Art and Science Fair

Today, Amos and I got to go to an art and science fair at a private school here in Allahabad.  The wife of the seminary president is a mathematics teacher there and she invited me.  It was amazing!  The work was so beautifully done, and the students were very knowledgeable.  The school has around 2000 students.

 These two girls were waiting for me and were my escorts through the fair.  They took me to a room, shooed people out of the way so I could see the displays without waiting and then took me to the next room!

 Baskets made by elementary students.

 Art on cracked tiles.

 These little guys talked in very fast English to me about the technology of computers.... There were MANY displays and they all wanted to tell me about it!

This is a village built by the team below.  It demonstrates satellite technology.  They said they have worked on it for several years from morning to evening.

 This is the room I was taken into for 'refreshments'....students were not permitted in here.

Deep fried mashed potato/chili on upper left.  Cheese curd on upper right.

This is how the students decorated the sidewalk on the way in.

Ride through Town

Last night, we had company for dinner.  A couple and their two children from America who are colleagues with Andrew and Morgan.  The man is a music major and he teaches music workshops in villages.  He encourages the natives to use their own music and native instruments to worship the Lord rather than trying to Americanize everything.  As in many countries, Indian Christians tend to think that anything American equals Christianity.  They also regularly visit a needy neighborhood in Allahabad and minister there.  These people do not always have enough to eat and cannot afford even basic medical care.  The wife is studying midwifery in order to use it in such cases.
Today, I am doing the last of the washing of winter clothes in storage.  Even since August, the clothes have grown musty and some have mold.  It is in the 50's at night here and Morgan says it could get into the 30's in the nights to come.  I am so thankful that I have cooler weather right now as I visit.  It has not been uncomfortable at all.
They do have trouble with mosquitos still although not as bad as when it is warmer.  In fact, I am taking an antibiotic  to prevent against possible malaria spread by mosquitos.  Here is Justice under his mosquito net.

This time of year, they don't usually sleep under nets.  In fact, A&M have little zappers they plug in the wall which kill mosquitos, but Justice was getting some bites....so here we go.
I am loving India!  There are so many interesting sights when you go out.  We're going out shopping later and I'm looking forward to that.   Andrew invited me to ride with the driver on an errand today.  Here are a couple pictures.

Amos riding between the front seats...

Yes, we ARE heading straight into this traffic.....blow your horn and move forward....!!  We drove for 15 minutes through town and there were NO traffic lights or stop signs.  One thing that helps is that the traffic is not going super fast, but quick enough that you wonder how they avoid collisions.

This is a road construction crew.  This kind of thing makes me glad for America and it's equipment.  Hard work for sure!

 The elderly definitely look weathered....and they are thin.....a reflection of the difficult lives they lead.

There are many carts like this around.  We drove by  little stores as well.  Andrew said they don't all open before noon, but we saw a good number that were.....but then there is nap time....and who knows what all else that may interfere with store hours.
I guess I'm surprised at how widespread the poverty is.  For some reason, I had it in my head that the pictures I'd seen of poor India would be more isolated and scattered.  But, no, at least around here, it is the common way.  I think of the doctors and engineers in America who are from India and they seem to be exceptionally smart and so I thought that there would be more advanced standard of living in much of the country.  Missionary Mike mentioned that it is the very talented who are moving out of India instead of staying here.

Off to the Tailor's

I'm fighting a cold and still have some jet lag so I appreciate prayers.  They do have zinc tablets around here so I've been using those and getting naps in the afternoon....which have been much longer than my usual 15 minute power naps!  Even then, I feel jet lag hitting me 8-9pm in the evening where I can fall asleep in the middle of any conversation!
The power went out twice yesterday.  Morgan says it usually goes out around 10am so it's good to get computer work and laundry done before then.  It can be out for hours.  People on campus usually run minimal electronics on battery power.  The power went out a second time around dusk last night as we were fixing supper.  There is a bulb in the DR run by battery which gave a little light for Morgan to finish cutting the veggies...and the stovetop is run by gas so we kept on cooking!  Morgan has been doing so well and her strength is steadily returning.  Today they go to get her stitches out.  Today, they are also resuming language classes!  Their instructor is eager to not let them lose their edge so she and some helpers are volunteering to come to the home and do lessons here for the time being.
You remember the cloth vendor came to our house.  YES, I bought some fabric!  I got red with embroidered flowers on it to make a 'suit'.  That would be a knee length tunic with pants underneath.  Morgan bought one and others from the states had requested one so we ended up with fabric for five!  Now, we needed  to find a tailor.  Andrew called for a driver, and we took off into town on a search.

 Here's Justice scouting out the territory!!  Below is a basket of onions being transported by bicycle.  Apparently, they can plant numerous times throughout the year.  Then there is a narrow strip of land along the road which is a designated trash drop off.  You notice there are several cows taking advantage of the opportunity for a snack.  The storefront here is where we found the tailor.  You enter the store, and you see it actually has stores lining the hallway through the middle.  The tailor was in one of those booths.  Then out in the hallway, he had two sewing machines set out with a young man at each one.  He took all our measurements and said the suits would be done by the 28th.  I leave on the 2nd so that should work great if it goes as planned!  The cost to have 5 suits made??  A grand total of 1250.00 rupees!!  Twenty dollars - or $4 a piece.  My mother was very pleased that we didn't ask her to make them.... :-)

House and home

What is their home like?  The Streets live quite comfortably.

Here is their living room and a piece of their dining room.  They have 3 bedrooms, one which is used for a study.....and sometimes a place to dry clothes.  They have a washing machine, but no dryer.  There is no central heat or air conditioning.  Space heaters are used this time of year when it can get into the 50's at night. 

Here is the kitchen sink....full of dishes that I should have done, but Andrew talked me out of it saying the house help could do it tomorrow!  They do have a dear lady who comes once a day and does dishes and cleans the white tile floors!  What a blessing!  The other day I was doing dishes at this sink (cold water only) and the water went to a dribble then stopped!  Did I do something wrong?  When I called Andrew, he said that whichever of the neighbors who was the most impatient needed to go upstairs in the building and turn on the pump again.  I assured him that would be him...and he sweetly took off to take care of it!  :-)  The devices on the wall are water filters.

This is the wonderful shower with water heater that I wrote about earlier.  Yesterday, I heard some water running in this bathroom so I peeked in and here there was water drizzling heavily out of the heater.  Andrew had to shut it off and report it to the repairman to be repaired soon we hope.  There are two bathrooms, but this is the only one with a shower head.  So, until the heater is repaired, we will do the dip and pour method using the water heater out of the other bath.  There is no tub.

This is part of the kitchen.  The microwave you see there is also convection and is the only oven Morgan has.  It seems to be working fine for her.  She has a two burner hotplate on one of the counters which is fired by gas.  I have to remember to turn it off and on......then there is a shelving unit on one wall for plates and dishes.  On the counter in the corner you can see a white 3 shelf unit where she keeps spices and smaller food items.   Not a straw hut with mud floors by any means!

I've mentioned before that the campus community is a great support.  Yesterday, we had a few more visitors stop in...and it seems every day we have some whether it's a child or adults.  One day, 3 girls about Ariana's age came to the door and sang me a Happy Birthday song as they heard my birthday was last week!  This is all a huge blessing as Morgan is so social that it is helping with the culture shock so much!  If she were in a place that basically ignored her, it would have been miserable for her.  When I walk about campus, I am greeted all over and asked how Morgan and the baby are doing!  There are about 170 seminary students and 18 faculty.  There is also a grade school on campus where about 1000 children attend.

Andrew asked a couple that visited last night about finding someone to do their ironing for them.  They said they knew of  a man on campus who could do it and told Andrew where to take it.  Lo, and behold, about 15 minutes after the couple left, there was a knock on the door and two men were there.  One was the man who irons and the other his translator....telling Andrew they had just heard he needed some ironing done!  H We have found that word spreads fast around here! He was told it would be 3 rupees per items.  That would be .048 cents per item...or about 2 items a penny!  (Okay, forget all the inconveniences here, let's move to India, ladies....house help is cheap!)

A&M buy most of their food here locally.  They get fresh home grown vegetables which are very economical.  The meat is grown locally.  It can be rather tough for us Americans, but the pressure cooker helps.  I'm still learning how to cook well here, but it's not been too hard.

Women's Convention

 There was an annual women's convention on campus yesterday.  The seminary pays for transportation and lodging costs for any who want to come. 

 They were expecting 350...but 500 showed up from up to an hour away.  Many of them were dressed in their finest. It was beautiful to see!

Most are from villages where OMS has church plants.  Some of the women were Hindi.  They covered spiritual topics, but toward the end, they covered early marriage and sexual/physical abuse.  Some of the girls in parts of India are married off at age 6 or 7.  It is known that women/girls in general can be mistreated in India more frequently than America with early marriage, trafficking and general abuse.  As I see Andrew laying down his life for Morgan and the boys....I am encouraged of the light they will be in India.

Hospital pictures

 Housemaid at hospital - you can see her broom next to her.  Amazing how they can get up and down off the floor so gracefully!

 This is the doorway to Morgan's hospital room...it appeared to be the only room on that floor....there was a ramp going up to it and a ramp going further up.  The nurses station appeared to be on the floor above her...not in yelling distance.  Being she didn't have a call button, friend or family had to stay with her at all times to retrieve help if she needed it.  She was the only patient in the room, but maybe because she was private paying.  Morgan said there were rooms that looked like army barracks for the poorer patients.

 This is the outside of the hospital - white building.  Note all the motorbikes out front!  No, it wasn't a Harley convention!!  :-)

This is the hospital parking lot.  I'm sure you're impressed with the parking garage, great lighting and even surface.  Ha!  Yes, this is the cow that I was trying to catch eating a box....

Daily Life

I'm sure I'll have more to say about this topic as time goes on, but here's so far.  You already know there are occasional blackouts.  There are what I call 'slums' all around the seminary campus.  The campus is walled and the grounds are clean and beautiful.  So, that's a comfort.  A&M (Andrew and Morgan) will only be living here during their cultural adjustment and language learning phase.  Then it is out to a place where only God knows right now where it is.
I sat in this lovely place this morning around 5am reading in Ezekiel and praying.  The scripture was about God giving new hearts of flesh for hearts of stone and Him restoring ruins and abandoned cities.  It was only natural that my mind went to the destitute areas right outside the campus walls.  When reaching out to a culture so different than ours...we need a God like that.  If we think we are going to make much of a difference with our own two hands, we are highly mistaken.  Morgan has shared with me what she has already picked up about differences in mindsets and it isn't a work that is within the realm of human strength.  That leads to dependency upon God in a new way.
As I prayed, the Muslim calls and wails began and filled the room where I was at.  I thought about what I was doing...connecting with God's mind and Spirit....and what was coming through the air and soundwaves....another spirit of the world and of false religion.  How are they dealing with each other?  Two of my grandsons lay sleeping in the same room.  How is it affecting them?  I home school.  I keep worldly influences out of my home.  But this is coming through the open window and entering uninvited.  I turned to the New Testament and read in James and was comforted by the practical advice I heard there.  It reminded me to ground myself in God in day to day things.  Let my light shine.  Live the Word.  He will fight the batlle.  I know A&M know this secret, too, and that brings me comfort. Our God is not intimidated.  We lose ourselves in Him and He shakes the world.
Practically speaking, I swept a mess off the floor yesterday with a broom that was so short!  The handle didn't even reach my waist.  Andrew said it was the longest he could find!
 I learned how to operate the shower this morning.  I was intimidated when he gave me the scoop on it.  Before starting, push a button, then turn a screw with a screwdriver then wait 15-20 minutes before you will get 1-3 minutes of hot water!!  There are buckets under the shower in case you want to fill those and do the dip and pour method instead.  Okay....you men may think "No big deal", but most women would understand that it's not that easy.  My hair is long and quite thick and it takes time to wash it...and then shaving legs and armpits can take way longer than shaving that good, strong jaw of yours.  But, God helped and with a combination of showering and dipping and pouring, the job got done with some warm water to spare.  Amazing what we can do without!
Yesterday, I was feeling a little jet lag and decided to make some instant coffee.  I put in the granules and then some sugar, heated it up and took a sip....GAG!  Beef bouillon!  I picked up the jar again and studied it closely...it said coffee but maybe Morgan had put beef bouillon in it instead.  I found a new unopened jar of instant coffee and went through the same process.  Taste....GAG!!  Again, beef bouillon!  What is wrong with Indian coffee??  I gave up.  Later, after explaining to Morgan, we figured out I was putting a scoop of salt in my coffee rather than sugar!  I had never seen such a big container of salt and just assumed the biggest container is sugar as long as it didn't look like flour.  Isn't that the way it is in America?  Well, as I'm finding out...there is a lot more to the world than America....I also discovered a good substitute for beef bouillon!