures are at the bottom

Yesterday, I went out with the men's group from my church. We headed down into the bazaar for dinner, desert and some quality air hockey. This was air hockey like you've never seen it before. About 1.5x a standard table, Two on two, with three pucks on the table. Absolute craziness, but totaly fun. I'm looking forward to getting to know these guys and do more fun stuff with them.

Today, we tagged along with Samuel, a friend of ours who does medical service in the surrounding villages. These villages are only accessible on foot, and the hike was amazing, although I am dead tired tonight. This was such an enjoyable experience though; we met some local families, had lunch with our roomate who teaches at a local school, had chai 3 times, enjoyed freshly fried potato chips, and even tried to solve one of the villagers drainage problems. That was interesting, and I don't think he was too excited with our ideas, but I hope it helped. I felt useful at least. Unfortunately, another person we were supposed to meet with never showed and so much of the time was spent admiring the scenery, but we may go back again and help out some more.

Well, sorry for the brevity but I have to be off. Although things are going well so far here, I certainly miss the friends and family at home and I wish I could share these experiences with you more physically. You are all in my thoughts and prayers, and if you think you might be up for visiting, YOU TOTALLY SHOULD! You wouldn't regret it. Just make sure to exercise aerobically before :)

Grace and peace,

The picture doesn't do it justice

The interns and our friend Amar, here for a week recording some music

Baby Corin again, this time with our neighbor Zarina. So cute.


This was a better part of the road... and yes, there's a cliff on the other side of those rocks.
Good times.