It's a small world here in Palm Meadows (our housing development of about 500 homes). I have really enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. It's great to walk around the neighborhood and know that when you see another white person, you probably don't even speak their native language. Such an interesting mix. I read about a group of Spanish-speaking families across the city and I look forward to meeting one of them later this week.
At a gathering last night, I met...
- Jasmine, grew up in Bombay, has lived in London for the last 14 years, and finds Bangalore very different from Bombay. She mentioned they never had power outages in Bombay! Or dirt roads! Both are part of our daily life here.
- Keira, born in Trinidad, grew up there and in Australia, New York and London. She now resides here with her husband and 9 year old son, who was at the great farm outing with us on Thurs.
- Pejal, born and raised in NY, a Princeton and HBS grad, who is living in India for the first time, working for Time. I really connected with her; it was fascinating to hear her talk about growing up more "Indian" in NYC than she is here in Bangalore (her parents came to the US in 1967 and brought with them Indian culture from that era, which never changed over time like it did back in India).
- Meike, a lovely Dutch woman who's lived in Houston, TX and a host of other places around the globe.
In talking with each of these fascinating people, I was struck by their success in adapting to and enjoying Indian culture because they were able to embrace it and not strive to recreate their lives exactly as they were lived in other places... food, etc. Sadly, I've witnessed the opposite, too--a frustrated and somewhat unpleasant crowd.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Church in India
Several of you have asked about our church experiences and I am finally getting around to writing a little about them.
We’ve visited three churches so far, each by invitation of different friends. We were warmly welcomed at each. They all had points of familiarity and parts that felt foreign. We don't expect anything to feel quite like home, but were not sure yet what kind of Christian community we'll plug in with here. We're hoping to find one nearer to our place so we can connect during the week, too. Sunday traffic times are about 1/2 of what it would take during the week.
Our first visit was to a Baptist church, planted by missionaries about 50 years ago, now run by Indian pastors. It was fairly international w/families from many parts of the world and about 70% Indian. There are many seminaries here and several families of the church are here in connection with one nearby. The structure of the service was very similar to what we’ve experienced in a Baptist church in the States: hymns & songs (all written before 1980 ), some prayers and a sermon. The younger children had Sunday school during the sermon, which consisted of some Q & A time re: last week’s story and presentation of another story. We were grateful for the invitation, though bummed that it was fairly far away (45 mins or so).
The second was a small fellowship of 30-40 people that met in a rented hall. I think it was an off-shoot of an Evangelical Free church, at least the hymnals were donated by one in Mpls (again, from the late 70’s). It was a more intimate gathering, and excepting a Canadian who’d lived in Bangalore for 12 years, we were the only non-Indians. There was a very nice Sunday school time for the kids after the service, and everyone was understanding of the occasional squirm and wiggle during the service. Shae did end up taking Matthew out to roam during the longer sermon time. We enjoyed a lovely lunch with our friends who invited us (and drove 45 mins. each way to pick us up) and wished we lived a little closer.
Today we visited Whitefield Memorial Church, an old church near us, part of the Church of South India. It was liturgical and Shae sat in the service while I was with the kiddos at Sunday school, most of which was outside under a Banyan tree! Matthew was a little confused about “class” being outside… he spent most of the time crawling in the sand. In the service, there was a guest speaker; Shae felt the liturgy was rushed and the songs (every verse) were too slow. The people were very kind and Hannah knew one of the girls who was also visiting in the Sunday school, which was a highlight.
I (Lisa) read about a women’s Bible study in the area and when I called, I was invited for coffee to meet 2 lovely Dutch women with grown children and a Nigerian woman. There are 12 nationalities represented in the 15+ women who meet for that study. I hope to be able to join them once we have some help with the kiddos.
We’ve visited three churches so far, each by invitation of different friends. We were warmly welcomed at each. They all had points of familiarity and parts that felt foreign. We don't expect anything to feel quite like home, but were not sure yet what kind of Christian community we'll plug in with here. We're hoping to find one nearer to our place so we can connect during the week, too. Sunday traffic times are about 1/2 of what it would take during the week.
Our first visit was to a Baptist church, planted by missionaries about 50 years ago, now run by Indian pastors. It was fairly international w/families from many parts of the world and about 70% Indian. There are many seminaries here and several families of the church are here in connection with one nearby. The structure of the service was very similar to what we’ve experienced in a Baptist church in the States: hymns & songs (all written before 1980 ), some prayers and a sermon. The younger children had Sunday school during the sermon, which consisted of some Q & A time re: last week’s story and presentation of another story. We were grateful for the invitation, though bummed that it was fairly far away (45 mins or so).
The second was a small fellowship of 30-40 people that met in a rented hall. I think it was an off-shoot of an Evangelical Free church, at least the hymnals were donated by one in Mpls (again, from the late 70’s). It was a more intimate gathering, and excepting a Canadian who’d lived in Bangalore for 12 years, we were the only non-Indians. There was a very nice Sunday school time for the kids after the service, and everyone was understanding of the occasional squirm and wiggle during the service. Shae did end up taking Matthew out to roam during the longer sermon time. We enjoyed a lovely lunch with our friends who invited us (and drove 45 mins. each way to pick us up) and wished we lived a little closer.
Today we visited Whitefield Memorial Church, an old church near us, part of the Church of South India. It was liturgical and Shae sat in the service while I was with the kiddos at Sunday school, most of which was outside under a Banyan tree! Matthew was a little confused about “class” being outside… he spent most of the time crawling in the sand. In the service, there was a guest speaker; Shae felt the liturgy was rushed and the songs (every verse) were too slow. The people were very kind and Hannah knew one of the girls who was also visiting in the Sunday school, which was a highlight.
I (Lisa) read about a women’s Bible study in the area and when I called, I was invited for coffee to meet 2 lovely Dutch women with grown children and a Nigerian woman. There are 12 nationalities represented in the 15+ women who meet for that study. I hope to be able to join them once we have some help with the kiddos.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thursdays are better than Mondays
Tired but happy after a FULL and FUN day at a farm near us... will write more later.
Today's bugs were observed at a distance and in their natural habitat, not our food.
Matthew was in heaven with all the animals and Hannah loooved having friends to run around with. (I realize I just ended that sentence w/a preposition, but the rule on which that prohibition is based is just a carry over from Latin syntax that has no practical application in English. And it's more awkward to say "friends with whom to run around".... one wouldn't want to sound like a word nerd. :))
Photos: www.mccowens.smugmug.com
(E-mail me if you need the password: lisa_mccowen@hotmail.com)
Today's bugs were observed at a distance and in their natural habitat, not our food.
Matthew was in heaven with all the animals and Hannah loooved having friends to run around with. (I realize I just ended that sentence w/a preposition, but the rule on which that prohibition is based is just a carry over from Latin syntax that has no practical application in English. And it's more awkward to say "friends with whom to run around".... one wouldn't want to sound like a word nerd. :))
Photos: www.mccowens.smugmug.com
(E-mail me if you need the password: lisa_mccowen@hotmail.com)
Monday, March 2, 2009
A Monday in India
- You're washing your broccoli and discover lots of small worms (minuscule, really). Good thing you had a share in an organic farm last summer and know how to soak it in salt water to get rid of the little buggers. You then throw it in with the boiling pasta (see below) and feed it to the kids.
- You decide to cook some pasta (familiar comfort food for the kids who haven't taken well to Indian cuisine) and find some friendly fleas.
- After boiling and straining your milk, you learn that the skin that forms on the top is "very good for smoothness" and you should rub it all over your hands and face. You opt for just the hands.
- The power goes out about 15 times a day... or it cycles to back-up power, which will run fans and some lights for a while, and then at some undetermined time may return to full power. Makes washing a load of laundry a several hour task.
- You learn that cornstarch is called corn flour here.
- You drink pineapple juice with pepper in it. Not planning to post a recipe for that one soon. "Good for warmness, madam. Lemon, sweet lime are coldness. This one good for warmness."
- You come upstairs when you hear your children awake from their nap and find they've smeared the entirety of small jar of Vaseline all over themselves. (okay, so this could happen anywhere...not just India)
- You learn that your driver's father grew mangoes (3 acres of them!) and that he does not have a fridge at home.
- You kill 3 mosquitoes while composing this blog entry.
- You realize you have far more than 99% of all the people in this country and you are grateful.
p.s. Shae comes home with a juicy tidbit: driver (27) is married to his niece (19, daughter of 47-year-old sister of driver), which accounts for the fact that there were only 800 people at his wedding vs. the 2000 that attended his cousin's sister's wedding this past weekend (she married outside of the family)
- You decide to cook some pasta (familiar comfort food for the kids who haven't taken well to Indian cuisine) and find some friendly fleas.
- After boiling and straining your milk, you learn that the skin that forms on the top is "very good for smoothness" and you should rub it all over your hands and face. You opt for just the hands.
- The power goes out about 15 times a day... or it cycles to back-up power, which will run fans and some lights for a while, and then at some undetermined time may return to full power. Makes washing a load of laundry a several hour task.
- You learn that cornstarch is called corn flour here.
- You drink pineapple juice with pepper in it. Not planning to post a recipe for that one soon. "Good for warmness, madam. Lemon, sweet lime are coldness. This one good for warmness."
- You come upstairs when you hear your children awake from their nap and find they've smeared the entirety of small jar of Vaseline all over themselves. (okay, so this could happen anywhere...not just India)
- You learn that your driver's father grew mangoes (3 acres of them!) and that he does not have a fridge at home.
- You kill 3 mosquitoes while composing this blog entry.
- You realize you have far more than 99% of all the people in this country and you are grateful.
p.s. Shae comes home with a juicy tidbit: driver (27) is married to his niece (19, daughter of 47-year-old sister of driver), which accounts for the fact that there were only 800 people at his wedding vs. the 2000 that attended his cousin's sister's wedding this past weekend (she married outside of the family)
Any tips for kids sleeping in same room?
Summer is nearly upon us. That means highs in the mid-90s and rooms that don't cool off much at night... and Matthew's been waking up sweating and crying in the middle of the night, even w/fan on. So, we moved Matthew's bed in to Hannah's room where there's air conditioning. So far it's been hard to get them to sleep in a timely manner (Hannah came into my room an hour after bed time last night, holding Matthew's diaper. Hmmmm.) And they've been up at least 45 mins. earlier than normal (in the 5:00am hour), too.
Glad for your input,
Lisa
Glad for your input,
Lisa
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Shae at Work
This is my (Shae) first contribution to the blog. A lot of people have been asking what work has been like. I have really enjoyed my first two weeks. It has been great getting to know everyone and in a lot of ways I haven't left Minneapolis. The free veg-Indian food in the cafeteria during lunch is one noticeable difference.
My first staff meeting was an hour filled with vigorous discussion and there are a lot of talented people on my team. My boss has had an interesting and diverse life that has included everything from being a pilot for the Indian Navy to expanding the cable television offering for all of India. He is a creative and strategic thinker and I will learn a lot from him.
Overall there are two things that are exciting about my job. The first is that I will get a much broader look at the entire company. Since all of the groups at Target are represented and the the organization here is relatively small (2,000), I have a lot of access to many different areas of the company. It is good to see what else is going on and in most cases, India is at the forefront of the main initiatives.
The second thing that I will enjoy is responsibilities that I have in my job that I wouldn't have had for a number of years if I would have stayed in Minneapolis. One of the main things that I will get to do is build an organization. My team will double in size this year and I will play an integral part in hiring and building the team. It is exciting and daunting at the same time. My first two weeks have confirmed that I made the right decision in coming to India. I am really enjoying the challenge.
Shae
My first staff meeting was an hour filled with vigorous discussion and there are a lot of talented people on my team. My boss has had an interesting and diverse life that has included everything from being a pilot for the Indian Navy to expanding the cable television offering for all of India. He is a creative and strategic thinker and I will learn a lot from him.
Overall there are two things that are exciting about my job. The first is that I will get a much broader look at the entire company. Since all of the groups at Target are represented and the the organization here is relatively small (2,000), I have a lot of access to many different areas of the company. It is good to see what else is going on and in most cases, India is at the forefront of the main initiatives.
The second thing that I will enjoy is responsibilities that I have in my job that I wouldn't have had for a number of years if I would have stayed in Minneapolis. One of the main things that I will get to do is build an organization. My team will double in size this year and I will play an integral part in hiring and building the team. It is exciting and daunting at the same time. My first two weeks have confirmed that I made the right decision in coming to India. I am really enjoying the challenge.
Shae
Sabbath thoughts
I am writing with gratitude for your e-mails and blog comments of encouragement to us. I was also encouraged reading Acts 20 (in the Message) as I read Paul's description of "traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope."
A question following this passage was: "Why does the God-life require large amounts of encouragement and fresh hope?"
I was helped by how the question was posed ("require") and grateful for the many sources of hope and encouragement that God has provided over the last weeks.
May He likewise grant you hope and encouragement this week.
A question following this passage was: "Why does the God-life require large amounts of encouragement and fresh hope?"
I was helped by how the question was posed ("require") and grateful for the many sources of hope and encouragement that God has provided over the last weeks.
May He likewise grant you hope and encouragement this week.
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