So it's been a crazy couple of days since I stepped off the plane on Wednesday morning. I arrived at 5 AM local time which was 7:30 PM Tuesday at home.From the airport we traveled to Usha's nephew's apartment in Chennai. The drive there was crazy, we were swerving in and out of traffic...if you want to know what the driving is like in India take all the U.S. road rules you know and throw them out the window then double tap to make sure they're dead and you have an inkling of what it's like. People darting in and out of traffic on foot and motorcycle made for a nerve wracking ride. We arrived at the apartment safely, but I'm sure I put some new grooves into the handle with how hard I was squeezing at times.
We had a light breakfast and then headed out to run some errands in Chennai, I got to see what I thought was a large portion of Chennai, but turns out I didn't even see a tenth of the city. We ran to various places to pick up odds and ends, and somewhere in the middle of it we stopped off for my first real meal in India, Usha ordered for me, I can't remember what t was called but it was a tortilla folded and fried that went from about my fingertips to my elbow and was as wide as my face...I ate the whole thing and it was quite good, we ran more errands picked up a few things I didn't pack and then went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch before leaving for he hospital. The drive to the hospital took about 3 hrs I dozed off for about half of it making it the most sleep I'd got at one time since Sunday night.
We arrived at the hospital around 6, got unloaded and got to meet people and what not, after this I began unpacking, as everything was unpacked it finally sunk in this is my life until April, the last thing I puled out was my phone, which I shut off service to but brought so that I could use some of the stuff on it, but as I was looking through it I found pictures of my family and very dear friends, and as I at there the tears started falling, a little at first then it all broke through, as I sat there on the edge of the bed crying I began to wonder if this was a mistake, maybe I wasn't supposed to be here, and then I felt...Him, that's the only way I can describe it...Him, I was reassured and knew that I was where I was supposed to be. I know I'll see those I love again in a short time and for that I rejoice, but I also rejoice at the fact that I have the opportunity to be away, in a place I don't know if I'll ever be in again with a group of people I may never see again, so I need to be pouring my self into them wholeheartedly.
I fell asleep fairly early at 10 PM and managed to sleep almost the whole night through, but still I tell you jet lag sucks! I'm still adjusting and have hopefully only a few more days till my body's adjusted completely. Thursday was a tour of the grounds, getting acquainted with the grounds and what I would be doing we then got ready to leave for a small group which was in a town about 1 1/2 hrs away so away we went and arrived to a group of about 15 college age kids to do a Bible study. It was nice because Emrys taught in English and then it was translated into Telugu, the local language, so I understood it which was a huge plus. When we got back I got to see a scorpion which was pretty cool...and then it got flattened which was also really cool.
Today was my first full day I guess you could say. I started work after staff devos and was on a simple job just putting up some stakes and rope to keep people from going through bushes, it was going well until I dropped the rope, which was a big bundle of nylon rope, as soon as it hit the ground it exploded, I hen spent the next 3-4 hrs untangling it which was exhilarating. Honestly though it wasn't that bad, it forced me to sit still and be quiet for a while which gave me and God some time to be able to talk, which was much needed.
After this we headed to a local Bible study, and it was all in Telugu, which made it a little harder to follow, but I did have somebody beside me translating the highpoint and main topics so I understood a decent amount.
Until next time
Aaron Derr
We had a light breakfast and then headed out to run some errands in Chennai, I got to see what I thought was a large portion of Chennai, but turns out I didn't even see a tenth of the city. We ran to various places to pick up odds and ends, and somewhere in the middle of it we stopped off for my first real meal in India, Usha ordered for me, I can't remember what t was called but it was a tortilla folded and fried that went from about my fingertips to my elbow and was as wide as my face...I ate the whole thing and it was quite good, we ran more errands picked up a few things I didn't pack and then went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch before leaving for he hospital. The drive to the hospital took about 3 hrs I dozed off for about half of it making it the most sleep I'd got at one time since Sunday night.
We arrived at the hospital around 6, got unloaded and got to meet people and what not, after this I began unpacking, as everything was unpacked it finally sunk in this is my life until April, the last thing I puled out was my phone, which I shut off service to but brought so that I could use some of the stuff on it, but as I was looking through it I found pictures of my family and very dear friends, and as I at there the tears started falling, a little at first then it all broke through, as I sat there on the edge of the bed crying I began to wonder if this was a mistake, maybe I wasn't supposed to be here, and then I felt...Him, that's the only way I can describe it...Him, I was reassured and knew that I was where I was supposed to be. I know I'll see those I love again in a short time and for that I rejoice, but I also rejoice at the fact that I have the opportunity to be away, in a place I don't know if I'll ever be in again with a group of people I may never see again, so I need to be pouring my self into them wholeheartedly.
I fell asleep fairly early at 10 PM and managed to sleep almost the whole night through, but still I tell you jet lag sucks! I'm still adjusting and have hopefully only a few more days till my body's adjusted completely. Thursday was a tour of the grounds, getting acquainted with the grounds and what I would be doing we then got ready to leave for a small group which was in a town about 1 1/2 hrs away so away we went and arrived to a group of about 15 college age kids to do a Bible study. It was nice because Emrys taught in English and then it was translated into Telugu, the local language, so I understood it which was a huge plus. When we got back I got to see a scorpion which was pretty cool...and then it got flattened which was also really cool.
Today was my first full day I guess you could say. I started work after staff devos and was on a simple job just putting up some stakes and rope to keep people from going through bushes, it was going well until I dropped the rope, which was a big bundle of nylon rope, as soon as it hit the ground it exploded, I hen spent the next 3-4 hrs untangling it which was exhilarating. Honestly though it wasn't that bad, it forced me to sit still and be quiet for a while which gave me and God some time to be able to talk, which was much needed.
After this we headed to a local Bible study, and it was all in Telugu, which made it a little harder to follow, but I did have somebody beside me translating the highpoint and main topics so I understood a decent amount.
Until next time
Aaron Derr
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