Fun Moments in the Midst of Chaos

Now that I’ve been here for two months, I’m finally starting to feel like a have a grip on how life is going to be day to day. A loose grip…as things always change, but even a little bit helps. Here are a few moments that I’ve really enjoyed over the last week or so.

My relationships with the students continue to grow and we now have many moments of laughter during classes, like when I taught them about the art of small talk and explained that asking “Are you married?” after just meeting someone for the first time may not be the very best approach to putting someone at ease. They all laughed as I exaggerated how I feel every single day when someone asks me this question, which for me hopefully means they get it! We also recently played “Do you Love Your Neighbor?” a classic game I played in high school with my youth group. No matter what culture you are or how old you are, this game is always a winner. I love watching them finally get the concept and we laughed a ton this week as I played with several classes. Nothing like playing a game where you run around the room when it’s 85 degrees in your room already. We were a sweaty mess!

Last weekend I went to Kappad Beach with an Irish family that I’m friends with and we had a nice time relaxing at the pool, getting to be tourists for the weekend. Calling for room service for dinner was hilarious. They were both tired and asked me to call. I now know why! Not only is it hard to understand each other but despite the expansive menu that they boast at the beach resort, about 1/3 of the items are actually available. So our conversation went something like this…

“Yes, I’m calling to order some food for room service.”

 “What room are you in?”

“403”

“Yes madam. What would you like?”

“We will have one hakka chicken noodles.”

“That’s one order of the hakka chicken noodles.”

“Yes, one order.”
“You are in room 403?”

“yes, but we would like more than that.”

“Ok, what else you like? I’ve got one order of the hakka noodles”

“Yes, we would also like the garlic pepper chicken.”

“Madam, the garlic pepper chicken is not available.”

“ok, how about the fried lamb with garlic sauce.”

“Madam, that is not available.”

“Ok, and how about the chicken curry?”

“Madam, that is not available.”

“Ok, can you tell me what is available?”

“Yes, madam, we have select items available.”

“Yes, I am getting that. Can you tell me what is available?”

“You have ordered one order of the hakka chicken noodles. Do you want anything else?”

Insert me trying not to fall apart on the phone laughing!

“Yes, do you have the chicken teriyaki?”

“Yes, madam.”

“ok, we’ll take one order of that.”

“Actually madam. Chicken teriyaki is not available.”

“Ok, how about chicken pakora?”

“Yes, pakora.”

“We will have 2 orders of pakora.”

“You wish to have one hakka noodles and pakora.”

“yes, two orders of the pakora.”

“Ok madam, two orders of pakora. Anything else?”

“Fish curry? Is that available?”

“Yes, Malabar fish curry is available.”

“Ok, we’ll have one order of that. And please make it two orders of hakka chicken noodles.”

Needless to say, when our order came to the room, we had one fish curry, steamed rice, two orders of noodles and no chicken pakora! My friends were cracking up listening to me on the phone. I’m sure they knew how this was gonna go down since they’ve been here several years. As I hung up, the husband says, “The Indian way. Over promise, under deliver.” Haha But it was so nice to get away and we even sat out on the balcony listening to the waves crashing eating chocolate bars and drinking wine out of coffee cups (cause we’re classy like that) I soaked up every minute!  

Other pleasant moments include going to my two favorite coffee shops where I think they will soon know me by name. I’m probably frustrating them by not ordering the same thing every time, but that’s me. I want to try everything on the menu! J One is called Bun Club and this week the cook walked out from the kitchen area and talked with me for several minutes. Turns out he worked in Dubai at a Starbucks for two years. When I told him how I missed having just iced coffee with milk and caramel, he told me that he knew how to make it like Starbucks and gave me his number and told me to text him when I was coming in next and he’s make it. How awesome is that?? I’m definitely beginning to see the kindness of the culture present itself in more and more ways.

I’ve also had more random encounters with people that have just encouraged me along the way, which I know is due to many people praying for me here. I met a really cool couple this week who live in Kochi which is not that far from me and we ended up having dinner together and swapping stories for a good while. The husband is from the States and his wife is German. Her name is Brigeta (which I secretly was so excited to finally meet someone named Brigeta due to my intense love of The Sound of Music) and they were such a nice welcoming duo and now I have a place to stay when I decide to venture to Kochi!

This week Ive been preparing for an English camp I’m going to run in Delhi next weekend. I’ll be working with an NGO that set up a foundation and school for children that have been displaced due to rioting and several that have been left orphaned. I’m going to use camping as my theme for the lessons and have had a good time getting ready to hang out with 4-6 yr olds for a few days. I can’t wait to be around children. 

So with all that, I have much to be thankful for!