Go... and come.

As I said in my last blog, I feel as though I have begun to integrate much more fully into the life here at UTC. While it is a great feeling, I can’t help but feel very sad about the fact that it is at the same time drawing to a close. Many people have commented on how much I will struggle with leaving because I have become involved so quickly. (They also say that I seem to trust people so quickly - which I'm not sure whether to take as a compliment or not). Truly, I never intended for this to happen so dramatically. I never expected that in such a short time I could feel so much a part of this community. In typical Sara style, I have invested and become attached to many things without even trying. I even attempted to keep some distance from getting too close to anyone or anything, but it seems to have crept up on me! I’m not saying that I have reached a point of extremely deep and personal relationships with anyone, but there is certainly that potential for several friendships here, and as a whole, I feel 'at home'.

It is for this reason that I titled this entry, “Go and come”. You see, people say this phrase quite often and when I commented on how much I heard it with some friends, it was explained to me in this way: People here do not like to simply say “I am going,” or “You are going.” There is not even a good translation into Hindi for these phrases. The Hindi phrases always imply a return. So, as I prepare to leave UTC in just a couple weeks time, I must also plan for a return! It may not be until March that I will see everyone again, but I will certainly ‘Go and come’.

Two things happened this weekend which helped me to discover that I am becoming even more a part of the UTC community as a kind of ‘insider’. First of all, I was working at a big Sunday School competition held here on campus on Saturday. This is an annual event where youth from churches in the area prepare songs, skits, speech, art, and choreography based on a theme. They then are judged and win prizes. It was a big deal and most of the students on campus were involved, including me… at the registration table. I was leaving the main building to get some tea and as I walked outside, two girls were staring at me. It took me awhile to realize that the reason for their stares was because I am different! I am not an Indian! I actually forgot for awhile! (see - it's even hard to find me in these pictures)

The second thing is that as I have mentioned before, students here often present in front of one another and receive constructive (and sometimes not so constructive) criticism or suggestions from one another. When I first came and was trying various new cultural things, everyone was extremely affirming. However, as I prepared to lead my first bhajan for Monday’s chapel service, I started to receive all sorts of what I considered unhelpful comments from random people. It was not easy for this “MN nice” woman to take the comments and suggestions well, but I managed to hold my tongue and not be too self-critical. The song ended up going very well and I once again had compliments afterwards.

I have less than a week of class left and I am trying to pull together some of my personal and academic reflections. I have to submit one paper regarding Buddhist philosophy and make a 15 minute presentation on my experience here at UTC this term. I also found out just now that I must take one exam for my Indian Religions course. Although I am not excited about taking a test, it will be very good for me to see what the exam here is like and also to push myself to learn more thoroughly about Jainism, Islam, and Buddhism. Next week, perhaps my blog will consist of a list of my reflections as I will present for my favorite 3rd year class.

I have had 3 different personality analyses made about me recently. It has been ‘enlightening’, but more about the folks performing the analysis than about me! I think I know myself pretty dang well, so no surprises really. The first was a friend who told me a story and had me rank the goodness/badness of the characters in the story. Then, he gave me (and a couple others who also participated) his assessment over ice cream. This was fun … especially because of the ice cream! Next, there was the man who I ran into outside the library who I think has schizophrenia or something (now that I’ve investigated a little more about him). However, he asked my birth date and then wrote me a 4 page summary of my personality and future (this was written after only 10 minutes of him talking at me). It was quite funny in many ways. Since he brought up numerology, another friend read my palm for fun and we enjoyed comparing the differences between the analyses.

I have visited the train station (located just across the road from UTC) a couple times this week to get tickets for my pre-Christmas travel. This is kind of a fun outing. It's a good place to people watch, although the stray dogs laying everywhere are not as fun to observe. I am having 'issues' with the stray dogs at UTC lately, so I'm not very fond of them. Actually, the dogs became a part of the community discussion this past week. Basically, it has to do with all the poop in the front lawn area where I run each morning. I certainly will prefer to have less odor and droppings to avoid, so it wasn't such a bad topic to discuss at a community meeting (some people here also own pets who need to be cared for a bit better. No one here carries around plastic bags to scoop), but the topics at these meetings sometimes make me laugh because they are so like many of the church meetings I attend at home. We talked about everything from diabetes care to the biggest issue of all: Is it allowed to start the exams at 9:15, or do we have to stick with the TRADITION at UTC of starting at 9:00?!!?

Other than that, we had a Supreme Court judge come to speak to us about how the government is trying to support the local political and police units in smaller areas. We also had a lawyer come and talk to us about Marriage and Divorce laws in India. That was particularly interesting because of the unique relationship between church and state here (I'm still trying to figure it out), and also because I learned all sorts of marriage traditions in Christian churches.

I better sign out. Until next time...

Sara