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I was eating rice and chicken last night for dinner at my home, but when the first bite didn’t taste like chicken I inquired about what type of meat it was. My host sister was surprised that i didn’t know it was chicken, but when i told her it was because that bite didn’t taste like chicken, she calmly said, “Oh thats the liver.” This started an interesting conversation about how people in america only eat certain parts of the chicken, but how in India they eat every part of the chicken, including the organs. She then excitedly pointed out the stomach which I couldn’t eat after I was made aware of the fact I had already tried the liver. If I didn’t know what it was I probably would have kept eating it, but knowing was too much for me to handle.
Random facts Indians have taught me (per my host family):
Mosquitos are attracted to trees. Where there are lots of trees, there are lots of mosquitos.
It is not good to brush your hair when it is wet.
You shouldn’t drink fluid with your meal. It should be 10 mins before or 10 mins after eating.
If you have an upset stomach you should sit on a pillow, instead of the floor.
The mosquito repellent here for your homes doesn’t kill them, it just puts them into a coma.
Mosquito bites only itch if the mosquito didn’t get all the blood it wanted.
I don’t know why most of those have to do with mosquitoes. I guess we talk about them a lot because they are always biting me. Last friday was a “bandh”. This means that the whole state of west bengal goes on strike; public transportation stops and just about everything closes. It was called because of a dispute between police and villagers that ended with some casualities of the villagers. The opposition party calls a Bandh and basically shuts down the city to protest. Basically everyone has to go along with it for fear of harrassment if they don’t. There were small pockets of violence in the streets mostly near government offices where people threw rocks and tried to burn buses. None of this was happening in the area I live in, but we cancelled all of our plans and it was a stay at home day, all day. It was an interesting experience and a wake up call to the conflicts of power/freedom the rest of the world deals with.
My team leaves for Nepal on Wednesday. We will be gone for 10 days. I think we are all looking forward to a break from the city and some good retreat time. I don’t know what internet access I will have in Nepal, but just in case I don’t get to blog, you will know why. I finally took some pictures. Well only 2, butI will take more at least with my host family. I will also try and take some in Nepal so when i return i promise to finally post some pictures. I know some of you have been anxiously waiting 
I think those are my adventures for now. dekha hobe! (see ya later, in bengali)
“Today God loves the world through us. Especially in these times when people are trying to make God “was”, you and I, by our love, by the purity of our lives, and by our compassion, prove to the world God “is”.”
I am finally settled into my week’s rountine:
Monday: Prem Dan 8am-12, Lunch out, 5pm book Discussion or movie at Beth’s
Tuesday: Prem Dan 8am-12, Lunch out, 2:30 Sari Bari, Dinner with my family
Wednesday: Same as Monday, with bible study at Beth’s
Thursday: Free until Language class at 6pm
Friday: Same as M,W with family night at Beth’s (family night includes all WMF staff)
Saturday: day off
Sunday: church, lunch and language class at 3pm
The funny thing is, this will only be the schedule until next tuesday because then we will go to Nepal for 10 days. When we return our schedule changes again because we will start visiting the gach (side note: when we return it will be april!!! yikes).
Last Sunday we visited Upendra and Rada’s for lunch. Upendra is employed by WMF and works at Sari Bari. He is the only male that works there so he is so thrilled to have two guys that will start helping him. They live in a tiny home. There is only room enough for a bed for him, his wife and two children. They do all the cooking under the bed and everything else is outside their home and communal. His family is so sweet and amazing. I really enjoyed being in their home even though the 5 of us took up all the space. Rada cooked a wonderful meal and it was my first time with an Indian family (other than my host family) so two new rules applied. Rule #1 Eat with your right hand. Luckily I had practiced once with my host family, cuz eating rice with your hand takes some techinique. I would say I am now fairly comfortable with this manuever. Rule #2 Finish everything you are given. This was the first time i really had to force everything on my plate down. It was not the quality of the food that was the trouble, but the quanitity. We were all kinda giggling and glancing at one another as they continued to pile more rice and dal on our plates. Beth said her secret is to not stop eating, but just keep shoveling the rice until its gone. We all finished, but i will say the last 10 bites or so were a bit difficult to keep down. hehe 
We all left there more than full. It was an awesome afternoon and being with Upendras family was seriously cool. I cannot say enough good things about it.
We will have another chance to follow these rules because this saturday we will go visit Gita’s home in a village. Gita also works for Sari Bari and is kinda a manager with Sarah and Kristin. We have to take a train out to her home and wear our “most indian” clothes. I have not purchased a sari yet and probably won’t for awhile because i will only wear it for a special ocassion. I have bought Salwaar Kurtas which are the shirts the women usually wear if they aren’t wearing a sari. I didn’t buy the set which inlcudes matching pants so I will wear my gray pants, with a purple kurta and a dupatta (the scarf material that women wear across their chest and shoulders). It should be a fun/interesting/maybe an adventerous akward kind of day.
And this week we started going to Sari Bari. I went on Tuesday and I will go again tomorrow. Being there with the ladies left me a bit in awe of the awesome work of the Lord Sari Bari is. Three ladies have been employed for a year and there are 7 in the midst of their training. It is astonishing to think of the new life they have working at Sari Bari and in Christ. I am excited to learn, love and invest in these women’s lives. I think it will be challenging, rewarding and humbling all at the same time.
Side note: The ladies come to Sari Bari not knowing how to read or write their own language so when we were asking their names, they were super excited to show me they have learned to write their names in bengali. The things we take for granted huh?
This week was somewhat more scheduled and rountine. We went to an Assemblies of God church on sunday that was founded by western missionaries. The church was pretty large and in this huge marble building which was not what I expected. The service was fairly western both in worship and preaching. They are services in like 5 different languages. We of course were at the english service. It was very similar to my church at home so there was something comforting about it yet there was also a bit of conflict comparing this experience to the very poor india we experience during the week.
We were at Prem Dan 4 days this week. I have befriended some very special ladies there. I can never remember their names but they have kinda adopted me. They want me to come sit with them and talk with them. Two of them are very educated and can speak and read english very well. They have become my bengali teachers. They humor my horrible bengali skills and then they speak to me in bengali as well. Most of the time all I give them is a blank stare, but they teach me as we go. One of the ladies is only 26 and seems completely independent expect for a facial deformity in her upper lip and jaw. I haven’t had a chance to find out how she came to Prem Dan. The other lady is in her 40’s and is physically handicapped from the waist down. She is unable to use her legs at all. She can pull herself up into a chair with some help, but otherwise she just crawls or scoots on the floor. She said that her husband left her when she became sick and so she couldn’t take care of herself. A sister found her and brought her to Prem Dan. She came from another city 3 hours away and was very sick at first, but is now healthy enough to live at Prem Dan. She has been in the sisters’ care for 7 years. I’m blessed by the smiles and hugs I receive there and the chance to make new friends.
Two things that transcends language are ice cream and bird poop. Ice cream speaks yummy goodness no matter where you are and being pooped on by a bird is horrible no matter where you. This week I experienced both. The street kids capture my heart. When they say they are hungry and want food its so hard for me to turn away. They are usually so young; 4-8 years old. I don’t feel right about giving them money, so this week I bought this precious little girl ice cream. She came up to me asking for food when i was walking on the street. I went and bought her some food and since I was on my way to get ice cream for myself i asked her if she wanted some too. I went into the resturaunt and bought one chocolate ice cream cone and one vanilla ice cream cone. I brought them both out and like most kids, she chose the chocolate one. We stood outside and ate our ice cream together. All we could early share were smiles and the ice cream. It was beautiful thing. When we were finished she said a very sweet “Thank You” and i shook her hand and off she went. Oh yeah and earlier that day a bird pooped on my head, not a beautiful thing.
Tomorrow we have a completely free day so I may go to the mall or to the park or anything else fun that comes up. Sunday we will visit another church. The congregation is like 50 kids and 8 adults. Our team is in charge of the service so that should be interesting. Kyle sings and plays the guitar very well, (well enough to have to have recorded 3 cds) so he will sing and the rest of us might share a little something too. Thanks so much for your emails, thoughts and prayers. They are all encouraging and greatly appreciated.
here are some resources for you that share the stories of the women who i will love and serve here. let me know what you think.
this is the website for the word made flesh business. we will be here a couple times a week building relationships with women and helping with their training. the women have 6 months of training as they gradually stop working the line before they become full time at sari bari.
Freeset was started by a kiwi family who came to calcutta. Sari Bari was formed following the example/success of Freeset. I think right now they employ 80 women. They export their bags all over the world.
this is the website for the documentary that was made about freeset. its about 30 mins long and super good.
Sonagacchi
This is the red light district that the word made flesh staff visits regularly. When there is a woman who wants to stop working the line they either can work at sari bari or freeset. It is also the area featured in the movie, Born into Brothels. This documentary was filmed where we will be. I watched this movie before i came, knowing it was in india, but not knowing it was the exact red light district we would be visiting.
I hope these resources help paint a better picture of my time here. Eventually we will start visitng sonagacchi with the other staff and have the chance to interact with the women of sari bari.
Its a humbling honor to be trusted with God’s beloved. I’m hoping to learn to love as Christ loves me.
This saturday is what Indians call HOLI. It is a holiday that is celebrated by “playing colors.” There is this bright color powder like magenta, green, yellow etc and I’m not sure if they mix it with something or not, but EVERYONE in India plays in the color with each other. Imagaine a whole country in the worlds largest paint fight. It is meant to be playful and everyone participates. There are a lot things that take place during this day and i don’t know exactly what they are celebrating other than their Gods. They have these huge straw and paper mache statues that they carry around in the street. We have been told that if you go out you will for sure get colored and it stains everything. However, they also warned us that as the day goes on, men tend to get high and drunk so it is not safe for “us” to go out. “Us” as in the girls, of course another reminder I’m in a different place. Tomorrow Melissa and I will just stay inside, probably study or play with our host familiy. I think the guys might venture out and play cricket in the park.
Tonight we have family night with our team and the WMF staff. We will have dinner and start sharing life stories. I enjoy the time our team has together to learn from one another and process what we see and experience here. I think at the front of our hearts is how to deal with the beggars. We are praying for wisdom, compassion, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. We talked about the verse in 1 John “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” 1 John and James are rocking my world right now. I hope you let them rock yours.
