The next few steps

The other day I wrote an entry called Being Unsettled. Today I feel a bit more settled. Let me give you a little background.

When we came to !nd!a back in May, we came on tourist visas. We got a multiple entry ten year visa, and on it we could stay for up to 180 days before we had to leave for just a day and then come back. In December the rules changed. We can still stay for 180 days, but now we have to leave for two months before we can come back. So since December we have all been thinking about what our plan with this is. The thing that had made the most sense was switching to a student visa. I began doing some research about universities here in !nd!a but was very discouraged because there is almost nothing on the internet. So, it seemed that this door was closing.

While I was gone in January, Stephen called and asked me what I thought about becoming a midwife. At the time I hadn't thought much about it, but I said I would talk with Dad about it. The more I talked to Him about it the more it seemed that this was the direction I was to go.

There is a big need for midwives in this area and especially out in the villages. I have a little bit of a medical background from being a C.N.A. (Certified Nurses Aid) for many years, and being a midwife is something that I think I would really enjoy. 

Now, let me tell you a bit about the midwifery training. The training I was looking into is called New Life International School of Midwifery. It is a two year training located in the Philippians and is specifically for m!ss!onar!es. There have been a couple other girls with HGM that have gone through this training and have said it is very good.

Stephen talked with our M director last week about some of the different options we each have. Eric thought my going to midwifery school was a great idea and gave me the go-ahead to apply to go in August. So, since last week I've known what the next step in my career here is. That isn't what I've been unsettled about. The part I've been unsettled about is the steps between here and there.

At first I thought I'd have to go back to the States to apply for a visa to the Philippians, but after doing a bit of research on New Life's website I found out that I really don't. Then I was thinking that maybe I'd go to Kosova to help my parents with their camp until August. But, after doing some more research I began thinking that it might be good to go back to the States in order to raise the funds that I'll need to attend the school. So, for the past week I've been going back and forth between these two options, pr@ying about it and trying to figure out which the best one was.

Today Stephen and Amber came to our house. We talked over what all our M Director had to say about each of our options. I asked them what they thought about the steps between here and there for me. We talked over it for a bit and finally decided that me going back to the States to raise the funds for New Life is the best option.

So, it looks like at the end of April (in time for Nomads) I will be going back to the States for a couple months. While I am home I need to raise about $10,000. This isn't the complete cost of the training, but includes the first semester, fees, books, supplies, and visa. After all the one time costs are paid, it'll only be $4725 for each of the three following semesters (about $1200 per month). If you would like to see the complete list of what all this covers or you would like to know more about New Life, feel free to visit the website!

I am really excited about this next step and about what Dad will be teaching me through it. If you would like to have me share with your ch-rch or small group about my time here, the midwifery training, and how this pertains to our future work here in !nd!a, please send me an email. I look forward to telling you more about this with you in person!!

Holi - the festival of colors

Holi is the festival of colors. It's a very exciting day filled with colors of course!! Suzy and I were excited to be able to experience this festival. All the people on our routes had invited us to their homes for Holi and one guy(Rashib, he runs a shoe/umbrella store) invited us to his house for lunch today. Yesterday he took us to the bonfire sight to see puja(w0rship) and explain the history of Holi.

Holi comes from a legend involving King Hiranyakashipu. Because Hiranyakashipu wanted to avenge the death of his brother who was killed by Vishnu he performed severe penance and pr@yer for many years to gain enough power. Finally he was granted a boon and with this boon he thought he had become invincible. This made him very proud and he forced all those in his kingdom to w0rship him instead of Vishnu.

However, he had a very young son, Prahalad, who refused to w0rship him and continued to w0rship only Vishnu. Angry,  Hiranyakashipu asked his sister, Holika, to help him kill the boy. They tried many times to kill him but each time little Prahalad escaped death.

Holika was believed to be immune to fire and would never be burnt. So, it was decided that Holika would hold little Prahalad on her lap ontop of a pyre until the boy died. However, when the plan was carried out it was not Prahalad who died, but Holika. Prahalad came from the fire unscathed and thus it is believed that good won over evil.

Each year H!ndus celebrate this festival with colors remembering the victory and believe that what ever they pr@y for will come true. The colors themselves come from a time when Krishna(believed to be a reincarnation of Vishnu) used to play pranks on the girls in the villages. He would throw water and color on them and soon many of the other boys joined in this fun and so the tradition was carried on.

That is the history of Holi. Now for some pictures of Holi 2010!!

 

During puja the ladies tie a string around the wood to make sure the fire doesn't burn anything good. 

This is Suzy and I with one of the ladies on my route. You'll see more color as our day went on. 

 Suzy and her didis(elder sisters)

Suzy

This is Aprit, one of the boys on my language route.

Me!!

 

This is Arti, a little girl on my route.

Some boys on the street that colored our faces. This boys was coming at me with two handfuls of color right as I was taking the picture!!

 

Here is Suzy with some of the ladies from her route.

 

These two girls tried to get us to drink some bong(an alcoholic drink they make for Holi) but we declined the offer.

This man is standing right inside the temple giving out bong and pakoris(fried snack). 

Even the dogs join in on the fun! :D

Can you find Suzy? She's really in this picture, I promise!! 

At first I wondered why they were using black color, but then I realized it didn't start black. It's just all the colors mixed together.

This is Kishan, one of the shoemakers that works across the street from my house.

 This is another tradition of Holi. A pot is tied above the street filled with butter, milk and money. Men then stand on top of each other trying to break the pot with a rock(or in the case this year, a stick)

 

This little boy was really camera shy, but I did get a couple good ones of him. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I've got a few more on facebook, so you'll have to check those out too!! Have a good day, and HAPPY HOLI!!!

Technical Difficulties...

So, for the past couple weeks I have noticed that the charger to my computer was not looking too healthy. I’d read about people having problems with the cord to their macs and knew I was having the same trouble. The cord(the wires) begins to pull away away form the magnetic part that connects to the computer. I was a bit worried about it because even though I could get one here they cost about twice as much as they do in the States.

But, then someone came to the rescue!! A friend of our was coming from the States and asked if there was anything we needed. I said “YES!! :D Could you pick up a new cord for me?” So, it is on it’s way.

But last night the cord really took a dump. I’ve been keeping my computer plugged in and not moving it because it was really hard to get it to charge again if I moved it. However, for some reason I can not say(other than stupidity) I unplugged and moved my computer and when I went to plug it in again it was VERY clear that it was not going to charge again. And it’ll be at least a few more days till I get my cord.

Oh. What to do? What to do? I took out my leatherman that my little brother got for me for Christmas before I left, the little one my dad got me and the Tweezers my mom gave me and began taking the thing apart. (My little brother and I used to take radios out of the old cars in our junkyard and put them in other cars or just messed around with them, so I know a bit about wiring) And finally this morning I got the thing to work again! :D YEAH!!

So, a big THANK YOU goes to my brother for the Leatherman, my Dad for my little leatherman and my Mom for my Tweezers!

On another note, here is a taste of Holi! Suzy and I went out to see puja yesterday and got a bit of color on our faces in the process.

   Suzy with color on her face.    
 

      

A mother showing her little boy how to do puja.

Being Unsettled

Today I changed my desktop picture about 15 times and I still don’t know if I like the picture I have right now.  Even now, as I am writing this entry I have changed it a few times. I’ll write it, read through it and decide I don’t like how it’s flowing so I start over. I just feel so unsettled today.

As I was changing my desktop I think I figured out why. Last weekend brought some pretty big changes. They weren’t for sure changes, but were almost certain. Then in the middle of the week it all changed again. And now, even though I know the final step, I don’t know what the steps to get there will look like. There are a few different options. And all of them are good. I just don’t know what the best path to the final step in this change is. But, I do know that the next few steps will be revealed to me when the time is right. And in the meantime I’ll just have to get used to being unsettled.

Two days till H0li

As I walk through the market I see bags of powder dye in all the stores. There is a sense of excitement in the air. Everyone on my language route asks me if I am coming to their house for h0li.
Everyone I have talked to about h0li has said one of two things. Either they love h0li and are very excited. Or they do not like it and said they will be staying in their homes. The ones who do not like h0li have cautioned me to stay inside. I've heard that it can get pretty crazy. But, Suzy and I have decided that we want to experience it at least once. I mean, we're here, I have a camera, it's h0li, I HAVE to get some pictures!!
Tomorrow Rashib(one of the shopkeepers on my route) is taking us to the temple to see how they do puj@ (worsh!p) for h0li. He said there are some stories that are told and he will explain them to us. Then on Monday Suzy and I will be going out around 9am(this is when h0li starts) to some of the homes on our routes. At 11:30 we are going to Rashib's house for lunch and then around 1ish there is another event at one of the chowks(intersection). They tie a rope about 30 feet in the air and from the rope a pot filled with money, milk and butter is hung. Then men climb on each others shoulders and try and break the pot with a stone. I'm not sure what the meaning behind all this is, but hopefully after Monday I will and will be able to explain it with the pictures.
Keep an eye out on Monday or Tuesday for an entry about h0li complete with pictures!! :D

On another note. I made homemade tater tots for dinner tonight. Here is a picture of them(your welcome mom!) It wasn't too hard to make them either. All you do is boil a couple whole potatoes till they are cooked through, but still firm. Let them cool a bit then shred them and mix a bit of salt, pepper and flour in, make them into tater tot shapes and fry them in oil. Try it out sometime! 

Changes...

Sometimes I just need a change. Sometimes there is a reason for the change. And with this one there is both. I had been using iweb to publish my website. And I'd liked it for the most part, but in some ways I found it limiting. One of the biggest things was that I couldn't add comments to it unless I published it to a mobile me account and they cost $99 a year. How I had it set up was having my brother host it(he got it all set up. I am NOT that techie!!) And the other thing was that I wasn't real happy with the templates they had. None of them were really "me". Plus the fact that I love change and cannot stick with things like the layout of a website for very long before I get board with it and want to change. And with iweb when you change the layout you have to republish ALL of it and it can take HOURS(or a day and a half here since our internet is not very fast)!!
So, all that said. I am now back to blogspot. I hope this doesn't confuse you all too much and that you still come and read my updates. I also hope that since part of the reason for the change was to be able to have comments that you will take a minute or two and go ahead and comment here!

Direction...

I didn’t quite realize it until just today, but since I got here to !nd!a I have lacked direction. I knew I was here because this is where Dad wanted me, and I knew that this was when I was supposed to be here. But I wasn’t exactly sure what I was to be doing other than learning H!nd!. I’ve felt unsettled for the past nine months. Part of it is just learning to live and make this home, but another part I believe is that I didn’t have any direction. Not because Dad wasn’t giving it to me, or because I wasn’t looking, but because it wasn’t time for me to have direction.

In December the visa rules here changed. Before, we were able to be here for up to 180 days before leaving just long enough to get an exit stamp in our passports and come back. We can still stay for 180 days, but then we have to leave for 2 months. This has thrown a loop into our plans. We knew before we came that a tourist visa would only be good for us for so long, but we didn’t expect to have to change them so soon. So, since December we’ve been thinking and writing notes to Dad about what He wants us to do.

Yesterday Suzy and I went down to D.D. to spend some time with the Clovers. While we were there we talked about some different options. We haven’t made any for sure decisions yet, but we were able to discuss our options and make some tentative decisions.

So, anyway. All this is to say that I have some direction now. I am excited about it, and even though I can’t give you details yet I wanted to let you all know. Please keep me in your notes as I process through this direction and figure out exactly what it will look like.