Food shopping and more

India has many wonderful things. One of the wonderful things happening in India is the fresh veggies and fruit that you can purchase every night. They do have grocery stores, but most people buy the fresh things nightly from stalls that line the streets or the stalls that sell them. All the food shown above with something I already put in the fridge I got for under $20 US dollars. All of this and I still stayed way below my budget.
The food is fantastic and fresh they have similar items like apples, oranges, grapes, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, juice and pasta. I have to admit it was a lot to carry and if I hadn't had 3 friends to help me I wouldn't have purchased so much at one time. That being said I plan to eat well for awhile. I will take pictures as I make things. Since everything here is made from scratch it takes a lot of work to make one meal. There are very few pre-made items. Many times you even pick out your chicken that you want them to kill and cut for you. It is an experience that I plan to pass on. I however, have been known to go into a restaurant and order a whole chicken cooked then use it for a few days or freeze a few extra parts to save me from that traumatic experience. (I have a hard time as it is picking out lobsters to eat I could only image how I would struggle with a chicken).
Back to the food the milk is in a carton and sits on the shelf until you open it. And surprisingly they have Coke here. The difference in coke from US and here is the sweetness factor. Coke is so sweet here it almost hurts your teeth. Practically any soda is the same way. I guess that is one way to break the addiction for me. Otherwise most of the food here is full of starch. There is rice or roti (like a tortilla) or noodles. Most people get offended if there isn't one of those as the main part of the meal. I have even heard people say they were hungry when they went to bed because of the lack of rice, roti or noodles. I am doing everything humanly possible to not end up with rice belly.
That being said I have noticed that my portion size is dramatically smaller than I would get at home. So there have been a few nights where I have gone to bed hungry. Sometimes it is hard to get enough protein here so I find when I go places I order a lot of chicken with little bones so that I can get some additional protein. Also I eat a lot of eggs and veggies in hopes of keeping things balanced. One thing I can not seem to get us to is how they drink everything at room temperature or drink it boiling hot because cold drinks cause you to get a cold or damage your throat. So all the water and soda is warm and sometimes it is just hard to choke down.
I have pretty much tried anything that has been put in front of me most has been fantastic while other items have been a "no thank you its not my favorite." All in all India has been a great experience especially when it comes to food shopping and the shear amount of vegetables and fruit available to eat.

Bucket Baths an experience to not be forgotten



We have recently reached a water crisis here at the 7 Sisters home. We have little to no water. Really think about that for a moment. In America we never have this issue unless a pipe breaks or there has been a contamination. If those events happen we have crews that fix the situation as quickly as possible. Not so in India. Most people have a well and when the pump goes out (which is what has happened at the home) we have to pay to have water shipped in. Most people can't afford to have it shipped in.

At the 7 Sisters home we are blessed enough to have filtered water to drink and tap water to bathe from that is hot and has a shower head. (Many Indians laugh when I tell them this because they are just so use to bathing from a bucket.) When the water runs low however, a bucket bath is called for. So the other day I desperately needed to shower (its getting hot here now and well showers are a must). I thought oh I can do a bucket bath it will be easy and will save water. No biggie I can handle this... yep not so. Not even close. It was cold for starters apparently there are different ways to heat up the water I had access to none. The amount of water is less than I normally bathe with so washing my hair and body with the same bucket took some planning. Planning that I didn't realize until I was almost out of water. Needless to say I was freezing, half wet, and still dirty when I realized just how truly blessed we are in America.

Since then I have now moved into my apartment that does in fact have a shower head. But, my experience with a bucket bath will not soon be forgotten.

4 fun videos for you

 

 

 

Sorry there are four the internet kept cutting out on me

 

This is the 2nd half of the video

Weekly Bible study

One of the perks of being here is the daily bible devotions we do every morning. Because of that I have been really able to dig deep on some scriptures and work in my own personal Bible study time.

Today we studied 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 which talks about comfort from God and how we are comforted in our troubles so that we can comfort those who may go through the same struggles later on. Just like Jesus suffered through everything we currently face, will face or have faced, so that when we need comfort we can trust that He does understand. That He can truly comfort us. This study reminded me of Psalm 13 where David ask:
How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Don't we sometimes feel like this? Like God has forgotten us... that maybe we have been cut off from God's favor. We may experience deep depression in our soul daily. Not to mention that we might feel humiliation that here we are proclaiming that God will save us from this heartach and yet he hasn't. It makes it look as if we are on the losing side of the battle.  I know I have felt like this numerous times over and even all of those feelings at the same time. It is sometimes hard in the midst of a crisis to not wonder Lord have you forgotten me....

So what can we do... when you continue to read on in Psalm 13 it says "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me." How beautiful is that. Even in the midst of a depression even when the enemy had David pinned down and all hope seemed lost... he was able to to praise God. To trust in his unfailing love and to rejoice in his salvation. Not only was David facing death, but he was singing to the Lord about his unfailing love.

How awe inspiring that pasage was to me. It hits on the fact we must first trust in God's unfailing love and mercy. Then rejoice that we have been chosen by God for the most precious gift of salvation. Knowing that Christ was sent down from Heaven to live as a poor man, to experience life as we have, to face everything we suffer through. Only to be mocked, spat on and cursed. Then he was beaten and hung on a cross for our sins. He died then rose again so that we can have an enternal life with God. When you look at that can you not sing his praises nor be reassured that this crisis will pass and take comfort because God has been very good to me. He comforts me and His love will never fail. 

Week 2

Whew what a week this has been. Still no girls which is okay because we are wrapping up last minute things. The CWC which is like our SRS was really excited when we went to them on Tuesday and are ready to send us girls so it can and will happen at any time. We also went to the train station to talk to the police there. They told us that they had just had 2 girls last month that were trafficking and of course they had no where to send them. So now they know they will call us.

I will be working on intake forms to help us determine if the girl fits our criteria of sexually abused or trafficking. Right now I am trying to gather some resources. On top of all that we have managed to train about 10 volunteers from other places which will help us with activities and overnight stays. That was a whole day and then a video call The Day My God Died which I will highly recommend for anyone wanting to know what exactly we are doing and what we will face everyday.

Everyone is preparing for the worse  so when an opportunity comes up to do something light like shopping or going off for a break occurs the ladies here jump on it. So I have been to a few bazaars and  shopping locations. I have managed to ride in an autobot, a rickshaw, a car (which is the single most scary thing ever) and the bus. Please keep in mind they have no TRAFFIC laws here so everyone drives anyway they want as fast as they want and no pedestrians have the right away. They will hit you if you get in the way. Not nearly as fun as it sounds. Reminds me a lot of that game frogger and well we all know what happens when frogger didn't cross or make it across the street or river.

We did have a scare this week 3 of the ladies I work live next door to the house and it was broken into and so was our office. Luckily we have bars on the inside of the windows so he wasn't able to get in. What he did was unlock the window then he reached in with his hands or a stick and grabbed whatever he could. The girl who was being robbed woke up in the middle of it and freaked out. I seriously don't blame her. Even though I knew that they couldn't get in here I still had a hard time sleeping last night. I can't wait until I can move up a floor into my apartment/guest room.

On Saturday we will be going for elephant rides which I am super excited about and looking forward to. I will post pictures as soon as I can. The internet here is hit or miss but I am hoping to purchase a hot spot through one of the ladies that I work with so that I can do school work that should help with posting pictures and things. We are getting ready to enter Summer here and it is already getting hot which makes me nervous for what really hot here.

Oh I have been taking some language courses and I am hoping that they help me soon the accents are getting easier to understand and everyone around here is attempting to help me learn which is nice. I did manage to catch a cold earlier this week but thankfully it is almost over. Thank you all for your prayers on that there is medicine here but no one who lives her recommended anything or trust the local pharmacy so I fought it without meds.

So what's going on at home? Am I missing anything major?  Do you miss me yet? LOL

1st week

Well its been 3 days since I've arrived and the good news is... it feels like I've lived with these people and in this place my whole life. Other than the staring at me when I walk down the street and the language barrier its strangely familiar. I will admit it is dirtier and louder than home. The people can be just as rude here as at home but in general most just want to help you anyway they can.

For the last 3 days I have been working with the ladies that work here by planning activities, counseling sessions, and play therapy. I have helped them shop for any and ALL supplies that are needed so that the house/school is up and running by Monday. In fact yesterday we left after tea for the market and stayed out until 8 pm when we managed to grab Subway and come home to eat. Yes you read that right we have a Subway here as well as a KFC and a Pizza Hut LOL. We got everything we needed except for shoes which is what we will be shopping for today.

I will say the flow of life is different here. We wake up eat breakfast, then 2 hours later have tea, then lunch is at 1 then tea is at 3 and dinner is usually around 7. Everyone goes home at 5 so dinners on me and let me just say these people have never heard of instant. EVERYTHING is made from scratch even at the restaurants. And EVERYTHING comes with rice even the noodle dishes. So going to the store I picked up a few items and thought the guy was going to flip that I didn't pick up rice at his place. I just told him we had some at home and next time I would get it from him.

So apparently India is currently on a health/fitness kick b/c every other block or so has a gym encouraging people to work out. At first I was shocked I mean 9 times out of 10 you are walking everywhere and at least when I was walking for stuff it was 3 to 5 miles round trip not to mention how much things weighed carrying them home. Then I found out that most people here don't walk unless it is right around the corner. So we are going to start working out everyday to help the staff get in shape and the girls will work out with us. I've never been more excited in my life (I know you hear the sarcasm dripping from my words). No I think it will be good for everyone including myself.

Not much to report other than the market and all day shopping experience. Still no girls we are thinking Tuesday will be the day, but we can still get one at anytime. My luggage did arrive so now I have everything in the world that I could need and anything I didn't bring I can buy here so that's a bonus. Next weekend we are going on an Elephant ride and eventually I am going to go to the bigger/Western cities to see the sights since that's more interesting then this city according to the women who work here. Oh here's an interesting side note at times I feel as if I live in a Disney movie b/c people around here just bust into random songs as they walk or sit in their homes, going to the bathrooms, or shopping no matter where they are at they will start singing. I guess instead of Disney I should've said Bollywood except there's no dancing LOL

So how's everything with you guys back at home? I hear it's snowing and cold? Coldest its been here was 50 degrees, but that's only in the early mornings... hope all is well!

Blessings