Day 6- random

India is great.  The weather was awesome today.

One of the girls on our trip had raised money for one of those animal gift organizations (i.e. World Vision, Heifer project). Today, we went to the goat giving ceremony.  It was amazing to see the community. Different families in the community had received goats in the past and they, and those they had passed goats on to, had improved their lives drastically.  The women receiving goats today were so excited. 

From there we visited more microfinance places and interviewed women for our project. I loved being able to actually speak with the women.  Though a lot got lost in translation, they had so much to say and were so willing to speak.

In the evening we went to a dance recital.  It was a traditional Indian dance form danced by a man.  I mean no disrespect to the culture, but it was really boring.  At least they fed us.

I have some time so here are a few random things.

Indian Bathrooms-

Here they are squat toilet. They are basically a glorified hole in the ground and surprisingly they are easy to use and not that gross.  The hotel we are staying in is much Americanized so, thankfully, it has a more western toilet. They still don’t use toilet paper. I am very glad I packed some. Thank goodness for the Boundary Waters, I’m kind of used to this.

The bathrooms are normally connected to the shower and completely tiled. Most showers don’t have curtains so the entire bathroom gets drenched each time you shower.

Driving-

Motorcycles are the most popular form of transportation here. It is not uncommon to see an entire family on one motorcycle. A child or two sits in front and then the husband. The wife sits seated sidesaddle behind him with her feet on a running board. She is normally holding a baby. And occasionally the fourth child sits on the running board. Motorcycles are also known to be great for transporting goats.

Traffic is ridiculous.  Lines don’t really mean anything at all.  Vans will pass buses side by side with motorcycles while swerving into oncoming traffic.  Our van drivers laugh at us because we scream quite frequently.

Clothing-

Women wear one of two traditional outfits. The Saree or the Salwar Kameez. The Saree is a long piece of fabric that wraps up into a dress over one shoulder. The salwar kameez is a long tunic and baggy pants.

If the woman is Muslim she wears a saree and wraps the end that drapes over her shoulder up over her head as well.

I feel like we are constantly moving and doing here yet, we never know when or where. Everything is spur of the moment. Thankfully, the evenings are open and I can relax.

I can't thank you all enough for the prayers. I'm having a wonderful time. :)

In Christ

~Michelle