Time is flying by so very quickly. I cannot believe we have been here for well over a month. Internet has been somewhat scarce because we have to walk to someone’s else’s home to mooch off of the Red Cross’s wifi and when we are at their home, we don’t really have much time to spend there. I am sorry I haven’t been able to communicate with you all as much as I’d like to. Honestly, if you were all here with me, I may not ever want to leave here. Ha ha, I’m apparently still honeymooning. I’ve been praying that I would recognize culture shock when it does come and that it would be short-lived so that I wouldn’t let it hinder me from doing what Father would have me do. Anyway, it is story time, so grab some popcorn and your favorite juice box and settle into your comfy computer chair.
Earlier this week, Caprice invited me and our homestay sister to do Zumba (a type of aerobic exercise/dancing) with her and her language helper at her home. Once on a walk, Caprice showed us where the house was, so we kind of had a general idea where it was. We came to this big gate and a house that was being renovated which were the only two characteristics of her language helper’s home that I knew of. We peeked in the gate and I called Caprice to tell her to poke her head out of the window. She said they would just come down and I hung up. Meanwhile, two women came out of the house and motioned for us to come in. They sat us down in the kitchen. While we were sitting down, Caprice called. I told her we were in the kitchen. She laughed and said, “No you’re not! We are in the kitchen.” I was praying that there were just two families in the house and we happened to be in the wrong kitchen. I looked up at the women staring at us and asked (in Urdu of all things!) if they knew Caprice’s language helper. She immediately got a look of recognition on her face and nodded, standing up. I started laughing as did our homestay sister and we kept apologizing. The woman was so kind and walked with us most of the way there. She kept saying “Koi bat nehi” which means “no problem!” ha ha! Caprice and I decided that we would visit her sometime next week with some cookies or a cake. When we finally got to Caprice’s language helper’s home, we managed to get about 4 songs in of dancing/exercising in the middle of talking and laughing. It was a really good time and fun to build a relationship (or two) that way.
Also this week, (Daddy, please just don’t read this next story, or at least be sitting down), I was determined that I would learn to ride a scooter. Somehow, I thought it would be really easy. Wrong. Our homestay dad was very willing to let me try and I told him all I wanted to do was try and drive down the driveway. Keep in mind, the driveway ends in an iron gate and is lined on one side by a concrete wall and the other by a low brick wall and bushes. He showed me a few times how to kick the starty bar thing and put it into first gear. When I decided I was ready, I hopped on, my legs not reaching the ground, I couldn’t start it on my own. After losing my flip-flop a couple times and freaking out at a giant spider that joined me on the scooter (which after I thought could be a bad omen, thank you mom), I asked him to start it for me. He reluctantly complied and off I went into a very awesome popped wheelie and into the bushes and NOT the concrete wall by the grace of Father. Now there is a scooter + Kallie shaped hole in the bushes, but my nearly perfect nose is still intact.
I haven’t really given a very good picture of our everyday life here, I’m sorry, I will correct that promptly: Wake up: 5:30 am. Eat a breakfast of chai and chappati with our homestay sister. The kids usually have a devotional with their parents and us after our breakfast. We sing some songs and read the Word and pr.y for about 30 minutes. Then I head off to my language helper’s home, about a 30 minute walk from our home. I leave Caprice to do school with the 5 almost school age kids. I relish my walk, because it’s my one slice of independence in my day. I walk there, spend one hour (usually a little more) with my language helper, who I am hoping will become more of my friend than just my teacher, then take 30 minutes to walk back. When I get back, the three little ones (2 years old ish) are in the playroom, the 5 middle ones are still doing school with Caprice, and after a short water break, I begin school with the oldest boy who is in first year. He’s only 6, but he knows three languages, his times tables up to 6, and so much more. It’s not that he is an exceptionally smart little boy (he sometimes is), but the schools here require so much of kids from the get go. For their entry examinations into kindergarten, they have to know how to write and recite their ABCs in English, all their wild and domestic animals and colors in English. Crazy! After that, the kids eat lunch at about 11:30. The three babies are fed by our homestay sister from one plate. She balls the rice up into these golf ball sized chunks and shoves them into their mouths each in turn. It is so funny to watch! I’ll try to get a video sometime. After the kids eat, they go play while we adults eat. Lunch is our biggest meal of the day. Then we have chai around 3 or 4 with a small snack. The kids are definitely in bed by 4:30 or 5, if not before. Sometimes we watch serials in the afternoon, but lately we’ve been taking our homestay mom and sister down to our apartment in the basement to do Zumba. We also paint our nails and talk and just enjoy spending time together. I really love the afternoons. Then we eat dinner around 8:00. Usually, Caprice and I head to bed right after dinner because we get up so early. They are all tired by the end of the day, too. I really do enjoy it here. I haven’t really had time to be homesick because our family here has really adopted us into their home and their lives. I love it.
One very important thing you could all pr.y for: due to the hartals and strikes and curfews, schools have been closed for nearly 3 weeks. If schools aren’t in session, we can’t do the project we came here to do. One day our supervisor told us that we really need to just get out and find some means to connect with the women in the community since we probably won’t be able to do the service project we came here to do (i.e. teach English to teachers in schools). That terrified me a little because the family we are staying with gets nervous if we talk to anyone we don’t know. I was sure they wouldn’t like us inviting people over to our apartment or going out more often than we do on our own. They are understandably concerned for their safety while we are here and once we leave. I knew that the Father would provide, though and that he has us here for a reason. Later that day, I asked my language helper what the people in this community need. She said that she could easily connect me with girls in her neighborhood to teach English to and help them with their school work during “holidays.” I was so excited! Then on my way home from that lesson, I met a woman in the street that invited me to her home later, and she said that she knew my language helper. I was encouraged because it seemed to be a legitimate connection. I hope to visit her soon. Please keep us in your thoughts and pr.yers. Pr.y that we would find what Father would have us do and that we would be useful and helpful. Also that we would not find our identity in the fruit we produce but in the Sp.rit that produces it in us.
Love,
Kallie-Jo
