I will preface my weekend story by this little bit of info. I played hard core devils advocate today with my language teacher....getting him ALL up in a tizzy as I rebutted his statement of "America MUST convert to the metric system and that the only reason why we have not so far is because we do not want to spend the 300 million dollars it will take to replace all the signs we have in our country".  Why did I find joy in un nerving this man...I don't know but I enjoyed every minute of it .

TK. Now to the weekend:

My trip to Mysore was fun times. Any trip that begins with a race across town in an auto has got to be good. So the story; my friends and I are sitting at the train station...this is where we bought the tickets so it only makes sense right? And the two fellas on the way in told us to go wait on track two for our train. After further inquiry it was discovered that our train actually was leaving from the station across town, and mega traffic, in twenty minutes. So we take an auto, jump out at the train station, run through the traffic, through the station, (as different men call out to us what track to head for), under ground through a tunnel, and past EVERY car on the train because ours was at the front...I managed to make it to our car as the train was departing...but alas, I look back and my counter parts have only made it to the car right before ours...So, I lean out and yell for my friend as I have NO idea what seat I am in, and well, have no ticket. Some nice fella leaned out and told me that they would raise the barrier and that my friends were coming. There are some really nice people in this country.

So after our reunion, and many laughs of relief, we settled down in our seats for the journey. Here is a pic of Rumpita, me, and Rebekah. I was scolded by Rumpita as she said I was looking "proper" in this pic???

We spent the weekend exploring. It was a whirl wind but a good time. We visited palaces, a museum, where I found my favorite painting of all time...(I hope I can find a copy here to buy) It is called the "Glow of Hope"...I can not explain why, but I was enthralled by the painting...We frolicked in a pretty cool zoo (the healthy animals made me happy as the last zoo I went to here, while plastered with funny signs, had pathetic, not well taken care of animals). Tigers are just plain cool animals...and peacocks are pretty nifty too. The peacock is the national bird here and we saw a few cool ones and one who decided he did not like the people staring at him...

We, of course, went to a temple. It was 2,000 years old and on top of a mountain. I was almost run over by a cow, but thankfully I managed to fall out of my picture taking squat in order to miss being in his direct path as he sauntered by as if I had never been there at all. Any time you go to a temple, there are TONS of people, and beggars are a large percent of that crowd. A little girl was dressed up as Hunuman, the monkey god, and was begging us for money.

I will include a picture of the three of us at the Palace. That morning Rumpita stated how she felt "out of place" as the Indian in western clothes while the Americans were in our Hindustan clothes. I don't think I ever post any pics of me in the clothes I wear, so I thought this one would give you some what of an idea. As a majority culture rule, your rear must be covered by lose material, and usually you would wear baggy pants underneath. You can only partly see my salwars. The outfit is called a salwar kameez. Most of the time I will wear a kurta(long shirt that comes past your rear...a lot of times coming close to the knee) with a pair of jeans. I will post some of those another time.

So here ends my trip log. I will say that we ALMOST over slept on the way home, we were on the sleeper car snuggled nicely under our wool blankets. Thankfully a man woke us up minutes from our stop so that we did not end up in some unknown city . How great would that have been...running for our train in the beginning and failing to get off at the end.

OOOOOOOOOOOO. Bit of coolness to report. I unexpectedly saw my landlord this past week and he asked me if I had the music ready for him yet! Rock on! I am making the cds this week and told him I would deliver the goods this Saturday. Please be in prayer that God would open his, and his family's hearts, to the Truth. For He is the one who draws them...Thanks!

What I learned at my first turkey lacking Thanksgiving Dinner:

Afore mentioned weed eater man actually replaced the dudes who used to cut the grass last year...Replaced...that word means something was put in the place of something else...what piece of equipment was replaced??   SCISSORS!!!! HA!

Best Thanksgiving Dinner edible:
Mrs. G's Banana cream pie with blue berries on top. Yum Yum!!
Interesting factoid heard while sitting at the "kids" table:
Canadians call Indians Aboriginals
Movies recommended through out the day:
Dodge Ball & Starsky and Hutch...laughter possibility supposedly high...I will find out later tonight.
Thanksgiving quiz question and answer I found interesting:
Thanksgiving was not declared a National Holiday until 1941??? Is this true?? The Thanksgiving quiz giver said it was...hmmm.
Interesting numbers from the "my husband snores" convo:
-1 out of the 4 husbands of the wives participating was reported to snore
-1 mother was reported, by her son, as snoring so loud she could be heard from the other side of the house
My inquiry/request that was met with laughter:
Since it is Thanksgiving this is a four day weekend right?
Best punch line to a true story told today but too long to retell on here:
"we're baaaaack"
My weakest moment:
Little Zech throwing up on me due to too much bouncing after his bottle.
Best plan making phone call:
My friend Rumpita calling to say "we are going to take the train to Mysore on Saturday and come back sometime on Sunday, is that fine"?
As a side bar: "road trips" become "train trips" here...and I am going on my first "spur of the moment train trip" with friends this weekend! Woooo who! I miss those good old days when you could jump in a car with your friends and decide you are going some where and take off not too much later to make memories that you will not soon forget...Maybe train trippin will be just as great! I hope so!
Cool thing that I have never done on Thanksgiving before:
Sang a praise and worship song to God, on a roof, with the group gathered for dinner, to thank Him for His love and faithfulness.
TK. Time to go watch a funny (I hope) movie! I love you guys and I hope you all have/had a GREAT Thanksgiving! 

I have been watching writing emerge in the dust on the sill outside my front door for a while now. Today after class I came home to find someone had written suggestive profanity there. It makes me sad.  There is no reason for anyone to go near my door unless they are specifically making an effort to do so, so I know it is not a random or easy to come by act. For some reason I was able to take the profanity with a grain of salt, but when it moves on to sayings that involve me in a physical sense it effects me. I honestly don't know what to think about it all. Things are different when you live in a culture you know...but here...I am not sure exactly how to handle some thing like this...

Imagine cutting ten acres of grass with a weed eater? So is the life of the man working away outside of my office window. Growing up, my brother and I were in charge of mowing the lawn and taking care of the other yard work. And you know...I don't remember hating it. Seeing this man weed eating out there for hours does make me thankful for the use of a push mower :)

Profile pic: Imagine having to wear that EVERYTIME you went outside? I spent an afternoon "covered" and that was enough for me to know that the women of these cultures are way more submissive than I think I could ever be...

Since I just mentioned my bro I will post some pics I have on my computer:

Bobby and me at his wedding this past summer. He got married on the beach at sunset...

Here is me(the card holder), my bro,and my sis, when I think I was maybe 6, my bro 7, and my sis 11? Guessing as it has been SO long since this pic was taken!

I had a good, but busy, weekend. One that left me wishing I could stay home in my newly arranged living room, in my big comfy chair, decked out in sleep pants and a shirt, reading a good book, as the gentle breezes, that come with the fall in India, waft through my flat.  

I will report that my driving skills have not diminished as greatly as I thought they would have by this point  . I met some fun girls this weekend.  After teaching them how to bake cookies (this is the first thing the girls had EVER baked) we headed to this private club nestled in their neighborhood. Oh yeah, Go Karts here we come! My friend Diva, at 22, had never driven before so we joined up and took a two person kart. Her cousin Nittia took a single kart. I was geared up for a good race. Man, our two person kart could totally haul tail! I was stoked! The course was the most curvy one I have ever seen...but that did not stop me from putting the peddle to the metal as we approached a turn on the back stretch...I just barely mis-judged the turn and managed to take out part of the tire wall, which granted me a fantastic scowl from a worker, who then told me to "slow down". Amidst my laughter, I did "slow down"...for a few seconds...until this boy decided to over take us on the straight away...bring it man, bring it! I do believe that American go karts are made with a governor, NOT SO here folks! That boy lost his smile as we flew past him on the same curve where I had taken out the wall . Diva giggled the whole time with delight. I will admit I thought it was out of fear while we were racing, but later she could do nothing but brag on my driving skills while we were playing a friendly match of tennis.  Good times, good times.

I would like to announce the assimilation of my Sis,

Me and my sis in our bridesmaid dresses, at my bro's wedding 

and my friend Mandy, to Xanga  

Mandy and I goofing off outside of a red truck in Thailand.

I am studying Acts and today I was reading chapter 17 about the "very religious poeple" and plethora of idols and temples...sounds SO familar...back then people were worshipping in ignorance...why is it that so many years later these verses are still a reality?

"and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;" Interesting...seeing how the happenings of the world all play out according to His plans...What I wouldn't give to be able to see this existance of life from His view point...from His mind...

*EDIT* I have been studying Kannada for the past two hours, so getting on here to add the "missing" pictures has been my study break. I don't think I have studied this much since college! OK, this was fun but back to studying I must go...or my language guru is not going to be happy with me...He told me "TO KNOW MY STUFF WHEN I CAME BACK TO CLASS". It is all good...I tend to need strong expectations/accountability at times. END EDIT*

Pink in honor of my friend, who just so happens to love this color...and I admit that I fancy it quite a bit myself...

Imagine having to evacuate your home with only a back pack on your back due to war ravaging your country...leaving all behind, never to know if you will ever return...and even if you did, most of your stuff will probably have been looted by the rebels...this is the life of my good friend who has been living in the Ivory Coast this year...Please be in prayer for her and all the others with her that God would continue to bring them His joy amidst the worldly chaos...Also that God grant them wisdom as to the next step as their lives/plans have been dramatically changed by the war/evacuation...

As for me, God has been challenging me with a call to deeper discipleship...who knew how much meaning that old cliche "WWJD" could really have...

I am out of town. I will post when I get home...but today I went to the largest Mosque in this country..built to hold 20,000 people on any given Friday...it was the most unreal thing I think I have ever seen....standing among thousands, I was trying to guess-ta-mate how many I personally saw today, and I would say in the time period I was there I had to have seen 10,000 people, streaming up all streets leading into the mosque, then ascending the steps to enter in to bow down to Allah...I have yet to get all my thoughts in order about it...

And as I sit here, there is music playing outside and fireworks going off to celebrate probably one of the biggest
 Hindu festivals of the year...

Thanks to all of you who shared with me your fav worship songs :) I will write more when I get home....
As the HUGE explosion goes off outside the window and the band plays it's oh so Hindi music I must go...

God is SO interesting to me...the way He chooses to speak to different people...one fellow here puts a lot of emphasis on listening to and singing songs of worship to the gods...This week as his family was visiting me, (I always have my music on) he again made a comment about how "nice" my music was. I asked him if he would be able to listen to some cds if I made them for him. He got REALLY excited! How cool! I want you guys to help me with some suggestions of what songs I should put on a cd for him and the fam...

You know you are having a struggle with the culture when you find yourself coming up with a strategic plan for taking out the trash...I mean, maybe this is totally silly of me, but it goes against any OK feeling I have, knowing that when I toss my trash into the sort of trash cement thingy, that first the people in the neighborhood are going to dig through it, then the cows and the dogs to follow...and as a result the people will take some of my trash home, then the rest will be strewn across the ground surrounding the almost trash cement thingy....

Should I have a personal attatchment to my trash?? NO, but I do! I don't want people digging through my trash...nor do I want to feel as though I have to be aware of EVERYTHING I throw away b/c not only will people be digging through it and seeing it, it will soon be strewn along the road for every passer by to see...UGH!

So tonight I decided would be "covert take the trash out night". I planned that if I took it out at night, not as many people would see me, and thusly less of my trash would be touched, eaten, spread all over the neighborhood....

Was my covert plan a success? Check out this photo (I know it is kind of dark) that I took just moments after I got back to my flat from the supposed to be a trash bin cement thingy....

I am disturbed by having to take my trash out...I think I need to call member care....

Gosh. I just got an invitation to sign up for a debriefing conference... For those of you who know what I am talking about, does that put things into perspective or what?

I had a very humbling experience today. I wrote about it earlier but the server went down and my post went along with it...so instead of re-typing it, I will just say that God is very good to me...He is amazing how He speaks through His Word, the Holy Spirit, as well as through the lives of those whose hearts He dwells in...I can not tell you what a blessing the national believers have been to me here...

Do you ever have one of those days where you become so incredibly aware of how your heart feels? A day when you are so amazingly aware of God and know that He is the only one who can speak to the longing in your heart? A day when your desire for sweet fellowship, where you can sit outside and ponder God’s greatness with another heart in tune with His, is almost over-whelming? Or a day in which you are so aware of the fact that you live where you live?

I have this feeling from deep within tonight that I can not explain. A feeling that once I reached home made me want to climb up onto the highest point of my building to sit down and reflect, and write out my thoughts…

I decided to walk part of the way home tonight…on my walk I was reminded of the fact that I live here…in this third world country…so far removed from the land from which I was born and raised...

What was it that made me so aware of this fact? Was it the boys playing cricket? Walking by a line of men reliving themselves on the side of the road? The man sitting in the shadows, who started yelling at me in a tongue I do not understand, as I took notice of him? Was it the crazy traffic? Or maybe it was the ladies selling flowers in abundance at the market? The hand basket weaver I pass almost every day? Was it the cow hanging out at the fruit stand? The ladies all in their flowing sarees? What about the dark faces that watched me with curiosity, often craning their necks out windows, as they drove past me in buses, cars, and autos? Or the plethora of homeless dogs running the streets, or hanging out on the dirt piles in my neighborhood? Or the Ambassadors that people still drive here? The mosquito bites that remind me of the Dengue fever in town? Or the shacks and the huge homes that I walk by, in co-existence? The little shack kid and her smile as I stopped to say hi to her? Or the eyes of the women who are not quite able to meet mine until they hear my greeting uttered in their own tongue? I am not sure…but for some reason, today, I am greatly aware...  

Later that night:
~Rightly. I just became very aware of the fact that I am a doofus who has yet to adjust with full mental capacity that I live HERE. The other day whilst visiting with my neighbors across the street, I offered to help them move in if they wanted. The daughter just looked at me with a goofy look and did not really respond...
Yeahly, so I justly got back from walking to the store to get some bread. (by the way I only paid 11 rupees for the loaf, that is about 33 cents) On the way down the stairs, I saw the moving guys unloading this moving contraption, with the afore mentioned neighbor's boxes and such. I aptly thought, "I should stop and see if they could use assistance". Thusly, I realized why the daughter looked at me through eyes that portrayed ideas of my alienescness. This is the land of servants and CHEAPly labor. They would not even fathom needing my hands to help move their things because they had boys who were doing it for them, for probably like 5 bucks.
Geeshly. I mean, what was I thinking? Or, I guess just proof of my lack of thinking. Everyone here has a servant...except the servants. And no one does manual labor, except the manual labor class...Will my mind ever be able to manage the differences between this culture and my own? The likely hood of that is not looking so hot today...but there is always tomorrow.  

A.C. this posts for you ;) Part-ly...b/c I tortured words just for respect...and dang it, I would do it again! No matter how far reachingly poor the attempt may be...

I got this e-mail today from a friend/brother in Pak. How many of us know what it feels like to have to ask for PR for such things? And how many of us would respond to it in the same manner? Keep in mind that English is his 3 or 4th language...I can't remember which now. I wanted to leave his letter as is...
Salam

hello Sister,

I hope you are fine and enjoing in better health.I
have been tring to write you but i could not write you becouse internet cafes
remain close due to Ramadan and it is only one way i have internet
access to keep in touch with Brothers and Sisters.Brother L is enjoing the
snow falling in Gil.He is quite well.Ohh he sends his regards.Now a days i
am going through a little trouble.My Uncles and brothers have become
stern.They are saying to me to leave Christ and abondon His preach otherwise they
will kick me off from the aria where i am living.You know i am living in a
rented house.Now a days niether can i translate the books nor i can meet my
spirtual friends.Ramdas has put me in a trouble.I just want you to pray
for me becouse i really need your prayer.I am not afraid of anything because
He is with me.

Please pray for me as much as you can.

                In Him
                 Nat

A cricket has moved into my bedroom...and while I normally enjoy the sounds of nature, this dude is SO loud I can barely think. The question is: Which would I rather have? Him or the YELLING walla outside of my house? Hmmm.

*Right. Well, it is now time for me to go to bed and has been a few hours since I wrote this first part of the post in regard to the visiting cricket in my bedroom. I decided I would rather have the walla as at least after his yelling down the street he goes away. There was about a 20 second time period tonight when the cricket ceased to make, what do we call it chirping, noises...other wise he/she has been going solid for the last 4 hours or so. And I tell you, those 20 seconds of non-chirpage were almost unbelievable to me...I knew it wouldn't last however, and it didn't...it now seems even louder...I even kind of have a head ache...I guess this will be night 4 of wearing ear plugs to bed. I wish I could get a hold of this blasted creature and oh so lovingly move it OUTSIDE where it belongs! Or annihilate it, that would work too...