Happy Easter
Happy Easter!
I’m writing you from Bangalore, where I once again am taking a break… this time a REAL vacation for 11 days! I arrived on Good Friday, in time for a 4 hour service in Telugu and a bit of reunion time. The day was actually a holiday for 4 other religious groups as well (Holi for Hindus, Milad un Nabi for Muslims, and a new year for Bahai and Parsis) so it was a big festival day.
Then, the next few days were filled with recording in the new United Theological College studio. We recorded music that my friend Moses wrote during his 4 years as a student here. It put me in my element, singing cross-cultural music even though I am not very comfortable with all the equipment around me and singing to a track. Hopefully, man
y of you will be able to get a chance to listen to the final product which I think will be really nice! 
Easter just kind of passed by in a rather disappointing way in the middle of everything else. The alarm that was to wake me didn’t work properly and I was late for the sunrise service and in a rather foggy state for what I did experience. I guess I didn’t get such an accurate picture of Easter in India last year as I was with my friends in Ranchi. There, we had such a grand service in the cemetery, special activities, and a family dinner. But I have come to find out that like in the US in general, Easter is not as big of a celebration as is Christmas. Maybe it’s just the African Christians I’ve been with and my friends at Holden Village who truly make Easter the BIG deal that it is. I maybe had too high of expectations for the day since I’m here with all these theologians, but since the students were in the midst of finals and preparing for graduation, it was probably difficult to really give Easter the kind of recognition they would have liked either.
The past few weeks have been filled with preparations/recruitment for HMI’s annual 2 week summer course in Islam and Interfaith Relations (which doesn’t happen til May), hosting a group of Swedish social work students, and trying to get settled before going away for a much needed vacation. I also had a weekend visit from my friend, Asongla. She is from NE India and has been studying in the south for many years, but she’s been unable to travel. Now that she is almost done with her thesis and will be returning home, she really needs to see at least a little of this part of India. (By the way, I have more than enough room to host folks at my apartment… and of course there is lots of space at HMI as well if a huge group of you were to come visit!) So, I got my opportunity to show off ‘my’ city for the first time. It was a brief but really nice visit.
For St. Patrick’s Day, I went to a 1 year old birthday party for my friend Shanna’s nephew. I’ve gotten to know the whole family quite well since my arrival here, so it was not a huge shock to be invited to the party, but in the Hindu tradition, 1st birthdays are very important and this was no ordinary kid’s birthday party. It was in a beautiful park with a big waterfall,
hundreds of balloons 
forming arches all over, and a big stage just for this little guy. He had a fancy outfit with matching shoes and hat (which he wouldn’t wear). We ate big, and I enjoyed the best chocolate cake I have had so far in India!
However, the next day I had to say goodbye to Shanna and her husband, Shraven as they departed to go back to the US. This was an extremely difficult goodbye for me. The two of them have been my only friends in Hyderabad outside of the people at HMI. Once a week or so, I would go to their place (where they live with Shraven’s mom) and play cards or board games, watch movies, shop, get together with other friends and family, and most importantly EAT! They definitely shared my love of food (especially ice cream) and they became extremely important to me in a very short time. Thus the world of the increasing number of people who lead transient lives between countries/cultures. Hopefully we will reconnect again in either the Midwest or in Hyderabad again.
Hope you are all doing well. Sending my love across the miles of cyberspace.
I’m writing you from Bangalore, where I once again am taking a break… this time a REAL vacation for 11 days! I arrived on Good Friday, in time for a 4 hour service in Telugu and a bit of reunion time. The day was actually a holiday for 4 other religious groups as well (Holi for Hindus, Milad un Nabi for Muslims, and a new year for Bahai and Parsis) so it was a big festival day.
Then, the next few days were filled with recording in the new United Theological College studio. We recorded music that my friend Moses wrote during his 4 years as a student here. It put me in my element, singing cross-cultural music even though I am not very comfortable with all the equipment around me and singing to a track. Hopefully, man
y of you will be able to get a chance to listen to the final product which I think will be really nice! 
Easter just kind of passed by in a rather disappointing way in the middle of everything else. The alarm that was to wake me didn’t work properly and I was late for the sunrise service and in a rather foggy state for what I did experience. I guess I didn’t get such an accurate picture of Easter in India last year as I was with my friends in Ranchi. There, we had such a grand service in the cemetery, special activities, and a family dinner. But I have come to find out that like in the US in general, Easter is not as big of a celebration as is Christmas. Maybe it’s just the African Christians I’ve been with and my friends at Holden Village who truly make Easter the BIG deal that it is. I maybe had too high of expectations for the day since I’m here with all these theologians, but since the students were in the midst of finals and preparing for graduation, it was probably difficult to really give Easter the kind of recognition they would have liked either.
The past few weeks have been filled with preparations/recruitment for HMI’s annual 2 week summer course in Islam and Interfaith Relations (which doesn’t happen til May), hosting a group of Swedish social work students, and trying to get settled before going away for a much needed vacation. I also had a weekend visit from my friend, Asongla. She is from NE India and has been studying in the south for many years, but she’s been unable to travel. Now that she is almost done with her thesis and will be returning home, she really needs to see at least a little of this part of India. (By the way, I have more than enough room to host folks at my apartment… and of course there is lots of space at HMI as well if a huge group of you were to come visit!) So, I got my opportunity to show off ‘my’ city for the first time. It was a brief but really nice visit.
For St. Patrick’s Day, I went to a 1 year old birthday party for my friend Shanna’s nephew. I’ve gotten to know the whole family quite well since my arrival here, so it was not a huge shock to be invited to the party, but in the Hindu tradition, 1st birthdays are very important and this was no ordinary kid’s birthday party. It was in a beautiful park with a big waterfall,
hundreds of balloons 
forming arches all over, and a big stage just for this little guy. He had a fancy outfit with matching shoes and hat (which he wouldn’t wear). We ate big, and I enjoyed the best chocolate cake I have had so far in India!However, the next day I had to say goodbye to Shanna and her husband, Shraven as they departed to go back to the US. This was an extremely difficult goodbye for me. The two of them have been my only friends in Hyderabad outside of the people at HMI. Once a week or so, I would go to their place (where they live with Shraven’s mom) and play cards or board games, watch movies, shop, get together with other friends and family, and most importantly EAT! They definitely shared my love of food (especially ice cream) and they became extremely important to me in a very short time. Thus the world of the increasing number of people who lead transient lives between countries/cultures. Hopefully we will reconnect again in either the Midwest or in Hyderabad again.
Hope you are all doing well. Sending my love across the miles of cyberspace.
posted by Namasday | 4:19 AM
1 Comments:
Love back atcha, lady. :-) Miss you!
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