A few friends have asked me...if I really need to sweep and mop everyday. Well...we do manage to have a few days where we might go without sweeping and mopping--if our househelper doesn't come. For example, a couple of weeks ago, her sister had a baby and she was away one week--one week--that's all! She went with her to the hospital because she can read and could help her with all the paperwork--plus, it was her sister--having a baby! Her sister had complications with their first baby and lost the baby at 2 days old! Family support is such a big deal here, and I was happy for her to be able to be with her sister! Anyway, that week our floors were nast-o, and that's even with me sweeping and mopping once (on my hands and knees). I didn't know how long it would be until she came back, so I was overjoyed when she called just 7 days later telling me she would be back the next day! But, honestly, when it's the hot, dusty season and/or when you have 4 kiddos running in and out and bringing the dust in, yes...it really is necessary. Actually, I think our living areas could use it twice a day in the dry season. I'm not kidding! You CANNOT imagine the dust unless you've been here during the dry season.
Our sweet househelper, Jyoti.
We have a wonderful, wonderful househelper. Her name is Jyoti and she comes to our house--everyday except Sunday. Everyday that she is here, she dusts, sweeps and mops and does whatever dirty dishes we have in the sink. She also helps me with food prep--mainly chopping veggies for whatever we're having for dinner that evening or making flat bread or tortillas--yum. She makes cooking from scratch much easier on me!!!! And, I must say I'm a little spoiled. If I've forgotten to get her to chop something, I'll sometimes totally change what we're having for dinner! Ha!
Her husband drives her every morning and then he leaves and returns after about 1.5-2 hours. She's an awesome, fast, hard worker. She is sweet, joyful and a delight to have in our home. Most days she is done before her husband returns to pick her up. On those days, we either chit chat in Hindi or she will play with the kids or read to them. I love that she can read! We purchased some Hindi books just for this time--I like to call it our kids' foreign language for school. ;)
There are times when I'll ask her not to clean our upstairs and on those days, I usually ask her to cook an Indian meal for us. The kids love her and know the sound of her husband's motorcycle. They like to welcome her in the mornings. It's fun. That week she wasn't here, Jackson prayed often for her to come back. He's always been diligent to pray for our househelper. It's sweet.
She even lets the kids help out in the kitchen. These days are hilarious to hear the commotion of what is going on in there! I bet one day Sarala will be able to make the chapati (the traditional flatbread) better than me!
Also, one other thing to mention. In this culture, you are being a good member of community and society when you are able to have helpers and workers and provide jobs for others. Also, it is very strange for Indians when you do work yourselves. We enjoy having a househelper aside from this, but it is nice to also be "good members of society" and embrace the culture!
Sarala LOVES to get tattoos from Jyoti and Jyoti also lets her draw all over her arm too! She's so great with our kids! She is a blessing and a joy to have in our home everyday. She is one I'm ALWAYS thankful to see come in our door. We are so blessed to have her in our lives!
It is about time I started posting about some of our friends in the city we live in! So, here's the first of my "who's who" for In-town! This is Asha, my next door neighbor. She is a sweet lady, and probably the lady in my neighborhood that most helps me to continue in language study the most! So many of my neighbors speak English, but she doesn't know much English and speaks Hindi to me all the time! This is a blessing! So far, she has been nothing but helpful and sweet to our family.
She also enlightens me very much on all things Hinduism. Her family are very devout followers of Hinduism, and the sounds and smells coming through my window multiple times daily are reminders of the lostness right beside me. She leads a yoga group (where they chat and are calling on gods--not the stretching stuff that our culture has reduced this spiritual practice to), does pooja in her home at least 3 times a day (worship to Hindu gods), lights incense, rings bells, chants and occasionally plays drums and has other offerings to the different gods she's calling upon. She has strands of marigolds delivered to her house everyday that she can use to decorate her idols. She bakes and cooks special foods to offer to her idols. She even picks grass to burn and give to some of them. Her house has paintings, markings, and drawings inside and out of symbols of Hinduism. She helps care for and keep our neighborhood temple. Pretty devout, huh?!
Hinduism is all around us. We just started the beginning of a huge holiday season for Hindu followers, and this season Hinduism is loud, bright and followed by everyone in the culture--even those that are the most nominal followers. You might compare it to Christmas time for Christians, though I greatly fear comparing the two religions. I'm just trying to help my readers understand.
One of the biggest Hindu holidays is Diwali, and this year it's on October 26. Diwali is not just a one day holiday though--it lasts for more than a week and each day is special in it's own way! And, even before Diwali, there are other holidays. It almost seems there is a holiday everyday in India--especially when you consider all the religious groups here. I think this is the real reason the kids go to school year round and on Saturdays! ;) Anyway, the holidays we just came through were Navratri, Durga Pooja, and Dusshera. They all span the days of September 28-October 6.
Asha came by my house a few nights ago, around 8pm and invited Sarala to come to her house the next day (invitations most often are very short notice) at 9:30am that she wanted to feed her. I knew this was for the holiday because I learned about it last year and one of my good friends encountered it with her daughter. At first I said she wouldn't come. I told her that we are followers of Jesus and worship Him only and that we didn't want to do the worship. She told me there would be no worship. So, then, I proceeded to tell her that I also didn't want her to eat the food that had been used for worship or that was an offering for the Hindu gods. She assured me that this would be separate food. She said it was just what she wanted to do with the girls.
You see, Hinduism is kind of scary for me. I fear the Lord God and do want to worship and serve Him ONLY. I also fear the evil world that I've seen living in this country that manifests itself in very evil and scary ways sometimes. I know the enemy is real--all over the world for sure--but here where there are millions of false gods, billions of false idols made and worshipped, temples everywhere, evil spirits called upon and entertained...I just fear being in the midst of it! But, at the very same time, we want to learn about all of this. We want to be in the midst of the lives of our neighbors and friends...and their lives include all of this! Their religion is not separate from anything in their lives--actually just as mine! So, we pray hard for discernment and that we might always glorify and honor the Lord while getting in the midst of their lives.
That was my prayer after the invitation and after telling my neighbor Sarala would come to her house. This is a holiday where a particular goddess is worshipped and during this time, little girls can be worshipped as if they are goddesses. They are given very special treatment (unlike most of the other days of their lives) during these days. I was still nervous of the unknown of what would go on. But, I prayed, asked a few friends' advice, talked with Gray, prayed and prayed...and decided I'd go unless I felt very clearly that God did not want me to go.
One of my friends that I had talked with reminded me of Daniel--when he resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food or with the wine he drank (Daniel 1). I had already made it clear to my neighbor that I worship Jesus only and that I could not go against my Lord by being involved in the worship of other gods. Though I didn't share the G0spe1 with her, I clearly shared my faith and devotion to my Lord Jesus! I prayed that God might use my devotion and faith, and my involvement in others' lives that are not like me for His glory--just as he did for Daniel! Please continue to pray that for me!!!! And pray for hearts to be readied for the G0spe1!
We went! I talked a little with Sarala before going, and she and I prayed together. It was a sweet time of learning together and it was also fun. Times like these are growing both me and my daughter in so many ways! Sarala said, "Look mom, she has her own temple in her house." See the picture above.
It was actually such a fun little party!!! We loved our time there. It was very low key and informal. Mrs. Asha served us well and treated us well--like all Indians do! She first painted our feet, then oiled our head, and then gave us a tikka (dot on the head). Then, she served us some food. Then she gave the girls a little gift--banana, chocolate, 5 rupees, and hair clips. Sarala and I compared it so much to a girls' party...where we might paint our toenails, have some special treats and party foods and give little favors to our friends that came. She wants to have a girls' party in our home and invite all these girls as well! I see a fun evening in our future!!!
Here is a video of Sarala getting her gifts
In the video you'll notice Asha patting the feet and getting Sarala to put her hands on her head. When someone touches your feet, they are showing you honor and respect--this is one of the biggest ways that I know of in this culture to show honor and respect. And, when you touch the head, you are giving a blessing. Both of these acts are not done flippantly. They are pretty serious--from what I've learned. I'm sure this is a way that she might have treated the girls like goddesses, but they also do little things to babies that are kind of the same. I can't control that.
As we came to the party though, she had told me a little about why the girls are special this day. I told her that Sarala is SO special to me and that I love her dearly. But that she is not god nor like god, but only a wonderful gift from the Lord. I told her I didn't want her to be treated like a god or goddess. I'm not sure of what all the meanings of this get together included, but I feel that in my heart we were able to resolve to serve our Lord only and honor Him while sharing this day with some friends and learning more about their lives. I look forward to inviting them to share special holidays with us and learn about our lives too! I feel that this gives us more opportunity! Pray that for us, please!
She also gave me a gift--bindi (stickers for the head), mehindi mix (for henna), and red powder that you put in your hair part to show that you are married--called a sindoor. She said we could do henna together another day. I had to get home because our friend Amy that has just moved to In-Town was watching my boys so we could go to Asha's house. This party was 1.5 hours long. It was so fun--such a blast and incredible for my Hindi--especially how to talk to children and interact with them! I'm so so so glad I went!
Here are our feet all adorned!
My line on the bottom is complete and goes all the way around the back because I am married.
The bath water turned pink when we tried to wash is off....but it still remains on mine 4 days later! I think I'm going to get out my bleach tomorrow! I already painted my toenails to hide the stains.
Ask me any questions and let me know if you have any thoughts on how we handled the holiday and sharing life with our neighbors of different religions. It is still so much for us to process and discern as we do these things. Pray for wisdom and for our lives to be used by the Lord to proclaim Him greatly!!!
We drank chai and visited with many friends with Gray's parents. We also got to have a couple of good, big Indian meals in the homes of our friends. We did them both on the same day--lunch and dinner. That day was Sarala's birthday! Fun times. We went to Prem's house for lunch. His wife, Santoshi made a spread, and it was delicious! We always have fun there--it's kind of more like village life, the scenery is beautiful, and his family is so fun!
Playing with Prem's kids in the kitchen while the adults finish eating
Most everyone becomes Prem's friend fast!
Chai and snacks (after lunch) at his sister's house while the kids play
Sarala learned a couple of new games--great birthday fun, if you ask me!
Santoshi, Prem's wife. I love this pic!
Prem loves to hold "Parker" as he always calls him.
More pictures from Prem's in the album
And, here is another big "Who's Who."
I also can't believe I haven't posted about this precious family either!!!!
This is the Dilawar family. And, if you've sent us a package, you recognize that name!
These are our wonderful, wonderful landlords! We lived just above them in their house and saw them everyday! They were wonderful and dear to us and became much more than landlords. They were like family and friends! I can't believe this is the first photo I got of them. Anyway, they had us over for dinner--always a spread. They know our favorite foods from conversations--likely when we used to practice Hindi--and they always make all of our favorites! The Lord really blessed us with wonderful landlords our first year in India! We were sad to leave them!
This is Dr. Dilawar--the father/grandfather of the house
And here is Mehek and Palek. Their twin girls--so precious!
Only a small portion of the spread
To finish off Sarala's birthday, we ate cupcakes after dinner.
This is Munju Gupta. She has a shop with such a variety of everything in it. She has thread, hair dye, bangles, toys for kids, snacks and candy, kites, fans when it's hot, soap and shampoo, jewelry for weddings, lotions and creams and SO much more. The reason I tell you all the stuff. Can you see how big it is??? It's about as wide as she and I if we were standing side by side. It's in her house--you can see one of the bedrooms behind the desk. This is the place to be if you live in her neighborhood and are a lady!!! This is the neighborhood behind ours where I used to go to practice Hindi. Often, there would be 5 ladies or so in this tiny shop and on the steps talking, gossiping--I'm sure, and laughing! I went there and would just stand or sit to listen to Hindi early on. I'm SURE they often were making fun of me and laughing at me. But, I didn't care, I was there to listen to the language. Eventually, I could understand them and could catch them when they were making fun of me then they would laugh and laugh and I'd laugh along with them. I grew to love these ladies and have fun with them even though sometimes it was hard and intimidating to be with them.
Please pray I might find some kind of new shop to hang out with ladies in our new town, near our neighborhood. It would such a fun, natural setting and would be a wonderful way I could share some fun stories from my favorite book with them! Continue to pray also for these ladies that I knew in DD to read the book we gave them and know the stories and to believe and trust in the author of them!
On down the road in this same neighborhood, here is another sweet shopkeeper that I would visit and chat with. Her name is Kelpna. She has such a sweet spirit and was always smiling and happy to chat with me.
I cannot believe I haven't posted about this family yet! What have I been thinking?!
This (drum roll, please) is our language teacher and his family! Mr. Moti Lal!!!
He is the "Hindi Doctor" and he taught us Hindi...and then doctored a lot on the Hindi we had learned last year! Motilal, his wife Kamla, Neha and Abishek. Gray and I had class time with Motilal, Kamla and Neha. We are so thankful for this dear dear family. They are more than Hindi teachers. They prayed for us. They cared for us--Kamla is a nurse and gave us much advice and help in sickness and health! They helped us learn many many cultural things that kept us from so major mess ups and embarrassment (of course not all--that would be no fun at all). We laughed much together and had a fun time together in 2010!!! They always told us that they were more than our teachers that they were family, and they were!
This is Dolly, she helped me and Gray a lot with our Hindi.
We had many conversations with her. She's also a sweet friend.
And, as some of you might remember, our househelper's daughter.
This is Amit! He and Gray spent many hours together in conversation and practicing Hindi. He was a blessing to Gray and encouraged him in many ways.
The first person we'll see in DD will be Prem. He'll actually meet us as we get off the train. He's a taxi driver and a dear friend of ours. We met him our second day in the city and he took us all over to help us get many of the things we needed--like a coffee pot ;), a night light, bath tubs for the kids and orient us into town. Since that first day, he's taken us to the mountains, rode us around to see the Diwali lights, runs up to a nearby city for shopping, to new places we didn't want to attempt to try and find, and even to his house for dinner and to meet all of his family--and his family is HUGE! He also has good English that he's taught himself over the years of driving a taxi and trying to understand and communicate with foreigners. But, once we reached a communicable level of Hindi, he was very good at speaking Hindi and making us practice!
This is Deepak. He is also a taxi driver. He used to drive one of Prem's cars, so whenever we needed a taxi and Prem was busy, we'd ride with Deepak. He's now driving for someone else. He's a wonderful driver and we've ridden with him on some crazy mountain roads. With the average taxi driver, we would have been terrified, and sometimes even with him we were terrified cause the roads and traffic can be insane! Deepak also became a friend to us very quickly. He's a Christian and we had many opportunities to pray with him and encourage him and he also encourage us. We hopefully will get to see him too.
This is Kamla, our househelper. We've spent a year with her! We've been through a few difficult times, and I've learned so much through these times--about my sin and lack of graciousness or limited knowledge of how to handle difficult situations--especially in a different culture and in a different language. I've also learned many things about culture, cooking and we've laughed a lot together. She has been the person I've practiced the most Hindi with and made the most mistakes with. It's been a good year with her, and I'm SO thankful we've been able to have her in our lives this year. We're going to miss her SO much!!!
Before we went to Thailand, we were able to celebrate her birthday with her. We took her out to lunch! It was a fun time to celebrate with her and to do something different and fun with her.
Our kids love this lady so much too!
Jackson made a hat (visor) out of this leaf.
Someone else was also celebrating too!
This is a funny sign from the men's restroom at this restaurant.
Sarala also just told me what the funny sign in the women's restaurant said, "You'll never get rich sitting around on me." It's funny that I've been to the restroom there and not seen that sign and that 6 weeks after seeing that sign Sarala remembered.
She also lets our kids cook and practice making the flat bread with her. She has been known for designing pigs and other animals out of the dough and cooking them on the fire! Also, Sarala wants me to share with you all that Sam says Kamla's paneer is the best! Paneer is Sam's favorite Indian food!
Parks usually stays at home when I go to school for Hindi lessons.
But sometimes he joins me and is getting a head start on some grammar lessons!
Here he is snuggling with Kamla during a break.
Kamla is our teacher's wife and she now helps both Gray and I after grammar class. She helps drill us on the things we're learning, helps us with memorization work, vocabulary, and anything else we need help with. They are also dear friends that care for us well.
Meeting Dolly for the first time
Dolly helps us with conversation practice as well.
Here are some other Subzi Walas we buy from a lot. Their stand is right across from a shop we visit a lot that has some imported foods. We usually buy from these guys about once a week, and then I go out the the other ladies I've written about near our home when I need some more fresh veggies. And, we also catch the subzi wala that comes by pushing his cart. Anyway, these guys are really nice and have pretty good English as I'm sure they see a lot of foreigners coming out of the import store. However, they still speak Hindi with us for practice and help us out with our language learning. They sometimes have things other subzi walas don't usually have that aren't readily available in this town. Things like green onions, mushrooms, broccoli and one time they had lettuce. And, you can see from the picture they are great with our kids (as most everyone here is).
After buying our fruits and veggies, we have to soak them at home to kill some of the germs, bacteria and such that could make us sick. Here's our cilantro.
We eat WAY more veggies here than we did in America or even in Delhi for that matter when we weren't eating Indian everyday. Here is our subzi stash from a couple of weeks ago. Other veggies are in the frig too.
Here's the best part--fresh veggies are SO cheap.
To give you a better idea, here's what I purchased this past Monday:
Tomatoes - 2kg (that's 4.5 lbs!!)
Onion - 2 kg (again...4.5 lbs!!)
potatoes - 1kg (2.2 lbs)
cucumber - 1kg
lemon - 5
peas - 1kg
carrots - 1/4kg
califlower - 1/2kg
mushrooms - 3 packets
garlic - 100 grams (about 3 bulbs or so)
6 bananas
one fresh pineapple
All of that for about $12
Oh...and cilantro and green peppers (Indian spicy peppers--like chilli peppers) are always thrown in on top for free! Isn't that awesome!!!
We buy a lot of tomatoes and onions! And, I've already bought more for this week too! A lot of the Indian food we eat in our home has a curry (sauce) base to it that is made from onions, tomatoes and garlic...with Indian masala (spices) of course!!!
This lady is Kamles. She is a subzi wala. She has a cart, but she doesn't push it around calling out like some do. She has 2 "posts" where she is--in the morning and evening. I know where I can find her. Every time I see her, she really really makes me buy something from her. She helps me with my Hindi, that's for sure. She even tells me how much stuff is in Hindi. She doesn't know English numbers. This is SO very uncommon here. The numbers are SO hard to learn. I temporarily gave up on focusing on them and learned my 5's and 10's and I'm still rusty on those. They really are hard!!! But she's like a test for me cause she doesn't know ANY English.
Also, her daughter hangs out at a shop where I go to speak to women and practice Hindi. Her daughter is very sweet and makes people talk to me and practice with me. Her personality is really funny. I'll have to get a picture of her when we return. Doesn't it seem like everyone is family???!!!
You've heard me mention Kamla so many times before. She is our househelper. She comes to our house 6 days a week for usually about 5-6 hours a day. I cannot believe how used to her we are...we LOVE her. She's such a hard worker, and she has become a sweet friend. She has a humble heart, and is very conscientious about her work. She and I laughed a lot our last weeks together about how hard our first month together was because of the language barrier and silly things that happened. We miss her so much and her yummy cooking while we're here in the capital.
Here she is in the middle with her granddaughter on the left and her daughter on the right.
Her daughter, Dolly, on the right, actually works at our language school and helps both Gray and I with our Hindi. She's a great teacher (even when she makes us read), and she helps us in SO many ways.
Our kids have enjoyed with Kamla's granddaughter comes to work with her. They love her. She plays with them, reads to them and watches English videos with them.
