My health has offcially gone to the crapper. After my appendix felt better I stopped taking the pain killers, which, turned out to be strong narcotic prescription pain killers (that I got without a prescription). I had been taking them for 3 days, and when I stopped taking them, I had really painful withdrawls, so needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night. This morning I woke up with a huge headache and fever which I feared might be a sign of my appendix bursting. I called my parents and had them get information and they left me assured that if it burst... I would feel it. I'm now having a terrible sinus headache which gets better when I sit up. I made a make-shift futon so I can sleep sitting up tonight.
If that wasn't enough inconvenience, just to top things off, I have "pit-ne" or as medical professionals would call it: "acne of the pits". The cause of this being my "Prescription strength" antiperspirant I started using before I left. I thought to myself "well this stuff is amazing!" and it really was the first stuff I've used that stopped pit sweat completely. 3 days ago I woke up with these weird red-ish bumps on my right arm pit, which I wrote off as mosquito bites. Well today I took a closer look cause it felt really irritating to put my right arm down... FULL BLOWN WHITE HEADS! I actually started washing my pitts with cleanser! gahh..
Sooo .... yeah. hi.. I'm Josiah Siemens..... and I have pit-ne
On the bright side, my face is clearing up. Mayang asked " do you kno why your skin is clearing up?".... "because I started to wash my face 3 times a day with cleanser?"... "No mahn. it's the spicy food". I don't really believe him..... but I'm keeping up both rituals. Just to be sure.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
8/23/08 12:00pm
Well... it happened. My appendix flared up. I'm not in as much pain as I usually am... it's pretty mild, probably because I've had it so many times now that I'm getting used to it. I felt it coming a few days ago and hoped it was just a stomach ache. Last night was terrible because I couldn't fall asleep. I went to bed early which meant there were lights on, and I couldn't cover my eyes because of a sinus headache.
People are asking me if I want to go to the hospital, but for the first time ever I don't want treatment. I fell that it is not as clean there, and the conditions people are being treated for seem pretty server compared to that of the US. I would rather wait it out then risk a staff infection.
It's kinda weird, because I am reading into the wild again, and I'm at the part describing him starving to death, and I feel as if I'm starving to death because of the abdominal pain. It makes it real 3-D.
Amy and Ellen took me and Andy out to dinner after church for "foreigners night out" to ask how we were doing and if there was anything bothering us... and there really wasn't. Andi and myself are both equally laid back about everything, so we didn't have much to complain about. Amy and Ellen told us that we were heaven sent, because of how we handle everything and how "chill" we are. I guess they've had some internationals in that past that freaked out pretty easily because of the conditions here.
People are asking me if I want to go to the hospital, but for the first time ever I don't want treatment. I fell that it is not as clean there, and the conditions people are being treated for seem pretty server compared to that of the US. I would rather wait it out then risk a staff infection.
It's kinda weird, because I am reading into the wild again, and I'm at the part describing him starving to death, and I feel as if I'm starving to death because of the abdominal pain. It makes it real 3-D.
Amy and Ellen took me and Andy out to dinner after church for "foreigners night out" to ask how we were doing and if there was anything bothering us... and there really wasn't. Andi and myself are both equally laid back about everything, so we didn't have much to complain about. Amy and Ellen told us that we were heaven sent, because of how we handle everything and how "chill" we are. I guess they've had some internationals in that past that freaked out pretty easily because of the conditions here.
Friday, August 22, 2008
8/21/08 madolin room st. stephens
Yesterday my group had an extra hour before our home group started, so we decided to buy hot food and give it to beggars. I fed drug addicts, amputees, lepers, homeless elderly, and a couple elderly leper drug addicts, and a guy that was just hungry (he looked like Gandhi). we fed a couple with what looked to be a crack baby. Everyone was really appreciative (except some addicts who were just not there). It was a really good time. We didn't preach, we didn't beat anyone over the head with a bible... we just fed them and talked to them. We were feeding them in this pretty popular shopping area, and guys were singleing me out of the whole group to sell me hash pipes. I guess them Indians know a hippie when they see one.
Later we went to a thai family's house where they served us AMAZING Thai food, which included beef. Let me tell you.... god tastes goood after not eating one for a month. They sent the leftovers with me and Amy to take home. Amy asked Abel "isn't it illegal to sell beef here"..."yes I think so". we excepted it and took the contraband on the metro. indeed we were "beef traffickers".
I still haven't come to grips with being on the other side of the world. And I've concluded that the earth is flat, and if it isn't then it should be. I could just dig a little and jump back and forth from india to... well I don't know exactly where the hole would go to. but it would make trips like these cheaper. I've also decided that when I talk to April, she's not in america. She's in a parallel universe. But if she is in a parallel universe then that would mean she would be a dude... which would make me gay... UNLESS... I turned out to be a girl in her universe.. and she turned out to be the guy. Well I guess that means she wears the pants in the relationship from here on out.... mostly because when I get home I refuse to wear pants.
I ended up switching back to my old bed for 3 reasons... 1. The wind from the fan wouldn't hit that part of the room 2. there were so many mats, it sunk in a bunch and I figured that I would need a chiropractor after using it for 4 months.... 3. there turns out to be a mold issue on the wall over there which means I turned asmetic and couldn't breathe. I found this out after talking to April till 5am i figured "I'll just sleep 4 hours and then take a nap the next day"... well I went to bed, fell asleep for like 10 minutes, then woke up not breathing. I couldn't sleep all night because I couldn't breathe. the next day I was really looking forward to taking a nap, I tried and again I couldn't breathe. I walked across the street to the chemist and got a prescription inhaler without a prescription and was fine. after I moved back to my old bed I stopped having issues. then I realized there was mold all over that wall and that's what probably did it.
April had asked me how many homosexuals I had seen in Delhi... and I told her I couldn't tell because all the guys hold hands.
My roomie Mayang reminds me a little of Ben Vandy. Mostly because he talks about meat ALOT. Where he comes from in Nagaland he ate meat every day for every meal, so he's having his withdrawals from eating vegitarian 5 out of 7 days. Mayang said that his tribe two or three generations back were head hunters. They don't do that anymore, but they still kill and eat just about anything that moves. We were walking in this beautiful garden with tons of exotic birds flying overhead. "Wow would you look at those birds man!" I thought he was going to start Ooing and Ahhing over their beauty "I show you what we do if this were Nagaland..." then he pulled out his imaginary shot gun and proceeded to shoot the parrots, complete with sound effects.
We were walking by a cow in the road and I'm pretty sure he actually started salivating..."My goodness will you look at all that meat!! I tell you this, man, you will never hear of a Naga starving in india, if we got very hungry we would just kill the cow." His favorite meats are pork, beef and chicken. but he has much more variety than that. when he listed off meats that he ate on a regular basis(might not want to let Bret in on this one), the included were, bear, sheep, deer, bird, dog, rat, monkey, elephant, snake, and to Aarons envy, house cat.
He said when you go hunt a dog it's like guys night out. all the bro's start getting routey and go out on the street and kill a stray, bring him in and feast. He has a really really disturbing way of making it sound appetizing. I was actually craving some shiatsu by the time he was done.
Later we went to a thai family's house where they served us AMAZING Thai food, which included beef. Let me tell you.... god tastes goood after not eating one for a month. They sent the leftovers with me and Amy to take home. Amy asked Abel "isn't it illegal to sell beef here"..."yes I think so". we excepted it and took the contraband on the metro. indeed we were "beef traffickers".
I still haven't come to grips with being on the other side of the world. And I've concluded that the earth is flat, and if it isn't then it should be. I could just dig a little and jump back and forth from india to... well I don't know exactly where the hole would go to. but it would make trips like these cheaper. I've also decided that when I talk to April, she's not in america. She's in a parallel universe. But if she is in a parallel universe then that would mean she would be a dude... which would make me gay... UNLESS... I turned out to be a girl in her universe.. and she turned out to be the guy. Well I guess that means she wears the pants in the relationship from here on out.... mostly because when I get home I refuse to wear pants.
I ended up switching back to my old bed for 3 reasons... 1. The wind from the fan wouldn't hit that part of the room 2. there were so many mats, it sunk in a bunch and I figured that I would need a chiropractor after using it for 4 months.... 3. there turns out to be a mold issue on the wall over there which means I turned asmetic and couldn't breathe. I found this out after talking to April till 5am i figured "I'll just sleep 4 hours and then take a nap the next day"... well I went to bed, fell asleep for like 10 minutes, then woke up not breathing. I couldn't sleep all night because I couldn't breathe. the next day I was really looking forward to taking a nap, I tried and again I couldn't breathe. I walked across the street to the chemist and got a prescription inhaler without a prescription and was fine. after I moved back to my old bed I stopped having issues. then I realized there was mold all over that wall and that's what probably did it.
April had asked me how many homosexuals I had seen in Delhi... and I told her I couldn't tell because all the guys hold hands.
My roomie Mayang reminds me a little of Ben Vandy. Mostly because he talks about meat ALOT. Where he comes from in Nagaland he ate meat every day for every meal, so he's having his withdrawals from eating vegitarian 5 out of 7 days. Mayang said that his tribe two or three generations back were head hunters. They don't do that anymore, but they still kill and eat just about anything that moves. We were walking in this beautiful garden with tons of exotic birds flying overhead. "Wow would you look at those birds man!" I thought he was going to start Ooing and Ahhing over their beauty "I show you what we do if this were Nagaland..." then he pulled out his imaginary shot gun and proceeded to shoot the parrots, complete with sound effects.
We were walking by a cow in the road and I'm pretty sure he actually started salivating..."My goodness will you look at all that meat!! I tell you this, man, you will never hear of a Naga starving in india, if we got very hungry we would just kill the cow." His favorite meats are pork, beef and chicken. but he has much more variety than that. when he listed off meats that he ate on a regular basis(might not want to let Bret in on this one), the included were, bear, sheep, deer, bird, dog, rat, monkey, elephant, snake, and to Aarons envy, house cat.
He said when you go hunt a dog it's like guys night out. all the bro's start getting routey and go out on the street and kill a stray, bring him in and feast. He has a really really disturbing way of making it sound appetizing. I was actually craving some shiatsu by the time he was done.
Monday, August 18, 2008
8/18/08 St. Stephens- Madelin room 10:30pm
Two Days ago it was India's Independence day. one thing we have in common with Indians is that we both celebrate our Independence from the British, which made it a little comical to celebrate it with Andy from London. Unlike us Americans, they actually remember the oppressors, and they actually celebrate their Independence, not just the ability to shoot fir works off and blow things up with piccolo pete's. I like their tradition more than ours: instead of fireworks they fly kites. As we boarded the metro I looked out and saw what at first looked like Hitchcock's "the birds". Thousands of birds. tens of thousands. I thought they were birds.
On their Independence day, every boy and girl, children and adults fill the rooftops flying kites. And not our sissy way of doing it....they had those kites so high that it looked dangerous to fly over Delhi in a plane. Kites higher than I thought possible. I swear every citizen in Delhi was doing it (I wonder if the youth groups here have kite stands)
To celebrate Independence day we went out to a park with kids from a slum. We played games and sang Hindi children worship songs with hand motions, told stories, flew kites, handed out snakes and soft drinks and just hung out. it was really fun. Afterwards we took rickshaws back to the Coffin's apartment and ate pork (imported from Shillong, they don't eat pork here), watched the Olympics and watched Bruce almighty. the reason we watched Bruce almighty was because of our guest speaker from Shillong (who brought the pork) kept refering to it and quoting and said (jokingly) that if you are a christian and haven't seen bruce almighty, then your life will only be half fulfilled and you risk the very fires of hell.
The man's name is Godfry Fernandez (not spanish, just a coincidence I guess) and he is a very relational,very outgoing, very funny vineyard pastor. He reminds me of a mix between Aaron, Mr. Bean and Inspector Clusso. After talking to him for a while I found out that he is very involved with vineyard and is good friends with Andy Park, Scott Underwood and the guy who wrote "Dwell" and is organizing a concert for Delirious? in Shillong. He came here for a week to teach us "how to build healthy a healthy relationship". Something he said on the first day was that "space is healthy and necessary for a lasting relationship to grow healthy and strong" that "space can be just as important as love, passion and all the things it takes for a relationship to last". I thought to myself, "Wow, I really hope so. I don't think I could put any more space than me and April without talking to NASA"
Right now I'm sitting on my new bed. In the corner of the room there was one cot with 7 matts on it where we putt the guitars and bags. I decided to transfer all that crap to my bed and put sheets on the "super cot". Everyone here is pretty used to sleeping on hard surfaces so they didn't mind me taking it. I guess I'm OK and used to sleeping on hard things and the ground(from my late nights crashing at the Hooves) but I thought it wouldn't hurt to be a little more comfortable.
I'm listening to Alisha play and sing. He is like an Indian juke box. Every song he sings reminds me of someone. JUST today he played Zombie by the cranberrys (reminded me of Jordan) then the ballad of john and yoko (guess who I thought of), the californication (Caleb), That Thing You Do (My dad), Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin (My mom), Mr tambourine man (Alex) and then "Roxane" (April again [in her banquet dress...heh]). It's kinda funny cause he sings everything in his head voice and in his Naga accent and he gets all the words wrong.
"It's been a hard days flight, and I've been working like a log" and "sleeping like a frog" "pretty shy for a white guy" and that kind of thing.
On their Independence day, every boy and girl, children and adults fill the rooftops flying kites. And not our sissy way of doing it....they had those kites so high that it looked dangerous to fly over Delhi in a plane. Kites higher than I thought possible. I swear every citizen in Delhi was doing it (I wonder if the youth groups here have kite stands)
To celebrate Independence day we went out to a park with kids from a slum. We played games and sang Hindi children worship songs with hand motions, told stories, flew kites, handed out snakes and soft drinks and just hung out. it was really fun. Afterwards we took rickshaws back to the Coffin's apartment and ate pork (imported from Shillong, they don't eat pork here), watched the Olympics and watched Bruce almighty. the reason we watched Bruce almighty was because of our guest speaker from Shillong (who brought the pork) kept refering to it and quoting and said (jokingly) that if you are a christian and haven't seen bruce almighty, then your life will only be half fulfilled and you risk the very fires of hell.
The man's name is Godfry Fernandez (not spanish, just a coincidence I guess) and he is a very relational,very outgoing, very funny vineyard pastor. He reminds me of a mix between Aaron, Mr. Bean and Inspector Clusso. After talking to him for a while I found out that he is very involved with vineyard and is good friends with Andy Park, Scott Underwood and the guy who wrote "Dwell" and is organizing a concert for Delirious? in Shillong. He came here for a week to teach us "how to build healthy a healthy relationship". Something he said on the first day was that "space is healthy and necessary for a lasting relationship to grow healthy and strong" that "space can be just as important as love, passion and all the things it takes for a relationship to last". I thought to myself, "Wow, I really hope so. I don't think I could put any more space than me and April without talking to NASA"
Right now I'm sitting on my new bed. In the corner of the room there was one cot with 7 matts on it where we putt the guitars and bags. I decided to transfer all that crap to my bed and put sheets on the "super cot". Everyone here is pretty used to sleeping on hard surfaces so they didn't mind me taking it. I guess I'm OK and used to sleeping on hard things and the ground(from my late nights crashing at the Hooves) but I thought it wouldn't hurt to be a little more comfortable.
I'm listening to Alisha play and sing. He is like an Indian juke box. Every song he sings reminds me of someone. JUST today he played Zombie by the cranberrys (reminded me of Jordan) then the ballad of john and yoko (guess who I thought of), the californication (Caleb), That Thing You Do (My dad), Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin (My mom), Mr tambourine man (Alex) and then "Roxane" (April again [in her banquet dress...heh]). It's kinda funny cause he sings everything in his head voice and in his Naga accent and he gets all the words wrong.
"It's been a hard days flight, and I've been working like a log" and "sleeping like a frog" "pretty shy for a white guy" and that kind of thing.
8/4/08 Madelin room St. Spephens hostle.
I'm now sitting on my new bed in my new room which I have dubbed the "Madelin room". It looks just like the room in that madolin cartoon with that girl living in a catholic orphanage. 20 foot ceiling with 2 rows of 5 beds (not from this entry, but since there are 10 beds for 3 people, I've moved beds 5 times since I've been here).
I came to india with pretty low expectations of how the bathrooms would be, but then I got to my room (old room) and saw a shower and a wonderful all to taken for granted, western toilet! Having a shower was so refreshing with all the humidity getting you sticky. I was taking quick showers twice a day. They shouldn't have spoiled me.
When they moved us to this room, I had my guard down so I was utterly disappointed to fine no shower. but there is a sink and a western toilet..... that don't have water running to them. so every time someone uses the bathroom we have to run outside, fill up a bucket with water, then carry it back and pour it in the toilet to flush. The worst part is that I was SOO ready for MUCH worse a situation and then they spoiled me with the other room... ha.
One of the rules we agreed to was to "not speak in our mother tongues in front of others that cannot understand it" excluding English and Hindi. The rule is mainly because it's a little rude, people think you're talking about them and using your tribal tongue to make sure you can't hear the bad things your saying. there are 16 people in the class, from 12 different parts of India each one knows 4 or 5 languages and they differ from person to person. I figure we have anywhere from 20 to 40 languages between all of us.
Mayang confronted me at dinner and asked "do you and Andy speak any other language besides English?" I told him that I speak a little Spanish and Andy probably speaks a few European languages. "do you ever speak Spanish with each other in front of Alisha?" I told him that no, and that I speak very little Spanish and he could think of me as mono linguistic "ok, because Alisha says that you usually speak in a different language than English in front of him". He can't understand my english. Right after that Yuraj asked me if I thought I had a very think accent. "no I don't think so". It turns out that we do have an accent, and he said people from California and New Zealand have the hardest accents to understand. We say "budder" instead of "butter" and "cenner" instead of "center" and "wadder" instead of "water". they could understand Andy perfectly though because the british are very persice (and ruled them for 300 years). I have to talk like Dwight Schrewt from The Office for some of them to understand (or under-sdand) anything I say. It's kinda fun
Turns out that not only can I not speak hindi, but I can't speak english either
I came to india with pretty low expectations of how the bathrooms would be, but then I got to my room (old room) and saw a shower and a wonderful all to taken for granted, western toilet! Having a shower was so refreshing with all the humidity getting you sticky. I was taking quick showers twice a day. They shouldn't have spoiled me.
When they moved us to this room, I had my guard down so I was utterly disappointed to fine no shower. but there is a sink and a western toilet..... that don't have water running to them. so every time someone uses the bathroom we have to run outside, fill up a bucket with water, then carry it back and pour it in the toilet to flush. The worst part is that I was SOO ready for MUCH worse a situation and then they spoiled me with the other room... ha.
One of the rules we agreed to was to "not speak in our mother tongues in front of others that cannot understand it" excluding English and Hindi. The rule is mainly because it's a little rude, people think you're talking about them and using your tribal tongue to make sure you can't hear the bad things your saying. there are 16 people in the class, from 12 different parts of India each one knows 4 or 5 languages and they differ from person to person. I figure we have anywhere from 20 to 40 languages between all of us.
Mayang confronted me at dinner and asked "do you and Andy speak any other language besides English?" I told him that I speak a little Spanish and Andy probably speaks a few European languages. "do you ever speak Spanish with each other in front of Alisha?" I told him that no, and that I speak very little Spanish and he could think of me as mono linguistic "ok, because Alisha says that you usually speak in a different language than English in front of him". He can't understand my english. Right after that Yuraj asked me if I thought I had a very think accent. "no I don't think so". It turns out that we do have an accent, and he said people from California and New Zealand have the hardest accents to understand. We say "budder" instead of "butter" and "cenner" instead of "center" and "wadder" instead of "water". they could understand Andy perfectly though because the british are very persice (and ruled them for 300 years). I have to talk like Dwight Schrewt from The Office for some of them to understand (or under-sdand) anything I say. It's kinda fun
Turns out that not only can I not speak hindi, but I can't speak english either
8/3/08
I'm sitting in my bed in my funky monastery next to my new roomies Alisha (guy) and Mayang. It's really weird because I know I'm the youngest, but I feel older than all the nationals. the second youngest student, Allysha, is 24. He reminds me of Nate Vanderhoof mixed with that kid from little miss sunshine who took a vow of silence. Then there is Mayang (31) and Julie(28) and a married couple Named Yuraj(31) and Suda(28) and I don't know how old Andy is. I guess in her 40's. They are all older than Caleb yet they look like they can't be more than 17 or 18 or less.
I kinda misjudged Andy. It was hard for me to see the real person and look past all the stereo-types she seemed to fit (perfectly). She is a wonderful sweet adventurous woman who is open to any new experience. After chatting with her for a little bit I found out she was from the first UK Vineyard to come out of Anaheim. Most of the UK Vineyard music that I like seems to come from her church. I figure I have a nice new connection with the UK vineyard.
I kinda misjudged Andy. It was hard for me to see the real person and look past all the stereo-types she seemed to fit (perfectly). She is a wonderful sweet adventurous woman who is open to any new experience. After chatting with her for a little bit I found out she was from the first UK Vineyard to come out of Anaheim. Most of the UK Vineyard music that I like seems to come from her church. I figure I have a nice new connection with the UK vineyard.
8/1/08 10:00pm Delhi catholic parish/ hostle/thingy
I've been in Delhi for 3 days and still haven't had much Indian food. We went to a KFC McDonald's and had pizza at Narula's. I went to all those places with Abel. He also took me to the Capitol and to India Gate. Then we went back to his apartment and I fell asleep at 6:30pm. at 3am he woke me up and brought me in the living room. His room ates were chillin with these northeastern girls (looked Filipino). Right away they asked me about my hair and if it was real and other odd questions then constantly chanted "love your hair, very nice". later Abel told me that they were crazy about my long hair and kept talking about it after I went back to sleep (the two nights I was there no on slept until like 4:00am. except me)
I went back to Amy's on an auto and met the other international student. Her name is Andi she is a token British lady strait out of walrus and grumet. She's pretty nice.
Amy told me that even Indians who aren't Hindu or vegitarian still find the idea of eating a cow repulsive just because it's so uncommon. She said it would be like eating golden retriever puppys or a horse in the US. Wonder if they say "I'm so hungry I could eat a cow!"
I'm laying in bed at St Something-or-others parish or something. This will be my home for the next 5 months, it's the nicest place I've seen so far. When I thought about going to India, I jokingly imagined myself joining a monastery and becoming a monk. Turns out I'm living in one....(the monastery, not the monk. that would be like in star wars when he cuts that thing open to stay warm....yeah). I think I'm sleeping in a room next to 15 nuns
CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRLS RULE
I went back to Amy's on an auto and met the other international student. Her name is Andi she is a token British lady strait out of walrus and grumet. She's pretty nice.
Amy told me that even Indians who aren't Hindu or vegitarian still find the idea of eating a cow repulsive just because it's so uncommon. She said it would be like eating golden retriever puppys or a horse in the US. Wonder if they say "I'm so hungry I could eat a cow!"
I'm laying in bed at St Something-or-others parish or something. This will be my home for the next 5 months, it's the nicest place I've seen so far. When I thought about going to India, I jokingly imagined myself joining a monastery and becoming a monk. Turns out I'm living in one....(the monastery, not the monk. that would be like in star wars when he cuts that thing open to stay warm....yeah). I think I'm sleeping in a room next to 15 nuns
CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRLS RULE
Saturday, August 16, 2008
7/31/08 Abel's Apartment - New Delhi 7:00 am
I'm now on a fourth story balcony in New Delhi at an apartment owned by a sweet 29 year old north-eastern man (looks Chinese) named Abel (pronounced "A-Bell").
Yesterday I just chilled at Amy's and read a little. Then she took me out for an Indian snack. We saw 2 cows on the way, and a couple Gypsy children who did pretty impressive acrobatic tricks for a couple rupees. after taking a nap she took me on a rickshaw to the metro, and from the metro to an Americanized coffee place. There I met a nice guy named Elisha. he took me on a three wheeled rickshaw to a Church home group. On the way I figured out that the drivers don't honk because they're too aggressive or inconsiderate (although they are), it's a common courtesy. there are stickers on the backs of cars that say "horn please" (heh). I am baffled how they can be such terrible drivers, yet can at the same time be amazing talented drivers.
When we got to home group I met Simeon and Abel . Amy gave a teaching on radical love and Simeon lead worship. He played 4 popular vineyard songs then 2 hindi songs. I think that it's pretty cool that I can go half way around the world and still worship and sing with my family. Elisha showed me a couple cool songs (he's really good at guitar), then asked me to show him something, so I played the rift for dwell and he picked it up on first hearing without any instruction. I showed them a couple jeremy riddle songs and some aaron struple songs and they thought i was the.... .doo doo..(gee wilikers).
amy asked if I would feel comfortable staying at Abels apartment and I said sure. Abel is a generous northeastern man with an accent that I can barley understand (I still can't understand a word that guy says mahn). He complimented my hair and told me his used to be long and that he would show me pictures. when we got to his apartment his roommates were watching VHI. We talked for a bit and exchanged pictures pictures. I showed him some of my house and then a few of April and he just kept saying "ohh very pretty" and "OHhh my god yes she is so beautiful". He gave me his bed and showed me his whole in the ground toilet next to a bucket with a measuring cup that I had read so much about. I woke up with him right next to me... with only the thought "wow... 24 hours in india and I'm sleeping with an indian man I just met"
I'm now up before everyone else on the balcony and I am thinking of how crazy it is that my youth group is meeting on the other side of the world, with their feet pointed up towards mine....... whoa.... gravity....
CaaRAZY!
Yesterday I just chilled at Amy's and read a little. Then she took me out for an Indian snack. We saw 2 cows on the way, and a couple Gypsy children who did pretty impressive acrobatic tricks for a couple rupees. after taking a nap she took me on a rickshaw to the metro, and from the metro to an Americanized coffee place. There I met a nice guy named Elisha. he took me on a three wheeled rickshaw to a Church home group. On the way I figured out that the drivers don't honk because they're too aggressive or inconsiderate (although they are), it's a common courtesy. there are stickers on the backs of cars that say "horn please" (heh). I am baffled how they can be such terrible drivers, yet can at the same time be amazing talented drivers.
When we got to home group I met Simeon and Abel . Amy gave a teaching on radical love and Simeon lead worship. He played 4 popular vineyard songs then 2 hindi songs. I think that it's pretty cool that I can go half way around the world and still worship and sing with my family. Elisha showed me a couple cool songs (he's really good at guitar), then asked me to show him something, so I played the rift for dwell and he picked it up on first hearing without any instruction. I showed them a couple jeremy riddle songs and some aaron struple songs and they thought i was the.... .doo doo..(gee wilikers).
amy asked if I would feel comfortable staying at Abels apartment and I said sure. Abel is a generous northeastern man with an accent that I can barley understand (I still can't understand a word that guy says mahn). He complimented my hair and told me his used to be long and that he would show me pictures. when we got to his apartment his roommates were watching VHI. We talked for a bit and exchanged pictures pictures. I showed him some of my house and then a few of April and he just kept saying "ohh very pretty" and "OHhh my god yes she is so beautiful". He gave me his bed and showed me his whole in the ground toilet next to a bucket with a measuring cup that I had read so much about. I woke up with him right next to me... with only the thought "wow... 24 hours in india and I'm sleeping with an indian man I just met"
I'm now up before everyone else on the balcony and I am thinking of how crazy it is that my youth group is meeting on the other side of the world, with their feet pointed up towards mine....... whoa.... gravity....
CaaRAZY!
7/30/08 8:30am Coffin Apartment- Delhi India
I'm sitting in an apartment i Delhi. I just had the most amazing taxi ride ever. have you seen the beginning of the Darjeeling limited? it was just like that, only way more intense. I think I was even in a similar looking taxi with a Punjabi driver. Even tho we were heading tword on coming cars, barley missed a few pedestrians and cows, I felt really safe. Everyone is very aware of the dysfunction, so people expect other drivers to do ridiculous things, so they're always ready for it. (not from this entry, but I've been here 18 days, and been in an auto rickshaw almost everyday and I think I've seen more accidents in the US in 3 weeks than here. I haven't seen one accident here). on a highway with 2 lanes, they fit 5 cars shoulder to shoulder, or even more auto rickshaws, or even more motorcycles. (may I also comment that with the traffic worse than LA I have not been STUCK in traffic once. everyone keeps moving and using any available space, on the road or off). There is no order here... it is very much chaotic, but as my dad would say, it's "poetry in motion". The taxi guy must have honked the horn 100 times in our 20 minute ride from the airport.
On the way to the apartment, they kept commenting on the bad smell in certain areas we were passing. I found everything smelling INCREDIBLE! New smells, smells I didn't think were possible. good smells. (Aaron wouldn't survive here tho)
when I got to this apartment 20 minutes ago, they gave me green tea. Feels like home already.
On the way to the apartment, they kept commenting on the bad smell in certain areas we were passing. I found everything smelling INCREDIBLE! New smells, smells I didn't think were possible. good smells. (Aaron wouldn't survive here tho)
when I got to this apartment 20 minutes ago, they gave me green tea. Feels like home already.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Frankfort Germany Runway 7/29/08 6:00 am
I am now aboard a 747 Air India in Germany awaiting takeoff.
I had a pretty pleasant flights yesterday, and even thought my plane was delayed 3 hours I didn't mind. It gave me more time to talk to April. I met a nice older German lady that looked strikingly like my Grandma-Dina. She commented on my last name and told me I should find out if I'm directly related to the company. In Denver when I showed my passport the the stewardess, she said "AAaaaahhh mister Siemens!" *flips a page and with a disappointed voice..* "from...California?". When I got off the plane the pilots were saying "Goodbye" to every person they thought wasn't German and then goodbye in German to the people they thought were German. and of course they looked at my ID and thought I was German, as did everyone in the airport I showed my ID to. I felt strangely close to every German I talked to. I felt distant bond.
Shortly after I got off the plane, I passed through the seven circles of German bureaucratic hell. First, no one knew where to find Air India, and those who thought they did sent me in the wrong direction. I was three hours later than expected so I had less than an hour to find my plane (which, lucky for me, had been delay). After I found it I waited in this huge line to get my boarding pass, and kept getting cut by indian people (a little taste of indian culture). after 45 minutes I got up to the counter and they told me that my ticket was no good untill united airlines updated it. After I went 3 floors to United, they told me they couldn't do anything until I got a boarding pass from air india. So I ran back down and waited in line again to hear "No, your ticket has to say "Frankfort to Delhi' to get a boarding pass. United has to update it."
With time running short I ran up three floors to the United desk "Sorry, we just closed. the only open counter is at the entrance of the terminal" "What? I have to go thru security again?" "Yes. Sorry". the entrance was ALLL the way down the airport, and it's the biggest I've been in. I found it only to hear from this Jamaican lady (Jamaican? I know right?) "sorry they should have updated it in fresno. There is nothing I can do. Take it to air india and they might give you a new one." "NO! I've been back and fourth to many times. They can't do it! YOU have to do it!" "sorry the ticket's no good. They should have changed it in fresno"..extremely frustrated and sleep deprived I yelled..."Well UNITED issued my ticket, UNITED screwed up my flight, UNITED is going to fix it! This shouldn't even be an issue!" And so she finally gave me my new ticket.
With no time, and basically late for boarding I ran to security and waited in a long line...got the random "please step inside the cubicle" search where they guy felt up my gootch and every crevice of my body, sent my shoes thru the machine twice and then sent me on my way. I sprinted all the way across the airport, went thru 3 or 4 floors of busy escalators and arrived to a HUGE line in front of air india. Luckily the German lady who talked to me before recognised me and let me come to the front. "OHH Mr. Siemens! are you related to the family? you should find out! they have LOTS of money!" she and the other workers had a good hardy laugh, then gave me my boarding pass.
I felt frustrated and abused, but I also felt somehow elite and welcomed my long lost relatives. Now I know a place in the world where people respect and LONG for my last name, and don't just make sperm jokes....haha.....semen(s). But what fun would that be?
I had a pretty pleasant flights yesterday, and even thought my plane was delayed 3 hours I didn't mind. It gave me more time to talk to April. I met a nice older German lady that looked strikingly like my Grandma-Dina. She commented on my last name and told me I should find out if I'm directly related to the company. In Denver when I showed my passport the the stewardess, she said "AAaaaahhh mister Siemens!" *flips a page and with a disappointed voice..* "from...California?". When I got off the plane the pilots were saying "Goodbye" to every person they thought wasn't German and then goodbye in German to the people they thought were German. and of course they looked at my ID and thought I was German, as did everyone in the airport I showed my ID to. I felt strangely close to every German I talked to. I felt distant bond.
Shortly after I got off the plane, I passed through the seven circles of German bureaucratic hell. First, no one knew where to find Air India, and those who thought they did sent me in the wrong direction. I was three hours later than expected so I had less than an hour to find my plane (which, lucky for me, had been delay). After I found it I waited in this huge line to get my boarding pass, and kept getting cut by indian people (a little taste of indian culture). after 45 minutes I got up to the counter and they told me that my ticket was no good untill united airlines updated it. After I went 3 floors to United, they told me they couldn't do anything until I got a boarding pass from air india. So I ran back down and waited in line again to hear "No, your ticket has to say "Frankfort to Delhi' to get a boarding pass. United has to update it."
With time running short I ran up three floors to the United desk "Sorry, we just closed. the only open counter is at the entrance of the terminal" "What? I have to go thru security again?" "Yes. Sorry". the entrance was ALLL the way down the airport, and it's the biggest I've been in. I found it only to hear from this Jamaican lady (Jamaican? I know right?) "sorry they should have updated it in fresno. There is nothing I can do. Take it to air india and they might give you a new one." "NO! I've been back and fourth to many times. They can't do it! YOU have to do it!" "sorry the ticket's no good. They should have changed it in fresno"..extremely frustrated and sleep deprived I yelled..."Well UNITED issued my ticket, UNITED screwed up my flight, UNITED is going to fix it! This shouldn't even be an issue!" And so she finally gave me my new ticket.
With no time, and basically late for boarding I ran to security and waited in a long line...got the random "please step inside the cubicle" search where they guy felt up my gootch and every crevice of my body, sent my shoes thru the machine twice and then sent me on my way. I sprinted all the way across the airport, went thru 3 or 4 floors of busy escalators and arrived to a HUGE line in front of air india. Luckily the German lady who talked to me before recognised me and let me come to the front. "OHH Mr. Siemens! are you related to the family? you should find out! they have LOTS of money!" she and the other workers had a good hardy laugh, then gave me my boarding pass.
I felt frustrated and abused, but I also felt somehow elite and welcomed my long lost relatives. Now I know a place in the world where people respect and LONG for my last name, and don't just make sperm jokes....haha.....semen(s). But what fun would that be?
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Yo
I was planning on writing whatever i've written in my journal, but i am using a keyboard with a space button the dosn't work unless you pound it with all of your strength 3 times. it takes forever to write.
India has been pretty amazing so far, I've lead worship a few times, and have been teaching orphan children to read (at least 30 Jesus points for me), I went to an elderly womens home and prayed with them and listened them (15 jesus points) and went to a catholic girl school and taught them a couple songs.(alex or allysha, they knew "every move I make" and knew the motions, so I showed them our "la-la-la-la-la--lala" dance. it has gone international)
I got a phone and a bonus card that allows me to call the US for 2 rupees a minute (or 4 cents) I used all my minutes talking to april.
by the way mom and dad, the girls dig the long hair....
and aaron, I showed the guys that lead worship a couple newer songs and they thought I was the S&*% (sorry for the harsh symbols)
and jordan the driving here is alot like on crazy taxi, exept ten times as fun...
well, maybe next week I'll start blogging what's in my jornal (if I get a computer that works)....
Love yal, tell my parents I love them.............and to not touch my closet. I took pictures, and if anythings out of place, I will burn down your house.....or whine about it. jk. But don't touch my closet. I'm sending april there with her sword.....
India has been pretty amazing so far, I've lead worship a few times, and have been teaching orphan children to read (at least 30 Jesus points for me), I went to an elderly womens home and prayed with them and listened them (15 jesus points) and went to a catholic girl school and taught them a couple songs.(alex or allysha, they knew "every move I make" and knew the motions, so I showed them our "la-la-la-la-la--lala" dance. it has gone international)
I got a phone and a bonus card that allows me to call the US for 2 rupees a minute (or 4 cents) I used all my minutes talking to april.
by the way mom and dad, the girls dig the long hair....
and aaron, I showed the guys that lead worship a couple newer songs and they thought I was the S&*% (sorry for the harsh symbols)
and jordan the driving here is alot like on crazy taxi, exept ten times as fun...
well, maybe next week I'll start blogging what's in my jornal (if I get a computer that works)....
Love yal, tell my parents I love them.............and to not touch my closet. I took pictures, and if anythings out of place, I will burn down your house.....or whine about it. jk. But don't touch my closet. I'm sending april there with her sword.....
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