Weekend at the Country Club

Meet the Maholtra’s. They are our neighbors – Sunjay, Mona, and Ericka, and they are our closest friends here. They are incredible people who have been great to us. Their friendship is a huge blessing in my life.

This past week they asked Alicia and I to spend the weekend at the country club with them. You may be thinking “Indian Country Club?” Those were my thoughts exactly. I did not know quite what to expect, but it ended up being a great weekend.

The country club was outside a neighboring city about 2 hours away. As we got closer to our destination we turned off the main freeway and began traveling through the country and through local villages. I was beginning to wonder about this country club. After traveling to the middle of nowhere, we finally arrived at the Best Western Country Club Resort (I didn’t realize Best Western was even in India).

The resort was really nice by Indian standards and had all the Indian resort amenities – golf, crouquet, tennis, swimming, birdwatching, dancing, playgrounds, yard chess, yard bowling, ping pong, billiards, badmitton, bingo, live drum bands, goat-cart riding, and camel rides. (Every major resort should have goat-cart riding and camels :) ). It reminded me of those movies set at a 1960’s or early 1970’s country club, but it was really relaxing. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with the Malhotra’s and Alicia, swimming, playing cards, and eating, of course. However, besides the company I was with, my favorite part was that they had hammocks. Once again, I got to sit outside among green nature. I am strong believer of enjoying the simple things in life :).

The Universal Language Expansion

This past week our relationship with Anita has grown even more. As I mentioned, in the past she just cleaned our house and there wasn't much communication. We used to have to beg her to just sit at the table with us (It is usually not acceptable for helpers to sit with their employers). Now every evening she has been coming to our house, doing any work thats needed and then just sits at the table with me. We still can't talk much, but she just seems to want to sit for awhile. The other day she was almost falling asleep in the chair, so I talked her into taking a nap on our couch. That was a huge step for her. Now, it seems that at the end of the day (a very long one for her because she works in 6 homes), our house is a haven for her. A place where she can sit for a moment before going home to her family of seven. Thats what we want it to be for her. Now she has a nothing reason to sit at our table.

I mentioned in my previous blog that I was going to begin teaching English to my neighbor Mona's helpers, Jhuma and Monica. Mona also suggested that we offer to teach Anita's (our helper) two oldest daughters. We asked Anita and she said that SHE wanted to learn English. Now everyday at around 6 pm, Anita comes over, cleans a little bit and then sits at the table waiting to learn. Jhuma and Monica then join us. They both have had more exposure to English and know the sounds and such. They are further along than Anita, but she is trying really hard.

Today, I was out shopping, and did not get back until close to 7, but Anita was waiting for me at the table and she had brought a friend along. It can often be quite hilarious. They have all done quite well though. The best part is that they all really want to learn. Tonight, they all finally left my house after 9 pm. I had quit teaching (not that I have any clue what I am doing) but they kept learning and practices with each other. Yesterday, I taught them to say, "Hello, how are you? I am fine." It was so funny, because they were so cute. The best part was when Jhuma taught Anita to say, "Hello Alicia. How are you?" They went giggling to Alicia's room, and knocked on the door. Alica answered, and Anita said something unrecognizable. Then they all burst into laughter. So our language interaction is definately expanding these days. However, the universal language of laughter still wins out in the end.

Amusing Signs

The city I live in is pretty up-to-date compared to other cities in this country. However, much of its modernization has occurred over the past few years (or at least that is what I am told). Many modern things are still new to the people here. Things that we often take for granted in America are a big deal here and obviously require some instructions. For example...

This is a sign posted at one of the local malls. It makes me laugh...

Here is another one I find interesting. This is in an elevator.

Happy Mother's Day!

Yes, I realize this is a little late, but I didn't start blogging until after Mother's Day. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to tell how much I love my Momma!

Happy Late Mother's Day Momma! I love you and miss you bunches and bunches! Thank you for being the greatest Momma and friend in the world! I can't wait to see you 18 days, 9 hours, 21 minutes, and 11 seconds! ILUBB

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Daddy! I hope you had a wonderful day! I wish I could have been there with you! But I will get to see you in only 19 days 2 hours 54 minutes 13 seconds! WoooHooo! (With my arms flailing in the air - inside joke :)) Thanks for being the greatest Daddy in the entire world! I love you and miss you bunches and bunches! ILUBB

Return to the Mountains...

The week before last, we spent the week in Kullu, which a town in the valley of the Himalayas. (Sorry this blog is behind). Alicia did an excellent job of telling of our time there, so check out her blog for more details. I did want to write about some of my favorite aspects. Alicia's blog is www.namaskarsa.blogspot.com.

We went to Kullu videotape a very old teacher. His teachings have had tremdous impact in Northern India. We wanted to get his teachings videotaped so that future generations can benefit from them. The taping went relatively smoothly. Each day we had to hike up the mountain to where the taping was being done. There were a few snags in the taping such as having no electricity one day, the dog that barked very loudly in the background one day, me getting shocked, etc. Overall, things went well with the taping. Of course, right now I am in the editing stage of the video right now. Technology problems have constantly plagued me this week, but that is another story in itself that I will not bore you with -the details right now - maybe I'll bore you with them later :)

Back to the trip... It is beautiful in the Himalayas! I don't realize how much I miss nature until I am in the middle of it! It was a great break away from the city for awhile. I love big cities, but deep in my heart, I am a country girl. The week in the mountains reminded me of that. There is nothing like being in the midst of the King's amazing creation to help put everything in perspective.

There were two things in particular that I loved about the trip. Our hotel (nice and cheap) was located along a river (of course it was quite a steep climb down to it). From our hotel room you could hear the rushing river water. It was music to my ears compared the big city traffic :) One day I just sat on a rock in the river with my feet in the water for awhile. I could have sat there the rest of the week and would have been perfectly happy.

The one other thing that was really good for my heart on that trip was a swing. The hotel had what they called a little garden area and it had 2 swings (like the kind you would have on a porch). I don't know what my fascination with swings are, but I absolutely love them! (I also love hammocks.) I love sitting outside on a swing. So, that is exactly what I did that week. I sat. I sat on a swing up above a rushing river in the middle of the mountains. Life doesn't get much better than that.

Alot of other stuff happened on the trip including our team mate getting hospitalized and getting flown back to our city (she is okay now). Then there is our horribly long (16 hours), HOT bus ride home. You can read all about it and see more pictures on Alicia's blog. I just wanted to write about a few of favorite things.

After 9 Month Absense...

This past Friday, Alica and I went to our friends Jonathan and Kelly's house for a card night! For those of you who know me, you know that I love games, competitions, and especially cards! However, card playing has not really been a big part of my life since being here. The other night made me realize just how much I do love playing cards and how much I miss them. So, finally, after a 9 month absense, my love of cards has returned. Welcome back! We played Spades and Nertz. Jonathan and I won Spades, and Jonathan also dominated in Nertz. Of course, playing cards also made me think of my card playing buddies back in the states. I love and miss you all!


Thank you Jonathan, Kelly, and Alicia for a fun night!

Current Events

I have it pretty good here in India. There are very few things that I do without. Beef is probably the one thing I do without that I miss the most. However, its not that big of a deal and you just get used to it. (Of course, I will be in Thailand in exactly 9 days and have already planned out my beef meals :)) One thing I don't have is a T.V., but that is a choice that Alicia and I have made. We second guess that decision occasionally, but for the most part I don't miss it. The one thing I do miss is knowing what is going on in the world. However, to counteract our lack of media, we recieve the daily newspaper. (I don't really like reading the news from the Internet). I have never been a big newspaper reader, but I have been trying. It gives you something to talk about. I have gone through spurts lately. I would read it everyday for a while and then I would quit. However, I am beginning to wonder if reading the Indian newspaper is really helping me to know what is going on in the world. Sometimes, it is interesting and does seem to cover the major world news. Othertimes though, I have to wonder. Here is a perfect example. This is the front page of The Times of India, showing what to look forward to on the inside:


Somebody, anybody, please tell me there is something more important happening in international news. I am beginning to think that my knowledge of current events may be a little lacking. What do you think?

Southern Accent in High Demand...



Meet Mona. Mona is our next door neighbor. Amazing is the best word I know to describe Mona. She is a great friend of ours, and is the person we always turn to. She is good at everything and is just incredible. We are trully blessed to have Mona in our lives. Everyone needs a Mona.

Now meet Jhuma. Jhuma is Mona's helper who lives with her. Jhuma is 17 years old and works harder than anyone I know. She is precious. She doesn't speak much English but she is picking up more phrases everyday. She is a great friend of ours also. Mona also has one other young girl that helps her whose name is Monica. She is a sweet girl also.

The other day, Jhuma and Monica asked Mona to ask me if I would teach them English. Mona has been teaching them, but they said they wanted to learn the "accent." They said if they could understand and talk like me, they could talk to anyone. :) I tried to explain that my accent wasn't necessary correct and that it wasn't spoken worldwide, but they insisted. Who would have thought that the southern accent would be in high demand in India! lol.

Last night, Mona said, "I have an idea. Once the girls start learning to read more words, why don't you get an easy-to-read children's Bible and teach them using stories from it." What a novel idea! If she insists :)

The Universal Language Continued...

Tonight Alicia and I went to Anita's home for the first time. She lives in a very low income community, where her family of 7 lives in one small room. There was one large wooden bed (no mattress) that took up most the space. Alicia and I were curious about how the evening would go. In communities like Anita's, we normally attract quite a bit of attention (foreigners normally don't go there), and once again, we couldn't carry on conversations with them. However, it turned out to be a really fun time.

When we first arrived, Anita sat us on the bed while she went outside where she was cooking. Soon people, mainly woman and children, began to crowd in the doorway to see the foreigners. They wouldn't really come into the room. They mainly just hung out around the doorway. There were probably 12-14 women and children all together. It was really awkward, because it was as Alicia said, like being in a fish bowl. They would just look and smile at us, but wouldn't really interact with us. Many of the kids would smile and us and then duck out of the door. We just sat and smiled at them for awhile. Anita began bringing the food out, which was a ton. It meant alot because we know that they don't have much, but she really went the extra mile for us. She even made sure she had filtered water for us (I think the bottle came from our house :)) We ate until we were stuffed (of course we laughed some), and then the fun began.

So what do you do when you are in a room with a lot of people you can't hold a conversation with anyone (and the children are the cutest you've ever scene)? You bring out the camera. Our asking to take one photo turned into an hour long photo session. It was great. All the sudden everyone wanted to be in the pictures. Women started changing into their fancy clothes and made their husbands change shirts. Kids who wouldn't come anywhere near us, were then climbing all over us and calling us Didi (big sister in Hindi). We took picture after picture all amidst smiles and, of course, laughter. An evening that began with 2 foreigners alone in a room while everyone peeked through the doorway, ended with about 15 people crammed in a small room taking family photos with us.

As we left there tonight and literally pried children off of Alicia, I realized that there were not many words spoken all evening. However, once again, they really weren't necessary. A picture really is worth a thousand words, and tonight the pictures spoke volumes.

The Universal Language


Meet Anita. Anita is our house helper. She comes to our house everyday and cleans for us. Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds, but in this country it is quite common, and almost necessary. You see, this is just a dirty place. There is no nice way to put it. There is dirt everywhere and it covers everything. Without Anita, we would literally spend hours each day cleaning. This time of the year it is especially bad due to dust storms that come through and cover everything in your house with a layer of dust. All that to say, we are very thankful for Anita, and yes, I am probably a little spoiled :)

I love this picture because it describes mine and Alicia's relationship with Anita perfectly. Anita is from the state of West Bengal and speaks Bengali. I am from America and speak English. Our only language in common is Hindi and we both can speak very little of it, which makes for somewhat of a communication barrier. So, this is how our communication normally goes... We say the typical static Hindi greetings to each other. Then I try to speak to her in Hindi. Then she laughs at my attempt because she doesn't understand me (but apparently finds it very funny). Knowing how broken my Hindi is, I join along with her. So, we laugh together for a few minutes. Then we continue on with our work until one of us has something else to say. Then the cycle starts all over again.

Some people my find this type of communication annoying and pointless, but to me it illustrates a great point. I think that laughter is the universal language. No matter where you are in the world, laughter is the one language that everyone can speak. Granted there are different variations. There are snorts, squeals, chuckles, giggles, debarked dog laughs (my personal favorite), etc, but everyone can understand it. As long as there is laughter, words are not always necessary. For Anita and I, laughter is our common bond - and it works.

Victor Borge said, "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." This was true in our case. At first I only knew Anita as the little Indian lady who woke me up when she came into my room in the morning, turned the light on, and began to sweep. Then we started laughing together. Now I know her as the mother of 5 kids, who works at six different houses, lives in a 10 by 10 one- room house, and doesn't really care for American cooking. We don't talk much, but we are friends, and I greatly admire the hard-working woman she is.

Karl Barth said that "Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God." I think in many ways that is true. It provides a way for relationships when there is no other way. You can't explain it. You can only embrace, and it brings incredible joy to any where who experiences it.

WORLD'S GREATEST GRANDPARENTS CELEBRATE THEIR 54TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Today marks the 54th wedding anniversary of D.O. and Ina Mae Stanford, my grandparents. I just wanted to dedicate this blog to them. Thank you for your constant support and encouragement, and for the incredible examples you have been of people who live their lives for Him. Thank you for for loving each other and for loving me! Although we are worlds apart right now, you are always close to my heart. Happy Anniversary Mamaw and Papaw! I love you and miss you bunches!

Wherever I am, you are always with me!

DISCLAIMER: These pictures have been altered slightly :)

Mississippi Comes to Town

I started my blog a few weeks ago, but I am already behind on posting. I would like to dedicate a special blog to the Mississippi College Team that came and worked with us the last 2 weeks of May. There were 11 people in all, and they all were great! It was such a great time of encouragement for me. I enjoyed getting to know all of them, and I loved the touch of the South that filled our house for those couple weeks. Christy, Abe, Todd, Kelli, Matt, Amanda, Steven, Andy, Rachel, Justin, and Jacob -thank you for being a blessing to me! Thanks for all the stuff also! I think of you guys each time I open up our American food cabinet, which is very well stocked now! Thanks to my family and Lynn for all the stuff. It was like Christmas!

(The brownies are Alicia's. I am no longer such a picky eater, but I still don't like chocolate. I haven't changed that much :))