India - Day 8

(Original post date - January 11, 2017)

Day 8

I slept in until 9am because I knew I didn’t have much to do today. And it was a good thing I brought that leftover masala dosa home yesterday because there was only cornflakes for breakfast which I slept through anyway. So I devoured that, put on the kurta Cynthia had given me when I arrived in India, and played Candy Crush until noon. The international cell phone plan I had purchased allowed me to have 200MB of cellular data, so I turned it on and did some Instagramming.

Prem picked me up after he got home from church and we went in search of loose leaf tea. Everything appeared to be closed, probably due to the lack of cash flow across the country. But we did find a souvenir shop that was open and sold what I was looking for, only packaged it in a way that made it more expensive. What I really wanted was a market where they have spices and teas in giant piles like they sell at Chelsea Market in NYC. But at least this tea came directly from India so I bought it anyway.

I knew that we wouldn’t make it back to the YWAM base in time for lunch so I asked Prem to take me to get something quick and easy. After I shot down his suggestion to go to KFC, he took me to a place that sells Gujarati food. Apparently it’s a bit of a secret as it’s off the beaten path and not a lot of people know about it. Inside the restaurant, there is a community sink where you can wash your hands (because they eat with their hands).

We were then served endless amounts of foods including channa masala, aloo curry, daal, etc. It was pretty spicy, but bearable. It all tasted so good, and they just kept filling up our plates, so I kept eating. And then praying that I wouldn’t get sick. To drink, they served a little tin cup of sour milk, which I tasted and then immediately said “nope.”

I had a little time back at home to digest, and then I went to church with Miriam. First we got into a rickshaw but the driver wanted to overcharge us, probably because I’m white and he thinks I have a lot of money. I guess HE didn’t think I looked Kashmiri. So we got out, and stood on the side of the road while Miriam called her friend to pick us up in his car. It was a little bit confusing, but he eventually found us. But not before I watched many cars, buses, rickshaws, and a horse trot by.

Because it was Advent season, the church presented many dances and songs, some about snow and Santa Claus. Then Pinky, who was the MC, talked about the importance of hugging. And then she shared a quote from a therapist who said “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” And then Pinky said we were “going to go into a time of hugging.” We were instructed to hug at least 8 people. Women with women and men with men. So after I hugged 8 random Indian women, the preacher preached his sermon. Then it was time to cut a cake to celebrate all the December birthdays, and then we did a gift exchange which I was not prepared for. I tried to sit on the side and watch, but they forced me to join and gave me a worship CD as the gift I would give. Everyone got a number on a piece of paper, and you had to find the other person who had the matching number. It was complete mayhem. My corresponding #42 finally found me and I opened my gift to find some candies and a tiny jar of honey (which actually came in handy when I arrived back in America). Then they served a large meal, which I could not even attempt to eat due to my giant lunch with Prem.

Then my host, Momo, took me home and I bathed and changed for my flight home. I took a short nap, and then peeled myself out of bed and met Prem downstairs.

On the way to the airport, we got stopped at a police checkpoint, and Prem had to blow into a breathalyzer to check if he was drunk. He was not, and since it was a routine check, he maintained his usual warm smile throughout the procedure. It was all very pleasant and jovial. Then after we got back on our way, Prem asked me a million questions about what America is like. Questions like: How much is your rent? How easy is it to get a government job? Why don’t I want a government job? Are there any tourism spots in America? Is it legal to have a child outside of marriage? How far is it to travel to Hawaii by train? I did my best to answer these questions in a way that he could understand but I found myself becoming exhausted.

I had planned to give him whatever rupees I had leftover once we got to the airport, but in the shuffle, I forgot and felt so terrible. But I couldn’t take them with me to America because I’m pretty sure the grocery stores don’t accept those as payment in my neighborhood. So I miraculously managed to spend every cent (except one, which I gave as a souvenir upon my return) on a book to read on the plane (The Revenant), some snacks, Starbucks coffee, and random souvenirs I found in my terminal. So congratulations to those of you who received souvenirs as a result of my forgetfulness.

The airport in Delhi is a silent airport. There are signs everywhere indicating this. I don’t understand why, but be warned if you ever travel through here because if you decide to take a nap while you wait for your flight to board, you could very well miss it. While I was busy playing games on my phone, there was a silent line forming behind me, and thankfully I noticed in time and did not miss my flight. It was a long journey home, and my little TV screen didn’t work, so I couldn’t watch movies, and my overhead light didn’t work either so I couldn’t read unless I used the flashlight from my cell phone (which I did for a short period of time). I miraculously fell asleep most of the way home, but it still took me over a week to recover from jet lag.