OK I know that most of India is civilized world, and that is pretty much true with Ooty. But what I found was amazing! I left for my mid-term break on the 15th of October after having given the PSAT to some students. I got on a overnight bus to head to Bangalore. Most of the buses here in India are pretty much like old school buses, but more uncomfortable. I lucked out and had to take a charter bus style bus with blankets and water bottles provided. It was a sacrifice but it was worth it :). The ride to Bangalore was 8 hrs but I got to sleep for most of it. Once I arrived it was about 5:30 am, and I was so tired. The couple I was going to be staying with picked me up and then showed me straight to my bed. I got to sleep until 11:30 which was so nice. After that we just kinda hung around the apartment, then someone said "hey are you hungry?" I of course said yes...so we went to KFC. I have not had KFC in months and it was so nice to see things that looked and tasted like home. After that night every day was wonderful. The couple I lived with had lived overseas in different places for 27 yrs, so they had gotten really good about cooking western food with the supplies you could get here. So I Western food all the break. I also finally got to eat at a few other amazing restaurants. One of them I am sure you may have heard of...it is a little place called Taco Bell. I got to eat at India's first Taco Bells. They had to have phonetic spelling of some of the food so that the people would know how to order. They did not have any beef(beef is kinda hard to find here...its that whole holy cow thing), but the food tasted so much like Taco Bell back home. Then one of the highlights was one of the other restaurants we ate at. The name of the restaurant is The Only Place, it is called that because it is the only place to get BEEF!!!! I got a huge steak. It was so nice to have a nice piece of meat. It was opened by a couple one from America and one from India. I felt like I was back home eating at any normal restaurant.
OK before it sounds like all I did was eat(which is a lot of what I did, but did not gain any of the 11lbs that I have lost since I got here.) I also got to go see another palace. The palace was so pretty. They actually let you go into the private areas of the family and see family snap shots of the kids growing up. It was nice just to see them living these normal lives. I also got to go this other "palace" It was the biggest joke of a palace. it was more like a palace apartment. It took us 45mins to get to this place and it cost us Rs 400($9, but that same Rs 400 would buy me another steak dinner). Once we get there it cost Rs 100 to get in...then it only took us 10 mins to get through the entire place and read all the signs posted. Totally not worth it. Now I am off that soap box. I also got to go to a mall. Now this mall looked like any mall in the States except all the stores sold Indian stuff and not American. I got to hang out with another worker that is about 21, and we just walked around the mall for hours. We even tried to go in to a little haunted house in the Halloween spirit, but we got too scared when they gave us rubber gloves to wear and then it looked like we were in a dead end so we ran out as fast as we could. Me and her also went to the movies. In India the movies are normally cut up really bad to make it fit in a time limit for the theatre. Well I found out on this trip that it only happens in the tiny towns, but in the big towns you actually get to see the whole movie. There were a few weird things about this theatre though. You have to go through a security check point to check for food, bombs, guns, knifes, or cameras. If you have a camera they make you turn it in or the batterie in so that you can't pirate the film. Then once you get to the snack counter the food is different too. They have the normal sodas and popcorn, but then they have fruit bowls, donuts, and fried Indian treats. Half way through the movie they pause it for a potty break and snack break. We went to see The Three Musketeers. It was utter rubbish. The acting was some of the worst I have ever seen. I do not know what Orlando Bloom was even thinking when he took the role.
This vacation was much needed. Not just to rest from school, but the recharge with the Father. The couple I was staying with was so encouraging. Every night we would read from the word and just talk to the father about our cares and worries. Then every morning I would come out and they were having their personal time with the father in the living room as a couple. It was just so encouraging. Then one night we had some women over to talk about the what the stress of being on the field can do to your marriage if you are not careful. Then another night we went to study the word with a group of people. We did the entire book of Amos in one night!
Now I am back at school and the first week in almost over. Everything is in full swing, and it is back to the old grind stone. I have a new drama I am working on for Christmas. The staff every year do a Pantomime. This show is not like doing mime, but it is more of a comedy making fun of things that happen at school. I am working with some other teacher to rewrite a script of Snow White right now, then we will start rehearsals, then have the show in December just before the kids leave. I have also picked up some more drama lessons with the Std 7 kids and they are a hand full. They all have super stores of energy that I can barely keep up with.
Some things that you can talk to the father about are just making our time with the kids intentional. Sometimes it is so easy to get into a routine and not be open to the prompting of the Father. Ask about good times for the IGs that are leaving in December. Also the plans for my December are starting to come together so now its the planning on how and when to get places. I hope this blog finds all of you well and that the Father is blessing you as much as he is blessing me.
OK before it sounds like all I did was eat(which is a lot of what I did, but did not gain any of the 11lbs that I have lost since I got here.) I also got to go see another palace. The palace was so pretty. They actually let you go into the private areas of the family and see family snap shots of the kids growing up. It was nice just to see them living these normal lives. I also got to go this other "palace" It was the biggest joke of a palace. it was more like a palace apartment. It took us 45mins to get to this place and it cost us Rs 400($9, but that same Rs 400 would buy me another steak dinner). Once we get there it cost Rs 100 to get in...then it only took us 10 mins to get through the entire place and read all the signs posted. Totally not worth it. Now I am off that soap box. I also got to go to a mall. Now this mall looked like any mall in the States except all the stores sold Indian stuff and not American. I got to hang out with another worker that is about 21, and we just walked around the mall for hours. We even tried to go in to a little haunted house in the Halloween spirit, but we got too scared when they gave us rubber gloves to wear and then it looked like we were in a dead end so we ran out as fast as we could. Me and her also went to the movies. In India the movies are normally cut up really bad to make it fit in a time limit for the theatre. Well I found out on this trip that it only happens in the tiny towns, but in the big towns you actually get to see the whole movie. There were a few weird things about this theatre though. You have to go through a security check point to check for food, bombs, guns, knifes, or cameras. If you have a camera they make you turn it in or the batterie in so that you can't pirate the film. Then once you get to the snack counter the food is different too. They have the normal sodas and popcorn, but then they have fruit bowls, donuts, and fried Indian treats. Half way through the movie they pause it for a potty break and snack break. We went to see The Three Musketeers. It was utter rubbish. The acting was some of the worst I have ever seen. I do not know what Orlando Bloom was even thinking when he took the role.
This vacation was much needed. Not just to rest from school, but the recharge with the Father. The couple I was staying with was so encouraging. Every night we would read from the word and just talk to the father about our cares and worries. Then every morning I would come out and they were having their personal time with the father in the living room as a couple. It was just so encouraging. Then one night we had some women over to talk about the what the stress of being on the field can do to your marriage if you are not careful. Then another night we went to study the word with a group of people. We did the entire book of Amos in one night!
Now I am back at school and the first week in almost over. Everything is in full swing, and it is back to the old grind stone. I have a new drama I am working on for Christmas. The staff every year do a Pantomime. This show is not like doing mime, but it is more of a comedy making fun of things that happen at school. I am working with some other teacher to rewrite a script of Snow White right now, then we will start rehearsals, then have the show in December just before the kids leave. I have also picked up some more drama lessons with the Std 7 kids and they are a hand full. They all have super stores of energy that I can barely keep up with.
Some things that you can talk to the father about are just making our time with the kids intentional. Sometimes it is so easy to get into a routine and not be open to the prompting of the Father. Ask about good times for the IGs that are leaving in December. Also the plans for my December are starting to come together so now its the planning on how and when to get places. I hope this blog finds all of you well and that the Father is blessing you as much as he is blessing me.
