Carly's Finale

You  think that I'd have it all figured out by now-- the "Why I'm here" part of this whole adventure. The truth is, I've been home for a week, and I'm still wondering (possibly even more uncertain) than I was when I first arrived.

The Bible tells us that we won't always see the results of our good works, and maybe that's the case for me. Sam and I did what we could to help TFT. I know God has big plans for them, and I hope that we were able to contribute to that plan in some small way. I hope to see TFT prosper, and I look forward to being a part of their future.

Working with The Fisherman Trust was only one reason that I went to India. I'm pretty sure an even bigger reason for my journey was to learn something-- and I certainly did learn a lot. I'll attempt to break it down.


What I learned about India...

1. Well first of all, I learned that India is not Canada. They are very different, and I suffered through some serious culture shock in the beginning of my trip. The traffic, the touching, the smells, the looking...and all the anxiety and nausea that comes with it. I make it sound so terrible, but once you get past the initial shock, it's really a fascinating place. I was quite comfortable at the end, and to my surprise, I was sad to leave.

2. Bangalore is the best city. I had to leave it to realize that, but after travelling to Mysore and Chennai, I realized that Bangalore is about as Western as it gets. It's the city. Less people stare because they are used to seeing white people, and you can get mostly any type of food.

3. Indians are very collectivist....and Canadians are very individualistic. Although we like to think that we are all about relationships, we are actually all about ourselves. We are selfish. In India, I found that family is truly everything. 4 or 5 grown adults still share the bedroom! They love each other immensely and find comfort in acting as a unit rather than an individual. I'm happy to have my own bed, my own space and my own identity! That's culture for you!

4. India has the BEST fruit. I miss it so much. It was all so fresh-- mind you, I stuck to the golden rule: if you can't peel it or cook it, then don't eat it. Those baby bananas were a life saver when I was sick. The smell of guava fills the whole room, and kiwis were juicy and sweet.

5. Indian kids are so flippin' cute. You'll see.

6. Indians are EXTREMELY generous. And that's an understatement. We were well taken care of in India. Everyone wanted to feed us, buy us things, take us places, spend money on us. These are people who, even with my debt and unemployment, I am still far wealthier then.

In India, people live to give. Even the organizations-- like TFT and Breakthrough, they make money so that they can run free camps for the underprivileged. It's the opposite of capitalism, and probably how God intended it.

What I learned about me...

1. I LOVE CANADA. I'm feeling more patriotic than ever. I love our laws, our traffic rules and our lack of freedom. I love that there is a comfort zone, and that it's more than an inch away from my face. I love the snow (that one probably won't last), and I love the fresh, crisp air that comes with it. I love my dog and cat, my house, my family, my friends, my church, my Loblaws and my Timmys. There is nothing like it.

2. I am a selfish, rich, spoiled, uptight, bratty white kid--- in India. Here, I'm pretty nice, quite generous, and middle-class. But it's really put things in perspective for me. There's a lot that I can improve on no matter what country I'm in.

3. Patience is a virtue, and I don't have it. Another thing to work on, I guess!

4. I will reiterate. I have an amazing family, the greatest friends, a wonderful home, and an awesome church. I am so blessed and I can remind myself of that everyday. I love you guys.

5. I want to make a difference-- in Durham Region. I love this place, and my heart is here. I can't wait to start my placement at the Refuge, and I truly believe that God will use my to impact lives right here in Toronto. Even though I saw horrific poverty and homelessness in India, I still have empathy for people here.

 6. I love Donald Miller. He helped me through this trip, and I think that everyone should read his books-- Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What, and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

What I learned about God...

1. God is everywhere. I know that sounds silly, because it's probably the first thing I learned in Sunday School, but I've never truly experienced God in another place the way I did in India. I saw Him working in the lives and organizations, and I felt Him working in me. He was my rock when I was feeling sick and alone, and He helped me press on when I felt like giving up. I was halfway across the world, and He was right beside me, the way He is when I'm at home.

2. He can break you down, and build you back up to be even stronger than you were in the first place. Sometimes you need that. I became so vulnerable in India, and He gave me the strength to endure and then flourish! I ended up having a great time, and I was able to build relationships, and brave the insanity of India, all within a few short weeks.

3. God loves all of his people. I should try to love all of his people too-- even the ones I want to kick in the shin. It takes patience, practice and a lot of prayer to love frustrating people, but considering that God loves us in spite of all the irritating and horrific details He knows, I think we can try to love others. We are all different, some more than others, but we are all God's children, and if we deserve God's love, then we definitely deserve each other's love.




I'm happy to see that Sam has already taken over with some more ridiculous stories. I'm sure she'll have much more too say when the Sinclair-Hayes clan journeys to the jungle. I can only imagine Dot's reaction to the wild animals. 

All sorts of company

Life in India since Carly left has been quite low key – thus the lack of blogging, sorry about that J

Most of my week has consisted of reading books on the balcony and applying to jobs online but I do have a couple of stories to share!

The Dentist:

Hearing about how cheap the dental procedures are in India sparked my interest. So after letting Tom get his check-up and fillings done first (just to make sure the place was legit) I headed to the dentist down the road where I paid less than $20 for a full check-up and cleaning. No cavities! It was an interesting experience because there was such a mix of India in with a regular dentist experience. There was your average dental chair and all the sterilized tools, but I was also required to remove my shoes and had my picture (not so covertly) taken by another patient. We've also discovered that prescription medicine is much cheaper over here but since the regulations are less strict it may not be the best idea for my dad to stock up on diabetes meds - expiry dates are not taken too seriously in India! 

The Bees:

My dad and Rob have become the unlucky hosts of a swarm to bees! Now when I say a swarm I mean thousands of bees all packed together hanging from the balcony. It wouldn’t be such an annoyance if they weren’t making the balcony off-limits and wandering the hallway, but needless to say we don’t exactly want them around. So several attempts have been made to get rid of the bees in a humane fashion. First there were the mosquito coils which were not remotely successful! The next attempt was a little more drastic and not at all planned by any of us – this involved Tej covering himself in a blanket and taking a broom onto the balcony where he attacked the hive! I was not impressed because I was now trapped in my dad’s apartment, unable to make it down the hall to mine since the bees that weren’t busy attacking Tej had filled the hallway and were not happy. Tej finally made it inside with a few stings which in a matter of hours swelled incredibly! More than 24 hours later he still looks like he has the hands and feet of an obese man (Tej can’t be more than 120 pounds). He’s gone to the hospital now which I think was a good idea.

And after that fiasco the bees have simply reconvened on the balcony, requiring attempt number  3 to happen tonight - which I assume will not involve allowing the bees to live. Sorry environmentalists.

The Visitors:

My lonely week came to an end on Sunday when Carly was replaced by my mom and Dot! After a good flight in, they spent most of the day sleeping, but now having recovered from their jet lag, they are my entertainment. I have basically become a tour guide for the two, and their disbelief at the sounds, smells and chaos reminds me of how crazy the things are that I have gotten used to.  The few days we’ve had together have involved a lot of shopping and coffee. Dot has been on a quest to find Rob some ties because she was horrified to see a mismatched outfit he had worn to work. She is also determined to convince the Canadian government to replace taxi cabs with rickshaws because she has fallen in love with how they can weave in and out of traffic, fitting into any available nook (according to her the weather issue can easily be solved with winter tires). We also celebrated my dad’s birthday last night, which involved us being extremely resourceful in order to wrap his presents. Let’s just say we used stickers from our luggage tags as tape.

So anyways, life has been good and quite relaxing. We are experiencing some rain but have lots to do to keep us busy this week. Next week we begin our journey into the jungle and down to the beach - you'll hear all about it soon!

Food

My last weekend in India has been all about food. It actually began on Friday when we went to Breakthrough for lunch. Sam volunteered there three years ago, so we had to go say hello. It was a lot of fun. We hired a driver to take us there. On our way we saw the usual cows, dogs, traffic and poverty. We also saw camels! People were riding camels along the road as if they were a common means of transportation. No biggie.

At Breakthrough, Sam reunited with some old friends, and she showed me what this amazing adventure and team building camp was all about. They made us go through this tunnel. It's pitch black and you have to crawl through, up and around, until you finally come to the end. It wasn't so bad, but I can't imagine being in there alone... or having a fear of small, dark places. After the tunnel, we had lunch, we learned to make chipatis, pet a dog and went on our way. Later that day, we had the fellows from TFT come by for some Indian banoffee (we had to improvise some of the ingredients), and we said our goodbyes. We gave them an external hard drive as a gift. We knew it was something they could seriously use, and they were extremely grateful. I really hope that we were able to contribute to the future of their organization. They have amazing hearts, and want nothing more than to reach out to Bangalore.

That evening, we went out for a final farewell dinner at the Oberoi (me saying goodbye to the best hotel in the world). Good company, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and serenading music. It was perfect.

On Saturday, we attempted Commercial Street again....and this time, we conquered! It wasn't nearly as crazy as the last time, and we got everything we needed. We even stopped for a big greasy paper masala dosa. Mmmmm. Tom had pizza. We relaxed for the rest of the day, and had dinner with Dad, Rob and Tom. They polished off the steak, and we finished off our Indian leftovers.

Up until now, the food was great....but nothing...and I mean NOTHING compares to the breakfast we ate on Sunday morning. I could write a blog post just about this food. We went to the Leela...another fancy hotel. It was about 20$/person for an unbelievable buffet. Breads, pastries, donuts, french toast, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, fresh fruit, yogurt, jams, custards, bacon, sausage, omelets to order, fresh waffles and pancakes, mango smoothies, freshly squeezed OJ, the best tea, coffee and cappuccinos, plus a whole slew of Indian food (which I passed on). You could order anything, and they'd make it. All inclusive. And it was honestly the best of the best. We stayed there for 2 and half hours. Amazing. Mom and Dot are going to die.

We fasted for the rest of the day, and had enough room to squeeze in a scrumptious Italian dinner. Bread, salad, soup, pizza--- you know, something light! We ate to tune of Lucky Ali, Indian superstar; Meaghan's estranged husband. We watched the concert for a little while because Tasmia (Meaghan's daughter) was singing back-up! It was a late, but great night, and we crashed as soon as we got home!

Today is all about packing, pondering and last minute shopping. I'm flying home tonight, and I'm feeling bittersweet..... what an adventure. I've learned a lot, and maybe on my 18 hour flight, I'll be able to figure out why God sent me here. I'm going to leave the rest of the blogging up to Sam, as she continues her India journey in Ooty and Kerala.... the jungle will be quite the adventure, I'm sure! 

Intruders

The last few days have been low key. Sam and I have been trying to finish up our work with the Fishermen Trust, and I've been studying for a couple of midterms that I have to write later this week. We're done with some promotional stuff, we're almost done revamping the website, we've created a business proposal and we only have a couple other things to do. I'm home next week, and then Sammy's off to Ooty and Kerala with the family, so we need to get it all done.

Even though we've been stuck inside, we've still managed to have a bit of an adventure. This is how the story goes... Sam and I decided that we needed to get out of the apartment around lunch time yesterday. We went for a walk to Nilgiris (our local grocery store) and picked up a few essentials (bread, milk, eggs, chocolate...pretty much what we'd get in Canada!) and made our way back home to have some sandwiches. Sam opened the door to our apartment and looking straight at us from our balcony was none other than a monkey trying to B&E. He had opened the screen door almost enough to get in. He froze at the sight of us and then backed away, and I ran in to slam the screen door shut. The screen however, has no lock, so I held it there with my foot, while Sam and I had a stare down with this monkey and his monkey friend. We stomped and yelled until they were annoyed enough to leave. They hung around the trees for most of the day and came back to our balcony at least once more. We can only assume that they were husband and wife, because we later spotted them with a baby. I managed to snap a few photos in the process.

As cute as the monkeys are, had we not interrupted this intrusion, our kitchen probably would have been torn apart and our electronics could have gone missing. They are wild, vicious and greedy. One even tried to smack Tej in the face a while back. Monkeys aren't the only deceptively adorable creatures around here. This morning we went to the gym, and I witnessed a horrific dog fight. 4 on 1. I could barely watch. Some of the guards threw rocks at the dogs, trying to break it up. Eventually, they fled and the lonesome pup managed to limp away. From what I saw, I'm surprised they didn't kill him. It's awful, and we hear these dog fights all throughout the night. Next time I come to India, my mission is street dogs....and garbage.

Chennai: Love, Hate and Dinosaurs

Sam and I spent a couple days in Chennai. We took a very busy 5 hour train there, where beggars walked the narrow aisle and people were trying to sell everything from coffee to colouring books. I learned a lot in Chennai, and it all comes down to love, hate and dinosaurs.

Love: I learned that Indians are extremely loving. They are loving of their guests. We have been spoiled rotten from the moment we got to India. In Chennai, we stayed with Raj's family, and they wanted nothing more than to see us eat, smile and enjoy ourselves. We had some of the best food on our trip at that house!

Indians are also very loving of their family. In fact, as we learned on this trip, it is common for an Indian family to sleep in one room (until you are married or no longer live there). Raj and his brother stayed in the same room as their parents, despite the fact that there is a spare bedroom right next door. They find no shame in this and are happy to spend time whatever time they have with each other.

These particular Indians are extremely loving of God. I can't explain the passion they have for Jesus. Raj's brother-in-law prays in the car before he begins driving for the day. This is almost a necessary thing to do before driving in India, but the mere fact that he brings his driving to God shows how much he wants God to be in control of his life. I really admire their faith.

Also, sam and I discovered our love for guava in Chennai. Mmmmm.

Hate: Chennai hates me. First of all, the city tried to kill me with it's wretched stench and toxic fumes. I honestly felt nauseas after being in the car for half an hour, because there is no oxygen in the air-- just car exhaust. I'm starting to believe in global warming. The temperature is much warmer than in Bangalore, and yet, I got no colour. My skin is immune to the sun. No need to be jealous, I'm just as pale as those of you whiteby's stuck in Canada. Third of all, Sam and I were almost trampled by a cow. Apparently, it's mating season and cows are chasing each other all over the place with very little regard for their surroundings. Watch out.

Dinosaurs: We did some sight-seeing in Chennai. We began by visiting the shrine for St. Thomas which was built where he was murdered. It was super cool and we again were celebrities, because a group of men from Nagaland had probably not seen a white person before! We ended the day by seeing some stone carvings and watching the waves at the beach. However, it's the middle excursion that really made the day worthwhile. We went to a crocodile farm where we saw snakes and hundreds of crocs, including what I can only describe as an evolved dinosaur. This crocodile was about 4 meters long and 2 meters wide. It was enormous and the pictures we took don't begin to do it justice. It's the largest crocodile they have in captivity in India, and they say that it's kind can get to be 7 meters long. Insane.

We took a 35$ plane back to Bangalore, and it was worth every penny. Quiet, peaceful and only an hour. We saw a strange sign in the Chennai airport. I snapped a picture, and thought I'd leave you with something to ponder.

Race and Space: Our experiences in Mysore

On Monday, Sam and I traveled outside of Bangalore for the first time. Raj took us to Mysore. The ride there was not bad-- we stopped for dosa, and not just any dosa...the BEST dosa ever. It was smooth sailing until we almost got into a car accident. Imagine this. You are driving on the 401 (or some other major highway), and all of a sudden, you see oncoming traffic in your lane. Going over 100km/hr, our driver swerved through a God-sent gap in the median to the other side of the road (where oncoming traffic should have been). It turns out that the road had been shut down on the other side, and traffic had been carefully directed into our lane, but the police decided to let us figure out the changes on our own. No pylons, no flashing lights, no police officers to direct traffic. That's India for you.

This being our first real trip on a major highway, I also noticed, and was irritated by the speed bumps all along the way. One minute we're driving 110km, the next, we've slowed down to 20km, and we're wobbling over a speed bump. This lasted our entire highway trip.

Once we got to Mysore, Raj explained our itinerary for the day, and we began by seeing a small palace, which was followed by an exhilarating boat ride at the bird sanctuary. The birds were amazing, and there were bats hanging in the trees, but the real thrill was the crocodiles. We were only a few feet away from one croc. Bear Grylls would recommend against this, as would Billy the Exterminator, but it was just so cool! He was growling at us, and it sounded almost like a vacuum cleaner. Our guide rowed away at that point (yes, we were in a row boat...it fit about 10 people), but the crocodile opened it's mouth and we became more excited. Seeing our excitement, the guide rowed back towards the teeth-baring beast, and we took a few more pictures. At that point, it was getting to be a little scary, so we asked him to move on.

We journeyed onward to the Mysore Palace. It was massive and beautiful and the architecture was amazing, but Sam quickly reminded me that the money that was put into building the palace could have solved the poverty crisis in India. We ended the day at the Brindavan Gardens. This is where Sam peed in a hole, and where we discovered more about Indian culture, the first concept being that we are famous. Sam and I felt like celebrities at the gardens because everyone wanted our picture! I guess they don't see too many white people in Mysore. Raj acted as our body guard and selected a few lucky boys to have their picture taken with the Sinclair sisters. It was very exciting-- for them. Secondly, I discovered that Indians have very little concept of space. In Canada, if you are walking past somebody, more than often you would avoid touching that person-- turn sideways, duck down, etc. In India, that norm doesn't exist. People touch, and they walk right into you and they have no concept of personal space.

We headed home after the garden lights came on, and we drove back into Bangalore through the 9pm rush hour. It was an exhausting day, and we crashed as soon as we got home.

On Tuesday, we moved into our new apartment-- just down the hall from Dad's. We settled in, did some shopping and have been doing some more admin work for TFT.

This weekend, we're heading to Chennai, so we'll see what adventures come from that!