take me away

I am blogging twice today.

Mostly because I can and felt like it.

I've never told the blogging world (ha!) about my trip to India so I will just post a few pictures and tell my story...

I love India. I mean, I LOVE it. Something about that strange, beautiful place has gotten in my blood, in my heart, in my spirit, and I will never be able to get it out. After a very short trip (2 weeks) my sophomore year of college, I knew that I would always feel some sort of kinship for the people there, a draw to go back. And I did. I spent about three months living with 17 strangers in New Delhi about two years ago (Jan 2007 to April 2007). Some of those strangers remained strangers and some of those strangers became my friends. There are a few with whom I keep in touch with, people who had such a strong impact on my life in such a short time that I know we will always be friends.

I read a book recently that talked about cultural history in that part of the world (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan) and they talked about the meaning of family and being literal blood relatives. There is something about that bond that you will always feel, you will always know is there, you will always understand. I feel like there are people in India who are blood relatives to me. It is a tie that binds me.

We spent the majority of our time working in an orphanage, a couple of leper colonies, and a few slum areas. It was not a mission to "convert the unbelivers". It was a love mission. It sounds strange but we talked about just going to "love on" the people there...the unloved children, the untouched lepers, and the unlovable outcastes. Why not love on them? I guess it isn't really strange at all...we all need to be loved by someone who means it.

I love the people, the political history (the good and the bad), the rich culture, the colorful saris, the smokey air, the color of the sun, even the smell. You have to be there to understand.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about India. I think I have finally convinced Chad to take a trip with me there, to spend some time trying to understand what I mean when I talk about the cows in the street, monkeys, children with outstretched hands, and the spicy smell as soon as you step off the plane. He said, when I went, that he would never go there (I would like to believe that it is just because it is what took me away for 3 months but he isn't that sentimental). But I need him to go. I need for him to try to understand and to finally see...open his eyes and see the beauty and the wonder that is India.