India: 22nd Thankful Thursday: Saving Strangers (and Family)

Hmm. That may not be the best title because it could imply that you or I are saving others. This week, "Saving Strangers and Family" refers to others coming to our rescue.

Last Thursday morning, MST, I left India to come home. 77 hours later, I pulled in the SLC airport, after being bumped off two flights in Delhi, being rerouted through London, and staying overnight in Chicago. It was a long journey.

But, I learned just as much, if not more, about myself during those days than I did during six weeks in India. I am grateful. I am also grateful for the people I met during those hours who buoyed me up and helped me get through it.

India: 21st Thankful Thursday: Lessons Learned

Today I leave India to go back home! The past six weeks have been crazy and wonderful, but I'm so grateful and happy that I can leave here on a high/good note.

Some things I'm grateful to have learned:

--I can do hard things.

--I can disassemble my western constructs and try to see the way the gears in the people's heads here work.

--My body is an amazing feat of creation. It mostly adjusted to the heat and humidity, to the point where I think I'll be more uncomfortable in my home's climate.

--It is possible to chew and swallow raw garlic, more particularly seven cloves right after each other. It is also possible that an Indian garlic clove that is a third the size of an American garlic clove can be three times as potent as the latter.

--I can be flexible and adjust plans as needed.

--I can laugh at myself. More particularly because of myself.

--I can live and work with people I've never met before in a foreign environment.

--I can return anger with objectivity. Thank goodness I learned this from Dad before I came here.

--I don't panic easily. Even when a mouse is sniffing my backpack. Even when I open my suitcase and see a mouse bury further down in it. Even when I later open the suitcase outside and tentatively dump everything out expecting to find a dead mouse (I never did find it. Just a bunch of mouse feces.)

--People can choose to be happy wherever they are, in whatever circumstances they are in.

--Beauty can be found anywhere.

--I may not be the one to see the results of what I've done here. But I'm grateful Subhash has said my work has made a difference. I'm grateful to know I've helped lay the groundwork for what he is going to continue building.

THIS WEEK: What lessons have you learned from a particular experience you have had?

India: 20th Thankful Thursday: Technology and Teammates

We've had on-and-off internet connection the past few days. I didn't bring my computer. I am glad I didn't bring my computer because I've gotten a lot of personal contemplation time. But I've also learned that I need to seize opportunities when people aren't using their computers and ask to use them.

That makes posting here consistently nearly impossible.

I'm grateful for computers because I can communicate so much. I'm grateful for the internet for the same reason. I'm grateful for teammates who allow me to use their stuff.

THIS WEEK: Name a technology you're grateful for, and people who enable you to use them.

India:An Indian Evangelical prayer meeting and Salar Jung Museum Trip 2

My Grandma and Grandpa left on Monday to enter the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC). They will be serving in Germany. My Monday morning I was able to call and talk to them for 15 minutes. It meant so much. They will be gone for 18 months, and I might leave on my mission before they get back. I’m praying for one of my flights to be delayed on my way home so we can cross paths in the Dallas airport. I want to hug them very, very much.

Update 12/9/10: Not only did my flight get delayed, it took 77 hours to get home when originally it was supposed to be 24ish hours.  One of the lessons I learned from that incredibly valuable experience: do not ever pray for flight delays.  

I went to an HIV/AIDs clinic with some teammates. The clinic was started by Dr. S some seven years ago in his home. When they were having 700 people a month go through their living room, he relocated the clinic to an apartment. When they outgrew that, they expanded to the second half of the complex. He is one of the most gentle, caring people I’ve ever met. After a tour, he invited us to their staff prayer meeting, “only 10 to 15 minutes long.”

India: Homesickness, the zoo, and a "Talk, --Not"

The following was written July 11, edited on July 14th.

The past week has been particularly difficult. I think the pollution, noise, and lowish team moral are taking their toll. It is getting harder to truly smile, it's tougher to positively visualize, and I'm thinking more and more about home. I told Mom I keep telling myself I'm going to go camping with my family in woods by a stream, and we can give each other shoulder rubs and head massages.

Mom gave me another positive affirmation to repeat to myself: I can do anything for 10 more days.

And even though I'll be happy to get home, I'm feeling panicky about what I still want to do. I feel like time is slipping through my fingers so fast I'm scrambling to hold onto handfuls. It was a hard realization at church today that it would probably be the last time I would see most of those people.

India: Pancakes, a strike, paddies and a garden

Monday evening I was put in charge of making pancakes for dinner. If you have never had cinnamon banana pancakes, treat yourself to one, two, or maybe even three. You can use whatever pancake mix you have handy, but add cinnamon (I add so much the batter looks brown, but that's with a "less potent" preground type), and chopped banana (the more the better). They taste so good, and the banana almost melts.

I took my pancake and drizzled it with honey, smeared on some peanut butter, grabbed a chilled Choco Danone milk from the fridge (tastes like liquid chocolate pudding), sat a chair by our back door, and ate while listening to monsoon rain and thunder, feeling whifts of wet hit my feet. I sat still long enough I was able to feel the breezes glide over my arms and face.

Treat yourself to a moment like that. I hope you receive a rainstorm soon. I'll send positive energy your way. :)

India: 19th Thankful Thursday: Dad's driving skills

Today I almost died. Imagine being in an huge bus, pelting down (paved) roads, with the driver gunning the engine to pass every slow[er] poke in his way. At one point, he was trying to pass some rickshaw truck with another truck coming our way, and somehow our bus made it between the two.

My dad is the best driver I've ever ridden with. He gets to places quickly and deliberately. No zooming in and out. He looks ahead and plans ahead. He's aware of other drivers and often anticipates what they do. I'm grateful. I feel safe when he drives.

THIS WEEK: Name a skill someone else possesses that blesses your life.

PS My mom is a good driver too. :)

India: Trains, a wedding, cattle truck, and deviled eggs

Good grief. It's been forever since I last posted. I started writing this post a few days ago. I've been able to take some video with N.'s nifty gadget, and hope she will help me download them on here soon.

Last Friday I got up at 6:15 am, and by 9 am, was riding a train to a village two and a half hours away. It could not have been a more pleasant day to travel. We had cloud cover, the humidity was relatively low, and the air was cool. The train was an experience. I'm pretty sure the brown stuff on the floor next to my left foot should have been in a toilet. Five beggars came: a woman held out a blind man's hand for him, a young girl came down the main aisle doing flips (she got the most money), an old woman whose right foot had a lump the size of a baseball on it, and a man who dragged himself, sitting upright, across the floor. The best part was sitting across from a young muslim man. He was excited to communicate with us, and did so through hand gestures and writing because he was deaf and couldn't speak well. His family was opposite us across the aisle, and his young sister was particularly excited to read our names after we'd written them down.

India: 15th-18th Thankful Thursdays: Mothers, sisters, blessings and smiles

On Thursday June 11, my sister took care of Thankful Thursday for me by posting the following on Facebook:

15th Thankful Thursday: Today is my mom's birthday. What are 5 things you love about your mom?

[Why we love our mom]

1. She gives great advice
2. She gives great hugs :)
3. She is supportive
4. She is strong--spirit, mind, and body.
5. She's a great cook!

India: Monsoons, affection, and hole-in-the-wall food stops

As I type this, monsoon rains are pounding the cement and earth. I love them. They bring all the gucky pollution out of the air into the streets so now the air smells fresh and clean. (The silty brown rivers of garbage flowing down the streets are gross, but the clean air is worth it. The streets normally clear up fairly quickly once the rains stop). The pounding rain is a familiar setting where I can imagine I'm on the front porch with Dad and Mom watching the lightning. Middle Sister is there too because she loves thunder and lightning. Youngest Sister comes back and forth in and out of the house. And Molly is curled up on the sidewalk, waiting with us.

I can finally pronounce Hyderabad like the locals. It is High-dra-bad (like "bad boy").

Hyderabad is not a tourist city. I have not seen many other "White People" (and when we do, we stare like the Indians because it is so rare). Other than paying the "White Man's Price" for everything, I don't feel targeted. In Italy I was nearly always worried that someone was going to slit my backpack or pickpocket me, but I feel safe here. I believe the Indian people have a neighborly view, and that contributes in large part to pickpocketing not being an issue. We'll see if this theory holds true when we visit touristy spots of Northern India (Ma. is planning a six day trip for us--I'm rooting for the Taj Mahal).  

I had to adjust to being surrounded by men. In public, there has to be around an 80:20 ratio of men to women. It is still odd to be at a traffic stop in a rickshaw, and have almost all men with the occasional couple or woman surrounding us.

India: Cake, boulders, a Fort, and tenderness

Several Skype conversations ago with my family, my mom said I hadn’t posted anything really negative on my blog, and asked if I had been sick at all.

Well, two evenings before, two teammates organized a Cake Party. We sat around two plates with nine samples of cake from our local bakery, and a block of butterscotch ice cream (a flavor Indian people LOVE—it is everywhere). We sampled using tiny plastic spoons, sitting on the floor in the A/C room. The ice cream was fantastic.

The next morning, I started the day off with nausea. I drank a TON of water, and the day after, started my first Real Diarrhea (It's over, finally. Liquid Pepto Bismol is one of my best friends). I’ve written off frosting.

So, yeah. Add stepping on two cockroaches, murdering a mouse with rat poison, being grabbed by beggars, and my experiences haven’t all been mangoes and honey.

India: Milestones, ambulances, and strolling through Monda Market

(Actually typed on Tuesday June 22, 2010)

Today marks a special day in Ivy's Adventures in India. Today, Ivy arranged for a rickshaw ride without any of the Totally Experienced Teammembers. Yes, indeed. Coming back from a productive research hour at an internet cafe, Ka. and I had to find our own way home. I 1) led the way across a usually very busy street that, miraculously, didn't seem nearly as scary as usual 2) hailed an auto rickshaw driver and said "No" when he wanted 40 rupees 3) asked a second auto driver if he would take 30 rupees instead of 40 to take us to "West Marredpally" and 4) was able to direct the driver to the right street when he took a route I'm less accustomed to. It was so satisfying.

I also finalized the dates when I want to have certain tasks done for my projects. That felt good. I feel like I will be able to finish what I need to in the five weeks I have left here. I feel more confident.

I went with K. to Charminar so that we could buy fabric. The store we entered was at least four stories tall. Fabrics of all colors and textures. I'm amazed how all the tailors here use pedal-powered sewing machines. it is incredible to watch them, and how fast they sew. I wish I could bring one home for my sister.

On the way there, I gained a new appreciation for how respectful and responsive American drivers are of ambulances. The roads here are chaotic, with all drivers jostling for the most forward position. An ambulance, which was not much larger than one and a half rickshaws, had its siren wailing but the others drivers didn't make a path for it. Most seemed to completely ignore it. Our rickshaw would have gone faster than the ambulance if our driver hadn't hung back, even trying to keep a few people from getting in the way of the ambulance. In the ambulance was the parents and grandmother of a young man laying on his back with an oxygen mask. He was breathing heavily. The faces of the family were tight and the father was agitated. We traveled with the ambulance for about four saddening minutes. I hope the man makes it.

India: Tiny chess sets, a surprise phone call, and a social whoopsie

Let me introduce you to my HELP teammates. My county director, K., is a highly capable lady who will be marrying an American diplomat in September. T. and his wife M. are the young married couple who are in charge of keeping us single scallywags in check. That leaves five other young ladies not including myself: Ki., Ma., C., G., and Ka. If any young men are reading this, you should go on humanitarian trips abroad. Or maybe it's a good thing you didn't, because HELP has a "no dating" policy. (This rule is so handy. One of the young men here told Ki. he wanted to marry her and she had a good way to end it right then and there).

Last Friday, the ladies went on a weekend trip to Chennai. It was fun to hang out with T. and M. On Saturday we were able to spend two hours at the Salarjung Museum I've wanted to see so badly. It houses the 40,000+ object collection of Salarjung III, prime minister of Hyderabad between 1899 and 1949. Out of the 35 rooms, we dashed through 17. I very much want to go back and see the rest. Some of my favorites: two tiny chess sets with pieces less than 1 cm tall and 2 mm wide; a sandlewood carving of two Hindu gods on a swing. The flute one was playing was thinner than a toothpick and slender, and the toenails were tiny. The tree canopy was multi-layered.; 3 inch diameter ivory balls that had been carved so that there were more than three balls inside each other; a modern painting of a calf nursing. The cow's face was frontal, and her eyes big and wide like a Jersey cow. The calf was tinted blue and you could almost see it's tail wagging. (Dad, I couldn't tell if it was a bull or heifer). :P

Unpaid Endorsement: Rawlin Chiropractic

This has been edited since the original posting.

Dr. Rawlin is a chiropractor unlike any other I’ve had. Here is the basis of his work:

Muscles shut themselves down when they are injured or overloaded. The work that they were in charge of is then transferred to other muscles. Those other muscles become overloaded, and a chain reaction of muscle “shut downs“ occurs.

Dr. Rawlin finds the muscles that have shut down, and restarts them.

India: Project updates and random camels, and ramblings that turned out way longer than I anticipated

Before coming here, I think I thought I would be living and working in the slums of Hyderabad.

Not so at all--we live in a nice yellow apartment in a residential area not far from a guy who sells mangoes, three internet cafes, small grocery stores, and other businesses. There are 1 1/2 inch cockroaches in the kitchen, but I've never seen live ones while I'm out and about. Two of the rooms in the apartment have air conditioning, and the room I sleep in has a large ceiling fan and a swamp cooler.

I'd say we're fairly spoiled.

T. explained why we're not working in slums. Legally none of them are supposed to exist, even though the government facilitated their creation. Because none of the people in the slums own anything, land or material, and because they could get rooted out like cockroaches by the police at any time, they are unwilling to invest in any renovation, and we're not supposed to be there.

India: Mangoes and Hearing Problems

I've eaten mangoes. Real mangoes. Juicy ripe and yellow skinned mangoes. Pure heaven on earth. :) It is the end of mango season, and I want to eat two every day while they're still here. Not sure what that'll do to the digestive tract...better Google it. ;)

I didn't know cities could be so dirty. It is filthy here. The roads are chaotic, but the drivers must be the best on earth in terms of having 360 degree vision and lightning reflexes. . It's like Mario Kart on Steroids, and drivers, no matter the appearance, are actually NOT trying to kill each other.


I'm grateful when the city goes quiet after 10 pm. Wonderful to have a break from honking and noise.

India: Transfers and First Day

Thus begins the India Saga of Ivy. :)

Hello, friends and family. I made it. :) Thursday at 8 am my Visa arrived in the mail, 30 minutes later my dad drove me to the airport. It was odd being by myself. This is the first extended adventure of my life where I am unaccompanied by anyone from my family.

Imagine my gratitude when two familiar persons saw me, smiled and waved. It was a blessing to find out that two neighbors were going on the exact same flight as me, and least for the first leg of our respective trips. It was comforting.

Another blessing was that our flight was delayed for about two hours. This allowed me to write and mail a lengthy letter to my brother. I hadn't been able to write him well for about three weeks.

A few other blessings: I made each of my flights. I had connections in Chicago, Paris and Abu Dhabi before arriving in Hyderabad at 3:30 am. I was able to sleep for about five hours on the flight to Paris, and about another three hours between the other flights. On the trip to Paris, I was offered an aisle seat by a couple from Colorado so that they could sit to each other. I happily obliged. :)

A plug for Etihad airlines: the trip to Abu Dhabi was immaculate, and the food impressive. If ever given the chance, have the Arabic spiced chicken in yogurt sauce for dinner. I think Etihad finds the most polished and stern and well-spoken flight attendants possible. Between them, the flight attendants on the leg to Abu Dhabi spoke about 12 languages, Romanian and Slavic among them. This is when I wish I had kept up with my French. (Random phrases and surprisingly accurate sentences popped into my head while I was in the Paris airport).

I used my first squatter toilet in Abu Dhabi. I laughed. I bet my dad is laughing as he reads this.

In the Hyderabad customs line I met one of my new teammates, C., for the first time. Glad we could go through together. She arrived at the same time we did coming from Mumbai. I forgot to define "we": G. is a fellow teammate that traveled from SLC to Hyderabad on all the same flights I had, though our seats were never next to each other.

G. and I each lost our checked bags somewhere along the line. I'm grateful I listened to Dad and packed all the non-essential items into it. /I'm also glad to have bought toothpaste this morning. I didn't know brushing one's teeth could be so enjoyable. :) It took two hours for us to finish filling out paper work for our lost bags, and it was about 6 am when we were able to go to our new apartment. I was so grateful our country leaders picked us up. We could have ridden the bus, but by the time we finished I was drained.

I really like our apartment. It has an iron gate in the front, the building looks like the outside is plaster and it is painted a cheery yellow. There are four bedrooms, three restrooms (with porcelain toilets!) and a small kitchen. One room has air conditioning, so i've been told the team has "sleep overs" every night to share the luxury. We all have our personal space in whatever bedroom we're in, but we all put our sleeping mats in the AC room at night.

We had a meeting with CARPED, an organization led by a man who reminds me of me. I finally understand what people have been trying to tell me, to "focus". He has TONS of ideas of areas he wants to expand in, including setting up beehives for 770 women and setting up a community science center which includes a demonstration square foot garden. I decided not to help with beekeeping, and to encourage him to find a local beekeeper to help him. I can't fathom setting up a bee program in five weeks when I know so little, when it is very much a long-term project.

This is long enough. I'll post another update soon. :)

14th Thankful Thursday: Critters

There are bees in my beehives again!!! :) :) :)

I became a beekeeper last year (my requested birthday present: two hives + bees+ equipment). Though I wish I could say I was a professional and innately talented, I ended up killing both hives by the end of last winter... *cough*

But now the hives are populated again. Queen Beea II and Queen Betsy II seem to be doing just fine. :)

13th Thankful Thursday: Memorial Day 2010

Dear Reader,

Monday is Memorial Day, a United States federal holiday to honor those men and women who have died while in the military service.

I know people go to cemeteries to remember and honor those who died in combat. Remembering is good. I believe those experiences help make us more grateful for what blessings we have.

Please consider this: what if we also thank those who have served and are still living?

12th Thankful Thursday: Springtime 2010

I went down to the Farm today and checked on the plants we stuck in the ground last Saturday. Most of the tomatoes and nearly all of the melons are still alive. I'm grateful for this because I didn't give them much time to harden off (get used to being outside before planting).