Diwali!

So we made it in to Delhi on the night of Diwali, arguably the biggest holiday in India.

It is a celebration about the victory of good over evil (at least that is how the Hindus describe it most of the time).

They used to just light lamps and sit on the roof. 

But now they hang christmas style lights and shoot off fireworks! (Kristen said, "Great, a combo of Christmas and the 4th of July!")

They also add flowers over their doors... this shop was super extravagant. 

Check out the lights in the market!

We were able to go to the roof of the hotel and see all the fireworks.

They were really beautiful!

They were everywhere! We could see them over

 all of the tops of the roofs

By about Midnight, we were tired and had enough...

But they kept coming!

Its okay though, we are used to these kind of things, 

we were too tired to care.

Elijah and the Box

Did you ever find the cereal boxes with the promise of a toy inside?

How about a box that is the toy?

Well now we have seen the stove, but we didn't tell you about the toy! 

Everyone has had this childhood adventure, and this was Elijah's turn. He really loved rustling around and hiding in it. Our house helper thought it was cute and came to check on him.

"Elijah ca chota ghur" she said. That means "Elijah's small house".  He loved playing in it, especially when friends came over.

We had it for around 2 weeks, and then this may have been it's last photo! Fun while it lasted.

Trip to Nepal

When we realized we needed to go for a visa run, there was only one place close by that seemed like a good idea...

After many long days of studies and living the busy life in our city, we left to go for a retreat in the mountains. We were told that it was a great time to visit Nepal, so we booked a place in Katmandu and drove to Delhi...

Although we were a little late arriving in to Delhi because of a flat tire everything seemed fine. And then at the halfway point it hit me... I don't have the passports!!

So I took Kristen to the hotel and grabbed lunch before returning to our city. We arrived at dark, during the worst time of the traffic. We were stuck at a roundabout for almost 30 minutes! Then we got on the overpass and ran into traffic again. Finally we got away and I grabbed our passports and arrived at the train station around 8 pm. 

Trains are always late here, so I waited for a while. Then someone told me to upgrade to the next train and save time. So I did and got on the train and sat down next to a guy that was from our city and spoke perfect english. He said he was living in the Middle East and was very helpful about telling me what he knew about life in India. He then drove me to the hotel when we arrived in Delhi. God was gracious to me among all of my frustration.

So the next day we got on the plane and as soon as we were relaxing we looked up and saw this sight...

Isn't it beautiful! The largest mountain range in the world is definitely breathtaking.

Here is what we saw when we were landing. Lots of air pollution, like Delhi and much of India.

When we arrived we got our stamps and headed to the exit gates. We got in a cab only to realize that there was a free ride available from the hotel at the airport waiting for us. So we got a "refund" and got in the van and drove down some of the bumpiest "roads" (it was like a war zone) I have ever seen. We finally got to the center of the city and the roads were a little better. It is a rather large city. When we got to our hotel we were impressed to see the beauty of the area. It had a nice garden and was well maintained. 

Elijah loved our room cleaner lady. She was real nice.

We ate some Mexican food that was pretty good. The weather was nice and cool, especially in the shade. Elijah was once again central attention. We realized we might have been the only foreigners to bring a baby... everyone was here to just relax before hiking to Everest.

There were lots of wild bars outside at night that seemed to appeal to the foreigners, but obviously not us. We loved just getting a nice steak dinner.

Elijah loved our day trip to the Mountain view site. He got to be out in nature a little more.

Kristen and Elijah before going in to get some food.

Don't worry Mom, its not really a steep drop, only like 2 feet!

As cute as this looks, it is necessary with this little scavenger!

Mommy took him for a little as well.

Isn't that precious!

When we realized we could not see much from our original destination, we drove a little further to go up and climb the tower to see the mountains better. As you may notice there is a section of the ladder missing. So you have to do gymnastics to reach the first rung! It was not too much better on the tower, but you could see all directions.

It was a  unique spot for sure. Most tourists go to climb the mountains, but we just wanted to get close enough to see them!

As we were staring into the distance and very upset that we had driven all this way on a hazy day, suddenly I realized something... "Kristen that isn't just a bunch of clouds, those are mountain tops!" I know, many are saying... Neal you are so dumb, but we literally had looked in this direction all day and  only seen the tops of the clouds. 

(by the way... we never could go close enough to see Everest).

Our picture in front of the mountains.

What better way to end the day but with some ice cream in front of the most beautiful view. Elijah loved holding the cone.

After getting our fill of some tasty american style foods we decided to go out and smell the flowers!

This garden was so beautiful, a great place for Elijah!

A family photo in the garden.

Can you believe how fast they grow up! Elijah is running everywhere now!

He tried to learn how to walk up steps on this trip. Incidentally he was constantly falling down! We had to be very careful. He climbed 4 flights of stairs (on hands and knees) 2 times one night.

"Here's lookin' at you kid!"

Elijah's play area!

He discovered that he could pick up the rocks and then bring them back to their original spot. He is a kid that is always looking for discoveries!

Overall it was a great trip, we spent most of our time sleeping, buying gifts for friends and relaxing. 

We realized that the power situation is much like India, so this was a little discouraging at times. But overall it was okay. All around a good trip. 

So we went to the airport, and then it began again... the wildness of living oversees. 

Trip to Nepal pt.2 (the trip back)

The trip back home ended up being the (re)-beginning of our outside of the states feel. We arrived at the airport and were greeted by a ginormous line.

We had unexpectedly arrived on the "Christmas Eve" of South Asia. The night would begin the biggest holiday among Hindus: "Diwali". So there was a very large crowd of people gathered at the airport. 

When we finally got to the front of the line we were told that our son's ticket had not been paid for and that we needed to pay a fine. Apparently the online website company had not bought our tickets. I was not happy with that but I understood that it was not their fault. So I told them I would pay the fine.

Then the manager told me that they had no card reader and that we needed to use an ATM. I was surprised! "You mean that after all this technology and flat screens and computers here that you don't have a card reader!?" He was dead serious.

I had just used up our last Nepali rupees so I went to the ATM. I tried it and it would not work. I asked the bank representative why it didn't work and she had no reply. So again I went to the man and asked him if they could not just waive it because there was so little time. He sternly turned me away.

I was really getting fired up now. I went to a "money exchanger and asked him if they could do it and he handed me a long form to that made no sense. I wasn't about to write down my card number here. I went back to the manager and gave him a hard time... He was even rude to a single mom of 3 kids who was also running late because he wanted her to pay for bags. He made her go outside to an ATM just to pay him.

I finally told the guy he was being ridiculous and that there was no way to pay him (the guys in delhi actually let us slide). He finally sent us on. This was not a good beginning to a trip. We then went up to fill out customs forms and stand in a security line before we realized that we were able to skip the line because they were hurrying passengers for our plane ahead. All the security guards were nice and kind to us (unlike that manager).

 We got on the plane and saw the most beautiful sight on the way back...

 Finally we made it back to Delhi.

Wild Parade

I was driving home from the market one night when I noticed something very unusual coming towards me. It was a group of people having some type of parade. I then ran upstairs and told Kristen to go to the terrace to check things out. This is what we saw...

All of these people were walking and our friends told us it was a special Shia celebration (Shia is a small sect of the Muslim religion. They carried a banner and had drummers in the front. There also was a super long pole that one guy carried. He almost hit the electricity lines plenty of times. 

At the back end were a bunch of kids and policemen escorting this unusually decorated "shrine" of some type. I do not know what the significance of all this is but it certainly is one more reason that living here can be so interesting.

We Got an Oven!

In almost every Indian home (except for the poor) sits a gas stove. The stove sits on top of the counter and can be moved around to whatever location you like. This is all they use to cook with. What you will not find is an oven. Almost everything here is cooked in oil or fried, and therefore they have no need for an oven. There are microwaves with the convection oven, which we have, but it's not hooked to the gas, and therefore is a problem a lot of the time cause there's so many power outages. I'll be in the middle of baking something and the power will go out and so will the microwave. It's so frustrating honestly! 

Neal had seen a gas powered oven in the market close by our house. Although they aren't used in Indian homes, they still sell them, but not very many of them. We'd been wanting to buy one, and that day we'd had enough with the power going out while cooking my brownie three times! So, Neal decided to head on over there, and a few hours later it was sitting in my home! I was so excited!! 

Buckra Eid

Just recently we celebrated the last major holiday of the Muslim festive season. The name of the holiday is Buckra Eid or "Goat Eid." It is celebrated in remembrance of the great patriarch Abraham (or Hazarat Ibrahim) and his willingness to sacrifice his only son to God out of obedience to God's request.

On our days leading up to the holiday we got to hear the full story from our language helper in Urdu. It was very exciting to learn words that have such meaning to them. We learned about the "korbani" or sacrifice and how God provided the ram for the sacrifice on that day. This is why they kill a goat on this day.

The sacrifice is done in a particular way ("halal") and is very expensive considering that the average price of a goat is around $140-180. The meat is then dispersed among the family as everyone gathers to eat. It is a special time that everyone is off of work and can gather to eat meat (also uncommon) for 2 to 3 days. In many ways it reminds me of Thanksgiving.

I also discovered that this is the same day that many lucky Muslims go to Mecca and complete the Hajj. This is an extremely expensive trip to Saudi Arabia where all Muslims walk around the black rock where Muhammad first started their religion. Only a few of the billion or so adherents are able to go each year. This is hard because it is one of the 5 major pillars of their religion that all are expected to fulfill in their lifetime.

A group I took a picture of before prayer.

The night before Buckra Eid was spent by many preparing gifts and new clothes for the event. You could hear the excitement and rush all over town. I went out to get some basic foods for us because the markets would be closed for 3 days. The main street was completely packed out at night because so many people were traveling it. All night we heard people traveling to the market to get a last minute thing or two. This reminded me of Christmas.

Just look at the amount of prayer hats on this special morning- EVERYONE goes to prayer on this day.

The next morning I woke up early and drove the scooter to the Old city to see how many men would show up for prayer. I was a little tired because I could barely sleep with all the noise the night before. I rushed out the door because I was running late. Everyone (like last month) was dressed in white. But when I arrived the police had blockaded the street and forced me to park a ways from the major mosque. I ended up parking in front of a smaller mosque and was greeted by many curious spectators. I was taking pictures when I heard the call to prayer go off. I missed my chance. No pictures of the thousands gathered.

A few young men after prayer on the roof.

This group gathered because I was lost trying to find my friend's house.

I decided to go from there to spend the rest of the day with my friend and his extended family because they were gathered for the sacrifice at a nearby location. When I arrived they gave me some sweets to start the celebration which a ate because I began to feel hungry. Then we went downstairs to a tight room with all the brothers around me. Then the slaughter began...

(If you can't stomach the details, this next paragraph may not be for you).

The first goat I thought I was ready for. The children had the job of holding the animal down (yea this is how they break them in). They had hired a man specifically for the purpose of killing the animals making it a pure "halal" cut. I was tense for the event although everyone else was cutting up (no pun intended) and making jokes. To them, this was just another holiday. I was sweating profusely. Then when they slit its throat all of my insides started to churn. I got lightheaded and then the room began to spin. The man next to me asked "Are you alright?" I said I was fine but everyone knew that I wasn't. They scrambled to get a chair for me and I sat down. The next one was crying out as the blood spilt, gurgling even. It sprayed everywhere. My head was pounding along with my heart. After each one they would shout out "bismi Allah" which means "God is merciful".

 I know that to them this was not a sacrifice for sin but because God had commanded them (as was Abraham's). But each time the animal was killed, it reminded me of the Gospel and the blood Jesus spilt for us. I felt like a bystander at the cross. I also thought of the Old testament animal sacrifices. It made me sick at my stomach and reminded me of how much God hates our sin. I was praying and thanking God for His grace while still feeling sick. I imagined how Jesus must have felt to be mocked by so many while he hung on the cross. I was silently praising God and praying for my friends.

Then someone turned on a fan and brought me a sprite bottle. It was really just what I needed. I appreciated their kindness. They asked me if I was alright and I told them that I was getting better. I started to cool down and calm down.

As much as I wanted to stay for the food, I really needed to get back and get Kristen. Everyone was telling me that the food would be ready soon, but I did not believe them. So I drove 30 minutes back into town and got her. By the time we got everything together and got back to the small house most of the family had cleared out. I thought there had to be plenty of left overs, but for some reason they did not cook all of the meat (they must have planned to keep some for the next day). So we ended up eating  the leftovers. It did not look or taste good. Kristen didn't know it but I told her that they had served us the liver. She quickly put the piece she had back in the main pot discreetly. I thought to myself, "great, I get to see all the blood but no meat!" After trying to stomach some of the food we sat back to talk to the family that was still left.

I saw this guy on the way to pick up Kristen and Elijah - 6 family members on one bike!- only in India!

As much as I wanted to talk about the experience, I cannot talk at all to the father of our host family about these type of subjects yet. He does not speak english and my Hindi is too little. He often misinterprets simple words that I say. But his brother from Delhi has excellent english. I brought up the subject while we sat on the floor together. I asked about the meaning of the event and it ended up mostly in the direction of what the 5 pillars of Islam are. It was an alright talk until he began to criticize my religion. That is when I decided it was not appropriate at the time to talk about these things. Then we went on the roof to fly a kite before saying goodbye. We thanked them for letting us come and went home.

Day 2

When we were asked by our dohbi (clothes washer) to help his family buy a goat I was a bit hessitant. Yes this is a very expensive investment to buy and just throw away, but also I was a little fuzzy on its meaning. I later got clarification that this was not necessarily viewed as a sacrifice but actually mostly for commemorative purposes. It was expensive and I wanted to make sure that if I paid for it that the money was only going to this, and not used elsewhere. Anyhow I got assurance that this was all that the money was going for and I bought them a goat.

His entire family was so thankful. They were so happy that they were getting to participate in the festivities. This may have been the first time that they had eaten meat in months.

When we arrived at his house they were so excited and kind to us. This was a new day and a much better experience. We came and early in the morning and were met by the entire family in the front of the open air "house". 3-4 families and many children live in this small 3 bedroom home. Elijah and our family got photos with the goat...

Check out that face! It's like he knows what's coming.

Finally the men went outside and killed the animal in the open air. This time I was ready and there was lots of air to breathe. After all the times it had played in my head over and over the day before, I was not as affected by the kill. Immediately afterward I was brought a cold drink. I could not believe that this one goat was to be enough meat for the entire family (plus some friends), considering the previous day 3 goats were killed for the same amount of people.

Next we were escorted to the nephew's house who owns a sweets shop nearby. He has very kind and genuine persona, much like his Uncle. They offered us snacks and even made us coffee somehow. They rent a room an old building that is very unique in architecture. It once had another purpose, but now is quite rundown. We then went back to the dohbi's house and ate some of the meat. It was very good and they even gave us some to take home. We pray that our kindness would influence  this family for the good. We were greatful to participate in another important holiday.