Teach the City: A post india reflection with all kinds of photos.

"So. Today was memorable to say the least. I'd opted to attend a rally in memory of Savitribai Phule, a revolutionary leader in India's history. Before the sun even rose, I boarded a train with two TruthSeekers. We rode in the silence as early mornings without coffee is hardly the time for small talk. Also they speak Hindi and I don't so that's a small bump in the road. We got in to Gwalier and were lead to a small guest house for chai and chatting. Again, don't get the language so I just smiled a ton. Then we went drove to the rally and 100% of it was lost in translation and I was bored about 73% of the time. But if there's an event held in the memory of a radial, revolutionary female leader that celebrates powerful women in the community, I'm there.

After sitting for 3 hours, we pile back in the car and drive to the train station but the tickets to get to Agra were sold out. We went back to the guest house and I stared walking around the garden due to sitting literally all day and going stir crazy. I was motioned back to the car and, with no institutions of what's happening next, we went off. I'm sitting here thinking we'll catch the 6pm train but then we pass the train station. Okay, so we'll take a bus. Nope, passed that too. We pull to the side of the road and I'm confident were getting out and hitchhiking but the driver starts talking to someone on the road and the translation I understood was "yes you can totally ride on the roof, just throw your bag in the back!" Alas my translation needs some work cause no one hopped on the roof of the car- we just gained another bag. Then, I'm 100% sure we're coming up on a bus station outside the city but it turns out to be a huge religious gathering. At this point, it's been 30 minutes and we're still driving in a car packed to the roof with people and pass a sign that say Agra 100 km. Okay so we're driving in this overly cramped car all the say there. Got it.
(Now I'm assuming many do you haven't driven the road from Gwalier to Agra but it's terrifying. Too many moving parts and horns. Not enough seat belts or obeying traffic laws. Oh and there are also tons of cows roaming this road.) So, as if packed road trip can't get any more sketchy, we literally were 2 inches from hitting a cow. If it wouldn't have turned its head at the last second, I swear I could have check doing a Hindu cow barrels off my bucket list."

A journal about India, just to give you a clear picture of how I spent my time. Dodging cows and mistranslating Hindi every day. It was incredible.

Things I learned:

God transcends culture, class, caste, race, location, time, etc.
When God calls you, he does actually have a purpose and use you, despite how much you question it
The only thing you can do during stressful times is find the humor in it. Like when your tuk-tuk takes the longest possible way home or you get dropped off at the wrong location and spend 30 minutes walking around, trying to find your hotel
"Everything will be clear tomorrow" - a gem of wisdom from my friend which is true. Things will be confusing but tomorrow, or in a week or 8 months or 32 years, things will be clear.
Everyone deserves love and belonging and God's salvation

This trip refreshed my faith and is making me so excited to do God's work here in Thailand! And, hopefully, I get to go back sometime. I think I connect with the food on a soul level because who doesn't like hoy, oily bread and bowls overflowing with lentils. I think Indian cuisine is the only food that allows me to fully express my love and devotion to lentils. I even brought a bag of lentils home with me because I'm that committed to living my best life via lentil consumption. Let's see how many times I can say lentils in this paragraph! Anyway, I also got to learn some OG Indian recipes, like lentils (okay, I'll stop!) and red curry sauce. I'm currently replicating these meals in BKK to fool my soul into thinking we're still in India. I think it's working!

I miss the colors the most. Everything overflows with vibrant hues. The saris drying over balconies whip in the wind, the food is packed with colorful vegetables, the trucks and buses have hand painted, vivid patterns on the sides and the old monuments, mosques, and gardens shows their ancient complexion.