Fun Times with Saj!

Some days after Saj cleans our house she will hang out for a while to talk or play with the kids. This particular day she stayed for almost an extra hour playing a game that made the kids laugh. The more they laughed, the longer they played.

At the time I started taking pictures the game was Elise sitting on her knees and bounced like a horse while Saj said some rhyme.

 Then the game changed from the horse to wrapping my dupota around Elise to make her look like a princess.

 She tried to wrap Elise's whole body like she was wearing a sari, but she didn't like it very much. Elijah, on the other hand, wanted to be wrapped. He felt so silly, especially when he tried to walk around, which was difficult because he was wrapped so tight.

Thank you God for blessing us with such a wonderful friend, and a faithful and trustworthy woman. I couldn't have asked for or imagine someone more precious. 

Puja's Gentleness and Love for Elise

Puja, a young lady who used to come to our house every two to three days to take out our trash, Loves Elise. She always gets excited when Elise is awake so that she can see her.

Here in India people love babies, however, they don't really know how to talk to them. If a baby starts to cry or make noises the person around them will start talking, practically yelling to make sure they are louder than the baby. Usually they clap their hands as well to distract the baby because they are making more noise than the baby is. It's more annoying than anything, and for my kids it doesn't calm them down (wonder why :), but just gets them more upset.

Puja, however, is the exception to the norm when it comes to babies. She doesn't have a husband or kids yet, so maybe she doesn't know what she's to do with them. What's great though, is that she just smiles and baby talks with Elise at all times. Elise, when Puja is around, is always happy and she smiles more at Puja than any other local. I'm thankful for Puja's gentle and kind spirit with my kids!

Building in India

We are hoping for God to build something great in the people we know here in India, however we understand that it will be something different, using methods that we would find unconventional.

To further emphasize the unconventionality of the way God moves in different people's lives, consider how homes are made in this county.


First of all you have to consider how cheap labor is in the country 1 billion. Then consider how difficult it is to work in such small areas. Bulldozers and other monster vehicles are not available nor useful in such a small place with traffic worse than NYC.

Labor is cheap but land is not easily available. So things just get built up and up. Also old 1 story buildings are taken down and replaced with new larger and taller ones.

Across our street we have seen almost the whole process in front of us.

The short building on the left was taken apart because it was vacant:

It was taken apart by a team of men and women (yes women, no rules for employment).

The men battered the walls with sledge hammers  while the women cleaned off the bricks with chipping tools and hammers. Then a man carried off the cleaned bricks with his bull drawn cart.

(I have a video to upload of this process).

Next they built a perimeter wall.Thus began one of the many tractor deliveries over the night bringing in the carts of bricks. It happens late at night because traffic is so bad in the day that trucks and tractors are not allowed. It is so loud to hear the wagons banging around on the broken concrete road (at 1 am!).  They only bring enough bricks for the next few days because there is no room for storage. 

Next holes are dug deep and steel rods inserted in order to pour concrete for the strong foundation.

If the building has to be tall and strong, then how is it built in this small space?

Manual labor and reinforced steel of course! 

I remember seeing men tugging on ropes try and bend the steel into the form desired by the architect.

The saddest thing is to see the gate guard's children running around and playing on a 

construction site.

These kids just finished bathing, but they may walk around with no clothes all day long.

They spray the concrete to keep it from cracking from the intense summer heat.

Metal slats are added to the beams in order to begin the steel reinforced floor/ ceiling building process.

Next walls and windows are added by more manual labor.

Women wear specially wrapped hats to carry concrete and bricks on their heads. Wow!

Even steel beams are transported by manpower....

That is a serious core workout right there!

You really have to depend on your partner to grab and go.

One slip or drop and you are going straight down!

The final job is smoothing the concrete and painting the walls.

   

That is done using bamboo scaffolding that was inserted into gaps in the wall.

(Another dangerous bamboo ladder photo.)

This is done by hanging one guy over the edge via a rope swing dropped over a ladder and held by another guy at the top. 

BTW... I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as workman's comp here!

Only India #44

Only in India can you get awesome "Coolidge football" T-shirts. :)

This was gifted to our gatekeeper's son.

I love "Coolindge football".

Yes that says both "coolidge football" and Marian High School.

Oh and for prep for the biggest Iron bowl in history, they made this T as well...

My friend here has no idea what the Iron bowl is or even how to play football

At the bottom it says, "the run in the mud". Don't think I've heard it listed that way!

Only in India #43

Only in India do you go to eat at TGI Fridays and find a roach (Yes my friends, a Roach!) in your quesadilla.

Little Miss beautiful

Elise is almost 4 months Old!

It's true, she's growing in weight and personality. 

She is so precious and a very happy baby!

This is one of her favorite and most comfortable PJ outfits,
she is starting to sleep through the night now!

Isn't she precious! She does like to spend time sitting 

in her boppy pillow and watching Elijah.

Here is her going out in the town photo. 

She loves staring out at all the wild things to see in India!

Above all she loves laughing and smiling, we finally caught it in this photo. 

We love her so much!

That Time of Year Again, Bukra Eid

It's that time of year again, Bukra Eid.  

I always enjoy the weeks leading up to this holiday. Most streets I travel on in the city have little herds of bukra (goat) prancing around with their shepherds. (These bukra, in the photos, were walking right down from my house.) 

Often times you see them grazing in the little patches of grass to get them nice fat and healthy to sale. They're ripe for the pickin once Bukra Eid comes around.

Some sights were 'crazy' when I first arrived, such as these herds, but now they're just normal cause it's home. One sight that still makes Neal and I laugh, although it's no longer 'odd' is seeing a man holding a bukra on a rickshaw or motorcycle and driving it home. There's no way I'd pick up a live goat and carry it in my arms on the back of a motorcycle...but that's what they do. They're taking it to join their family...for a short while. 

The bukra then lives with the family, literally lives with them inside their house. The kids, and even grown men will take their bukra out on the leash for a walk. They nurture and love it just like we would a dog back in America. But then the day of Bukra Eid comes...

As I sat on my porch this morning of Bukra Eid reading the story of Abraham and the promise God made with him, "...through you all nations will be blessed." Then I read where he was told to take his son Isaac on the mountain to sacrifice him, and how God provided another sacrifice...such a beautiful foreshadowing story of Christ! I knew this story was the very reason for Bukra Eid. This was the reason all the bukras were sold. This was the reason I could hear in the distance the moaning of some bukra. It's all to remember. Remember God providing so that Abraham didn't have to give his own son. 

Listening to the sounds of the sweet little bukra, that even I have come to love, made my heart so sad. It saddened me to know that the animal those kids across the street had walked just the day before was going to be slaughtered today. But then I thought how precious the words of the promise of God though, "...through you all nations will be blessed." The innocent bukra being led to the slaughter...but then my mind turns to Jesus Christ who himself was as a lamb led to the slaughter. To know that God provided another sacrifice for Abraham, but not for Himself...WOW. Speechlessness. It's through that sacrifice, the sacrifice of God's personal son, Jesus, that all nations, including the nation of India, is and will be blessed. Oh yes Lord, I ask you to bring the blessing of Jesus here!

I'm thankful for these holidays. I'm thankful for times to remember the precious gift we've been given through Christ. I'm thankful for salvation, and to know that salvation will be brought to India...it's been promised!