one knife
there is something about finding delight once again. i didn't realize how delightful life could be until i slowed down and began to understand and take notice of the surrounding life burying itself deep within my pores.
you see, we have one knife. in the mornings when we arise, we run to the local market for some calcium enriched soy milk, make our way back to the room, wash some mangoes, rambutan, lychee and oranges. we sit together outside on our porch. while one peels and cuts the mangoes the other sits, waits, laughs and enjoys. the one holding the knife who has committed themselves to mango mutilation pokes piece by piece and we feed eachother. i know that sounds silly, but i wonder what life would be like if we had two knives and were able to peel, cut and eat our mangoes independently.
after five months of hibernation we brought out our mini-ipod that my dad gave us as a going away gift (a free promo gift he received from krogers). yesterday we laid in bed together, listening to damien jurado, love drug, U2, neutral milk hotel, etc. together. with one ear phone in my left ear and the other in his left we shared our afternoon together, sang together, danced together (although this took some tricky agility) and smiled. i wonder what life would have been like yesterday afternoon if we had a t.v. to watch or even two ipods to listen to.
we have one small room that is matted with tiles from ceiling to floor. much different from a "western" bathroom, everything is open. there are no walls or curtains to separate the toilet from the sink or the shower. all is open. well, the lice are still taking up residence in my (now blond - different story) hair. truth be told, i let it go for too long without maintenance and the babies got bigger and the bigger laid eggs and the eggs became babies and the cycle continued. well, three nights ago as i was taking a shower i decided something needed to be done about it. at that time jake came in and i shared with him my bug issues. together, no separated by walls or curtains we pulled out our only comb and began the process. i then took the lice killer comb and followed his tracks picking those heathens out one by one. with two combs we stood in our open bathroom for an hour picking bugs out of my hair and being amazed at how many and how big they are. i wonder how that night would have been had we had walls and curtains to separate us from what we were doing/trying to do.
most days we are without an engine-run mode of transportation (unlike today we which rented a 125 honda and toke a ride up into the mountains to hike throughout the waterfalls, yeah.) therefore, our primary way of going from one place to another is on foot. the days when we rent a bike there is always a part of me that misses walking. passing by hundreds of food and junk carts at a time with jake's right index finder interlaced in my left hand pinkie. we talk (with feeble results) with various vendors, pet hedgehogs and rabbits, play with little children and discover spider-webs and flowers. i sometimes wonder what life would be like if we had a car to take us everywhere we thought we wanted to go and missed all the discoveries woven throughout the side streets, alleys and people along the way.
we have one knife right now. it brings me delight.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Northern Thailand Travels
Mae Salong, a small village found in the northern providence of Chaing Rai. What you see here is what you get: mountains, a one road small town founded by the Chinese in the 60's after they were thrown out of Burma after fleeing China. A small town primarily founded on opium trade, it wasn't until the mid-80's that Thailand began to recognize it as it's own city and began to invest in it by providing alternative sources of income, bringing in tourism among many other hosts of things. I on the other hand, hope that things never change - it's breathtaking.
So, for part of our tri pwe rented a Honda Wave 100 to cruise along the hills of Northern Thailand (and cruising was exactly what we did with both laughter and tears - from both ourselves and the engine). With a much needed road-side stop (for our butts as well as our engine) I accidently ran through a bush of thorns with my feet and found no less than 50 thorms stuck in, through and between my toes... it hurt like a mother.
Our Honda Wave 100 after one of it's feats of climbing up and down muddy hills while towing aprox. 300 lbs. of weight on it's back.
Although it may look super-imposed, the green was just as green pictured here as it was in person...
One of our night drives together...
Our way "home" the next morning as the dew was rising, the clouds were begining their dance to the heavens and the roads were carrying us away.
And then there was the Sunday night market. With this just ebing one of many roads, alley's and side streets filled with entertainment, music, food, crafts, pictures and the list could go on and on - our night last night was one of walking, laughing, eatting and being amazed at how such a simple town can turn into a fancy night festival once every week.
Mae Salong, a small village found in the northern providence of Chaing Rai. What you see here is what you get: mountains, a one road small town founded by the Chinese in the 60's after they were thrown out of Burma after fleeing China. A small town primarily founded on opium trade, it wasn't until the mid-80's that Thailand began to recognize it as it's own city and began to invest in it by providing alternative sources of income, bringing in tourism among many other hosts of things. I on the other hand, hope that things never change - it's breathtaking.
So, for part of our tri pwe rented a Honda Wave 100 to cruise along the hills of Northern Thailand (and cruising was exactly what we did with both laughter and tears - from both ourselves and the engine). With a much needed road-side stop (for our butts as well as our engine) I accidently ran through a bush of thorns with my feet and found no less than 50 thorms stuck in, through and between my toes... it hurt like a mother.
Our Honda Wave 100 after one of it's feats of climbing up and down muddy hills while towing aprox. 300 lbs. of weight on it's back.
Although it may look super-imposed, the green was just as green pictured here as it was in person...
One of our night drives together...
Our way "home" the next morning as the dew was rising, the clouds were begining their dance to the heavens and the roads were carrying us away.
And then there was the Sunday night market. With this just ebing one of many roads, alley's and side streets filled with entertainment, music, food, crafts, pictures and the list could go on and on - our night last night was one of walking, laughing, eatting and being amazed at how such a simple town can turn into a fancy night festival once every week.
Chaing Mai at a glance...
Our first morning in Chaing Mai we were walking around trying to find a cheap nice place to stay during our time here and low and behold, we ran into a parade of ants carrying their manna for the next month... this was our second scorpion sighting to soon be followed by our most recent cobra sighting (which we did not capture on camera p.s.)
And then there was Bud's... our little treat for ourselves... branched out of San Fransciso Bud's has taken on the hearts of many in Chaing Mai, including Jake and I. What cannot be fixed with a hot chocolate sundae and a green tea/strawberry ice cream taco... delight.
Our view from our fourth floor suite. Some may call it a one room shack. But to us, it's perfect. With a view like this, how can it not be.
So, for the past week Jake and I have spent our time traveling with Derek and Niti around Northern Thailand, spending a majority of our time with Niti's immediate and extended family (all of the Akha tribe). Although we enjoy shopping for our food, even more so we have learned to enjoy hunting and gathering for our food. Although we were treated as honored guests during our entire time, there is something contagious about gathering up leaves, mushrooms, fruits and vegetables as we walked the hills. There is something freeing and tenacious about searching out for worms, stringing them and going after fish with a stick. On a side note though - Jake and I are rookies. By the end of our time, we hadn't independtly caught any fish, I found one mushroom and while Jake did our laundry one evening I went out and had a lesson on gathering leaves and herbs (which I could barely identify on my own by the end of my lesson). This picture is of Niti's mom, being the pro that she is.
Our first morning in Chaing Mai we were walking around trying to find a cheap nice place to stay during our time here and low and behold, we ran into a parade of ants carrying their manna for the next month... this was our second scorpion sighting to soon be followed by our most recent cobra sighting (which we did not capture on camera p.s.)
And then there was Bud's... our little treat for ourselves... branched out of San Fransciso Bud's has taken on the hearts of many in Chaing Mai, including Jake and I. What cannot be fixed with a hot chocolate sundae and a green tea/strawberry ice cream taco... delight.
Our view from our fourth floor suite. Some may call it a one room shack. But to us, it's perfect. With a view like this, how can it not be.
So, for the past week Jake and I have spent our time traveling with Derek and Niti around Northern Thailand, spending a majority of our time with Niti's immediate and extended family (all of the Akha tribe). Although we enjoy shopping for our food, even more so we have learned to enjoy hunting and gathering for our food. Although we were treated as honored guests during our entire time, there is something contagious about gathering up leaves, mushrooms, fruits and vegetables as we walked the hills. There is something freeing and tenacious about searching out for worms, stringing them and going after fish with a stick. On a side note though - Jake and I are rookies. By the end of our time, we hadn't independtly caught any fish, I found one mushroom and while Jake did our laundry one evening I went out and had a lesson on gathering leaves and herbs (which I could barely identify on my own by the end of my lesson). This picture is of Niti's mom, being the pro that she is.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
It's been awhile...
So I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you a couple of things I've/We've been struggling though over this past week.
Thailand (Chaing Mai) is beautiful, convienent, conventional and simply refreshing. It's not India. It's not Morocco. It's different.
To say that there are no poor people here is a statement I would like to make after four days of being here and not being hit-up by any beggers or seeing men, women and children sleep out in the streets, sidewalks and parks. Yet, that statement is not necessarily all true. After talking to a local social worker and some friends of ours who grew up here/live here, my assumptions though have proven to be pretty much substantiated.
There are those here who live in "poor" conditions, but to live on the street in a "destitute" poverty is an unknown, unseen. There is not "hunger" here as we experienced in India or Morocco. It was shared with us that is beacause Thailand is fertile ground, filled with fruits and vegetables, pulses and livestock. No one goes hungary. The government is run "well," in that medical needs are cared for, kids go to school, most adults are self-employed/employed by bigger business. It's an overall "functioning" community.
People are kind to us here. Six days in and we have not yet been laughed at, yelled at (well, except for this crazy lady in the night market who screeched at us when we walked away from her table uninterested in her products), made fun of, harassed, mocked, etc. In fact, I didn't even know (after nine months over-seas) how much we were yelled/laughed at, made fun of, harassed, mocked, etc. until all of those daily moments we had become accustomed to had disappeared. People are nice here, like really really nice.
There is fresh air here. It's clean, there aren't piles of trash to step through, urine on the sidewalks to step over (many men in India have not yet mastered the use of a private urinal stall yet and prefer to ofter relieve themselves on the side of the roads, sidewalks, etc. - which I guess there is a reason for when many of the men who do so often don't have toilets at their disposal to use), pollution in the air to clog your nose, lungs, ears and eyes with. It's so beautiful... so very beautiful...
This is where my heart and mind gets confused. I want to be here. I like it here. It's exotic and different while still being familiar and comfortable. It's not India. It's not Morocco. Yet, I love India. I love Morocco. When I think of the experiences I had there I often cannot help but praise God for the mercy he has given us to have been able to live and learn from our neighbors and friends there. And in the midst of looking back at all of the obstacles we encountered while there, I still have nothing short of fond, beautiful, stretching, exciting, joyful memories of our time there. I think there's something to this, for God says that when we choose to enter into "suffering with others" we choose to enter into life and love with him, inside his skin. There is a reason our times in India and Morocco are rembered in our hearts and minds the way they are.
So why do I want to stay here so much? And why do I struggle with wanting to stay here so much? I don't want to cheat God by remaining in a place where we want to be rather than in a place where He may want us to be (although we have no clue where that is right now). We're struggling... Yet, there is a part of me that rejoices in the struggle in order to learn and grow closer in my relationship with my first love as well as with Jake.
I'm kind of at a loss right now I guess you could say.
On that note: We're looking for employment here. We are feeling as though we may need a fiscal year as well as a year of rest and routine. It's a fertile place for Jake to get an English teaching job, yet for a number of reasons, we are running into a couple obstacles, still they are not all set in stone. Please pray for us. A simple request from a simple heart.
Know in the meantime though that we just paid for our first "apartment." It's a one room hotel that has a king sized bed and a balacony that looks out over the beautiful mountains and city of Chaing Mai.
This morning we got up with the sun and ate oranges, mangosteins and peanut butter and jelly snadwiches in bed looking out over the balcony.
Thanks for your love.
So I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you a couple of things I've/We've been struggling though over this past week.
Thailand (Chaing Mai) is beautiful, convienent, conventional and simply refreshing. It's not India. It's not Morocco. It's different.
To say that there are no poor people here is a statement I would like to make after four days of being here and not being hit-up by any beggers or seeing men, women and children sleep out in the streets, sidewalks and parks. Yet, that statement is not necessarily all true. After talking to a local social worker and some friends of ours who grew up here/live here, my assumptions though have proven to be pretty much substantiated.
There are those here who live in "poor" conditions, but to live on the street in a "destitute" poverty is an unknown, unseen. There is not "hunger" here as we experienced in India or Morocco. It was shared with us that is beacause Thailand is fertile ground, filled with fruits and vegetables, pulses and livestock. No one goes hungary. The government is run "well," in that medical needs are cared for, kids go to school, most adults are self-employed/employed by bigger business. It's an overall "functioning" community.
People are kind to us here. Six days in and we have not yet been laughed at, yelled at (well, except for this crazy lady in the night market who screeched at us when we walked away from her table uninterested in her products), made fun of, harassed, mocked, etc. In fact, I didn't even know (after nine months over-seas) how much we were yelled/laughed at, made fun of, harassed, mocked, etc. until all of those daily moments we had become accustomed to had disappeared. People are nice here, like really really nice.
There is fresh air here. It's clean, there aren't piles of trash to step through, urine on the sidewalks to step over (many men in India have not yet mastered the use of a private urinal stall yet and prefer to ofter relieve themselves on the side of the roads, sidewalks, etc. - which I guess there is a reason for when many of the men who do so often don't have toilets at their disposal to use), pollution in the air to clog your nose, lungs, ears and eyes with. It's so beautiful... so very beautiful...
This is where my heart and mind gets confused. I want to be here. I like it here. It's exotic and different while still being familiar and comfortable. It's not India. It's not Morocco. Yet, I love India. I love Morocco. When I think of the experiences I had there I often cannot help but praise God for the mercy he has given us to have been able to live and learn from our neighbors and friends there. And in the midst of looking back at all of the obstacles we encountered while there, I still have nothing short of fond, beautiful, stretching, exciting, joyful memories of our time there. I think there's something to this, for God says that when we choose to enter into "suffering with others" we choose to enter into life and love with him, inside his skin. There is a reason our times in India and Morocco are rembered in our hearts and minds the way they are.
So why do I want to stay here so much? And why do I struggle with wanting to stay here so much? I don't want to cheat God by remaining in a place where we want to be rather than in a place where He may want us to be (although we have no clue where that is right now). We're struggling... Yet, there is a part of me that rejoices in the struggle in order to learn and grow closer in my relationship with my first love as well as with Jake.
I'm kind of at a loss right now I guess you could say.
On that note: We're looking for employment here. We are feeling as though we may need a fiscal year as well as a year of rest and routine. It's a fertile place for Jake to get an English teaching job, yet for a number of reasons, we are running into a couple obstacles, still they are not all set in stone. Please pray for us. A simple request from a simple heart.
Know in the meantime though that we just paid for our first "apartment." It's a one room hotel that has a king sized bed and a balacony that looks out over the beautiful mountains and city of Chaing Mai.
This morning we got up with the sun and ate oranges, mangosteins and peanut butter and jelly snadwiches in bed looking out over the balcony.
Thanks for your love.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Yeah, internet again...
So we had a little time before meeting our friends for breakfast, and thought that we would update the blog a little bit again.
First up, a guessing game. This is an object that we picked up in India. We can tell you that it at one point used to be alive. Now it is your job to guess what it is, what it was, where it came from, and how it came to our possession. Come on, get creative, and give us a story.
Fruit in India is dirt cheap, and amazing. There is nothing like a banana that was allowed to ripen on a tree, instead of being picked green so it can be shipped a few hundred miles just to ripen off the tree on a grocery store shelf.
Due to the awesomeness of the fruit here, we ate a lot. Here we are suckin' on mangoes. Ummmm.....
Now here we are suckin' on watermelon on the back step of our little hotel room at the Salvation Army in Calcutta.
Jessica says, "this one's for you, sisters." We went to what sounded like a really cool museum in Calcutta, and it turned out to be kind of lame (mostly it was a huge showcase for dirty dolls donated from around the world). However, there were two floors of these models depicting Hindu mythology. Each floor had 61 window frames, each one containing models telling a portion of the story.
This one was one of our favorites... sorry it is blurry, I think picture taking was against the rules, so we had to sneak it in as we could.
And here we are in Bangkok. Huge bridge, lots of temples, totally different people, and a totally different culture. Jess and I did not realize how resensitized we had become to bare flesh until we were walking around the streets here. Morocco and India are both very conservative compared to Bangkok, and it has been a long time since we have seen so much cleavage and incredibly short skirts and uncovered flesh. Wow...
In related news, today, for the first time since September, Jessica and I are wearing shorts. Yikes...
Traveling today, post again sometime soon.
Jake
So we had a little time before meeting our friends for breakfast, and thought that we would update the blog a little bit again.
First up, a guessing game. This is an object that we picked up in India. We can tell you that it at one point used to be alive. Now it is your job to guess what it is, what it was, where it came from, and how it came to our possession. Come on, get creative, and give us a story.
Fruit in India is dirt cheap, and amazing. There is nothing like a banana that was allowed to ripen on a tree, instead of being picked green so it can be shipped a few hundred miles just to ripen off the tree on a grocery store shelf. Due to the awesomeness of the fruit here, we ate a lot. Here we are suckin' on mangoes. Ummmm.....
Now here we are suckin' on watermelon on the back step of our little hotel room at the Salvation Army in Calcutta.
Jessica says, "this one's for you, sisters." We went to what sounded like a really cool museum in Calcutta, and it turned out to be kind of lame (mostly it was a huge showcase for dirty dolls donated from around the world). However, there were two floors of these models depicting Hindu mythology. Each floor had 61 window frames, each one containing models telling a portion of the story.
This one was one of our favorites... sorry it is blurry, I think picture taking was against the rules, so we had to sneak it in as we could.
And here we are in Bangkok. Huge bridge, lots of temples, totally different people, and a totally different culture. Jess and I did not realize how resensitized we had become to bare flesh until we were walking around the streets here. Morocco and India are both very conservative compared to Bangkok, and it has been a long time since we have seen so much cleavage and incredibly short skirts and uncovered flesh. Wow...In related news, today, for the first time since September, Jessica and I are wearing shorts. Yikes...
Traveling today, post again sometime soon.
Jake
Monday, May 07, 2007
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Pure photos II
Holy crap this was a great movie poster. On the back of many of the busses down south. I have no idea what it is about or what it says, but perhaps either Sumitran or Pavittran could help us out with some translation if they are reading.
With the company of prep boys in tight jeans and a seven year old girl dressed in a sari, Jake and I took a log over-due trek up an amazingly beautiful mountain range in the Nilgiri Hills...
Gnanamanickam family + 2 foreigners
For some reason, I understand her grief when I look at her.
Beautiful enterance into an old colonial British cemetary (which we hopped over the gates to get to and wander throughout)
Well, Biss-ha!
Holy crap this was a great movie poster. On the back of many of the busses down south. I have no idea what it is about or what it says, but perhaps either Sumitran or Pavittran could help us out with some translation if they are reading.
With the company of prep boys in tight jeans and a seven year old girl dressed in a sari, Jake and I took a log over-due trek up an amazingly beautiful mountain range in the Nilgiri Hills...
Gnanamanickam family + 2 foreigners
For some reason, I understand her grief when I look at her.
Beautiful enterance into an old colonial British cemetary (which we hopped over the gates to get to and wander throughout)
Well, Biss-ha!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Another picture-less post.
Sorry, I just don't trust the "virus-free" status of these public access computers enough to plug my camera into them.
No pictures but man do we have a lot of stories.
After spending about a week total with the Gnanamanickam family in Coonoor and the NWTWS, we headed back north through a nice little town called Mysore.
That, however, was just a stop on the way to one of India's largest cities, Bangalore. We were only in Bangalore long enough to change railway stations, hit a guy with our rickshaw and get a bite to eat before hopping on the 36 hour train ride to Calcutta.
Yeah, I am not sure if you read that right, but the rickshaw we were riding in actually hit a guy. His shoulder pushed in the frame on the left side of the carriage, his face hit right on the windshield, and he was sent sprawling. By the time I got out of the back seat, blood was pouring out of a split in his scalp that stretched from his eyebrow back and up about 3 inches on his head.
The man looked like he might have been drunk or homeless or both. We tried to help and ensure that he was ok, but after just a few minutes we were pushed back in a rickshaw and whisked away. This is where the conflict comes in. We feel that if he had been of a higher class or caste, more fuss would have been made about retaining the driver, calling the police, calling an ambulance, commandeering another rickshaw to take him to the hospital, etc... But we don't know this. It is just a feeling, and something we have discussed, and something born out of some experiences here.
All that aside, we have now been in Calcutta for about 3 days, and we are finding it much to our liking. The food, ambiance, the poverty, the sights and smells, and the general spirit of the city just feels good to us. It is nice to go somewhere strange and have it feel familiar.
Too many stories, and as you can tell from my writing tonight, I can not articulate well right now. Just know that we are doing well, and we are eagerly anticipating our change to Thailand in just a few days.
Jake and Jess
Sorry, I just don't trust the "virus-free" status of these public access computers enough to plug my camera into them.
No pictures but man do we have a lot of stories.
After spending about a week total with the Gnanamanickam family in Coonoor and the NWTWS, we headed back north through a nice little town called Mysore.
That, however, was just a stop on the way to one of India's largest cities, Bangalore. We were only in Bangalore long enough to change railway stations, hit a guy with our rickshaw and get a bite to eat before hopping on the 36 hour train ride to Calcutta.
Yeah, I am not sure if you read that right, but the rickshaw we were riding in actually hit a guy. His shoulder pushed in the frame on the left side of the carriage, his face hit right on the windshield, and he was sent sprawling. By the time I got out of the back seat, blood was pouring out of a split in his scalp that stretched from his eyebrow back and up about 3 inches on his head.The man looked like he might have been drunk or homeless or both. We tried to help and ensure that he was ok, but after just a few minutes we were pushed back in a rickshaw and whisked away. This is where the conflict comes in. We feel that if he had been of a higher class or caste, more fuss would have been made about retaining the driver, calling the police, calling an ambulance, commandeering another rickshaw to take him to the hospital, etc... But we don't know this. It is just a feeling, and something we have discussed, and something born out of some experiences here.
All that aside, we have now been in Calcutta for about 3 days, and we are finding it much to our liking. The food, ambiance, the poverty, the sights and smells, and the general spirit of the city just feels good to us. It is nice to go somewhere strange and have it feel familiar.
Too many stories, and as you can tell from my writing tonight, I can not articulate well right now. Just know that we are doing well, and we are eagerly anticipating our change to Thailand in just a few days.
Jake and Jess
Monday, April 30, 2007
Global Day for Darfur.
Write a letter.
Make a sassy phone call.
Help take a stand against apathy, inaction, and indifference that is leading to the deaths of thousands upon thousands.
Jake
Write a letter.
Make a sassy phone call.
Help take a stand against apathy, inaction, and indifference that is leading to the deaths of thousands upon thousands.
Jake
Friday, April 27, 2007
My lungs feel free...
It's been awhile, we know... but we must share, the access to internet is quite a rarity up here in the hill stations of Southern India, therefore our communication is limited... and another admission = it's been kinda nice...
After a two day, two night train ride south (yes, please! to Indian Railways...) we made our way slowly south into the hill stations of Southern India (pictures to be posted - someday...)
Dancing through the fresh air filled with jasmine and eucalyptus...
Eating fresh picked mangos, papaya, jack fruit, etc...
Exploring our way through the coffee and tea plantations...
Enjoying the most wonderful company and care of the Gnanamanickam family...
Touching green grass...
Climbing tall gnarly trees...
Thinking, praying and working through our time up North...
Anticipating our flight to Thailand on the 7th...
Tasting love, listening to love, watching love, smelling love, and touching love...
Simply enjoying the fruits of being loved and in love...
It's been awhile, we know... but we must share, the access to internet is quite a rarity up here in the hill stations of Southern India, therefore our communication is limited... and another admission = it's been kinda nice...
After a two day, two night train ride south (yes, please! to Indian Railways...) we made our way slowly south into the hill stations of Southern India (pictures to be posted - someday...)
Dancing through the fresh air filled with jasmine and eucalyptus...
Eating fresh picked mangos, papaya, jack fruit, etc...
Exploring our way through the coffee and tea plantations...
Enjoying the most wonderful company and care of the Gnanamanickam family...
Touching green grass...
Climbing tall gnarly trees...
Thinking, praying and working through our time up North...
Anticipating our flight to Thailand on the 7th...
Tasting love, listening to love, watching love, smelling love, and touching love...
Simply enjoying the fruits of being loved and in love...
Saturday, April 14, 2007
A short but sweet up-date
We're off... after aprox. four months here at Sewa Ashram Jake and I are moving on. We have been showered with many blessings, challenges, periods of growth, pain, joy, laughter, silence, and just being during our time here. For that we are endlessly grateful.
Today we move on. We will first travel south by train to visit some friends and enjoy whatever else comes our way. Around the beginning of May we will then make our way north to Calcutta, by way of east coast railway and fly off to Bangkok, Thailand on May 7th.
We are looking forward to our time in Thailand as we plan on spending short periods of time with some friends, getting away on a deserted island for a week and WWOOFing our way through various organic farms.
What God's intentions are for us after that... only He knows... but as we are truly learning and experiencing the truth of Him "preparing the way." We are finding that "things" are slowly falling into place, opportunities are opening and the manifestations of His love and presence are more present than ever before.
Please keep in touch and visit our blog often. We anticipate that our time e-mailing will continue to grow shorter and shorter, therefore, time responses to e-mails may grow longer and longer. Please know that we think and often pray for each of you often. Your love, support, time, feedback, concern, interest and hugs are appreciated and acknowledged.
love - Jess (and the cute guy often found beside me)
We're off... after aprox. four months here at Sewa Ashram Jake and I are moving on. We have been showered with many blessings, challenges, periods of growth, pain, joy, laughter, silence, and just being during our time here. For that we are endlessly grateful.Today we move on. We will first travel south by train to visit some friends and enjoy whatever else comes our way. Around the beginning of May we will then make our way north to Calcutta, by way of east coast railway and fly off to Bangkok, Thailand on May 7th.
We are looking forward to our time in Thailand as we plan on spending short periods of time with some friends, getting away on a deserted island for a week and WWOOFing our way through various organic farms.What God's intentions are for us after that... only He knows... but as we are truly learning and experiencing the truth of Him "preparing the way." We are finding that "things" are slowly falling into place, opportunities are opening and the manifestations of His love and presence are more present than ever before.
Please keep in touch and visit our blog often. We anticipate that our time e-mailing will continue to grow shorter and shorter, therefore, time responses to e-mails may grow longer and longer. Please know that we think and often pray for each of you often. Your love, support, time, feedback, concern, interest and hugs are appreciated and acknowledged.love - Jess (and the cute guy often found beside me)
Friday, April 13, 2007
A fast, multi-faceted post...
For those of you that know Jessica well, you will probably remember your own sense of surprise when I posted pictures of her eating oranges. Yes, Jessica, the great hater of all things orange (except candy corn) is now a lover of oranges. Just this past weekend, before traveling back to Delhi on the bus, she is the one who suggested that we get a kilo or so of oranges for the ride home.
Well, for those of you that fully appreciate that little blurb, I bring a new and shocking revelation. Jessica, under her own will and power, decided to give blood. Yes, she faced down the huge needle and gave a full unit of blood. Of course she scared the crap out of all of the doctors and nurses on duty because of her contorted face and streaming tears, but she ever-so-confidently assured the medical staff that she was "not suffering" and it didn't hurt "too much". In her words, she just "hates needles".
OK, and for everyone else who doesn't know Jessica well enough to laugh at that, you can enjoy the back of the Muesli label that we recently finished. Just keep reading, it gets better and better.
Yes, Cory, we did see the Arabic script, and we were able to read it, though we don't know the meaning of the sounds we were making.
Jake
For those of you that know Jessica well, you will probably remember your own sense of surprise when I posted pictures of her eating oranges. Yes, Jessica, the great hater of all things orange (except candy corn) is now a lover of oranges. Just this past weekend, before traveling back to Delhi on the bus, she is the one who suggested that we get a kilo or so of oranges for the ride home.
Well, for those of you that fully appreciate that little blurb, I bring a new and shocking revelation. Jessica, under her own will and power, decided to give blood. Yes, she faced down the huge needle and gave a full unit of blood. Of course she scared the crap out of all of the doctors and nurses on duty because of her contorted face and streaming tears, but she ever-so-confidently assured the medical staff that she was "not suffering" and it didn't hurt "too much". In her words, she just "hates needles".
OK, and for everyone else who doesn't know Jessica well enough to laugh at that, you can enjoy the back of the Muesli label that we recently finished. Just keep reading, it gets better and better. Yes, Cory, we did see the Arabic script, and we were able to read it, though we don't know the meaning of the sounds we were making.
Jake
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
It's been a week or so...
Some of you have noticed our rather conspicuous absence during the past week. Jess and I thought it was about time to explain our lack of communication.
We have been looking rather in depth at our future, at least the coming year or so, and are trying to reach some decisions. Last week we took a trip out to a Delhi suburb where we spent 2 days being hosted by GrapeCity, a software development firm, as I (Jake) was looking into the possibility of working for them for a year or so. The trip went very well, we were treated exceptionally, the staff were wonderful people, but we are still undecided about the job and how it fits our long-term goals.
We were then back at the Ashram for only one day before we took 3 days out to go visit a new compound that is acting as a boarding school for disabled children. We knew it was not in a big city, but we did not realize what we were getting into. After 8 hours on 5 different buses and another half hour ride in a 4-wheel drive truck, we arrived at ASHADEEP. 30 minutes from the nearest town. No public utilities, no pollution, no cars, surrounded by individual agricultural families and small villages.
As much as I love the work here at Sewa Ashram, I have never felt more instantly at home within an organization as I did when we showed up at Ashadeep. The name Ashadeep is made from two Hindi words, Asha and Deep. Asha means 'hope', and deep is a small clay bowl filled with oil and used as a lantern. Lantern of hope. And they are.
Set on 100 acres of land, Ashadeep hopes to be completely self-sustaining in about 4 years. All of those little brick circles are guarding baby mango trees. Can you imagine what that will be like in a couple of years? They will grow all of their own organic food, produce their own power, pump and filter all their own water, recycle all of their waste, produce their own gas, and do it all for one amazing reason. In a recent survey of 50 surrounding villages to Ashadeep, there were more than 400 disabled children found. Ashadeep is already a boarding facility for nearly 100 children, all disabled, and they hope to act as a boarder for many many more children as well as a school for them and all the surrounding village children. Medical care, rehabilitation, therapy, exercise, school, vocational training, medical education, skills development, everything is included on their compound.
(Jess and I got to learn some Hindi sign language.)
It was incredible. It felt like peace. It felt like hope.
There was passion as well as structure.
There was mentorship as well as vision.
There was compassion but it had healthy boundaries.
Now we are trying to build Ashadeep into our future plans. We truly desire to work with them and help them move forward as well as learn from them and gain tremendous experience. We are just not sure how to do it. Please be thinking of us in the coming weeks and month or so as we have many big decisions to make regarding our future, finances, moving countries, etc...
(He is an artist, but I think he could be a boxer.)
The basic setup is that Jess has to go to Michigan for a wedding, which we can do. But if we both go, we will then need to earn some more money before continuing on. Should we go back to the US, work there, then come back to India? Should I take a job in Thailand or Korea or China for the next year and work/learn there before returning to work in India again? Should we even come back to India?
But even as those questions press us and start to choke us with anxiety, they quickly fall away when we remember why we are here.
Just a day after returning from Ashadeep we spent 2 days in Delhi. One of those days was a meeting with a cool young couple from the US who are living in Delhi and working with street kids. They were just good people, refreshing conversation, and fun companions.
The next day we were able to go and visit the adoption agency / orphanage where Rumi and Reshma were placed after they left the Ashram. They were really doing well. Reshma was eating much better, and had even moved on from just a bottle to spoon feedings. She was plump and healthy looking. Rumi looked very good as well. He had already started walking, was much healthier, but still had his sad little face constantly contorted into a look of fear. I am confident that constant love can pull him out of that state, but it is still hard to see him like that.
Some of you have noticed our rather conspicuous absence during the past week. Jess and I thought it was about time to explain our lack of communication.
We have been looking rather in depth at our future, at least the coming year or so, and are trying to reach some decisions. Last week we took a trip out to a Delhi suburb where we spent 2 days being hosted by GrapeCity, a software development firm, as I (Jake) was looking into the possibility of working for them for a year or so. The trip went very well, we were treated exceptionally, the staff were wonderful people, but we are still undecided about the job and how it fits our long-term goals.
We were then back at the Ashram for only one day before we took 3 days out to go visit a new compound that is acting as a boarding school for disabled children. We knew it was not in a big city, but we did not realize what we were getting into. After 8 hours on 5 different buses and another half hour ride in a 4-wheel drive truck, we arrived at ASHADEEP. 30 minutes from the nearest town. No public utilities, no pollution, no cars, surrounded by individual agricultural families and small villages.
As much as I love the work here at Sewa Ashram, I have never felt more instantly at home within an organization as I did when we showed up at Ashadeep. The name Ashadeep is made from two Hindi words, Asha and Deep. Asha means 'hope', and deep is a small clay bowl filled with oil and used as a lantern. Lantern of hope. And they are.
Set on 100 acres of land, Ashadeep hopes to be completely self-sustaining in about 4 years. All of those little brick circles are guarding baby mango trees. Can you imagine what that will be like in a couple of years? They will grow all of their own organic food, produce their own power, pump and filter all their own water, recycle all of their waste, produce their own gas, and do it all for one amazing reason. In a recent survey of 50 surrounding villages to Ashadeep, there were more than 400 disabled children found. Ashadeep is already a boarding facility for nearly 100 children, all disabled, and they hope to act as a boarder for many many more children as well as a school for them and all the surrounding village children. Medical care, rehabilitation, therapy, exercise, school, vocational training, medical education, skills development, everything is included on their compound. 
(Jess and I got to learn some Hindi sign language.) It was incredible. It felt like peace. It felt like hope.
There was passion as well as structure.
There was mentorship as well as vision.
There was compassion but it had healthy boundaries.
Now we are trying to build Ashadeep into our future plans. We truly desire to work with them and help them move forward as well as learn from them and gain tremendous experience. We are just not sure how to do it. Please be thinking of us in the coming weeks and month or so as we have many big decisions to make regarding our future, finances, moving countries, etc...
(He is an artist, but I think he could be a boxer.)The basic setup is that Jess has to go to Michigan for a wedding, which we can do. But if we both go, we will then need to earn some more money before continuing on. Should we go back to the US, work there, then come back to India? Should I take a job in Thailand or Korea or China for the next year and work/learn there before returning to work in India again? Should we even come back to India?
But even as those questions press us and start to choke us with anxiety, they quickly fall away when we remember why we are here.
Just a day after returning from Ashadeep we spent 2 days in Delhi. One of those days was a meeting with a cool young couple from the US who are living in Delhi and working with street kids. They were just good people, refreshing conversation, and fun companions.
The next day we were able to go and visit the adoption agency / orphanage where Rumi and Reshma were placed after they left the Ashram. They were really doing well. Reshma was eating much better, and had even moved on from just a bottle to spoon feedings. She was plump and healthy looking. Rumi looked very good as well. He had already started walking, was much healthier, but still had his sad little face constantly contorted into a look of fear. I am confident that constant love can pull him out of that state, but it is still hard to see him like that.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Right now I'm sitting in a Steelcase office chair that has adjustable:
1) upper back force
2) back stops (I don't know what this means either)
3) seat height
4) lower back firmness
5) seat edge angle
6) seat depth
7) lumbar height
8) arm rests
and I've never been so physically comfortable but emotionally and mentally confused as I am right now... I'll share more later.
- Jess
1) upper back force
2) back stops (I don't know what this means either)
3) seat height
4) lower back firmness
5) seat edge angle
6) seat depth
7) lumbar height
8) arm rests
and I've never been so physically comfortable but emotionally and mentally confused as I am right now... I'll share more later.
- Jess
Friday, March 30, 2007
Hodge-podge up-date of sorts
As I lie awake in bed at 2:00am as though it were 6:00am I figured it would be the best use of my time to catch everyone up on the happenings in our lives lately...
First of - many of you have asked if my friends, the lice Wallas, still remain. The answer is yes, they are still taking up residence on my white, dandruff ridden scalp. Upon discovery of these nasty things there were so many eggs, weekly maintenance seems to be a requirement in order for their population to be kept at bay. I think I have come to grips with the fact that during my time here, it's inevitable that they will continue and multiply (also it's probably because I often forget to take showers and I give them too long a period of time to hatch, lay eggs, etc.)... Jake thinks I'm just not taking hard-care action against them because I like him combing through and playing with my hair every few days. I think I may be beginning to agree with him. And no, I haven't yet stopped kissing kids.
I have this all over my left palm and wrist. At first we thought it was a fungus, now we just know I perspire strangely. What to do?
As many of you know, a hope of Jake and mine is to someday have a farm where we (and whomever is living with us) can live primarily off of what we plant, grow and harvest. These two trees seem like a great start... Tree 1, meet Tree 2, your future neighbor.
Speaking of trees... There is a fairly new obsession around here and I'm riding it's wave with the patients at my side. This delightful long, deep red berry is one of the most tasty treats to be found this side of the equator. It's so deliciously delightful that often you can find kids and adults alike hiding and climbing, trying to grasp the deepest, most luscious red berries. I wish I could share the name of this berry/tree with you, but as of right now - I have no clue...
Over the past weeks both Erin and I have begun implementing an exercise program for the guys here, primarily our TB patients. 6:00am breathing and stretching, 9:30am walk, 5:00pm weight lifting and 6:00pm cardio exercises... it's been a most delightful change in daily routines and disciplines.
Yesterday for the first time I went and spent time with the Sisters of the Destitute. So often women are brought to the Ashram because they are found laying in their own feces, face down on the side of the road. Although they are destitute, I don't believe that the Ashram is the best place for a woman to recover and find rest. I'm not quite sure I have figured it all out yet, but I think women need a different kind of healing than men. Since the Ashram primarily cares for men, we have made it a practice to take our women to The Sisters of the Destitute. Upon arrival we were greeted with stern but loving smiles and hugs from the sisters as well as silly and passionate greetings from the women who live there. Joyti is one whom lived with us approx. two weeks before moving there. Since I have last seen her, the 8 inch wound on her back (from laying for long on her back through wet nights in deplorable conditions) has healed almost completely, her smile comes independent without prompting and she's now speaking. We believe, due to her physical condition upon arrival that she was most likely beaten and raped numerous times and as a result now lives within the depths of spiritual pain and confusion. My prayer is that she will, in time, feel the touch of the Sisters and her community members as the touch of Jesus. For within His touch is where I believe she will be found.
Have I yet introduced you to Tony? Brought here at the plea of government hospital nurses, Tony, abandoned, burned, broken and HIV positive, was brought to the Ashram just over two months ago for continued treatment and care after an extended period of time in the hospital. Now walking independently he is speaking more often, mimicking sounds of nature and sounds from man, enchanted with birds and fan, he now is living full-time at Kids House where he has begun school and presents to be thriving through the never-ending circle of energy produced by the kids whom live there. Beautiful.
Wait - I remember now that you do know Tony, Pramod's closest friend during his time here. Which brings me to another most beautiful series of events here, patients walking out of the Ashram on their own two feet. After a healed broken leg Pramod left to go back to work (and hopefully not the streets) and Kundanlal and his son Vijay have begun their journey back to Punjab. Kundanlal and his son showed up outside of the meeting circle on a chilly Sunday morning just over two months ago. With four days of traveling on their back, and a rejection from a government hospital to receive care, Kundanlal third degree burns covering his chest, neck, hands, face and arms were bound to his shirts and jacket with puss and blood. Miraculously, he has been healed. People say they have never seen anything like it, skin which was charred is now pink and healthy, reviving itself once again. This past week they went home.
Did I ever mention that on our few days holiday last month we went paddle boating. 30 mins. paddling down a man-made, over-sized ease trough through the middle of Delhi - all for .50 cents. I know, I agree - how could we not have gone?
Life is quite a dichotomy isn't it. Creation that is. The creation of life's quirks and sick jokes such as lice and dyshidrotic. Creation of berries which inspire child-like tree climbing, hiding and hoarding. The creation of renewed hope and communities that exist solely to inspire and nurture it. And creation through life and in healing.
As I lie awake in bed at 2:00am as though it were 6:00am I figured it would be the best use of my time to catch everyone up on the happenings in our lives lately...
First of - many of you have asked if my friends, the lice Wallas, still remain. The answer is yes, they are still taking up residence on my white, dandruff ridden scalp. Upon discovery of these nasty things there were so many eggs, weekly maintenance seems to be a requirement in order for their population to be kept at bay. I think I have come to grips with the fact that during my time here, it's inevitable that they will continue and multiply (also it's probably because I often forget to take showers and I give them too long a period of time to hatch, lay eggs, etc.)... Jake thinks I'm just not taking hard-care action against them because I like him combing through and playing with my hair every few days. I think I may be beginning to agree with him. And no, I haven't yet stopped kissing kids.
I have this all over my left palm and wrist. At first we thought it was a fungus, now we just know I perspire strangely. What to do?As many of you know, a hope of Jake and mine is to someday have a farm where we (and whomever is living with us) can live primarily off of what we plant, grow and harvest. These two trees seem like a great start... Tree 1, meet Tree 2, your future neighbor.
Speaking of trees... There is a fairly new obsession around here and I'm riding it's wave with the patients at my side. This delightful long, deep red berry is one of the most tasty treats to be found this side of the equator. It's so deliciously delightful that often you can find kids and adults alike hiding and climbing, trying to grasp the deepest, most luscious red berries. I wish I could share the name of this berry/tree with you, but as of right now - I have no clue...
Over the past weeks both Erin and I have begun implementing an exercise program for the guys here, primarily our TB patients. 6:00am breathing and stretching, 9:30am walk, 5:00pm weight lifting and 6:00pm cardio exercises... it's been a most delightful change in daily routines and disciplines.
Yesterday for the first time I went and spent time with the Sisters of the Destitute. So often women are brought to the Ashram because they are found laying in their own feces, face down on the side of the road. Although they are destitute, I don't believe that the Ashram is the best place for a woman to recover and find rest. I'm not quite sure I have figured it all out yet, but I think women need a different kind of healing than men. Since the Ashram primarily cares for men, we have made it a practice to take our women to The Sisters of the Destitute. Upon arrival we were greeted with stern but loving smiles and hugs from the sisters as well as silly and passionate greetings from the women who live there. Joyti is one whom lived with us approx. two weeks before moving there. Since I have last seen her, the 8 inch wound on her back (from laying for long on her back through wet nights in deplorable conditions) has healed almost completely, her smile comes independent without prompting and she's now speaking. We believe, due to her physical condition upon arrival that she was most likely beaten and raped numerous times and as a result now lives within the depths of spiritual pain and confusion. My prayer is that she will, in time, feel the touch of the Sisters and her community members as the touch of Jesus. For within His touch is where I believe she will be found.
Have I yet introduced you to Tony? Brought here at the plea of government hospital nurses, Tony, abandoned, burned, broken and HIV positive, was brought to the Ashram just over two months ago for continued treatment and care after an extended period of time in the hospital. Now walking independently he is speaking more often, mimicking sounds of nature and sounds from man, enchanted with birds and fan, he now is living full-time at Kids House where he has begun school and presents to be thriving through the never-ending circle of energy produced by the kids whom live there. Beautiful.
Wait - I remember now that you do know Tony, Pramod's closest friend during his time here. Which brings me to another most beautiful series of events here, patients walking out of the Ashram on their own two feet. After a healed broken leg Pramod left to go back to work (and hopefully not the streets) and Kundanlal and his son Vijay have begun their journey back to Punjab. Kundanlal and his son showed up outside of the meeting circle on a chilly Sunday morning just over two months ago. With four days of traveling on their back, and a rejection from a government hospital to receive care, Kundanlal third degree burns covering his chest, neck, hands, face and arms were bound to his shirts and jacket with puss and blood. Miraculously, he has been healed. People say they have never seen anything like it, skin which was charred is now pink and healthy, reviving itself once again. This past week they went home.
Did I ever mention that on our few days holiday last month we went paddle boating. 30 mins. paddling down a man-made, over-sized ease trough through the middle of Delhi - all for .50 cents. I know, I agree - how could we not have gone?Life is quite a dichotomy isn't it. Creation that is. The creation of life's quirks and sick jokes such as lice and dyshidrotic. Creation of berries which inspire child-like tree climbing, hiding and hoarding. The creation of renewed hope and communities that exist solely to inspire and nurture it. And creation through life and in healing.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
From me (Jessica) to each of you:
Thank you.
My Birthday was the most beautifully designed birthday, thanks to each of you...
Beginning my day by going around from bed to bed, waking up all the sleeping guys by tickling their feet and watching their stunned faces peek out of the blankets to catch the culprit.
A day full with most wonderfully filled songs of birthday wishes, random flowers picked from the garden given to put in my hair, a bag full of coconut and cashew cookies from my hub, FLOODING e-mails with greetings and love, prayers and laughter...
With our most handsome flower gardener, Anil, in the backdrop, this is just one of the many delightful flowers which found it's way behind my ear on the day we celebrated my birth... The guys know the weakness I have for flowers, for each morning I make someone choose (or honestly, sometimes I choose myself) from our fields of flowers one most pretty flower to wear that day - until it dies or the bugs start coming out of the leaves and biting the tips of my ears ruthlessly.
The two days preceding my birthday were a different story... with hail storms for only 20 mins. each afternoon, 1/4 inch balls of ice cooled off our 70+ degree afternoons and lended itself to a couple quick and dirty iceball fights.
This morning though when Jake and I awoke and made our way to the office we found that our chrysalis (which Suraj found a few days before) had hatched and become a most beautiful butterfly.
I have been in the very center of delight, not only just for my birthday - but each and every day. Thank you for making this year of my life possible and helping me grow, love, delight, and laugh throughout it all. I am honored to know and be a part of your lives. Thank you.
Thank you.My Birthday was the most beautifully designed birthday, thanks to each of you...
Beginning my day by going around from bed to bed, waking up all the sleeping guys by tickling their feet and watching their stunned faces peek out of the blankets to catch the culprit.
A day full with most wonderfully filled songs of birthday wishes, random flowers picked from the garden given to put in my hair, a bag full of coconut and cashew cookies from my hub, FLOODING e-mails with greetings and love, prayers and laughter...
With our most handsome flower gardener, Anil, in the backdrop, this is just one of the many delightful flowers which found it's way behind my ear on the day we celebrated my birth... The guys know the weakness I have for flowers, for each morning I make someone choose (or honestly, sometimes I choose myself) from our fields of flowers one most pretty flower to wear that day - until it dies or the bugs start coming out of the leaves and biting the tips of my ears ruthlessly.
The two days preceding my birthday were a different story... with hail storms for only 20 mins. each afternoon, 1/4 inch balls of ice cooled off our 70+ degree afternoons and lended itself to a couple quick and dirty iceball fights.
This morning though when Jake and I awoke and made our way to the office we found that our chrysalis (which Suraj found a few days before) had hatched and become a most beautiful butterfly.
I have been in the very center of delight, not only just for my birthday - but each and every day. Thank you for making this year of my life possible and helping me grow, love, delight, and laugh throughout it all. I am honored to know and be a part of your lives. Thank you.
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