A sweet "adieu" I bid to you

This is me on my birthday. I'm wearing the most traditional Mizo puan,
called a puanchei. This is the principal of AICS (Mom). We are at
the restaurant I wrote about in my previous post. Goodbye Mizoram!

I came to Mizoram expecting to grow and to learn, but I didn't expect how difficult it would be! I knew that growing meant I would be stretched, but I didn't really think about what that would look like. Looking back, I have grown and learned much more than I ever anticipated. Yes, that came with struggles and tears and frustrations and confusion, but I've come out on the other side, and I am a little wiser and a little more knowledgeable than before. :) I will be leaving Mizoram tomorrow afternoon (provided the weather is clear). I'm sure I will cry. Being here has definitely had its tough moments, but I have found church family here. The AICS community accepted me with open arms. I have laughed, cried, broken bread, worshiped, taught, and learned with these people. I have made friendships and acquaintances that will last far beyond the next 24 hours. What an experience. I thank God for blessing me with this opportunity. It has certainly brought me closer to him, but it has also taught me a lot about other people and about myself, not to mention providing me with ministry experience that will help define my future endeavors. Wow.

Before I left France, I made a list of things I will miss and things I won't miss about my three months abroad. I am going to do the same, although my "things I won't miss list" will not be exhaustive as to not offend anyone here. :)

Things I will miss:
- Fresh tropical fruit (lychee, mango, and pineapple)
- Fresh corn (picked the day prior to eating)
- Fresh meat and vegetables (no storage facilities or growth hormones here!)
- The Mizo people I've met (especially Jenny)
- The beautiful, hilly, lush green landscape
- Singspiration and the passion of the AICS community
- Bamboo shoot!
- My students
- Tea all the time (one good thing brought by the British heehee)
- The crazy awesome rain and thunder storms
- The jungle noises that make up the background to daily life
- Delicious meals for $1
- The tropical flowers (I've never been to Hawaii, but the flowers must be similar)

Things I won't miss:
- The slow internet connection and the choppy phone calls
- The diesel smell in the city and black fumes coming out of vehicles (SMOG testing is unheard of haha)
- Rising early for 7am chapel every morning
- Ants in my tea and bugs in my food (lol)
- Bucket showering
- Instant coffee (pretty much no one has drip coffee in India)
- My bags/things getting mildewy (monsoon season + humidity = mildew :/ )
- The mosquitoes! (and all other ridiculously large bugs)
- Scary landslides that kill people
- Having the occasional upset stomach
- Not knowing what anyone is saying half of the time
- Frequent power outages
- Rice (haha)

That's all I came up with. I'm sure there are a ton of other things I could add, but I still need to pack and I have one more class period left. Thank you all for following me during my adventure. It was encouraging to know that people cared about me and were praying for me and thinking about me over these past few months. And so, the season changes...

Thunderstorms and Birthday Fun

Hi all. The internet was down for the first half of the week, and I've been super busy. I have pictures, but no time to resize them and get them up. I apologize. But here's a recap of what I've been up to...

On Saturday, I went to Reiek, a hill about an hour's drive from here. The goal was to drive close to the top and then hike to the very top in order to get a wonderful view. we drove to the top without a problem, but during the hike, when we were almost to the top, a HUGE thunderstorm hit. I mean, water was dumping from the skies, lightning, thunder, the works. It was great! But it meant that we couldn't see anything from the top. haha. Oh, and we only had one small umbrella for four people. I saved the camera, but by the end of the hike I was drenched. We took shelter in a huge cave/overhang, and I witnessed a landslide down a waterfall. Let's just say I had an amazing adventure and a ton of fun. :)

This week was full of preparing to finish up my classes. I made and gave tests to both of my classes. I'm almost done with the grades for my larger class, but have yet to grade the missionaries' tests. Like I said, I've been pretty busy.

Today is my birthday! On Wednesday, I went into the city to buy some things I wanted before I leave. One of the things I bought was a puanchei (google image search and you'll find some examples), which is the most traditional Mizo puan. I wore it today. It's only worn on very special occasions (weddings, nice parties, etc.), but I had to wear it at least once before I leave! I passed out candy after chapel to the AICS community, because I was told that this is what students usually do for their birthdays. This afternoon, I made a chocolate cake (thanks, Betty Crocker. lol), and John (Mom and Dad's son) made chocolate frosting to go on it. We haven't cut it yet, but we will soon. Oh and of course I bought 22 birthday candles to go on top. :) This evening, Mom, Dad, John, and I went into the city for dinner. They took me to the nicest restaurant in Mizoram, the restaurant at the Regency Hotel. It was sooo delicious and a very special memory that I will never forget.

I leave on Wednesday. I'll be spending Wednesday night in Kolkata at the Baptist Guest House. I fly out of Kolkata on Thursday night to Dubai, where I have an 8 hour layover. From there, it's straight home to San Francisco! I haven't even thought about packing yet. I'm more concerned about finishing up paperwork for Princeton and completing my grades first. I'll try to write once more before I leave. I love and miss you all and I'll be home soon!

For What it's Worth: A story in photos

I haven't updated my blog for a week and a half, since I've been busy and
since I took a trip outside of Aizawl. So I decided that instead of boring
you with too many words, I will tell my tale with pictures. Last Sunday,
the staff presented a song and Jenny and I joined them. :) Mom is
standing next to me (the principal of AICS).

On Monday, I preached the chapel message. The theme for the week was
"Resources for Spiritual Growth," so I spoke on humility being the first "aid"
for spiritual growth. We must first recognize our inability to grow without God.

On Wednesday, we hit the road! Dad had some meetings at the baptist
headquarters in Lunglei, which is a district south of Aizawl. I would
recommend google mapping Mizoram in another tab to follow along.
The road pretty much looked like this the entire way. Lots of twists and
turns (miraculously I only got slightly carsick haha), and lots of greenery.

Since Mizoram is so hilly and since it's monsoon season,
it came as no surprise that there were waterfalls everywhere
along the road. They were all so beautiful! I kept thinking
to myself, "Now I know where they get those pictures
for computer wallpapers." haha.

This is Vantawng (meaning "almost touching the heavens"). It is the largest
waterfall in Mizoram. It was a hot day, so I was a little disappointed that
we were too far away to feel the mist, but it was still well worth the slight
detour to see this beautiful waterfall.

On Thursday morning, I went to Hatim College, a baptist college in
Lunglei, where I spoke at their morning devotions. They showed me
around the school, and I was impressed at how nice everything was.
It makes sense, though, since the school is only a few years old.

Later on Thursday, Jenny and I went to the baptist orphanage. Most of
these children are motherless. In Mizo culture, many families feel unable
to take care of a young child when the mother is gone. Most of the families
of these children will take them home again once they are older.
Jenny suggested that we give them candy, so I bought some lollipops
for them. I tried to get them to say "please" first, but they were too excited. lol.

Don't tell anyone that I gave her some haha. ;) She loved it, of course.
Don't worry, I didn't let her eat the whole thing. My mom and sister
are probably wondering where the shirt I'm wearing came from. While
in Lunglei, I had the opportunity to meet Jenny's family (there's a picture
with them later on). Jenny's mom made that shirt and gave it to me.
That is one of the best memories of my trip so far. What a special
gift, something I will treasure forever. :)

After going to the orphanage, Jenny and I went to the baptist hospital.
I just had to take a picture with the nurses because they were too
adorable in their outfits. :)

These to men are highly revered in Mizoram. They were the first
baptist missionaries. They settled on the hill at Lunglei, where the
baptist headquarters are now located. I have so much respect for
these men. I've had a hard enough time being here in the 21st century.
I can't begin to imagine what troubles they had coming in the late 1800s
and early 1900s. Tribal, head-hunting Mizos and a few missionaries,
trying to follow God's call literally to the ends of the earth.
And look how fruitful their ministry became. :)

A roadside snack of fire-roasted corn. YUM!

If you're wondering what the rest stops looked like... haha

The trip to Lunglei was about seven hours, which we did on Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, we stayed at the Baptist Guest house. On Thursday
afternoon, we traveled three hours further south to Lawngtlai, where Dad's
sister lives. This is Chhimtuipui, the longest river in Mizoram. It begins
and ends in Burma, but flows through a lot of the state. Right now
I am standing in between the Lawngtlai and the Saiha district.

We went to the other side of the river for tea. Jenny pointed at that the
people aren't Mizo. Many non-Mizos live in Mizoram, such as the Bru
tribe and the Chakma tribe. The people in this district have noticeably
broader chins and speak a different dialect.

This is a tribal dish. The vegetable is called baibing. It has a very
unique and powerful flavor. I wouldn't eat it every day, but it
wasn't disgusting. I'm glad that I tried it. :)

This is Dad (on the far left) and his family. His sister, whose house
we stayed at, is standing in between me and the girl with the dog.

There were a ton of baby chicks at Jenny's house! On the way back to
Aizawl on Saturday, we stopped at Jenny's house again in Lunglei
for breakfast. I couldn't help myself, but I'm made sure not to tell
them that they would be eaten once they got older haha.

Jenny's parents on standing on either side of me. The girl on the far
right is one of Jenny's sisters.

Landslides are part of Mizo life, particularly in monsoon season.
Fortunately for us, this one was being cleared away right as we pulled up.

And this one is covering about half of the road. We drove for ten hours on
Saturday, all the way from Lawngtlai to Aizawl. I was exhausted by the end,
but I'm back and would probably say that this mini trip was the
highlight of my time here, especially meeting Jenny's parents and
other family members (such as her great uncle who was so happy to see me).