It's been One Week since you looked at me.

Dearest friends and followers of my blog (and family members) I am here to happily announce that we are in the final week of the SBS! That means that on this upcoming Friday evening we will have our graduation ceremony and go out to a nice hotel to eat delicious dinner and also dress up in our fancy outfits and take lots of fun pictures and laugh about the stupid things we've done over the past nine months. I cannot believe it has come up so fast! It has already been over one year since I arrived here with my new two year commitment which has, as you all know, turned into a lifetime commitment pretty much in my getting engaged to an Indian man. A very handsome Indian man at that!

As this school is coming to a close I am getting prepared (very slowly) for Titus Project coming up on the 11th of July. If you remember, I came and did Titus Project last July and spent three weeks as a student learning how to teach and then 5 weeks on an outreach to South India teaching others how to study the Bible inductively and helping them understand the big picture of the entire Bible. Now Titus Project is coming up again, and since I already completed it, I will be staffing it! This means that two more teachings are in store for me in the coming month. The two classes I will be teaching the students are How to Present Your Lecture and Learning Styles. Everyone learns in different ways and we must cater to all audiences in our lectures and sermons. Visual, auditory, kinesthetic, creativity, math/logic, etc. Also, the students will have to prepare and present 4 different teachings during the three week training time and I will have the joyous opportunity to listen to them teach and evaluate them! So here I am, I started out as a student, ended up a teacher of students, and now I will be a teacher of teachers! But I must remember that I always remain a student. Plus, in Matthew 23 Jesus clearly tells the Pharisees that they have but one Teacher and one Leader, who is Christ and they should not lift themselves up as leader or teacher. Of course I am a teacher (we all are) but I am not THE Teacher, and I would have no voice if it weren't for the Teacher. It is he who teaches through me, like I could possibly teach anything without him!

Also, after this momentous week, my dearest housemate, Franziska will be leaving me and going back to Norway. It has been too good to be true living with her for the past 9 months. She came in at the right moment and is leaving at the right moment (according to God, not to me) and I am sad to see her go. She has quickly become a friend, sister, and mentor in my life. My home has been an oasis in this desert of missions in a strange culture mostly because she was in it. My house will not be the same without her and neither will my heart. But she will shine and grow and blossom where she is going, and I will still be a part of her life and she will still be a part of mine. It's just sad we won't have our Saturday morning breakfasts anymore, or our late night tea talks, or our PP times (power prayers). But the end of one season is only the beginning of another. I'll miss her terribly, but that's okay 'cause she'll be back, if not for the next DTS then for my wedding! Ha ha ha ha ha.



That is myself and Franziska. I will definitely do the ugly cry when she leaves. Who says I haven't already?

And now to end with some observations of cultural differences:

1. After seeing a commercial here for mango juice: I don't understand how mango juice can quench your undying thirst on a hot Indian Summer day. It's like being so hot and sweaty and then suddenly thinking, "I just need a nice glass of cold milk and I'll feel better." No, you don't. Like Ron Burgundy said, "It's so hot! Milk was a bad choice." in the same way, Mazaa (mango juice) is a bad choice when you're hot and want some relief.

2. I am not sure if [most] Indian men even know what deodorant is.

3. Motorcycles don't need to go into storage when it starts pouring rain! All you need is a nice rain-jacket and pants combo and you're set to ride that bike all day long! Seriously men, Indians drive motorcycles even during monsoon, and it literally pours rain all day long for days.

4. You're a family of four? You don't need a car, motorcycles also double as a minivan for growing families. One time I saw five boys on one motorcycle. They also transport ladders and gas cylinders on motorcycles. It's quite amazing. People in America do not know what driving is (or packing), but if there's one thing Americans do know and are quite good at: safety.

5. I think the most difficult thing about living in India and working with an organization here is realizing that Indian people do not see "time" the way Westerners see it. They do not plan anything at all, and everything starts late, and it drives me crazy most of the time. I'm trying to work on my attitude in this area, I mean I can't change hundreds of years of their culture, but it's hard. As an American, every second counts and if something takes longer than it has to I get frustrated. "Time is money" has been pounded into my brain, and now I'm in a place where time seems to not even exist. I wish I could get used to it, but I always end up feeling offended that my time set aside for someone else is not seen as important as I think it is.

6. Food is so cheap! If it's in season and native to India. Apples are dang expensive here, but mangoes are SO cheap right now! One dozen bananas = 44 cents. A dozen eggs is 79 cents. 1 lb. tomato, 1 lb. onion, 1 lb. green pepper altogether is the same as $1.77 (approximately). These are all reasons why even helping me out $5.00 a month pays for half my monthly groceries! $10.00 a month is my electricity bill. If six people give $20 a month that covers my rent! You do the math.