Becoming a part of UTC
Hello again everyone!
I am far away, but paying much attention to the election results in the States! I did a little dance with each new report, but for this email, I think I will not go into U.S. politics so much. The newspapers here have pretty decent and fairly unbiased coverage of what is going on, and it’s interesting to see how they feel the election results will affect the nuclear deal between India and the U.S. There are many different perspectives here… as there are anywhere.
My life has become more and more invested and busy (in every way) here at UTC. I quickly found out that being the “Choir Convener” had much more responsibility that I was originally told. I am now leading a women’s sectional for the Halleluia Chorus and 3 carols, among other things. This is a challenge when there are some excellent musicians here, but a wide range of musical knowledge. Some read notation well, some use Tonic Sol-Fa, and some do not read any music at all. I had hoped not to do TOO much Western music here, but they asked me to help - and since I have spent a good deal of time in choirs, I guess I can do this.
I also am ‘coaching’ for the women’s volleyball match which has been postponed several times because of rain. However, we had a fun practice yesterday… which also revealed that there are all degrees of volleyball experience here as well. I was thankful that we had FUN with it and the practice continued until long after dark (in the dark too!)
One never knows what kinds of tasks might come along. I even helped arrange flowers for worship one day. I am now a ‘steward’ in the student mess hall for the next 24 days. That means that I help to set the tables and serve the food at each meal. My schedule is extremely busy now as I try to continue reading - and writing my one paper due at the end of the month. Classes are much more regular these days and we had a special presentation about HIV-AIDS yesterday as well.
Socially, I think I am really consider
ed a full-fledged UTC-ite. I am included not only in preparing ‘special songs’ for chapel, or a skit for a devotion, attending planning meetings or a 4 yr old’s B-day party, and being interviewed for someone’s thesis (one woman here is doing her Sr. thesis on lesbians and the church and has asked my Western perspective, so I have been trying to understand this context better so that I might be best understood!), but I also have become friends with a few students here who share my love for ice cream and lots of laughter! (See photo of Basy, Moses, Mall, and Henrika here) I truly feel ‘in my element’ here. This means I am getting much less sleep as I try to do both the late night chats and the early morning exercise, but it is well worth it!
On Saturday morning, I got to experience a couple of cricket games (played by students at UTC). That was a lot of fun and the players and fans got really ‘into’ it. My team lost, unfortunately, but we are still in first place overall in sports. On Sunday, we had the children of UTC lead the worship for the community. I was touched especially by having a 10 yr. old girl speak words of absolution to us. And finally, I visited an orphanage for developmentally challenged children on Wednesday afternoon. The site is a part of the Mother Theresa network and although not a very big place, it was great to play with and hold the kids as they gobbled up our attention.
Saturday evening was
my only real time of feeling a bit depressed. It was a rainy day in which Asongla, Henrika, and I had planned to go to this beautiful garden in the city (Lalbagh Garden - see photo here). We thought the rain had finished by the time we left, but it ended up being a thoroughly dreary day. The garden was gorgeous and big, but my mood was severely dampened because on the ride there in the rickshaw, my mobile phone fell out of my pocket and I didn’t realize it until a minute after the rickshaw driver had left. I had the phone for only a month and already it is gone! However, I just received a borrowed phone for the remainder of my time in Bangalore and hope to hear from a few people during that time. I leave here on Dec. 4 and am already getting very sad when I think about leaving the school. There are many more adventures to come, though!
I finally made a decision about how to get my visa changed to a tourist one. The schedule is as follows: Dec. 4-9 in Hyderabad visiting friends, Dec. 10-15 in Sri Lanka trying to change the visa. Dec. 16 til Jan. sometime I will be with Nijhar and Neeraj Ekka and kids in Ranchi, Northern India, and then back to southern India again to take care of work for Luther Seminary. I hope to go to New Zealand in February and return to Bangalore for the UTC graduation in mid-March. Other than that, I am really not making any solid plans, but will rather see what opportunities come up.
I haven’t really missed U.S. food or many of the things I thought I would miss, but I really haven’t had time to think about it much. I do think of home often and enjoy keeping in touch through emails and prayers.
Hoping you all are doing well. Sending my love,
Sara
I am far away, but paying much attention to the election results in the States! I did a little dance with each new report, but for this email, I think I will not go into U.S. politics so much. The newspapers here have pretty decent and fairly unbiased coverage of what is going on, and it’s interesting to see how they feel the election results will affect the nuclear deal between India and the U.S. There are many different perspectives here… as there are anywhere.
My life has become more and more invested and busy (in every way) here at UTC. I quickly found out that being the “Choir Convener” had much more responsibility that I was originally told. I am now leading a women’s sectional for the Halleluia Chorus and 3 carols, among other things. This is a challenge when there are some excellent musicians here, but a wide range of musical knowledge. Some read notation well, some use Tonic Sol-Fa, and some do not read any music at all. I had hoped not to do TOO much Western music here, but they asked me to help - and since I have spent a good deal of time in choirs, I guess I can do this.
I also am ‘coaching’ for the women’s volleyball match which has been postponed several times because of rain. However, we had a fun practice yesterday… which also revealed that there are all degrees of volleyball experience here as well. I was thankful that we had FUN with it and the practice continued until long after dark (in the dark too!)
One never knows what kinds of tasks might come along. I even helped arrange flowers for worship one day. I am now a ‘steward’ in the student mess hall for the next 24 days. That means that I help to set the tables and serve the food at each meal. My schedule is extremely busy now as I try to continue reading - and writing my one paper due at the end of the month. Classes are much more regular these days and we had a special presentation about HIV-AIDS yesterday as well.
Socially, I think I am really consider
ed a full-fledged UTC-ite. I am included not only in preparing ‘special songs’ for chapel, or a skit for a devotion, attending planning meetings or a 4 yr old’s B-day party, and being interviewed for someone’s thesis (one woman here is doing her Sr. thesis on lesbians and the church and has asked my Western perspective, so I have been trying to understand this context better so that I might be best understood!), but I also have become friends with a few students here who share my love for ice cream and lots of laughter! (See photo of Basy, Moses, Mall, and Henrika here) I truly feel ‘in my element’ here. This means I am getting much less sleep as I try to do both the late night chats and the early morning exercise, but it is well worth it!On Saturday morning, I got to experience a couple of cricket games (played by students at UTC). That was a lot of fun and the players and fans got really ‘into’ it. My team lost, unfortunately, but we are still in first place overall in sports. On Sunday, we had the children of UTC lead the worship for the community. I was touched especially by having a 10 yr. old girl speak words of absolution to us. And finally, I visited an orphanage for developmentally challenged children on Wednesday afternoon. The site is a part of the Mother Theresa network and although not a very big place, it was great to play with and hold the kids as they gobbled up our attention.
Saturday evening was
my only real time of feeling a bit depressed. It was a rainy day in which Asongla, Henrika, and I had planned to go to this beautiful garden in the city (Lalbagh Garden - see photo here). We thought the rain had finished by the time we left, but it ended up being a thoroughly dreary day. The garden was gorgeous and big, but my mood was severely dampened because on the ride there in the rickshaw, my mobile phone fell out of my pocket and I didn’t realize it until a minute after the rickshaw driver had left. I had the phone for only a month and already it is gone! However, I just received a borrowed phone for the remainder of my time in Bangalore and hope to hear from a few people during that time. I leave here on Dec. 4 and am already getting very sad when I think about leaving the school. There are many more adventures to come, though!I finally made a decision about how to get my visa changed to a tourist one. The schedule is as follows: Dec. 4-9 in Hyderabad visiting friends, Dec. 10-15 in Sri Lanka trying to change the visa. Dec. 16 til Jan. sometime I will be with Nijhar and Neeraj Ekka and kids in Ranchi, Northern India, and then back to southern India again to take care of work for Luther Seminary. I hope to go to New Zealand in February and return to Bangalore for the UTC graduation in mid-March. Other than that, I am really not making any solid plans, but will rather see what opportunities come up.
I haven’t really missed U.S. food or many of the things I thought I would miss, but I really haven’t had time to think about it much. I do think of home often and enjoy keeping in touch through emails and prayers.
Hoping you all are doing well. Sending my love,
Sara
posted by Namasday | 10:41 PM
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