A Microscopic Fraction of My New Life Here

I have been purposely not writing this blog. Why you ask? Well it is because I do (and see) so much on a regular basis, that I find it impossible to choose what actually should go into my blog. Daily life is so much different that I can barely put it into words. Plus, when I get home at night I am so tired. However, I am deciding to sit down and force myself to update all of you about things. Just know that what you are about to read is only a microscopic fraction of my new life here in India. But be prepared...for this is still a very long post.

Some things I've gotten to do...
-Attend a rally to watch women in traditional Indian dresses, doing traditional Indian dancing
-Go to the mall and the market (two totally different experiences)
-Take a drive outside of the city and saw the mountains, river, green grass, livestock, and wine yards (Nashik is famous for the wine).
-Meet some amazing people
-Watch a competition of human pyramid building. It was a race to reach the goal of 50 feet high in the air. It seemed like the whole city came out for this.
-Be a model in a fashion show for Sari's (Indian Dress)
-Have a famous actress come to my house and eat with us. She was a huge actress in Bollywood and still very well known even though she is older. She brought along a women who was a Bollywood dancer back in the day and another women who is a writer and director now. I got to share my ambitions of acting and production with them. The director took my information and her daughter e-mails me a lot now!
-Go to two birthday parties and an anniversary (all in which were a very big deal).
-Attend a dinner party at a very modern restaurant, with a big group of my family friends
-Go to an exhibition that came to town with all sorts of handy crafts and Indian clothes and decor.
-Traveled to the city of Nagpur to meet the other exchange students in my district. It was a 12 hour train ride there and back, which I did two nights in a row.
-Play a karaoke/singing video game that we own. It has Hindi and English songs on it. Kind of makes me miss Rockband (a video game I play at home).
-Learn a bunch of random words in Marathi and Hindi which I use a lot now :)
-Ride around in the crazy traffic on my sisters two wheeler (I wish I could drive it though). Everyone has these here.
-Go to the movie theater to watch the newest box office hit "Bodyguard". It was all in Hindi but I was able to follow the storyline and explain the entire movie to my host dad and sister.
-Hangout with the other two exchange students in my city. Meleah is from the Portland, Oregon and Carmen is from Ontario, Canada. I love having them so close!
-Go to McDonalds. They don't have beef obviously.. but they had McChickens, fries, coke, and ice cream. Everything tastes the same too. That was the only meat I've had so far while being here.
-Give a speech to the Nashik Rotary Club and I also performed a dance to a Bollywood song, with the other exchange students and our host siblings.
-Go to an engagement party for my friend (who also lives next to us). I kept thinking "If this is for an engagement, what is the wedding like!?" It was amazing!
-Put on a magic show to like one hundred people. It's neat to think my love for magic tricks all started because of another exchange student I met last year
-Eat some really good and really spicy food. We eat a lot here. Everyone feeds me. But I am starting to figure out the Indian food that I really like and the stuff I don't like. Since it is southern Indian food, it is different from what I grew up with because my mom makes northern Indian food. But I am getting use to it and really like it so far!

So besides these things which I've gotten to do, I have left out the one thing that I've spent most of my time doing. As you know my family here are Hindu's. Well they are very devout Hindu's. Their passion for their religion is like my passion for the one, true, living God. Now you can imagine how hard these two passions would clash. Which, yes, inside of me it has been a challenge. But God has taught me so much from living with my family here. I have prepared a video of my thoughts and the things that God has been doing. I will post that soon. Please watch that when I post it, because it has a lot of insight and I share it from my heart.

However, right now I want to at least give you an picture of what they do here. The past ten days has been the Ganesh Festival. This is the Hindu god of the man with an elephant head. There are 9 names for Ganesh and the one they use the most during this festival is "Ganpati". During the 10 days every family buys a Ganesh sculpture or statue for the home so they can pray to it. There are also tons of these all over the city. We also decorate our home with posters of Ganesh's wives and they pray to them too. They give their god's food  (like actually lay food by them). They give gifts, clothes, fruit and meals. It is so hard to explain though.
The biggest aspect of the 10 days is that each evening, every colony (or neighborhood) gets together for puja (worship) where they sing songs, perform rituals, and pray to this statue. Then after the puja we have games and competitions; such as musical chairs, 3 legged race, cooking contest, races, and many more. We also eat together as a community. I have gotten to know people in my colony (which is 3 condo buildings) very well during this. At the end of the 10 days (which was today) we dance for hours and hours to really loud Indian music and throw colorful powder all over. We also had a talent show and then had a prize distribution for everyone who won the contests. (all the kids got something for participation). Then tonight, we all went to the river together (where hundreds of people were) and as a colony we immersed the Ganesh statue into the water. There has just been so much to this new culture and religion that I can't write it all in an orderly fashion. They always chant "Ganpatiu Bappa, Morya" which basically is like saying "Oh Ganesh, my lord".

I received a few questions that I will take a moment to answer now.
1. The way I am dressed in the picture on my last post is not a typical days outfit. Young girls are dressing more modern now with jeans and a longer top. But they wear a punjabi dress (like the one I was wearing) when they dress up for special occasions. Then they wear a sari only for a wedding or something really fancy. I cannot say they dress like Americans because the girls are actually modest here. I like that aspect a lot. Adult women wear sari's basically everyday. Men and boys dress pretty much the same as in the U.S. except for special occasions they wear long tops. The guys also care about what they look like too, like in the U.S. fashion isn't in a boys mind too much, here they care.
2. I can still wear my style of clothing but definitely not to the extreme level that I did back home. I do not have to conform to the way the dress here but I want to because I really like it. In fact, I wear Indian dresses more often than most girls do here. But I wear jeans a lot too!
3. I said in my last post that they treat me different after they find out I am an American and an exchange student. I meant that in a good way I guess. Before they figure it out they just treat me like my host sisters friend or something. But when they come to know who I am they first start offering me things like chai tea and food. Then they ask "What are your thoughts about India, coming from the U.S.A.?" and then it is just question after question about why I wanted to come here, how I like certain things, when my birthday is, how their English is, what my future is going to look like, if I like Justin Bieber, if I can be their best friend, and things like that.

I have more that I could write about, but that will always be the case when I post a new update on here. Besides I already wrote a novel anyway. I guess I will wait a few days and then write some more about the way I have been feeling lately. I haven't really shared too much of that yet. I will also be posting that video soon too. So check back in a couple of days.

I pray the Lord's blessings on all of you as you read this. Continue to pray for me too!

The First Week of Many

Namaste,

I write this to inform you that my first week in India has just come to an end. It is hard to believe it has only been a week. Mainly because I have done and seen so much in 7 days that I can hardly keep it all straight. Wow..only one week?!

I am beginning to realize that I will not be able to fully share my experiences with you. Unless you were experiencing this with me, it is impossible to relay such a different and unique culture that is now my everyday life. However, I can give you an idea of what I am experiencing through words and pictures (once I figure out how to actually post pics on here).

I arrived here last Monday and basically jumped into a lifestyle that is the complete opposite of what I am used to.

*small town to big city
-so far so good.
*farm house (with a lot of land) to an apartment flat
-they have a very nice place.
*hot and humid climate (typical summer in Ohio) to the rainy season in India
-this resulted in a cold which i am still dealing with.
*eating meat to eating all vegetarian food
-but man, they feed me so much here.
*helping around the house to having helpers do everything
-this is a tough one, but it is the culture and so I try to respect it from both angles. they are like part of the family too. we all joke around and we have established what I can do to help as well (even though its nothing like having chores back home).
*devoted Christian home to a strong Hindu home
-this was the hardest and will continue to be a challenge. I already feel lonely at times because of this factor. but God is my refuge and I look forward to finding the church full of other believers in the body of Christ.

interesting facts are...
1. No one knows I am from the United States cause I blend in so well. As soon as they learn I am an exchange student they treat me so different.
2. We must take our shoes off before entering a home, doctors office, hospital, (basically everywhere except stores and restaurants).
3. Everywhere we go (including homes, businesses, and schools) I am offered pani (water) and chai (tea)
4. The people I meet love it when I try to say something in Marathi (this is the language they speak where I am at) but I am getting better at common phrases. With time I hope to "wow" them.
5. The culture is SO laid back (I don't even know how to elaborate on this).
6. My host dad is the president of a company called  "NIMA" (Nashik Industries and Manufacturer's Association) and he owns a fiber glass making company.
7. My host mom is a social worker with the "Inner Wheel Club" (like Rotary for women).
8. My host brother (Harshad, age 21) is studying Indian government in New Delhi.
9. My host sister (Devyani, age 16) wants to be an architect.

My favorite thing so far is riding in the car. The destination does not matter because when going through the streets, there is always a sight to behold; something new, something different. I see a lot of the culture this way.

I am looking forward to starting school after this week! I have already done so many fun things but a routine will be cool.

These are just some random things that people wanted to know. I have so much more to share and I will when I get more time to just write. PLEASE email me with questions so I know the kinds of things you want to hear about. Reach me at superstar4thelord@yahoo.com I will then post the answers in my blog posts. I can have no communication with anyone personally until September 21st though.

Keep me in your prayers. God has already shown Himself to me so much. Love to my family back home!

Chloe Anna

Somewhere Between What Is Known and What Is Yet To Be

As I sit in the living room of my old, farm house in West Lafayette, Ohio, I cannot help but take it all in. It is hard to think that in less than a week, this will all be gone (well for about year at least). I remember being a little girl and dancing around this room. Now I will be studying dance at a school in India. I think about dressing up in my mom's saris (Indian dresses) with a dab of lipstick on my forehead and bangles up both of my arms. Pretty soon my closet will be full of Indian garbs and I will get to "play dress up" quite often. I reminisce of when I would sit on the floor and listen, as my mom would speak Hindi on the phone with her mother. Within a few short months, I will be speaking on the phone, in Hindi, with my mother (hopefully).

This Sunday, August 21st, I will say goodbye to my family and get on a 15 hour flight to India. I've known for months that this day would come, but now it is actually happening. I think this is the first time it has hit me, and it hit me right in the face, haha. Am I really going to go live in another country for almost a year!? Well according to the title of this blog...I suppose I am. I would say I am super stoked about this or in other words, REALLY excited! I cannot wait to begin this adventure and create new memories.

However, right now, I am not thinking of what is to come. I am pondering on what has already come. I am reflecting on the events and the people that have brought me to the place I am in right now.

I cannot begin to thank my family enough. The Lord has blessed me, I mean truly blessed me, with my family. My parents have set for me, a true example of  following Christ. Now, I am going to follow Him all the way to India. My older sister, Kayla, is constantly encouraging me to "Place myself in the means of God's grace." Now, His grace is going to carry me through this new season of life. Addie, my little sister, loves telling me to follow my heart, probably because that is where God is. Now, my heart's compass has directed me to Rotary Youth Exchange and I couldn't be happier. It will be hard to say farewell to them, but it is time to go out and give the world the very things that my family has given to me.

While the changes that I will experience are vast; the memories I have are tightly held. While the challenges I will face are unknown; the excitement ahead is crystal clear. As I go on this journey independently; I am still fully dependant on God.

I will miss the familiarity of this place, but I look forward to finding a new place call familiar. So as I sit in the living room of my old, farm house in West Lafayette, Ohio, I cannot help but take it all in. For very soon, the adventure will take me in.