day by day.

Most of the time, I would much rather be busy than bored.  To put it simply, India has been keeping me busy with no thought of ever being bored.  It is crazy for me to think that I’ve been here for a month and a half and that in two months, I’ll be on a plane back to America.  In the time that I’ve been here, I feel like there hasn’t been even a minute to take a breather.  Some days, of course, are busier than others, but honestly, having one full day off (a day with no mandatory commitments and nothing to do) in almost two months makes me feel as though I am running a marathon.  Considering I’m no runner, at this point in the race, I’d really like to reach a place to rest.  At the same time, however, I’m not sure what I would cut out and get rid of – I’m so thankful for the amount of the country and the culture that is being seen.  I guess, after a long week of school and weekend of travel, I’m exhausted.

The past week was packed with presentation, papers, and other assignments.  Every single day of school is still an adjustment, especially in regards to the work that must be carried out.  Because of the cultural hit-and-miss, it is incredibly difficult to judge expectations.  This results in either feeling on top of the world, because, by chance, you got the expectations right, or makes you feel like you are slowly drowning in sinking sand because you thought you hit the nail right on the head when realistically, you hammered that nail right through your own thumb.  Long story short, we were supposed to give group presentations in a class.  Every single presentation, however, was ripped to shreds by the professor, leaving each one of us feeling vastly inadequate in the classroom.  The week as a whole followed that theme of frustration and inadequacy a little bit too much for comfort, and by Friday, I think exhaustion in all of its possible forms had set in – mentally, physically, and emotionally. 

This past weekend has been not exactly relaxing, however, we did get a small vacation from Coimbatore, as we headed to Madhurai for the weekend.  Madhurai is known as, “The City of Temples,” and, come to find out, it is accurately named.  The weekend was purely educational, once again opening our eyes to the challenges faced in everyday Indian society, as well as the great diversity encompassed in Indian culture.  We stayed at the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, a seminary focused on social justice – each student spends a whole year living in a slum, having their eyes opened and their hearts molded.  The seminary students have various work projects within the slums and we spent much of Saturday seeing such projects.  We went to a rest home where some of the students are part of an “adopt-a-grandparent” type of program, where we spoke to the residents and gave them cookies.  It was eye opening to see the poor living conditions that the elderly live in when there is no one to take care of them; they sleep on metal slabs and have only a small box holding their possessions.  Next, we went to the Indian equivalent of a women’s’ shelter, where women with nowhere else to go can go to live and learn vocational skills, such as sewing.  Again, it was heartbreaking to see the way that those in society with no family for whom to turn are treated, and good to see that there are places for them to go.  It is interesting for me to look at the importance of family in India, especially in comparison to America.  Family is so important here; without a good family here, one is doomed, as they have no one to care for them. 

Later Saturday night, we went to a historical palace, where we watched what was called a “light show,” but was basically a story told in the dark with certain parts of the palace illuminated by multicolored lights.  The show gave a broad overview of Madhurai and how it came to be the city that it is. 

Sunday, we visited one of the largest and most famous Hindu temples in India – the Meenakshi Temple.  It was gargantuan.  Hinduism confuses me and I am still unsure what to make of it.  On one hand, I am baffled that people can believe in a religion where they are allowed to worship literally anything they want – from a doll of Santa Clause to an air conditioner to an elephant.  On another hand, I am genuinely scared any time I am near this idol worship because it is deemed so wrong Biblically, and really gives me the heebie jeebies.  One of my friends said, as we entered the temple, “Can you imagine what Jesus would do to this temple if He were here right now?”  I would presume that the temple would be overthrown and demolished.  The temple is full of statues of Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu, the three main and pivotal gods.  Other than that, there are sculptures everywhere.  Many of these statues and sculptures are worshipped by the placement of “puja powder,” a fine powder made of cow dung (keep in mind that Hindus find cows to be holy so this is of utmost respect to the gods), offered bananas, coconuts, and other food items, or offered burning candles.  It is hard to explain the feeling of the temple, but to me, it felt very tribal.  After hours at the huge temple, we went to the Gandhiji Museum; adding “ji” to the end of one’s name is respectful, so Gandhi is known as “Gandhiji” here.  The museum was informative, though not like museums in America.  I suppose that is to be expected, however, considering everything here it seems stands in opposition to home. 

After the Gandhi museum, we returned to TTC for lunch and then left for Coimbatore.  We made one stop on the way back though, at an orphanage for HIV positive children.  This was certainly my favorite part of the weekend trip, and possibly one of my favorite parts of India thus far.  I can’t pinpoint as to why it was so great, but it just was.  There was so much joy in the children at the home, even though they know full well what their desolate futures hold.  They sang songs with us and played on the playground.  As we left, one of the girls that I played with the whole time we were there said to me, “I pray to Jesus that you will come back.”  As tears filled my eyes, I hopped on the bus, unable to put that beautiful girl with that beautiful faith out of my thoughts. 

It was a long bus ride back to Coimbatore, but I was glad to be back “home.”   

Something that has been tugging on my heartstrings this week is Romans 13:11-12.  It reads, “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  I don’t know why these verses struck me so much, but they did.  

Palace.

Temple.