Saturday, May 3, 2014
We left on the night of April 29th to catch our flight from Bangkok to Kolkata, India. Pretty short and uneventful as far as airports and flights go. Also I was half asleep, so I don't remember much of it... I do know that when we got off the plane there were two women from Mega Cities (Kolkata is currently the focus of the Mega Cities initiative - sending as many outreach teams to that city as possible to really hammer them with Jesus) waiting for us. They got us on a bus that took our Music DTS people to their accommodations and continued on with us Children at Risk DTS people for about another hour to where we were going to stay. Oh, this is all at, like, 4 am. I slept through most of it. We got to our hostel at some point and just crashed. Two of our leaders went out to figure out our transportation to Darjeeling, and this is where things started getting complicated. We were trying to get tickets on a sleeper train to leave that night - no go. We did get tickets for the next morning though.
So we spent a day in Kolkata. We decided to go exchange money and buy proper Indian clothes. We left in two taxis. I think you see where this is going... I was in the second taxi with our leader and when we arrived (well, our taxi dropped us off about a block from where we wanted to be, but close enough, I guess) the other group was nowhere to be found! We searched for over an hour all up the street and surrounding areas. Some were a little panicked about losing a group of girls in Kolkata (because it sounds really bad when you say it like that), but others, knowing they had the address of our hostel, were sure they had just gone back and were likely totally fine. Which in the end was exactly what happened, but it was still a disconcerting few hours before we knew that.
It was so interesting getting to see Kolkata though. If I had to describe it in a few words, I would describe it as follows: fascinating, colorful and chaotic. And HOT and dirty. Now the long version (insider bonus fact: the following is an excerpt from my personal journal): {There are signs that say 'Follow the Traffic Rules', and that is potentially the funniest thing of life. The traffic rules I've been able to discern so far are:
Get out of the way or I will run you over
There is always space
Traffic lights and signs have no authority. There really isn't even a right side of the road. You see space, you go, and you go fast. We were at one intersection and I just had to laugh, it was so crazy. Tuks tuks came from every direction and were somehow weaving around each other in the absolute gridlock, horns honking constantly. One man jumped into the front seat of what I thought was a full tuk tuk. Like I said, if you see space, you go.
And the buildings - some looked like old brick university buildings, some were crumbling cement buildings. And then you get to the slums where structures are built out of bamboo rods and tarps and cloths. The roads are covered in potholes and just completely torn up in some places. There are water pumps on the side of the road, and that's where people wash their clothes and bathe themselves and drink. People just sit or stand wherever. And they really are quite invasive with white people, staring you full on in the face, touching your skin, chasing after you to get henna.
And the smell! Dust and sweat and urine and spices; a very strong scent, changing yet constant.
And the heat! Oh my goodness! Drenched through in seconds. What is even the point of taking a shower, I'm serious. Sweat rolling constantly everywhere it could possibly roll. A good inch thick layer of dust and sweat. And did I mention I was wearing jeans, long sleeves and runners.
The colors are so vibrant too. The dull grey of cement is broken up everywhere by brightly colored buildings, signs, cloth, and saris.}
So we got on the train the next morning, all set for our 10 hour ride. Yes, 10 hours. I really love trains, actually. The first five hours were wonderful, getting to see more of the country, passing villages and farms. But my seat was one of the backwards riding seats, so the last five hours were very motion sickness filled. For anyone who has traveled with me, you know that I DO NOT GET MOTION SICKNESS. So I was very unhappy. I had to throw up on a moving train. And I didn't even feel better afterwards. I felt nauseous for five hours, even after I took a motion sickness pill. Our nurse was shocked when I said it hadn't made any difference, apparently it is very strong, should have taken away my nausea and completely knocked me out. Gabie eventually brought me back to her forward facing seat and let me cuddle her carrot (She has an adorable stuffed carrot. It made me feel better.).
The train arrived...somewhere in India. New J...something... Yes. We had supper close by the train station and took rickshaws to our hotel. And guess what... there was an Indian wedding going on at that hotel! So there was super loud music going on outside our window, for a few hours... it did end at midnight though.
The next morning, May 2, we took a three hour Jeep ride up the mountain to Darjeeling. (Insider bonus fact: the following is another excerpt from my personal journal, lucky you!) {Winding roads and hairpin turns. Bumps that turned the back of the Jeep into a roller coaster. And a gorgeous view. The Himalayas are incredible. It's like a whole other world up here. The air got cooler and crisper. And the mountains - covered in terraces and greenery, cut through with the winding mountain road. As we got to towns, the colorful buildings (a different kind of colorful than Kolkata - more muted pastels than the bright, almost garish tones in the city) seemed to just be floating on the side of the mountain, piled atop each other. The roads were so narrow, with no guardrails, and sometimes I questioned how it was possible that there was room for cars to go past us in the other direction. We passed a beautiful spring, scattered with huge boulders.
You could also tell that we were getting further north, closer to the border - people started looking less Indian and more Tibetan or Nepali. We arrived in Darjeeling, this magical little town on a hill. Everywhere you walk, you're going up or down, and the narrow alleys enclosed by tall buildings reminds me of a quaint little European town.}
And it is cold here, compared to what we've been experiencing for the past four months. It's probably between 10 and 20 degrees, depending on the time of day, and it has been very rainy. It's Darjeeling's summer right now, just entering into rainy season.
Not only is the physical climate very different from Kolkata, but also the spiritual climate. Kolkata is chaotic and even sinister. Darjeeling actually has quite a large church presence, and the atmosphere here feels lighter and more hopeful.
Despite the damp cold, Darjeeling is possibly the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It's just the most adorable little town, full of little shops and markets. There are breathtaking views from nearly everywhere in the city, of the impressive panorama of the lush valleys and the majestic Himalayas. I feel like we're living in a city in the sky as I look down at the surrounding mountain ranges and see the clouds below us.
Prayer Requests:
that our individual team members and our team as a whole would be unaffected by the spiritual strongholds in Darjeeling: questioning identity and belonging; disunity
Health! Always health. Especially in India.
We left on the night of April 29th to catch our flight from Bangkok to Kolkata, India. Pretty short and uneventful as far as airports and flights go. Also I was half asleep, so I don't remember much of it... I do know that when we got off the plane there were two women from Mega Cities (Kolkata is currently the focus of the Mega Cities initiative - sending as many outreach teams to that city as possible to really hammer them with Jesus) waiting for us. They got us on a bus that took our Music DTS people to their accommodations and continued on with us Children at Risk DTS people for about another hour to where we were going to stay. Oh, this is all at, like, 4 am. I slept through most of it. We got to our hostel at some point and just crashed. Two of our leaders went out to figure out our transportation to Darjeeling, and this is where things started getting complicated. We were trying to get tickets on a sleeper train to leave that night - no go. We did get tickets for the next morning though.
So we spent a day in Kolkata. We decided to go exchange money and buy proper Indian clothes. We left in two taxis. I think you see where this is going... I was in the second taxi with our leader and when we arrived (well, our taxi dropped us off about a block from where we wanted to be, but close enough, I guess) the other group was nowhere to be found! We searched for over an hour all up the street and surrounding areas. Some were a little panicked about losing a group of girls in Kolkata (because it sounds really bad when you say it like that), but others, knowing they had the address of our hostel, were sure they had just gone back and were likely totally fine. Which in the end was exactly what happened, but it was still a disconcerting few hours before we knew that.
It was so interesting getting to see Kolkata though. If I had to describe it in a few words, I would describe it as follows: fascinating, colorful and chaotic. And HOT and dirty. Now the long version (insider bonus fact: the following is an excerpt from my personal journal): {There are signs that say 'Follow the Traffic Rules', and that is potentially the funniest thing of life. The traffic rules I've been able to discern so far are:
Get out of the way or I will run you over
There is always space
Traffic lights and signs have no authority. There really isn't even a right side of the road. You see space, you go, and you go fast. We were at one intersection and I just had to laugh, it was so crazy. Tuks tuks came from every direction and were somehow weaving around each other in the absolute gridlock, horns honking constantly. One man jumped into the front seat of what I thought was a full tuk tuk. Like I said, if you see space, you go.
And the buildings - some looked like old brick university buildings, some were crumbling cement buildings. And then you get to the slums where structures are built out of bamboo rods and tarps and cloths. The roads are covered in potholes and just completely torn up in some places. There are water pumps on the side of the road, and that's where people wash their clothes and bathe themselves and drink. People just sit or stand wherever. And they really are quite invasive with white people, staring you full on in the face, touching your skin, chasing after you to get henna.
And the smell! Dust and sweat and urine and spices; a very strong scent, changing yet constant.
And the heat! Oh my goodness! Drenched through in seconds. What is even the point of taking a shower, I'm serious. Sweat rolling constantly everywhere it could possibly roll. A good inch thick layer of dust and sweat. And did I mention I was wearing jeans, long sleeves and runners.
The colors are so vibrant too. The dull grey of cement is broken up everywhere by brightly colored buildings, signs, cloth, and saris.}
So we got on the train the next morning, all set for our 10 hour ride. Yes, 10 hours. I really love trains, actually. The first five hours were wonderful, getting to see more of the country, passing villages and farms. But my seat was one of the backwards riding seats, so the last five hours were very motion sickness filled. For anyone who has traveled with me, you know that I DO NOT GET MOTION SICKNESS. So I was very unhappy. I had to throw up on a moving train. And I didn't even feel better afterwards. I felt nauseous for five hours, even after I took a motion sickness pill. Our nurse was shocked when I said it hadn't made any difference, apparently it is very strong, should have taken away my nausea and completely knocked me out. Gabie eventually brought me back to her forward facing seat and let me cuddle her carrot (She has an adorable stuffed carrot. It made me feel better.).
The train arrived...somewhere in India. New J...something... Yes. We had supper close by the train station and took rickshaws to our hotel. And guess what... there was an Indian wedding going on at that hotel! So there was super loud music going on outside our window, for a few hours... it did end at midnight though.
The next morning, May 2, we took a three hour Jeep ride up the mountain to Darjeeling. (Insider bonus fact: the following is another excerpt from my personal journal, lucky you!) {Winding roads and hairpin turns. Bumps that turned the back of the Jeep into a roller coaster. And a gorgeous view. The Himalayas are incredible. It's like a whole other world up here. The air got cooler and crisper. And the mountains - covered in terraces and greenery, cut through with the winding mountain road. As we got to towns, the colorful buildings (a different kind of colorful than Kolkata - more muted pastels than the bright, almost garish tones in the city) seemed to just be floating on the side of the mountain, piled atop each other. The roads were so narrow, with no guardrails, and sometimes I questioned how it was possible that there was room for cars to go past us in the other direction. We passed a beautiful spring, scattered with huge boulders.
You could also tell that we were getting further north, closer to the border - people started looking less Indian and more Tibetan or Nepali. We arrived in Darjeeling, this magical little town on a hill. Everywhere you walk, you're going up or down, and the narrow alleys enclosed by tall buildings reminds me of a quaint little European town.}
And it is cold here, compared to what we've been experiencing for the past four months. It's probably between 10 and 20 degrees, depending on the time of day, and it has been very rainy. It's Darjeeling's summer right now, just entering into rainy season.
Not only is the physical climate very different from Kolkata, but also the spiritual climate. Kolkata is chaotic and even sinister. Darjeeling actually has quite a large church presence, and the atmosphere here feels lighter and more hopeful.
Despite the damp cold, Darjeeling is possibly the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It's just the most adorable little town, full of little shops and markets. There are breathtaking views from nearly everywhere in the city, of the impressive panorama of the lush valleys and the majestic Himalayas. I feel like we're living in a city in the sky as I look down at the surrounding mountain ranges and see the clouds below us.
Prayer Requests:
that our individual team members and our team as a whole would be unaffected by the spiritual strongholds in Darjeeling: questioning identity and belonging; disunity
Health! Always health. Especially in India.
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