Inspiration In the Midst of Discouragement.

I've been reading biographies about Indian missionaries from long ago. It's about time I learned something about the history of Christianity in this country of mine. I first read a book about a woman named Ida Scudder who was American but born and raised in South India because her parents were missionaries and she always said she'd never follow in their footsteps yet she started the first women's doctor colleges in India and did a lot for the sick women and children of India. Then there was this guy named Sundar Singh who had a crazy life story. He was disowned by his Sikh family because he converted to follow Jesus and ended up walking from village to village in North India and Tibet for many years with nothing but his robe, a blanket, and a copy of the New Testament.

Dr. Ida Scudder

just a little glimpse at the beginning of Sundar's ministry.

These two life stories really inspired me and encouraged me to really seek God's will for my time in India. Sure, I'm staffing the SBS and it's awesome and takes a lot of time and many of these students go home or go out with real truth on their lips. However, I am beginning to see an importance of also getting to know and loving the local people here.

A few challenges have arisen as of late. One being our electricity bill seems to keep getting higher and higher which can't possibly be possible. We are not using any more electricity than usual and I heard they raised the prices for electricity but that should not double our bill every month! Two months ago it was one thing, then last month it was double, and now this month it was double the last one! It's just not possible.

But in the midst of all that God is of course saying, "trust me."

Easier said than done.

I also need a plane ticket to go home in November which I know will be provided somehow, but right now looking at it it's easy to get discouraged. Not to mention all of Romel's immigration stuff is coming up and even I have to apply for a different Indian visa and change my name on all my stuff when I go home. All these things take a lot of time, energy, and of course money.

But in the midst of all these thoughts God is of course saying, "seriously, trust me."

While I'm home I'll be hoping to find a full-time temp job asap so that I can make money to pay for visas and more plane tickets and things we really need like external hard-drives and sheets.

It isn't easy living this sort of life, but if I lived comfortably in the U.S. with a full-time job and a car and enough money to pay for insurance and rent and even entertainment then my faith would be very small. I would have no need to depend on God for anything. Here I am given a great and difficult opportunity to truly put all my trust in Him because really, there's no other option but also, there's no other person or being I'd want to put all my trust in.

Those two very different Indian missionaries got everything they needed. Sadhu Sundar Singh never really needed anything or asked for anything yet God brought him food, shelter, and he even went to Europe and England twice and the U.S. once! Dr. Ida Scudder needed millions of dollars to start hospitals and schools in India and God provided everything. I only need a couple thousand dollars, how puny does that look in comparison?

Also, if I never came to India I wouldn't be married to an incredibly attractive dark-skinned, brown eyed man and I wouldn't get to see this beautiful country when I leave my house.

The man himself.

Just Venting and you know...venting.

Oh how the story is unfolded. Sometimes we are so surprised to find out what is in store for us.

Remember when I said we were trying to find a cheaper place to live? Yeah, well today I requested an 11-month lease with our current house. Yes, the one that recently raised our rent. The one with the obnoxious, stinky, flea-ridden dog. The one that has welders coming and ruining my life every day for the past month. But, what can I do but sign an 11-month lease? I mean there's nowhere else to go. We also need to have an official, signed rental agreement so that I can register here at the Foreign Registration Office (FRO) and also so that when I'm home in November I will have an easier time filing a form for my husband's Spouse Visa.

It's not what we wanted, but it's apparently what is best for us according to the Almighty One. You know, the One seated on the throne. He kind of knows what is best for me and everyone for that matter.

So we're stuck in the same old house for the next 11 months. Actually, I do quite love this little home and now I'll have an excuse to get new curtains and try to decorate it up a little more!

This also means we'll be needing more finances...as if that wasn't already a word I hate using in these entries and e-mail updates. Yikes. But seriously. What newlywedded couple doesn't need money? Especially ones that are volunteering at a non-profit which isn't paying them anything but in fact we are paying them to work here! Especially ones that are trying to also start the US Immigration process for the husband in the relationship this year (which will cost almost $1,000)! Especially ones that barely have enough money to pay rent, electricity bills, gas, and food!

I wish there were ways for me to make money here in India, but I just can't on my tourist visa. It's so easy in the US. Life is just easier there. Perhaps that is why I'm living here in a country where everything, yes, everything is incredibly difficult and drawn-out. I mean it takes people years to get their passport! It takes bribes to get anything done quickly around here, and I am very much opposed to giving bribes. Remember our marriage certificate terror a few months ago? We had to go from Kathmandu to Delhi only to find that we also needed something from Mumbai so then we had to get the one in Mumbai then mail it to Delhi then get something there and then fly back to Kathmandu ALL SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T EVEN GIVE ME THE ENTRY VISA ANYWAY.

Oh man I am so fed up with the way things are done here some days. I mean a lot of people come for a few days and say, "wow, India is really growing fast and will soon become one of the major countries of the world!" But I say, no. No way. India has a very, very long way to go. Until and unless this whole corruption nonsense gets taken care of and starts improving and the rich actually begin to care for the poor. Ain't nothin' gonna happen with this country except get more and more corrupt.

Wow, a little rant of mine.

Anyway, yeah.

Green things, pressure cookers, and mold.

I love waking up in the morning to the sounds of the neighbor's pressure cookers.

I enjoy the fact that one of my friends here makes the absolute best channa daal parathas I have ever tasted in my entire life.

My goal for the next few months is to learn how to cook using our pressure cooker. I will no longer be intimidated by those little monsters of pressure. They can be very scary to someone who is almost positive they have a slight anxiety disorder. But I will learn how to cook with them, I will not be afraid anymore.

I don't go outside very often these days because it's wet, cloudy, and grey. However, all the plants are SO GREEN I CANNOT EVEN STAND IT IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL.

Here we have the downfall of living in an area with really, just a lot of rain during the monsoon. Mold. It gets EVERYWHERE. In your closet; on your clothes; on your poor camel leather sandals you bought just before the wedding; on your suitcases; it's enough to drive anyone crazy with the look, the feel, and the smell. Thank God I'm not allergic to any molds (that I know of...)

Last, but certainly not least, I have included the greatest picture of my husband ever taken by human hands. 

I love this guy so much it's ridiculous.

All the Small Things

Last night our washing machine broke. It suddenly stopped working and now it won't turn on. My theory is an old, rusty bobby pin got lodged in the spinning mechanism and acted as a stick in a bike spoke. I opened it up and found all this "debris" inside near the spinning part of the machine. Plastic beads, supari, even some medicine, but the main thing was a big, old, rusty bobby pin stuck in this hole that had to have been what stopped the machine. I managed to pull it out and then tried to start it again, but now it won't even turn on. So we're going to have to call the Washing Machine Guy which is literally what his name is in my phone. As if I could remember and know how to spell these people's Indian names. Sure if they're name is Ganesh or Santosh or Vishnu that's easy enough, but most names are like Aamritisharpeet. 

We're still hoping to move very soon. Keep us in your prayers. We hope to find a place that's at least half of what we're paying now for rent. We live in a rather expensive town though. A tourist and holiday hotspot. If only there was wi-fi available everywhere her like in Kathmandu.

A few pictures of life these days...

SBS graduation. It's a little blurry, but damn I look good in that Mekela, right? I'm wearing my husband's traditional dress for women in his tribe.

Just a self-portrait.

My newest weapon against rainfall.

I love how green everything gets during monsoon. That's the only thing I love about it.

I'm about to get a little "too much information" up in here.

My husband and I have been watching Prison Break. We're almost finished with the 2nd season and it's actually quite a good show despite the acting of the main two brothers. So last night we were watching it after drinking big glasses of iced coffee. We both had to go to the bathroom really bad at the same time so my husband went in the left bathroom and I went in the right one. We usually just turn on the hall light and not the bathroom lights and just leave the door open halfway as we pee. (I told you this would be TMI). So I'm sitting down in the semi-darkness and suddenly I see this long creature moving on the floor close to my feet. I very quickly realize it's a giant centipede, about 6 inches long. I immediately begin screaming and shouting my husbands name and of course raise my feet as far from the floor as I can. He comes running in and turns on the light and sees this centipede and says, "It's okay, it's okay.." as I'm practically hyperventilating.

He was right though, it all ended up okay. My husband saved the day and took that centipede's life. 

Sometimes this is what I do with God. I live my normal life by myself, but suddenly if anything goes wrong, if anything threatens me or goes wrong, I cry out to God to save me. Help me! I need you! I must be rescued! But once everything is back to "normal" again I go on living my life by myself.

I don't do that with my husband. Sure, I cry out to him when I need him to kill a spider or centipede, or when I need him to go to the market, but I also spend time with him doing "normal" things people do. Eating meals, reading, watching television shows, having coffee, playing cards. Normal stuff. But how can I include God in the "normal" things of life? 

It Won't Be Long, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

On Friday my Husband returns to me here in Kathmandu. I am so incredibly excited and here's why:

Don't let the bottom picture fool you. This spider was NOT small. It was maybe a little smaller than a silver doller I tell you what. 

I'm down with house spiders. I am so down with them, but this thing is not a house spider. Don't let the fact that it's in a house fool you. It was hairy. It was grey. It was fast. I have never in my life killed this big of a spider because they terrify me. There is a point of growth that it's just too big to kill with a shoe or newspaper. This was about that point, but what was I supposed to do? My husband is far away and I am here all alone fending off boogers and spiders. It's seriously the third spider I've killed in the room I sleep in. This was the biggest, but the other two weren't small either.

This is a job for a husband. Not me. Not ever. Never.

Plus, if you can recall, I've been sick and I need my Man to make me feel better. I need him to hold me in his arms and just rub my head or back or something. Anything.

A view from our living-room window.

As you may or may not know, I've been staying with a wonderful woman in her apartment while Romel is gone. It's been fun getting to know her a bit, plus she's from Florida so we get along very well as Americans overseas.

I boil my water here.

Ladies with umbrellas in the hot sun. Seriously, their fear of getting darker is insane. Or perhaps it is like always being in the shade. I don't know. I've never walked around with an umbrella unless it's pouring rain.

My TACO SALAD I had today for lunch. It was so good. I'm so glad there's a legit Mexican restaurant within walking distance.

I went to the post office today and sent out some postcards. Sorry if you don't receive one. It's not like I have everyone's mailing address handy.  Just the ones I know by memory which is basically only my parent's house. I have yet to go to a post office in India. lols.

In other, more vain news, I dyed my hair darker. I said I'd never dye it again after my straightening fiasco, but I just can't do nothing for very long. I must change it. I MUST. 

As you can see, it's a little purplish which I like.

My Nose Cannot Possibly Go On

I don't know how these things even happen, but yesterday morning I felt super-fine and then by the evening I was curled up on a couch watching Adventure Time and blowing my nose every 5 minutes because there is no end to the boogers that are coming out. I had a headache and my whole neck and shoulders were aching. How does a cold (or could it be...sinuses?!) come on so quickly? I've been sitting here now today just accumulating a pile of used kleenex and trying to drink hot things and not move so much but no matter what position I sit or lay in I cannot get comfortable.

To top it all off my husband is not here to take care of me and hold me. Ugh. He will hopefully be here soon though, I'd say within the next 2 days. Our dear friends took care of the Mumbai stuff and our marriage license is now on its merry little way to Delhi. It should arrive today. I pray it arrives today.

I'd write more, but who wants to hear me ramble on about how much snot is coming out of my nose and how when I washed off my gel face pack earlier I wasn't sure if it was the slimy face pack I was rubbing off my face or my own snot that was coming out of my nose!

In other news, I dyed my hair. I like it best when it's dark I think.

Before. I know it's kind of a weird picture, but I was about to go outside. This is yesterday when I was feeling so fine.

After. It looks black, but it's like a burgundy. It's super cool. Here I am on the phone with my husband whom I miss incredibly and I am not feeling so good.

I was going to add another picture. A current one of what I look like at the moment I'm writing this, but I'll spare you the ugly.

The Never-Ending Story

My husband has left me.

If you read the last entry you'd know that my husband has gone back to India to "get 'er done". He is doing all the work for me to be able to apply for my Entry Visa to India. In hindsight, I suppose we could have somehow found out more information about all this, but I did not read anywhere that in order to apply for this visa outside of India you need all these dumb stamps on your marriage license. And, if you know me, you know I tediously research anything that has to do with visas, job applications, taxes, etc. Anything official and important, I research like a mofo.

My wonderful, sweet, handsome, manly husband went to the Ministry of External Affairs today and found out that we also need some sort of stamp from Mumbai on our marriage license before they can stamp it in Delhi.

What does that mean for my husband? Hopefully, one or a few of our friends back at our house will go to Mumbai for us and get this thing and courier the paper to him in Delhi who will then get the Delhi one done and come back to me, his wife, who is waiting for him ever so patiently to return. Otherwise, he will also have to go to Mumbai which was not anticipated.

I did not enjoy sleeping alone last night. On the floor. After killing a giant spider all by myself. Well, it wasn't so big. Just about the size of a quarter.

But in the midst of all this I have a way to calm down and just wait.

Regina Spektor. She has a new album out and my Soul-mate a.k.a. Best Friend in the whole world sent me an iTunes gift card and I immediately purchased Regina's new album and I must say it's amazing. She keeps growing as a musician and artist. Her songs I think were super unique and strange before she was signed and released her "Us" or "Fidelity" single. But slowly, her music is becoming more "Regina." It's going back and forward. Back to her strange sounds and unique words but forward to new stories and maturing, beautiful sounds. She is marvelous.

The first song off her new album, "Small Town Moon"

I walked to the grocery store today hoping to get some good stuff, but all I end up buying is candy, chocolate, and alcohol. But thank the good Lord I found "Strawbs" Nothing is better than strawberry shaped gummies.

 

I ate Meusli and dahi for lunch and then pigged out on those Strawbs, so we'll see if I'll be having dinner.