Random Thoughts So Far

Language

I thought I was being smart as I was preparing for my trip to India and downloaded a couple of apps to begin to learn Hindi...what I thought was the national language of India.  This just goes down in the record books as something that I am already looking back and laughing at.  You see, there are 28 states in India and everyone of them has their own language. Add to that more than 1500 dialects of these different languages (a lot of them only spoken with no written alphabet) and communication across India becomes very difficult.  One of the natives suggested that 60% of residents of India don't speak Hindi.  In fact, our first conference in the town of Kolkata, state of West Bengal, here in India had everything translated into Bengali...the little bit of Hindi I thought I had learned was worthless.  This is probably why exposure to the gospel in India is so challenging...you simply need so many translations of materials or translators for teams and pastors that it can seem like an insurmountable obstacle.  I will have to see how this plays out in the other cities and states we are visiting and working in....but so far, it seems more people we have encountered have known English over Hindi...very interesting stuff.

Lucknow has proven the opposite both in praxis of the spoken language and the information received by the locals.  I have an ongoing dialogue with some of the native team in this city, so we will continue to probe this question, but any kind of real answer may have to be concluded at the end of the trip.

Driving

If you think you have drivers that scare you to death wherever you live, I challenge you to find a more aggressive driving adventure than the one found in India.  Cars of course drive on the opposite side of the road than we are accustomed to in the states...I'm sure that was inherited from days of their British colonization prior to their independence 65 or so years ago.  What's challenging, however, is that no one follows any road signs and they barely pay attention to the traffic cops.  One of our traveling companions from south India simply said these things are nothing more than mere suggestions.  So, for example, if a road is divided into two lanes, drivers have no problem creating 4 lanes out of two in an attempt to go forward and get around whatever traffic obstacle is in front of them.  Bicyclists, pedestrians, and other autos beware...people are not afraid of hitting you.  On one journey, we merely clipped mirrors with a car traveling next to us.  On another trip in Kolkata, within a two block radius, we first rear ended the vehicle in front of us and then was promptly rearended ourselves before the end of the next block.  Two different accidents, less than 10 minutes apart.  Now no one was hurt and for these fender benders, no one gets out of their cars to exchange information. No cops show up.  They simply lean out a window and survey the damage and if they can keep moving, they do.  So many cars with so much bondo on them it is ridiculous.  One of our  Indian traveling companions said he loved driving here...personally, I have enough challenge participating in the road games we play in Texas.  I am grateful that we have drivers for the whole trip and for the very real experience of India we are getting on the roads.

Bathrooms

I am convinced that bathrooms are for foreigners and members of the Brahman caste.  Never in my life have I seen so many people defecate publicly.  Now occasionally there were concert block partitions on the roads that served as urinals.  But most, when they had to go, they simply pulled over and did their business right in front of God and everyone (as one of our drivers did in Kolkata while we were riding with him).  I asked one of our traveling companions if the women did the same thing and he assured me that they did (and sure enough they do)...but that they have a tendency of finding a more secluded spot, although frequently still very much in the public eye.  Children of both sexes are seen using the street as a toilet and parents help to clean them up when they are done.

Toilet Paper

Buy your favorite and bring it with you, because some of the sandpaper they are passing off as toilet paper here is no bueno.  I have to thank Dr. Holland for this sage advice before we left for the trip...and thanks be to God I didn't know any better and followed instructions.

Trip planning

if you are going to do international missions be sure and raise enough money for contingencies.  Stuff is bound to happen sooner or later when traveling to second and third world countries.

Water and Vegetables

Be careful of native veggies and some fruits that may be directly washed in local water before being served to you.  The water (if we can even call it that) gets absorbed on the fruit/veggie and may cause issues.