Trucks are Lorrys, Okra is a Lady's Finger

This morning, I attended a Christian service delivered in Tamil.  This service was actually very similar to that in the US.  It began with a choir leading songs of worship and lead to a pastor/priest delivering a sermon.  A few differences included the fact that different age groups went up to the front in turns.  I believe they were prayed over, but I am not sure why this was separated by age group.  Another difference is that only women were in the choir, and they were sitting on the side of the front of the church so as to not impede the aisles, since people were frequently going up front.  There was also a kind of blessing given to just a few select people.  I believe they were new professors here at the college. The only part of the service that I really understood was communion.  This process was very similar as any church I have been to.  We prayed, the pastor invited us up, and we formed lines to the front of the church.  These lines were separated by gender. People took turns going to the front to kneel before the priest to receive a paper thin wafer as bread and some grape juice.  No wine is served because this is a Christian college.  In fact, liquor is prohibited on the premises. This part was far more intimate than in the US.  Kneeling side by side with several others, the priest blesses you and invites you to accept Jesus as he hands you the wafer, and everyone drinks from the same cup.  While I was assured that this was sanitary because the cup was wiped with a cloth between each person, the same cloth was used over and over, so I am not so sure.  At any rate, it felt very personal and meaningful.  While the whole service was in Tamil, occasionally the pastor would say English phrases such as "have the wisdom to accept Jesus," "God gave the Torah, God is the Creator," and some other things about intelligence and wisdom.  For the educated who know English well, this seems to be the norm to mix English and Tamil.  This occurs very frequently, even in advertisements.  The ads online are Indian, and an Indian man sang to me to encourage me to use Vodaphone, a phone network here, in English, while singing about whatever else in Tamil. The men all wore what American men might wear: nice slacks or jeans with a button down.  However, most people did not wear shoes inside.  While I did wear shoes, it was required to take them off to take communion.  This is similar to a gym we went to: you did not have to take off your shoes, but most people worked out barefoot.  The women were completely covered at church.  They wore saris with head coverings so that when everyone was up front taking communion, the women's side was a mass of fabric.  One huge difference about this service was the chapel itself.  It seems alien to all other buildings on campus because most buildings here have intricate architecture with terracing, plants, swooping and overhanging shapes, and jutting aspects.  The chapel is, essentially, a huge triangle. The two ends are entirely brick, and despite the fact that it is a single story building, it is about as tall as all of the academic buildings with their multiple floors.  The walls near the bottom were completely open to the outdoors with metal latticework.  In fact, many people sat outside of the chapel and looked in through the spaces in the metal.  It is easier to conceal your emotion here, since it is so hot, because you can disguise teary eyes by wiping away sweat since the building is open to the outdoors and very hot.  The walls were lined with about 20 fans perpendicular to how we are used to them being set in the ceiling, which is necessary because it is hot here even in the morning.  Later, we will get to go to an English service, so I can tell you more about the actual message. After the service today, I met Glenny, who is the bride at the wedding we are attending next Saturday, of which 2,000-3,000 people will attend!

 Above is a song written by one of the founders of BHC; it was on the first page of the hymn book/Bible.  I found out that this year is the 50-year-anniversary of BHC, so we will get to go to a huge celebration later this month!  The second is a prayer for the college.

This was lunch today, yummy.  Those red things are lady's fingers.  The chef, whose name I am still working on, thought I was crazy for calling it okra.  

Just a little bit of pruning and landscaping, Trichy-style.  

This was a statue in thanks of money donated to develop BHC.  I do not know if you can see the two girls hiding behind it.  

Later in the day, we went shopping at an Indian store.  While we will get to go to an open market to barter later on, I think it will be fun to tell you of the Indian store Lifestyle.  When I walked in, a guard took my bag and stored it in a cubby.  She gave me a token to give back upon leaving to retrieve my bag.  I was told this is done to prevent stealing.  For some reason, they did not take Jess’ bag.  I wonder if I just look more suspicious than she does because I have had to take more steps along every process getting here.  My visa was declined at first because I had to sign a religious undertaking letter that I would not preach while here, I was patted down at the Raleigh airport, my checked bags were searched, the Chennai airport was skeptical to let me through because I couldn’t give the exact address of BHC, and my bag was taken at the store.  This does not bother me, but I wonder at it!  Anyways, Lifestyle was very different than Kohl’s. There were far more employees, nearly one per clothing rack.  Before I could try on clothing, I had to tell an employee what I was looking for, and they then measured my waist and gave me pants and shirts to try on.  They constantly came to my changing room to give me different sizes and options.  At one point there were eight employees at my door.  I was suffocated and uncomfortable despite the fact that all of this attention was very helpful in choosing an outfit.  I think part of the crowd was drawn because I must look so different than most of their customers, but it was overwhelming.  At checkout, they carried my clothes down for me, folded them, and bagged them.  I was also charged for the bag.  I think this was in an effort to offset the materials to produce it because the side says “Reg. No. of State Pollution Control Board.”  I received my backpack when we left.  Clothing shopping brought up another huge difference here in India. Solomon, who is so considerate and welcoming, has no problem mentioning that I am fatter than many.  Most people in the US tell me that I am thin, so is this faux American politeness, or just a different cultural meaning of the word thin?  He told me this because some shirts were flattering on me while apparently others were not.  The bluntness goes both ways, though, because at one point I tried on a shirt he really like and told me I could be a model. 

The roads today were much lighter in traffic than yesterday.  Our Warden/RA Solomon explained to us that this was most likely due to the fact that it had just previously been down-pouring.  It seems the weather controls traffic more than the police.  One year, Trichy received 250 cm of rain in 24 hours; the weather here does not joke around. I mention the roads because we rode on scooters to the store today with Solomon and his cousin driving Jess and me.  Solomon is a much slower and safer driver than most, and we were honked at frequently.  This was much less daunting than crossing the street, and I feel mostly used to it by now as long as someone else is driving.  I also mention the roads because out of the three newspapers I have read here, there is always front-page news about people who have died in a crash; today it was between two lorry drivers.  By the way, a lorry is like a more open, smaller semi-truck.  The news was filled with traffic accidents, including a hit and run that left a man dead.  The sixteen year old boy who hit him was tried as an adult and is awaiting sentencing, for which ten years in prison is the maximum sentence. 

The news was also filled with information about agriculture.  Here, the huge crop is rice, and the government has just approved paddy subsidies.  I believe it was 15,000 acres of rice paddies that have just been subsidized in this area.  Also, we had some locally grown pineapple at dinner today, which is something I have never been able to say growing up in NC.  Another difference is that milk is boiled here to kill pathogens, similar to pasteurization in the US, except that it is done soon before the meal.  My cornflakes this morning were poured with boiled milk, which was actually great.  Even breakfast here was spicy, including a fresh steamed rice puff called idli spread with tomato and onion chutney and a coconut sauce. 

Tomorrow I will start my hospital work.  I found out today that I will be actually shadowing a dietitian!  I was unsure if Dr. Relton could find a dietitian for me to shadow because dietitians are rarer here. Despite this, he found two different hospitals with dietitians for me to go to.  I am so excited for tomorrow; stay tuned!