Life is bumping along here. A few evenings ago Benson and I sat on floor cushions sewn from vintage saris, drinking Indian beers and staring out at the city as the sun set. It’s funny: we were so excited to get furniture, but we spend more time on floor in front of the window than our sofa. “What have you learned since being here?” Benson asked. “Like practically?” “Everything.” I […]
I’d planned for a tear-jerker of a post regarding how God graciously provided us a church. We’re going to save that for later though because SOMEBODY STOLE MY GROCERY STORE. It all started as I was trying to procure a watermelon and a mattress. Anita, the kind woman I’ve hired to wash dishes and iron, and I walked to the mattress shop a block away. As we prepared to cross […]
I watched two men sitting outside the restaurant I like to go for breakfast. Their arms, hands and fingers waved fluidly in sign language to one another. Between them I noticed the stray dog who lives just beyond the restaurant door. He’s a healthy weight. He has learned to make his way on these streets and is most often sleeping contentedly when I see him each morning. On this day […]
“Makeup? Makeup? Is good one. Pen? Is best pen.” “Is it all good?” I bantered, waving my hand around the crowded little stall filled with measuring spoons, tin cups, can openers, mirrors (which the shopkeeper called makeup), plastic waste baskets and of course, pens. The wiry Indian man smiled back. Benson paid for our items, I told the host of workers “Shookria,” and we walked down the narrow Mumbai sidewalk […]
Yesterday I felt like a prairie woman in a bonnet waving goodbye to her husband who was setting off in his wagon to tame a wild frontier and secure land, shelter, vittles. But really I was just standing in my driveway waving goodbye to Benson who was setting off in an Uber to travel to Mumbai and secure the keys to our Indian apartment, a mattress, bank account, local phone, […]
All together now – USA! USA! I cried when we landed. And then I cried when I saw our roommate. Then we went to church and I cried and wondered if the man sitting next to me was sort of weirded out. I know there are people who actually go through hard times in their lives – sickness, divorce, poverty, war – so I feel like such a pansy being […]
At a corner roadside stand a few blocks from where we’ll live, an old plastic pitcher of . . . maybe water? maybe juice? . . . sits on the makeshift counter, open to anyone who needs a drink during the trek home from work. I watched from my seat in the open-air rickshaw various walkers stop, pour liquid into their open mouths, replace the pitcher and continue walking. Nobody […]
