India

July 24

After our first night sleep in India the 6 of us wake up at a reasonable time and begin to make outselves ready for the day. At 9:30am the front desk calls our room and asks for our breakfast order. We quickly order something that looks like it will taste good, and not too spicy! They told us our orders will be ready in 20 minutes. So at 9:45 we head down to the dining hall and wait for our food: pineapple and mango juice, poori (a deep-fried cream puff), bread toast and water. We need to be careful in India with eating but especially drinking. Not all the water that is set before us is drinkable water, so we need to ask if it is bottled. Our breakfast arrived at 10:15am, and the girls from the SF project came to pick us up at 10:20. With 10 minutes to gobble down breakfast and get ourselves ready for church we finished and followed the girls to the bus stop. After a 20-minute ride on the bus and a 10-minute walk we arrived at a large white building, called "The Everlasting Life" Bethel church. Making our way to the front again many eyes follow us and we seat ourselves on lawn chair. Within a few minutes the service begins. We were asked to stand and a woman came to the front to pray: louder and louder as the prayer grew. Near the end of the prayer, the band joined in and the woman left. Many songs were sung, more than usual so that the people who were delayed by the construction on the road could also have a few minutes of worship. Then the pastor literally jumped onto the stage and began to burst out in chorus with the rest of the church. When worship ended the pastor began to deliver his message. All around me everyone was intently listening when the pastor said, with these exact words, in the middle of the service: "It's way too serious here. Church is supposed to be a place of joy and dancing. I'm going to tell you guys a joke." So he began his line of jokes and the seriousness of the people around me lessened. I was shocked! While he was explaining how the man by the pool of Bethsada arose, took his bed and went, he showed us that he didn't walk like Michael Jackson or Beyonce but like a normal man. The service ended and we took the bus back home. Three girls from the SF project stayed behind because they had worship class. After freshening up in our hotel, we walked to their house where we had a delicious lunch of boiled then pan-fried eggs, a pasta-like dish, white rice, dosa (salted puffed pastry) and of course toast (wrapped in newspaper to keep it warm). From 4-6pm we listened to a sermon in our hotel room with the six of us and by 8pm we were back at the home of the SF project. As usual, at 8:15 they began their prayer meeting with several songs, then reading a few chapters from the Bible and finally ended with a long prayer where everyone prayed out loud and one person prayed louder than the rest.

July 25

We spent all day today with the SF project people at a water park about one hour from our hotel in Bangalore. It was a great day of fun and bonding with all of us and them together.

July 26

I flipped open the cellphone and glanced at the time: 00:12. I better get some sleep as 4:45am comes quickly, especially when you’re on holidays. I knew at some point during our short night, Rita would call but when the phone rang at 2:30 I ended the call. I did this twice! Realizing it was Rita phoning, I sat up in bed holding the cellphone in my hand, opening it several times, when it rang. Reception was poor, so I beckoned to Petra and we wrapped ourselves in our bed sheets and darted out the door and down the hall. That night, if you would have crossed our path you would have thought it was two ghosts! After explaining to Rita what our problem was we clambered back into bed, unsure if we should sleep or stay up since by then it was 3:30am. Of course, we fell into a deep sleep and jumped at the sound of the alarm at 4:45am. Knock! Knock! Who could this be? I quietly walked to the door: breakfast…on time! By 6:30am all six of us were piled into the taxi and we began the one hour journey to Bangalore airport. At the airport we checked in our luggage and went to Gate 11, only to be redirected to Gate 8 and from there we were transported by bus to board the plane. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, your flight to Thrivandrum will be approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes" and so our flight began. As we walked out of the airport about an hour later a taxi chaffeur was waiting with a board in his hand: ‘Pappakutty Beach Resort. Petra Achterstraat.’ Since he only had room for three people we had to hail another taxi, and 1 hour later we were walking on Kovalam Beach. When we booked our hotel on the internet it all looked very nice, but when we had to pay it came to about $13 per person per night: this made us question the reality of the pictures. Much to our relief, our hotel was situated two meters away from the sandy beach where waves slap the sand, palm trees sway and a warm breeze carries the call of a distant seagull. Opening the door to our hotel, I saw a gekko scurry across the stone floor and up the wall. I felt the bed: the sheets were clammy and sticky, but what can you expect with the Indian ocean two meters from your door and the +30 degree weather each day? As we strolled along the walkway near the beach, vendors beckoned us from all corners with the Indian accents: "Madam, you like?" "Ooh ladies, come look at my shop". "You want buy blanket? Skirt?" "Food? You hungry?" To all we smiled and to each we browsed in their shops. It’s so much fun bargaining for souvenirs and clothes here on Lighthouse Beach. The rest of the afternoon was spent lying on the beach catching a few rays of run, feeling the waves crash over and over again on your body or meandering about.