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Friday, 15 January 16.  New Delhi, India.  2240 hours — approximately 21 hours after arrival.

first thing that hits you is the smell– smoky, smoggy, spicy. it fills the plane right after touchdown and never goes away.  it just changes. it’s not offensive. it just is.  

shortly thereafter, one is reminded that rule 1 of mission trips applies in India too:  do not hurry, do not worry. chances are if things ran at the same pace or with the same efficiency as we are used to in our everyday lives, we would not be HERE on a mission trip. 

and at the end of the first day in-country, you begin to take account of everything you’ve learned in the first 21 hours.   

(click read more)

I/we have: 
 
-seen an elephant…in traffic. 
-seen traffic proceed as if there was nothing at all out of place about sharing the road with an elephant. 
-stood where Ghandi’s body was committed (cremated) 
-walked barefoot through a kitchen that serves 40 thousand worshippers a day
-gotten in on the passenger side of the van only to find the steering wheel there. 
-realized for perhaps the first time in my life, I’m happy I’m not driving. 
-eaten in a nice restaurant that had both toilet paper AND soap in the bathroom. 
-learned that pashmina is the super-soft wool from a baby goat’s neck. 
-realized I had gone my whole life without having used the words “baby,” “goat’s” and “neck” in that order. 
-haggled with a merchant over the price of a pillow case
-heard the words Dilli Haat repeated more than the words “small world” in that horrible Disney ride. 
-repeatedly hoped that every time I heard Dilli Haat, someone was going to bring me an Indian ice cream bar. 
-wondered how many tiny gold beads can a people actually need?
-tried Indian wine (Cabernet Shiraz blend –Napa need not be concerned) and “bird beer” (ask ken hubbell). 
-accepted that lane markings are a mere suggestion
-and have failed to find words for so many sights, sounds, smells and feelings.

it’s just the first day.

ejb

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Sent from my iPhone so odd speellings and ranDom capitaliZAtion happen.