Delhi

So Delhi was the first stop on my journey in the North of India.  I arrived later in the evening so driving to the family's house I was staying at was kinda interesting since I had no idea where I was.  In the cab I learned that Delhi now hold the record for being the most polluted city in the world.  Which was later proved when I blew my nose and all that came out was black.

So my first few day there were just chill days.  Which was nice because I was sooo tired from the school term. One day the family I was staying with just had a movie day, which I have not done since I was in the US so it made it great to just watch a bunch of movies.

Then Sunday came around and I had my first things to do.  I went to church with the family I was staying with, and actually ran into 3 teachers from the school.  They had just dropped some of our students off at the Delhi train station the day before, and were getting ready to leave for their vacations.  Then that afternoon I went to a Christmas decorating party.  This was used as an outreach for another family's neighbors. In India since it was around Christmas so many people asked the story of Christmas, so it made it easy to just openly share about the Father.  We did not have a huge turn out, but the few who came were great to talk to.

On Monday I got to go and tour another school in Delhi.  It is similar to the school I work for with the kids they reach, but they do not board at all.  The school reminded me of CCS in its very young days.

We also got to have Christmas parties with multiple teams. The first Christmas party was at a nice restaurant in the mall.  I know what you are thinking "A MALL?" yes in some big cities in India they have malls.  They are great to go and look.  They even decorate like we do for Christmas, and they had an Indian choir singing  chorals in the main court area.

Decorations at the mall

Decorations at the mall

You can see the choir through the wreath 

Me at the mall

The other Christmas party was more like a traditional Christmas Dinner.  The team had tracked down a Christmas Ham.  Which is saying something since beef and pork are not normally eaten in India for religious reasons.

The next day I went to the Qutub Minar.  This structure was build when the Muslims invaded India.  They basically tore down tons of Hindu temples and use the building materials to build this structure and the mosque that stood near by.  As you walk through the mosque you can see where they basically just tore off the face or part of the body of a Hindu god on the building materials.  In India it is such a big tool to know the history and story of the people.  It helps to understand why India is just the way it is.

Qutub Minar

god that was scraped off

Heads of the god cut off 

Me at the Qutub Minar

The next day was super busy.  I went to a fort that was in the middle of Delhi, and then had a Mehndi Party to attend.  A mehndi party is for a bride the night before her wedding. All her female family and friends would be invited and they all get henna put on their hands and sometimes feet.  The bride basically will sit for 2-4 hours getting the henna done.  Once it is on the family and friends will sing and dance and feed the bride so she does not have to move at all.  The henna will darken over night and the color of the henna tells you how much your new husband will love you.  I being me became the dance entertainment of the evening.  They found out that I studied and taught acting.  To Indian people acting=bollywood which =singing and dancing.  They had me dancing all night.  The kinda cool thing that we did do to tell these women about the Father was someone has designed some henna designs to tell the story of the Father and the Son.  So one of the ladies I went with got to tell a story from the word from a henna pattern.

My henna 

My Henna

The rest of my time in Delhi kinda flew by.  I got to go and see the Lotus Temple, and it was just beautiful.  It is a large white structure that looks like a lotus flower about to open.  Then I also got to spend Christmas with two great girls from Hong Kong.  They were soo sweet to me, because they do not normally celebrate Christmas that big, but they made sure I had a good Christmas.  We went to a Christmas Eve service and we got to go to church on Christmas day.  Then I had a train on the 26th to head to my next stop in my journey.

Lotus Temple

One thing that you notice so much in India is the poverty.  People frequently just live in little homemade tents on the side of the road.  Even when it is freezing they will be out there.  Sometimes even little babies.  It is just so hard to see.  Many time the mothers will have the kids run up to white people to try and get money.  Which you naturally tendency when you see them is to give them money, but most time the money is not going for food.  It normally goes for drugs or alcohol.  Also sometimes the families are under the finger of a "pimp" who takes the money from them.

All the kids in this picture are beggar children that approached
us to give them money. 

Beggar girl that followed us for almost 6 blocks

Tent village on the side of the road

I do have to say that the Indian people are amazing.  They will do all kinds of things to work.  This picture is a guy who sells balloons off the back of his bike on the side of the road.  For most the day he can not sit on the bike because of sooo many balloons, yet he walks right next to his bike for the day just to make some money for his family.

I am home!!!!

Ok before you get to excited this does not mean home as in USA. It means Hebron.  I have now began to consider Hebron home.  I think you have to when you live here for a year.  I think that it is a good thing to think of a what used to be very unfamilar as a place you love. 

The next few blog post I put up will be all about the break.  I warn you they will be long!!!!!!!!!! So know that before you get into them.

Thanks for all the Christmas card I got and for all the talks with the father on my behalf.  I hope you guys enjoy the next few blog post.

-Melissa

One Week Left!

Hello All,
   I have one week left of vacation before heading back to school.  School will not officially start until the 2nd of  Feb, but I will be back the 14th to get moved into a new apartment and get to know the new IGs.  This previous week has been wonderful.  I have been in the home of a family or had people over almost every night.  This group is big into building relationships, so that is what we are doing.  Most of the time I am kinda confused because most of the people only speak Hindi.  As most of you know I speak nooooooo Hindi, so I just sit and smile a lot.  Because of that I have been told multiple times that I am cute for my big smile and fair skin.  If you did not know this...in countries that people are naturally dark being light is the thing.  Compared to in the US everyone wants to be dark.  Here people actually use bleaches to make them selves fair.  I have loved getting to see life of these families.  I can not wait to see more in the coming week.
-Melissa

I made it to Lucknow!

So i am on my last leg of my journey of North India!  I arrived yesterday morning in Lucknow.  It has already had some great conversations and some great adventures. Like getting our jeep stuck in knee high mud, but that is a story for my longer post about Lucknow.  Thanks all for following my blog!  I am sure some of them have to be pretty boring so thanks for reading them!!!!

Jaipur Baby!!!!

Hello All,
   Sorry for the late post!  I lost my internet stick so have not been able to update much, but by the grace of the Father it has returned!!!!!  I am currently in the city of Jaipur!  It is known as the Pink City because the walls of the old city are made of a red/orange stone and at certain times of the day the city looks pink.  I have also gotten to do some pretty cool things here in the city.  I will not bore you with them now because I would need more time to type it all, and I need sleep. My plan is to write a blog for each of the cities I am visiting complete with photos after I get back to school.  I just do not have the time or energy now. I have been running like crazy since my holidays began.  I hope all of you are wonderful and I can not wait to tell you all about what the Father is doing in the North of India.

I'm in Delhi!!!!!

Well for those that did not know I am now on Christmas holiday!!!!  I am spending my Christmas Break in the North of India.  I am currently in the wonderful city of Delhi...aka the #1 most polluted city.  I have loved the hustle and bustle of life here, but the smog is killing me.  While I am here I am getting to see what some different people are doing in the city.  In the past few days I have gotten to see just small glimpses in what is happening in the city of Delhi.  As this week goes on I will be getting more and more opportunities.  I will be in Delhi until the 26th of December then I will be going to Jaipur and then to Lucknow.  The whole time in each of these cities I will be getting to see what is happening in those cities!

I know that this is a short blog, but I do not have tons to share today.  I just wanted to make sure that you guys know what is happening in my life, and that I am not dead yet.  I hope that soon I will have even more news for you!

LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Melissa  

Such a great week!

So this week was great!!! It was stressful, but also wonderful!!!

So to start this week I had a dinner to say goodbye to all the IGs that the school put on and tons of rehearsals for the Staff Pantomime.  I have been working on directing this show since I got back from the 10 day break in October.  Well this Saturday was our dooms day.  So when Saturday finally arrived we had one last rehearsal and then we just had to wait for the show to begin.  While we waited the school was also having their Christmas Dinner.  There was so much food!  I had to eat fast so I did not really get to enjoy it, but what I did get to taste was amazing. Hopefully there will be pictures soon of me in my sari!  I do not have any because my camera broke, but I got it working this morning.

Once the dinner was over we had to run to the assembly hall get our costumes and make-up on before all the kids arrived from the dinner.  Before the show even started you could tell there was just a great energy in the crowd.  The teacher who was announcing the show could not even get a word out before the kids were screaming!  Now before I go much further I need to explain that a Pantomime here is not like the ones at home that no one talk...NO these are all farces and most of the time has jokes based on local things.  Once the show started the kids would not quit cheer and booing and hissing(all normal in a Panto).  Once the show was over all the kids could say was WOW!  They said that it was one of the best Pantos in all the years they had been at the school.  The some of the staff and myself ended the night with a (as my Welsh friend say) A cheeky dance party and then a bonfire by the pool

Cast of Snow White!

Then tonight was just great!  We had a Carol Service under the stars and by candle light!  Different groups of students got up and performed different things, and then we also had a message about the Father.  I loved just getting to sit with one of my dorm girls in my lap the whole time, and singing of the Fathers love and glory.

For things to ask the Father for....1)All the IGs leave on Thursday!!!! One of the IGs is suppose to be back, but his visa extension was denied(He is trying to decide if this is the work of the Father or the Evil One).  2) I leave for my holiday work on Friday so for safety.  3) The Seminary said that I should hear something in the next few weeks (ask that if this is not the path for me that the Father will shut that door, and show me the right way. But if it is his plan that it will all work out)