Today is lovely.
The weather is alternating between the sweat-inducing heat I'm familiar with, and the cloud-covered humid relief I've come to anticipate. Church was so nice, especially seeing a couple of girls I dearly loved on my first trip - please let me tell you, it's amazing to be able to pick up with someone you left halfway around the world.
Praise and I went after church to go and get Prakash some birthday presents - today he is four years old! what a sweet, tiny, talented, inquisitive, energetic thing he is. He's a handful, and a perfect ham, but he's a wonderful treasure. What a sweet boy.
I followed praise to the metro nearby and got a new card - I forgot to bring my old one back with me. I filled it with a mere 100 rupees ($2) and used only 20 to get to the shopping center and back. A new one has sprung up since I was last here. We left the metro station and came upon a mess of rickshaw drivers waiting to service those who come out of the air conditioning of the underground cars into the heat of the day. Praise wasn't in a walking mood today, so we took my first rickshaw since 2010 to the nearby shops. How I'd missed those dear workers - skin and bones, riding with surprising might, pulling untold pounds over untold miles in the unspeakable heat for the smallest profit I've ever seen anyone work to attain. (Well, I guess at least they don't have to join a gym.) So many of them choose this line of work - it's astounding to me while I'm still living in the last bit of the idle American mentality... I hope by some time into this trip I'll have kicked that habit.
So, tonight is the birthday party - we decorated the Malakar's house to be a party jungle :) The theme is Diego from Dora. He'll have a leopard cake, and there are vines, trees, and jungle flowers covering the walls. It's precious. I'm excited.
I got him an urban-style structured jacket... no, I have not lost my mind. They tell me it'll cool down sometime and he can use it. Who knows if he'll like it, but he'll look good in it - it's really cute.
Speaking of things people look good in - here's a couple of random facts. 1) I think Indian guys look REALLY good in pink. Ashok was wearing a nice pink shirt today, and he looked sharp! 2) I think any guy looks handsome in a kurta. The guys dressed up for church today, and I just think they look so nice. There you go.
EDIT:: some pictures from the party :)
So fun! We all had a great time together celebrating our favorite little biracial four-year-old.
Tomorrow is a relaxation day... I'm excited to rest up and stock up on things that I need (Mangoes. I need so many mangoes!!) Maybe I'll take some pictures of my place and put them up for you guys :)
Until then,
My love from Delhi!
-Julie of the jungle
The weather is alternating between the sweat-inducing heat I'm familiar with, and the cloud-covered humid relief I've come to anticipate. Church was so nice, especially seeing a couple of girls I dearly loved on my first trip - please let me tell you, it's amazing to be able to pick up with someone you left halfway around the world.
Praise and I went after church to go and get Prakash some birthday presents - today he is four years old! what a sweet, tiny, talented, inquisitive, energetic thing he is. He's a handful, and a perfect ham, but he's a wonderful treasure. What a sweet boy.
I followed praise to the metro nearby and got a new card - I forgot to bring my old one back with me. I filled it with a mere 100 rupees ($2) and used only 20 to get to the shopping center and back. A new one has sprung up since I was last here. We left the metro station and came upon a mess of rickshaw drivers waiting to service those who come out of the air conditioning of the underground cars into the heat of the day. Praise wasn't in a walking mood today, so we took my first rickshaw since 2010 to the nearby shops. How I'd missed those dear workers - skin and bones, riding with surprising might, pulling untold pounds over untold miles in the unspeakable heat for the smallest profit I've ever seen anyone work to attain. (Well, I guess at least they don't have to join a gym.) So many of them choose this line of work - it's astounding to me while I'm still living in the last bit of the idle American mentality... I hope by some time into this trip I'll have kicked that habit.
So, tonight is the birthday party - we decorated the Malakar's house to be a party jungle :) The theme is Diego from Dora. He'll have a leopard cake, and there are vines, trees, and jungle flowers covering the walls. It's precious. I'm excited.
 |
| Prakash saw me taking pictures of the decor and asked to give it a go... He took this on his first try! My little prodigy, he is. |
I got him an urban-style structured jacket... no, I have not lost my mind. They tell me it'll cool down sometime and he can use it. Who knows if he'll like it, but he'll look good in it - it's really cute.
Speaking of things people look good in - here's a couple of random facts. 1) I think Indian guys look REALLY good in pink. Ashok was wearing a nice pink shirt today, and he looked sharp! 2) I think any guy looks handsome in a kurta. The guys dressed up for church today, and I just think they look so nice. There you go.
EDIT:: some pictures from the party :)
 |
| this small person is certainly a pirate. Actually, it's the result of the face-painting option at the party, which was largely ignored by the kids because they were so afraid of it. haha. some of them did end up with mustaches, like this one :) |
 |
| at one point he came out and announced that his band was going to play, and then marched his friends out with their instruments :) |
 |
| his band has a lot of heart, but a short attention span. |
 |
| The adults played a jungle version of Pin-the tail on the donkey, which was completely unfamiliar to them... It was fun to watch them laugh and play. |
 |
| the man of the hour. |
As a personal update...
today, I feel very centered. I was thinking when I came back how I felt good, I felt pretty content but not perfect, and I didn’t feel pretty but I felt like it didn’t matter somehow, and I felt settled and contained and like I’m doing as well as I should be doing, as well as I could be doing, and I felt like a woman, not a girl, and I felt fine - truly fine. I was trying to put a finger on what I felt, and finally I realized. I feel centered.
Like my confidence comes from inside me, like I don’t suffer from any dependency, like my happiness doesn’t require easy circumstances, like I can love those around me without insecurity, inadequacy, fear, unsettledness, immaturity, depression or confusion holding me back.
It feels so perfect. I hope I can continue to live in this figurative place within my heart. Right here in the center. :)
Tomorrow is a relaxation day... I'm excited to rest up and stock up on things that I need (Mangoes. I need so many mangoes!!) Maybe I'll take some pictures of my place and put them up for you guys :)
Until then,
My love from Delhi!
-Julie of the jungle
No comments:
Post a Comment