Weary, But Learning the Unforced Rhythms of Grace

OK, it’s two days after celebrating our BIG 36th wedding anniversary and we are really feeling worn out. Here’s why –

√ We were gone three days in a row, which we are finding is a “no, no” in a land where conserving energy is a must in order to be able to handle the heat, the masses of humanity, and the unexpected (which has actually become the expected by now – even though we don’t know exactly what the “expected unexpected” might be). Needless to say, being stretched to your core takes its toll unless you are well rested, well-fed and have your armor in place.

Jessa Birdsall, one of my INSIGHT students from two years ago, dropped in for a day on her way, from a summer internship at Kachwa, to a week with her sister in Mumbai.


This young girl was with her family on our rooftop trimming tree leaves that are used for tea.


Another view from our rooftop.







This rooftop view is on Independence Day when kites are traditionally flown. Our neighbors were trying to fly theirs from their rooftop.





We're excited for Esther to come, there are playgrounds galore!





These boys were selling necklaces at Janpath Market. They were very happy to have their picture taken.


This vendor was very patiently persistent even though his supply of necklaces was less and simpler than the older, more aggressive vendors. Finally, partly to reward this unique combination of qualities, Chuck bought one - it has turned out to be one of Janis' favorites!



√ Chuck has been working hard to prepare for his first BIG meeting tonight for the East West Educational Foundation. They are completely moved into the new offices and classrooms in Nizamuddin but have been trying to get the AC fixed in time for tonight’s meeting. Unfortunately there have been so many power outages today that it’s been difficult to even make the needed copies of the agenda, so the AC may have to wait.

Through a cooperative arrangement with the YMCA, the International School is meeting in the Greater Noida YMCA, and East West Language Institute and East West Educational Foundation are housed in the Nizamuddin YMCA.

Sheila Malakar, Administrative Assistant, began just in April but has become absolutely invaluable through all the transitions and through her very efficient and cheerful administration of the offices.

Here's Chuck sitting at his desk - to his great pleasure, there is much light in his office!








Paul Gillette, one of the founders and acting Director for EWEF during their search for a new Director, and currently acting Director of EWLI, is standing with Shammi Kapoor, one of our excellent, younger Hindi instructors.



Aji has become a God-send. Because of all the recent forced moves for EWEF, our residence in Saket has turned out to be a lot further away from the EWEF offices than had been planned. Finding an autorickshaw every day was becoming a difficult and expensive task. Then Aji showed up one morning. We think the auto-wallas in our neighborhood maybe have an informal network, and somehow they passed on to him that we were looking for an auto at the same time every morning. We're still getting acquainted. He has a wife and two boys.

√ Janis has been up to her ears in keeping up with all the relationships going on around her. Everyone was so generous on our anniversary – it was close to overwhelming! Our landlady gifted us with 5 big beautiful plants for our small entry area, special food she and her daughters made, and even took Janis to a nearby beauty parlor to have hair, make-up and her sari professionally folded and pinned for our night out to celebrate. Our neighbor gave us chocolates and gave Janis red bangles and earrings to match her sari. The East West office gave us 2 dozen red and white roses and a beautiful card. One of our teachers gave us a bouquet of lovely orchids. Then to top it all off, the Chinese restaurant where we ate after going to the National Gallery, made us a wonderful chocolate/cherry cake complete with a candle and a white chocolate Happy Anniversary greeting!


From our rooftop, looking down on our neighbor, Mrs. Das, on her veranda. She has become one of Janis' close friends.

Suman is the daughter-in-law of our house helper and cook, Nargis. When Nargis broke her arm getting on the bus to come over to our flat, Suman volunteered to fill in while Nargis recuperates.

Janis and Mrs. Pandey, our landlady and Janis' private Hindi tutor. She and Janis have also become quite close. She was so excited for our Anniversary and was instrumental in "Indianizing" Janis.


In the background is one of the five plants Mrs. Pandey gave us for our Anniversary.


We're on our way to celebrate our Anniversary by visiting the India Museum of Modern Art, and then on to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in a major hotel in Visant Vihar.


As you can see, Mrs. Pandey's efforts to "Indianize" Janis were quite successful. Her beautiful appearance drew a number of looks and several comments of appreciation for her wearing a sari. Though not as obvious, Chuck's white shirt and slacks were just as typically Indian for men's dress.

√ Recently language classes have become more demanding on our time and brains and with our busy schedule this week, Janis is a bit behind in her homework Don’t tell any of her former students!). Chuck has moved to having private tutoring and an East West conversation partner rather than taking formal classes. This has allowed more flexibility for his work schedule.

Here's Janis' class with their instructor, Shammi Kapoor.





So other than feeling pretty worn out, we also feel very blessed in our relationships here and truly see each day in Delhi as a special gift from the Gracious Hand of our Father.

More Photos

We have a letter coming out and were going to include more photos, but ran into huge demands on memory - computer, that is!

So we thought we would post them here instead of overload the letter.

Just a note of correction on the previous post - Janis and I are not sitting in front of Humayan's Tomb. The building behind us is another of the many tomb sites. Here is Humayan's Tomb:








There are so many ruins all around Delhi. Here's a view of one of the tombs partially surrounded by a decaying stone wall:




And an exquisite entryway with a dilapidated wall abutting it:









After visiting Humayan's Tomb, we went to our favorite art store in Delhi. Just outside the store, a young man and woman had just gotten engaged. Here she is having henna painted on her hands:

Breath of Fresh Air

We stood in an open archway that had been built hundreds of years ago. It was part of a vast construction housing a tomb built by the wife of Humayan, one of the latter Mughal Emperors, to commemorate her husband's death. At one time the area was known as the hallway of the Mughals because there were so many other Mughal (Muslims, tracing their lineage to the Mongols) tombs.

It was hot, perhaps high nineties, low hundreds, Farenheit. And, with summer time temperatures in Delhi, it was typically quite humid. On this adventure, I actually think Janis was beginning to enter the early stages of heat exhaustion. Her face was uncharacteristically flushed. But, as we stepped into the archway, there was a unexpected current of cool air. It was a welcome relief from the heat.

In this open archway, the cool air was present only in a small space of perhaps five feet by five feet. Take a step in any direction beyond that small area and there was no cool air. I was thinking about this breathe of fresh air in a house of death, wondering, "Is there some correlation between this experience and life in Christ, especially as we go about in this world?" Hmmm....

Below are some photos from the Humayan Tomb complex:



These two young men were very anxious to have their picture taken before this entry to one of the many tombs.



This is an example of one of the other tombs on the Humayan Tomb site.



Here is the previous tomb viewed from outside a surrounding wall. At one time, this entire enclave held a small Islamic village.




Islamic art usually prohibits representations of people or objects, therefore designs are common. This is an interior dome of one of the tombs.



Viewed from the courtyard of the Humayan Tomb, this is a mosque in use today.





Janis and Chuck in front of Humayan's Tomb. This Tomb was built over a 100 years before the Taj Mahal, but was a direct influence on the architecture of the Taj.



Sunneye Phillips, a friend from Mosaic, stayed with us this weekend and visited the Tomb with us.

Back in Language Classes

Language Classes
This week marks our return to Language Classes. Janis will be in a class reviewing what we've learned so far, I (Chuck) will be in the Intermediate Beginner class (which is going to be a mighty stretch for me!)

Weekend Retreat
Last weekend we attended the first ever East West Educational Foundation Annual Retreat. The speaker told us that his great grandfather was born a Muslim in Iran, but grew disenchanted with economic limitations and religious issues, so moved to Afghanistan where his great grandfather raised his grandfather as a Hindu.

His grandfather grew up as a Hindu in Afghanistan, However, due to disenchantment with economic limitations and religious issues moved to Pakistan, where he raised the speaker's father as a Sikh.

So, the speaker grew up in Pakistan as a Sikh, but because of economic limitations and religious issues, he moved to India where he now has become a Christ-follower! Some might say, "Only in India!"

Delhi Belly and other ill-health
Well, I (Chuck) have finally succumbed to the infamous, "Delhi Belly"! After three weeks of travel in India last summer, several days in India last Fall, and almost a month here this time, I came down with the symptoms. Following several days of trying to ward off the nasty little bugs inside, I took some medication to bring them back under control. Hopefully, this means my system is now more immune to the resident intestinal microbes :).

This happened just before leaving for the retreat. While at the retreat, both Janis and I came down with sore throats. The warm, moist air is such a perfect breeding ground for such things.

Speaking of "Moist"
I brought some Airborne with us in case we should encounter the sore throat, runny noise, cough issues. Because I was battling these symptoms, I took an Airborne from the container and set it on my plate while I went to get a cup of water to place it in. When I came back, the Airborne tablet had already begun fizzing from the humidity in the air!

Relationships
Janis' natural friendliness is producing a wealth of opportunities for her to share her Hindi - two neighbor ladies, two High School aged girls in the local marketplace, and two young adults at the nearby Coffee Day!

We've also had a number of visitors from the States already, with two more scheduled for this week, and another possibility next week. It's genuine, please feel free to contact us about you visiting!