Alice in Kathmanduland.

Traveling: The Story of My Life.

I used to love traveling. I used to love flying in planes or traveling on trains. Today you will find a different story.

I hate traveling. It seems the older I get and the more I fly the more terrified I am of flying. Any tiny turbulence sends me almost to tears and crying out in prayer. Where has this fear come from? So strange.

Oh, the rush of squeezing onto the train. Welcome to Indian train travel. At least the long distance journeys are not like this.

Trains I'm not so afraid of, I just hate them. AC 3 tier is like the sleeper class of the AC compartments. Every time I travel by train I get more and more annoyed by my fellow travelers. Is it like hereditary that all Indian men snore loudly? Is it compulsory for there to be at least one screaming baby nearby? Must I always be in the same as at least two people who have never heard of headphones so they listen to their Hindu Bhajans or Bollywood hits as loud as possible whilst singing along?

On Sunday I get to get on a train once more and travel at least 20 hours north to Delhi, then I must take a plane to Kathmandu and go on what is supposed to be our "honeymoon" however we are poor and it is more of an official trip than fun. I mean, who applies for a visa on their honeymoon? Who stays in a YWAM guest house on their honeymoon? I wish that we had the money to stay in a nice hotel for the two weeks we are there, I mean hotels and resorts in Nepal are so cheap! It would be around $300 for the entire 2 weeks at a nice hotel, just imagine. That is about $22 per night. And we can't even afford that! Oh goodness gracious.

The Husband and I are very excited to go to a new country even if it is just next-door. Nepal is full of beauty and kindness. Even if it is a simple journey full of a little stress (or a lot) it will still be a good place memories will come from. We'll tell our children of the time we went to Nepal so mommy could get her new visa. I just hope there's a swimming pool somewhere. I am dying to go swimming. A girl from the Land of Lakes needs to go swimming once in a while or she might go crazy.

Winter is Coming.

Yes, yes, yes. I know it has been a really long time, but guess what, I'M MARRIED. So I've been busy...doing wife things. Cooking (not so much), Cleaning (never), and doing my husband's every whim and desire (not even). But actually, I have done his laundry ever since we got married. That's what Indian wives do, their husbands laundry.

Anyway, yes, we've been busy. After the wedding on March 24th, which was amazing btw...after the wedding we had about a week or two off then went straight to Nagaland for our wedding reception at his parent's place. THEN we went to Delhi to stay with his sister for a few days and now we're finally back and I never want to go on an Indian train ever again as long as I live, but guess what!? I get to do it all over again next month when we go to Kathmandu so I can apply for my new visa! How fun. Train to Delhi, then flight to Kathmandu. I hope to catch a glimpse of Mt. Everest and all that Himalayan splendor.

Some glimpses from the Wedding and Reception...

Those are from the wedding!!

This is Romel's family at our Nagaland Reception.

Okay, so your prayers are most welcome as we travel yet again next month and I attempt to get a different visa. If that doesn't work out I can't re-enter India for 2 months. Ugh.

In other news, I started reading the Game of Thrones books and let me tell you, they are excellent. I just started the second one and I'm loving them so much I wonder how I might possible get ahold of the first season of the Television series here in India. Winter is obviously not coming, but to the Starks it always is. 

Well it is actually quite hot here these days. Well into the 90s if not 100s. I long for Minnesota spring and Peaches running 'round the yard getting all muddy from digging up her newfound bones after all the snow has melted. It's Justin's birthday in May and he'll be 17 and I won't be there for it! My nephew Jak is growing up without me. But it's okay. I don't have to be around everyone all the time. I have a wonderful new husband to grow up with! 

Abandon Ship! Or...wait...what?

Sometimes I feel like I am on a sinking ship. A sinking cruise ship. Do I stay and help repair this vessel or abandon ship? If I decided to stay, I wouldn't even know where to begin repairs. I don't know much about the inner-workings of boats and I'm sure cruise ships have many different compartments and guidelines than freight ships or sailboats or fishing boats. 

I feel like the people aboard this particular ship are just here for fun, to enjoy, they are supposed to actually be the people "manning" the ship and serving the guests but they themselves are acting like guests. They are not here for others or because the Captain specifically asked for them, but because it's where their friends are and maybe they're afraid to try something else or to go to some other ship they have never even seen before. But I know how it got this way. I think I can at least find that explanation.

It's the supervisors. They are the examples that the crew look to. If the supervisor does his job well and emits a sort of scary/intimidation yet compassionate way of doing things then the crew will be respectful and work hard. However, if the supervisor is just having fun and choosing favorites and not being clear about the rules or proper procedure then the crew will be just as lazy, easy-going, and not serious about their work and particular assignment.

Basically, if the supervisor does not take his job or crew seriously then his crew won't take their responsibilities or supervisor seriously.

So now I have a choice set before me. I love this ship. I love this crew. Do I love them enough to actually attempt to bring about change? Do I love this ship enough to try to do everything in my power to save it? If I just stick with it while it sinks I do not love it. If I leave, I love it, but not enough. Not as I should.

As the Indians would say, "what to do?" One thing about Indian culture I am not fond of is the fact that they do things the way they have always been done and if you try to bring about change they will not accept it. Not always of course, I mean India is one of the fastest changing countries in the world! But they are still wearing the clothes they wore hundreds of years ago, wrapped and tucked in the exact same way, and if you wrap or tuck it differently everyone notices and they will re-wrap and re-tuck you until you are the way it has always been. 

I remember going to Café Coffee Day once and asking them to put vanilla ice cream in a brownie sunday on their menu instead of the chocolate ice cream that it comes with. They flat out said that it was not possible. I had to get it the way it was on the menu or I had to choose something else. How difficult is it to put vanilla instead of chocolate? I mean it's like the simplest of changes, but it is refused because "it's not the way it has always been done." 

The same goes for this cruise ship. Nothing is getting better because the crew is living and working the way the crew before them did, and they did the way the crew before them did, and so on and so forth as far back in time as you can go.

Then there's the whole problem of putting the wrong emPHASSis on the wrong sylLABle. The supervisors discipline the minor infractions while the major ones are swept under the rug. They put all their energy into putting a brand new addition on the ship while ignoring the smaller problems that have been needed to be repaired for years. Excited and quickly running to the next thing instead of working on making the current one better. Trying to add all these new features and entertainment while the current ones are being ignored and seem not as important as the new ones.

I've felt this way for a long time and have never really been able to put it all down in words, but for some reason, tonight, as I am in a mood to actually do something productive for once, I have decided to write it all out.

Wedding stuff (what else?) and The Hunger Games (again, what else?)

Thirty-four days to go until the vows and the rings and the crying and the flowers. But more importantly, twenty-eight days to go until I see my Mother, brother, and aunt. I have lived in India for the past three years on and off and this is the first time someone from home will have visited me. This fact just makes me that much more excited to see a small part of my family very soon!

Only my amazing Mother on her birthday.

This is just my super-awesome brother mixing a salad.

I don't have a picture of my Aunt.

I spoke to my mom last night on Skype and she got a new iPhone! I was so shocked. She's literally had the same mobile phone since 2004. When my dad brought her old phone into Verizon to transfer the contact information onto the new phone the employee actually laughed at my Dad when he saw the phone and said that there's no way they can transfer the contacts because the phone is so old they don't have the connectors for it anymore. 

All I have to write about is wedding stuff, but I don't' feel like writing about wedding stuff. I never wanted to be one of those girls who counted down the days to my wedding and shortly after marriage update my Facebook status and always make sure I include my "hubby" in there. I'm pretty sure I'll never call Romel my "hubby," but counting down the days is fun. It's also scary. Just about a month left! Yikes.

Well, my responsibilities in the school have just ended. All I am required to do now is attend class, and I probably don't even have to do that! I have just two assignments to grade and then I'm done with this SBS...until March 9th when I have to teach, but that's fun! Teaching is one of the most wonderful things I have discovered in my life. Teaching classes. I can't handle teaching one-on-one something useful like guitar, baking, or something you do with your hands. I can't do that sort of teaching. I am only good at and enjoy teaching classes knowledge and challenging them to practice the stuff they learn. 

Teaching forces you to get to know people you wouldn't normally spend time with. I really lucked out over the past month and taught in another school on our campus and got to know these two lovely ladies from Punjab. Now, if you don't know about people from Punjab I will fill you in. They love to eat and they love to dance. What more could you ask for in life? Their food is famous and they can't survive without milk and butter which are two things very close to my heart as an American. So, I invited these ladies over to make me their famous stuffed parathas. It's like pita bread stuffed with potato or lentil filling. I was so full I didn't eat for the next 24 hours, but it was so worth it.

I'm not usually a fan of Taylor Swift, but I am a fan of The Civil Wars, and also The Hunger Games. She has a new single from the Hunger Games soundtrack. I am so looking forward to seeing Katniss, Peeta, Cinna and Haymitch on the big screen. I just hope that Lionsgate doesn't eff this one up like whoever did with Eragon. Eragon could have been great; Eragon could have been legendary, but it sucked big time. If The Hunger Games movies blow then I might never watch another movie again aside from the old reliables like Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, and The Sword in the Stone (which is by far the best Disney Movie of all time). I hope that The Hunger Games is released in India soon after, if not the same day as in the US. I am actually more excited for the second movie because the 2nd book is by far my favorite one. All those old tributes, it brings a tear to my eye. Okay, enough, I'll start thinking about Finnick or Megs and get depressed.

Indian Men, Identity, and Mawwage (like The Princess Bride, you know?)

I am getting so tired of Indian men staring at me. Saying, "hello!" or "How are you?" or "From where are you?" etc. They drive past on motorcycles and turn around and stare at me as they drive past. They shout things from passing trains. They laugh. They are creepy. They are funny. Mostly, they are ridiculous. As if an American woman is going to be impressed by their fake Gucci t-shirts tucked into their tight, bell-bottomed jeans with 5 extra zippers that are useless. As if I'm impressed by how well they can say, "shit" and "fuck" as if that would impress me. 

Be patient with this culture.

I am currently sitting in Café Coffee Day and the song playing through the sound system here is saying, "send a dirty picture of yourself" over and over. What kind of stupid music are people making these days? 

Be patient.

I have needed rest more than anything else in the world over the past few days. I can't do anything without getting tired. Even thinking about doing something makes me sleepy. I want to do my laundry. I want to clean my bedroom. I want to sweep and mop the floors. I want to organize the kitchen. I want to ...

Be patient with yourself.

I'm not doing anything "right." As if there is any real "right" or "wrong" way to do life. How much patience must God have to just wait for me to figure stuff out. I don't know why He doesn't just inform me of how to have a good attitude, or how to stop living like a slave to sin, or how to love people, or how to get out of my depressed state of being I seem to be in a lot more lately. He does have all the answers, but he seems to have more patience than answers.

It takes time, be patient with yourself. 

Sometimes I wonder if I really am ready to become someone's lawfully wedded wife. I know I'm not ready actually. I'm not even sure if he's ready to be my husband. Is anyone really ready to get married? I think if people waited until they were really 100% ready to get married we'd all be getting hitched in our 50s or 60s. Then there wouldn't be many children around. Perhaps we'd never get married if we had to be completely ready for it. I saw a news story once about how in Japan there's almost no children anymore and a majority of the population is senior citizens because women are becoming more independent and realize they don't need a man to please them or take care of them because they can get good jobs and use other things to please themselves. They're even trying to make robots that are so human-like it's creepy so that you can truly have a relationship with someone who is exactly how you want them to be. That won't fly though until they can get those robot women to make a perfect sandwich.

Hang Me Up to Dry

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.

Get Off Your High Horse!

I have had the absolute worst attitude lately. Ever since I returned from the US I have been a little bitch. Pardon my French. Mostly I have been incredibly critical of everything and everyone. Somehow I have ended up on top of this tall pedestal where I look down on the people and world around me. I have been selfish and I have basically been a big baby. Everything is about me and making me happy.

The irony is that no matter what I do or how many times I might get my way, I am not happy. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. I am very much reminded of my Ecclesiastes teaching last year. If you enjoy things of the world without God in the midst of that enjoyment you will never be happy and you will never be satisfied.

I've been filling my time with reading The Count of Monte Cristo, Boy Meets World, Glee, McDonalds and chocolate. None of these things bring me that peaceful happiness that I used to live with. Instead I finish one thing and immediately run to another. I am not sure how I got to this place, but I'm sure it has something to do with apathy and laziness. Not to mention that d-bag, Satan.

The McSpicy Chicken sandwich only available in India. SO GOOD.

I even prayed with a dear friend of mine who was confessing and repenting of a struggle that is happening with both of us, and I did not even feel remorse. I did not even feel bad or convicted or that I needed to change my way of living even though I knew that I need to repent and try to change things.

Yesterday morning I began to write in my journal, it seems that's my best communication with God. I am just starting to realize if I don't write in my journal each day then my day feels empty. So, I was writing in my journal for the first time in a stinking long time, and suddenly this overwhelming sense of confession came over me and I just started writing all the things I have been filling my life with instead of good things, godly things. I have been living the Ecclesiastes lifestyle. Fo rizzle. It's not that watching Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence have another fight is wrong, but it is if I fill my time with John Adams High drama without inviting my Father to join me. He created man in His image which means we are somewhat like Him, which means we are creative like He is creative (except we cannot create out of nothing) and therefore, He gave man the mind to create the storyline of Boy Meets World and therefore I should enjoy it!!! But I must acknowledge His part in it. Not praise the show, but praise the Maker of the mind which created the show. Whew!

Shawn, Topanga, Cory, and Eric. I seriously wish they were not only real people, but my best friends.

 I could write a lot more, but I don't want to scare anyone away from reading a "long" worded entry. However, I will say this one thing: The Count of Monte Cristo is pretty much one of the greatest books ever written. The movie is insulting to the genius of Alexander Dumas. The way Edmond Dantes seeks revenge is actually the most interesting and time-consuming planned-out vengeance plot I have ever seen and if you have never read this book I highly recommend it. Do yourself a favor and check it out from your local library or if you have a Kindle, you can download it for FREE! It's one of those free classic books. It may be a long book, but you won't be able to put it down. This is probably my fourth time reading it. It never gets old.

Besides, who wouldn't want to read a book written by this guy?