For all those who have thought we were crazy to go on a trip like this and crazy in particular to start it with several months in India, I would have to agree with you. As the nature of our trip and the realities of our new lifestyle begin to sink in, I have two competing thoughts running through my mind. The first thought is that what was I thinking when I decided to do this, I must be partially out of my mind. And the other thought is that I feel like my life is like reading a good novel—one that I have no idea where the heck the author is going with the story line, but it is interesting enough to keep me turning the pages.

Delhi is more or less how I remembered it, if not more—hot, crowded, dirty, and polluted. But somehow my reaction to it has matured since the last time and I don’t feel overcome by the elements, and crossing the street isn’t as intimidating. On my first morning in India as I stood scrunched under a waist high water spicket for a refreshing, though not refreshing like a hot shower at home, “shower” of water and I realized that India would teach me to have joy in all circumstances, good or bad, clean or dusty. Though I know my experiences won’t run the gamut of human experiences in terms of good and bad things, I know God will still teach me through experiences that are tough for me, such as adjusting from western amenities, which wasn’t so bad in the grand scheme of things.

On a lighter note, Matt and I spent 5 extra hours in the district of Kamla Nagar waiting for my new pair of prescription sunglasses to be finished. Why wait in the same area? Because we were all the way across town from our hotel, so rather than travel an hour back and forth each way, we hoped to find enough to keep us entertained until my sunglasses were done. In a nutshell, we got EXTREMELY bored; there’s only so much one can do in a place that mostly has clothing and accessory stores when you aren’t looking for either. We probably passed by the same kid with her scale on the sidewalk at least 8 times during our wanderings throughout the afternoon which went something like this:

M: What do you want to do?

J: I don’t know. Go somewhere with AC.

M: Ok, but we’ll have to buy something.

J: Ok. As long as there’s AC.

(wander around a little bit looking for a place, go inside, order a snack or drink)

J: Mmm. Doesn’t this feel nice?

M: Eat slow, we’ve still got 3 hours to go.

(I somehow managed to make one cup of tea last an hour. The last sip was like the last 2 minutes of a basketball game, strung out over way more than 2 minutes.)

The day left me with a question of whether spending 5 mindless hours wandering around hot Delhi was worth this pair of $20 stunnas (prescription!) that I can’t figure out if they make me look like either a grandpa or that my shades should be accompanied by gold chains and 20” rims on my rickshaw. What do you think?