|
TREKKING!
So again I don't have much time but I will write as much as I can.
Well I went trekking in the Himalayan Mountains! THE CRAZIEST THING I
HAVE EVER DONE! Not so much random crazy... but just crazy... like who
does this?
First day we had a 3 hour hike straight up... longest day of my life...
but I did it! I couldn't believe it! The guys helped me a lot...
especially Ben, and we stayed at a family's house for 2 nights... the
first day was really awkward... we just showed up and stayed at their
house... but I guess that's how you do things in India... we paid for
them though... and they cooked for us... and we got to sleep in a bed.
The next day we trekked to a village about an hour away... that was
fun... got to paint some faces. I really like this area... and it gave
us more of a chance to get used to Indian people. India is the complete
opposite from America in pretty much every way!
We killed a goat! Lez chopped its head off in one fell swoop! I didn't
watch.
By the end of the 2 days we got pretty close to the family. They had a
son named Lucky who had a little crush on me... it was too cute... he
was 18 but he looked like he was 13 or so... Indian guys are just really
little most of them. We went on a long trek again the next day and Lucky
and his dad came with us and Lucky carried my bag the whole way... he
and his dad really liked me a lot. I liked their family a lot, too. I
was sad when we had to leave.
The next village we were in was very dark... I really didn't like it at
first... the people we friendly enough but hard... and there were a few
drunk guys who were always around. Lez had to fight one off one day who
tried to come at some of us with a stick. I wasn't there for that
thankfully.
I got an Indian make over though! All the girls in the village ganged up
on some of us and put stickers on our foreheads (which is just fashion
mom don't worry) and red lines that symbolized beauty... and painted our
nails and put lipstick on us... but they tried to put bracelets on me
that were WAY too small! I tried to get them to stop and they smacked
me! hahahah... it was all kind of overwhelming but sweet of them to want
to make us "beautiful" that was their favorite word I think.
Also that day Stef and I went walking around to try and make friends and
this old guy threw a sick at us and told us to go inside and meet his
family! haha so we did... the men in the village spoke a little
English... so we were able to communicate a little bit through the dad
in the house... who was the first really nice person I met... he had a
little girl who hurt her foot really badly though... so me and Stef went
back and got Priscille who's a nurse... so she came and bandaged her
foot... then everyone in the village came for healing from Priscille and
the people we couldn't fix with medicine we prayed for and some people
got healed! Priscille was pretty much a celebrity in the village at this
point haha.
The next day I was out trying to pray but didn't really have peace about
just sitting there... so even though I was kind of afraid of the
people... mostly cause it had been so awkward I started to walk back in
the town... and one of the girls who's about my age asked me to come
plant potatoes with her family... so I did. It was fun! We also washed
clothes on a rock on the river!! That was SO COOL! After all that we
went back to her house and she and her 7 sisters made me Chai Tea...
which is what they give you at every house... I thought it was weird at
first... now I love it!
And they asked me about my family. I wish I had a picture of my
family... cause everywhere I go they ask me if I do.
Also their brother came in. He spoke very good English... I asked him if
the people in the village liked us... they said that they all did very
much... he said that Lez was his best friend. One of the little girls
scraped up her English and asked me if I loved India... I told her yes
very much... that it was beautiful... and everyone in the room kind of
stopped what they were doing when I said that... they were all very
touched for some reason.
But yeah... they really wanted to brush my hair... I was praying against
lice the whole time... but I let them... that made them VERY happy haha
my hair was pretty messy at this point.
We stayed in tents. I had never gone camping before... it was SO much
fun!!! The 2 nights it rained though and the wind was crazy... it was
kind of scary and awesome.
I was kind of lonely while I was in this village though... missing
home... but even though it was hard sometimes I had a great time
trekking!
On the walk home it was raining... and very cold... and I was feeling
sick and my back hurt... so I pretty much cried the whole way down...
haha but Ben was right behind me the whole time... whenever I would slip
he would grab me... and it was really cool. I felt so much of God’s love
through him in a big brother way. I had never really had revelation of
God as my big brother... and I hadn't been that aware of God in a long
time... which all made me cry more... but I hardly even noticed it was
Ben. I could just really feel Jesus cheering me on and keeping me from
falling and trying to make me laugh. I love Jesus so much! And Ben. It’s
hard to explain but it was a very special time in the trip for me.
The day after we got home I got to do some shopping! Yay... and I got to
wash all my clothes by hand! I WILL NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT WASHING CLOTHES
IN AMERICA AGAIN!!! That is hard work dude!
We also figured out what we'll be doing for the rest of the trip... I
GET TO WORK IN THE COFFEE SHOP! I'm super excited! I'm at the Internet
cafe right next door to it now! It’s my first day. I really love it!
It’s about an hour walk down everyday, but most days we'll get to take a
taxi back to our house. I love it so much here and love my job and I get
to work with Erin and Stef and Andrew... we make a very good team...
mostly me and Erin will have the afternoon shift/ and pretty much every
night we do events like... open mike nights or movie nights... we get a
lot of westerners coming in here... so that's pretty cool.
But so I should be able to get on the Internet a little more now... it
still costs money though.
But yeah I'm doing very good... but God is setting me free from a lot of
fear and I'm learning a lot about how to pray and how important it is
and how much fun it is. I'm learning so much about everything.
Oh and that demon possessed guy... I saw him-ish... I'm pretty sure he's
just autistic... I was all scared over nothing haha sorry about that.
Dude I am really missing you all though in Asheville! Especially my girl
friends... I love you guys and you’re on my mind a lot... haha and
Marklar too.
Oh so I get done with ministry here on may 15th. After that we have
debrief and we work our way back to America. So pretty much 6 weeks of
working in the cafe and teaching English for me!
So yeah thank you all SO much for your prayers... there is so much I
don't know how to communicate about what's going on in a blog... but
yeah I guess I better get going.
Love you all!
Jaime
|
