Relief washes over my mind...

For the past two days, we've had the privilege of having Anne, Jaco, and Steve with us.  Anne and Jaco (which is short for "Jacob") are professors of English in some local colleges and have spent the past five years helping YAVs get acquainted with potential classroom situations. Steve is their young son and is a riot due to his precocious nature and zeal for aiding us in our knowledge of India and Malayalam.  Anne and Jaco gave us lots of fun games, materials, exercises, and ideas for teaching conversational English and working in either a elementary age or college classroom. Since I do not have any formal training in this avenue, their insights brought me so much relief, and I am so thankful that they have been helping us. With their great sense of observation, sense of savvy, and good senses of humor, they are excellent educators and taught us much more about our individual sites and Indian culture. 

In the afternoon, we started talking about Applachia for some reason, and eventually, the subject of American poverty began to permeate the conversation.  To Jaco and Anne, the idea of American poverty seems strange to them because the U.S. has the reputation of being the land of plenty.  Many Keralites go abroad to work in the U.S. and make decent money--especially because exchange rate of the rupee to the dollar is about 44/43 Rs. to $1, and to my surprise, I found out that many middle or middle-upper class Indians do happen to love the U.S. and that Indians who emigrated to the U.S. do like George W. Bush and the Republican party.  In these relationships, the Indians prospered and are content to maintain their prosperous standing. Who wants to give up or to change their position if everything seems to be going well? Complacency is a slow but deadly poison to the soul, and we usually do not realize that it is killing us before it is too late.

However, we had to explain to Jaco and Anne that U.S. poverty exists in the rural United States and the inner-city, and these situations are deplorable because we allow these conditions to exist.  For example, India has affirmative action for the Dalit (the untouchable caste) in colleges, but the students rarely graduate from college because they lack the resources and support system in order to adjust and to cope with the university setting and the continual prejudices--even when the caste system is considered illegal. A similar situation occurs in American colleges and universities with inner-city students, and in name, we say that students have opportunity but still remain with so many disadvantages; it's difficult to succeed. In some ways, the United States has a similar sort of caste system--a rigid racial and socio-economic order which structurally puts groups of people at a disadvantage.  I'm surprised at how the U.S. and India share many social problems and structural clashes. I guess that it's a small world after all because we all suffer from greed, the corporate agenda, poverty, structural inequality, and the inability to listen.  Although I do not want to sound fatalistic and hopeless, these issues display the reality of the human condition: that humans miss the mark again and again.

Maybe that's why I keep pursuing Jesus and desiring to live like Him.  Although I do not have the capacity to save the world by myself, I do what I can : look at my world with a critical eye, ask questions, constantly evaluate myself and my choices, realize that a material world cannot satisfy, attempt to obey the Lord's commandments, seek my neighbors, want justice for my neighbors, attempt to quiet my mind in a world of chaos, choose to become less, pursue and depend on God, choose to take up my cross, engage with the world around, have confidence that another world is possible, teach people that there is life before death, befriend the overlooked, encourage the weary, pray for something better, and most importantly, love God and people with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Some days, I feel like this path can appear to be losing battle, but the moments of pure unadulterated joy are the glimpses of the Kindgom of God which will never pass away.

(I do not mean to sound like a horrible televangelist right there.  Although I am committed to being a disciple of Jesus, certain discussions force me to evaluate and to re-evaluate what discipleship means and why I continue to follow this strange rabbi-carpenter-lover of people from 2000 years ago.)

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Tomorrow is our last day in Aluva at Achen's house, and I will move to Tiruvalla and arrive at the school.  Excited and terrified, I cannot wait for Monday and the upcoming adventures of living in a community for the rest of my time in India.  Anne told me that the school is divided into ten houses named after precious gems (Jaspers, Rubies, etc.), and these ten houses compete throughout the year for points.  So now I am caught up in a Harry Potter house fantasy and cannot wait to see the competition and spirit! 

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. 
       And what does the LORD require of you? 
       To act justly and to love mercy 
       and to walk humbly with your God."

                  --Micah 6:8

CULTURE SHOCK!!! India Orientation...

If I could sum up the past few days in a two words, they would be:

SENSORY OVERLOAD

Foreign sights, smells, sounds, and textures bombard me.  I feel like a three year old who is discovering basic life skills and is full of wonder at the smallest things.

To be honest, I have never felt so vulnerable in my life and feel so dependent on other people to help me.  Our site director told us that Jesus displayed that vulnerability in all his relationships, and through his vulnerability, he invites and empowers other people. When I get frustrated about my helplessness, I hope to remember that pearl of wisdom. I'll figure out more things over time. I wish that I eloquently describe everything in detail, but I will start a rambling list of interesting things.  

Our site director, Thomas John, and his wife, Betty, taught us how to eat with our hands, and you're supposed to mash up the food with your fingers and compress it together to blend the different flavors. Its funny how playing with your food is culturally acceptable! I cannot expect anything to be similar to my American life.  Even Indians even use toilet differently (if you really want to know the process, you can ask me). Each night, the power shuts off for a half hour or so at a designated time, and the current can be unreliable at times.   I've learned to shower/bathe using a bucket of water, and the humidity is extreme.  Monsoon season is upon us, and pouring rain falls often.  Banana and coconut trees are everywhere, and the verdant, lush landscape impresses me with its beauty.

During the past few days, our group (Rebecca, Sudie, Ariel, John, David, and I) has been struggling with learning Malayalam, the language of Kerala, and has had the opportunity to learn about Indian economics, education, politics, and history through Achen (an Malayalam address term for a pastor who is Thomas John, the site director) and a few of his friends who are professors at local colleges.  I am still processing all of the information but love the emphasis on social justice and finding ways to bring more equality through structural changes.  Although it may sound a little nerdy, I cannot wait to learn more on a more first hand basis.  Also, I am determined to have a working knowledge of Malayalam at some point, but the hardest part is mastering the alphabet and the unfamiliar sounds.

Hopefully, I will post a better update later along with some video and pictures. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel and get settle at my permanent site, the Nicholson Secondary School for Girls in Tiruvalla.  I’ve linked some of my friends’ blogs to this site as well for some more reading!

 

Reality has set in...I am leaving!

I cannot believe that I am leaving the United States of America for the next year.  During these past few months and orientation, India seemed so far in the future, but now, I will physically reach my destination.  This is a surreal feeling.  

Questions are flooding my brain, and my neurons are over-sensitized.  Why has God called me to go to Kerala, India? Why was I placed in a girls' boarding school for the year? Will I have a Western toilet? What will my room look like? Will I shop for my saris when I get off the plane? Will I handle the spiciness of the food? Will people understand my English? Will I ever have any grasp on Malayam, the local language? I must wait and have patience because time will tell.