List of today's experiences:
📎tried Papaya
📎 ate rice for breakfast and lunch but not dinner (yay!)
📎had dominoes pizza in Chennai
📎 took pictures of monkeys
Our fourth day in India had so many funny moments. Firstly, we had way too many monkey sightings. Our fantastic driver gave us the whole experience. On our way out of the first village, we saw a group of them. They were playing in the trees, on the fence and in the road. We even stopped the car and backed up so we could get a good picture of a mom and her baby.
We visited the church and after Pastor O gave a lesson, we ate lunch in our generous Pastor's house. He and his family were so kind and welcoming and the food was delicious! However, I felt very disrespectful because I didn't eat the chicken on my plate and when our host asked why, I said I was vegan and he was appalled. He felt bad because I had meat on my plate, but I felt so bad because I couldn't eat everything served and I didn't want to be a disrespectful guest. But it was all okay. Then Pastor O said the the son of our host was single, and said one of our helpers should marry her and that Pastor O would give a good dowry. Everyone laughed at that. Eating and having fellowship with all the helpers and our fellow Christians was an amazing and wonderful time. I personally feel so blessed to be surrounded by such beautiful people.
I especially loved and had a good experience with today's children in the second village we visited. They were all so beautiful and well behaved. During the lessons, I was "talking" to some of the girls with my eyes and facial expressions, even though I probably should of been listening. We would laugh or make a face about the story at an interesting part, or I would give a thumbs up when they quieted the younger girls. By the end, all I wanted was to be able to just talk with them for a bit. And play with the young kids. The language barrier is so hard. All you want is to give love, but sometimes you feel hindered because you can only communicate with your eyes or a smile or your hands.
Most of us are still coping with time change. But we can usually make it to about 4pm or 5pm before we really feel crashed. Hopefully we will adjust soon. Your many prayers are a blessing to us!
*Lindsey*
