Hand-washing laundry is one of the most avoided things in my life. I can find so many other things I would rather be doing than laundry these days. The worst part is I am having to wash all the clothes I left here clean in September because they now smell like mold and must. The washing machine broke and it costs about $100 to fix it because it need a new motor, but I'm pretty much holding out to just buy a new washing machine since they're not much more than that. Needless to say, my hands are incredibly dry and full of tiny cuts because of all that soapy water they handled today, not to mention wringing out jeans a million times. Washing clothes by hand stinks.
I received our wedding invitations today! It's like totally real now. The date is set, the invitations are ready to be passed out and/or mailed, and the mind begins to race. On top of wedding stuff, I am also busy grading assignments and teaching in DTS as well as SBS. PLUS, this week is the "Arts Gathering" which is this huge event that the Creative DTS and our base has been building up to over the past 5 months and now it is finally starting on Wednesday and I am to play a small role in that as well. This also means that our base currently has seven zillion people and there are a lot of mouths to feed. Water will run out within minutes, food will run out within the same amount of time, the internet will be overloaded, and people will forget what "privacy" means. Thank God I live in a house off-campus.
I know Christmas has come and gone, but I still haven't posted pictures of my time in Nagaland on here for you guys, so I'll post the greatest ones. The pictures that show you what it really is like living in the Northeastern part of India. I hope you enjoy them and feel free to ask questions about anything Naga related, or even anything going on in my life at the mo (I've always wanted to say "mo" instead of "moment").
Except, don't ask how the wedding preparations are going because seriously, EVERY SINGLE PERSON ASKS ME THAT QUESTION EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY.
Romel's family's backyard
The view from the bamboo porch
The conquering hero: we ate this chicken for dinner which he killed himself and soon after he took all the feathers out. What a man!
Love these baskets!
Some friends on my birthday.
Christmas morning service at church. Women's ministry singing.
Chickies!
Mom, Dad, Sister, and little Jonah with Dad.
JONAH! The 2nd cutest kid next to my nephew Jak.
Making some pancakes for breakfast.
Dear friends' wedding!
On the way to Romel's mother's village near Kohima.
Some of Romel's relatives.
Hello Kohima.
Honeybee larvae at the market. Yes, they eat it. All of it.
Some worms that were still moving that again, they eat. Also some honey still part of the hive.
My travelling buddy. A goose which we ate that same evening.
The World War II memorial in Kohima. This is where the Japanese entered Nagaland in 1944. In fact it was on 4/4/44 around 4:00 PM when they invaded Nagaland. Seriously.
A tank left as a reminder of the winning of the war. That is Romel's uncle standing next to it.
Smoked pork hanging from the ceiling of Romel's Aunt's kitchen in the village.
A traditional meeting house called a "Morung." This one is for the Angami tribe which is the tribe Romel's family is.
Romel demonstrating how they play their traditional drum that calls the village to the meetings.
The view from the traditional village.
A garbage made of bamboo!
You will never truly see the beauty of Nagaland unless you go there yourself. I always thought I'd have to go to China or Taiwan to see rice patty fields that are tiered, but I'm marrying into a culture which earns its living from those same rice patty fields.
