Culture shock takes on many aspects. Denial, home-sickness, disgust, or awe. I confess, when I first landed in Delhi I really wondered what I was in for as the sour smell of pollution assaulted me. And that's really what India does, it assaults you in every way possible. The Lonely Planet guide book, the bible of India travel, depicts a vivid culture full of color and wonder. I walked out of the airport to see the smog and dirt against the sepia tones of dim street lights.
Culture shock set in, but it was more a sense of wonder more than disgust. It could have been denial, I don't know; what I did know before I ever stepped foot on a plane was that nothing can prepare you for India. So, when I left the airport and got into my first Indian taxi I was immediately taken in by how the adventurous the average car ride really was. I didn't know it was so polluted, trashed, and unorganized. I mean, I kind of knew that things would be unorganized, but I had no idea that things were unorganized right down to a lack of traffic signals. I didn't know it would smell bad, I had envisioned a land of incense. I imagined bright and vivid colors everywhere, and they are, but they are also supplemented by the dirty streets. I also never imagined curry would get old and I would long for a good burger.
A couple of nights ago, Brittany and I made a list of everything we missed. Of course, we miss friends like Chris, Rebecca, Stephanie, Suzie, Kristina, and friends from work. Of course, we miss family. We rarely see our family anyway, but being half way around the world will make you miss your family. We miss our cat. Then there are the western commodities like clean bathrooms with toilet-paper, being able to drink tap water, central air conditioning, clean and organized streets where more signs maintain safer control and blinkers indicate a lane change, less noise, a more sensitive culture, working internet, and the list goes on. Then we miss certain food and drink. You know you can't just buy peanut butter here? We miss cheesecake, burgers, alfredo, a proper gin and tonic (with clean ice and real lime), steak, etc.
Then there are things I will miss about India. Today, I walked less than a kilometer from my hotel and came back with two mangoes, three bananas, two portions of curd (yogurt), and three bottled waters. Grand total? Less than $2 all together. We bought corn flakes, raisins, and almonds the other day. Mix them altogether and you get a great breakfast the Indians call museli (spelled several ways). Delicious. I'll miss the incredibly low fruit and vegetable prices, the ease of public transportation, mom and pop shops, cheap Indian food on every corner, the way everything has an art to it, the vivid colors in the traditional clothing, and meeting so many new people all of the time. I'll miss being able to walk everywhere, petting cows (which I do in secret, as not to offend locals), the prevalence of chai, and even the heat. There's something to be said for spending a long day in the sun and heat, walking everywhere you go. It changes a person on so many levels. There is, of course, the physical aspect of being in shape and weight loss. But exercise is good for you in that it helps you sleep better. Being out in the sun is also healthy, and a lot of research shows it's not just about getting vitamin E but the sun also helps reduce depression. And the heat? It's nice to have a safe-haven where I can use AC at will, but the heat is nice in that curbs my appetite some.
Brittany and I have been reading the book Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, a humor writer. He talks about being in France and the way everyone talks bad about America as if Sedaris embodied America. They might be at the table talking about America and instead of saying "America's latest policy is horrible" they would look at Sedaris apprehensively and say "Your latest policy is horrible". The same goes here. At the beginning of this month George Bush partially blamed the food shortage on the large populations of Indians and Chinese. While, person for person, Americans consume more food, the sheer numbers in India and China mean they have a higher food consumption. So, in a sense Bush was right, and on the other hand, I'm not sure how Bush expected India and China to take it. And when people ask how America is doing, as if the country is a good friend of mine, I always say "The economy isn't doing so well, but things are going as well as they might." and they usually say "Yes, but it's because you keep blaming your problems on everyone else. You say we are eating all the food, but you eat so much."
I know it is cliché, but to be honest, both countries could learn a great deal from each other. It's so easy to point the finger at another country, but just being in India I recognize that America isn't so innocent as we think. I know a great deal of Americans, myself included recognize many problems with the government and certain groups of people, but that wasn't fully realized for me until I took a step back. It's pretty annoying, actually, to hear people complain about America here. India accuses America of being wasteful, yet they discard trash just about anywhere that's convenient, only for their holy cows to come and eat. I'm not veterinarian, but I imagine plastic bags are not the best thing for a cow's diet.
India is not a country where the corporations have taken over so much. There is no Wal-Mart. Because India is still "developing" there's actually not such a shortage on jobs. The problem is two-fold. First, the caste system prevents the expansion of jobs. Second, a lot of the poverty is induced. Parents cut the limbs off of their children, so their children have a better chance of getting sympathy when they beg. If I give five rupees to a child, who knows where it will go, but I seriously doubt it is his or hers to keep. Husbands who are dissatisfied with their wives will stage a kitchen fire. Sometimes the women survive, but no only really cares; she must have had it coming.
The unassertive culture is depressing at times. Service goes right up to the mandate, and after that you're on your own. If you go into a store with an elevator, they would rather you wait five minutes for the elevator than waste energy running up stairs. Yet, when it comes time to get change, if the cashier doesn't have it, it's not unusual for them to refuse to get change from their neighbor. It is your problem, not theirs.
India is best taken by rolling with the punches. We must realize that much of what we see in the culture of India is based within a system that was developed long before Western society invaded. Then we have to realize that much of what we see in this society is a reaction to the invasion of Western society. Rajasthan was once feudal, which I believe is the direct conclusion of the caste system. It eventually united, and now each town has a palace and/or fort of some sort in which a maharajah still lives today. They mostly serve as philanthropists. Women put eye-liner on their small children, boy or girl, to keep demons out.
If there's one thing I've come to realize, it's that everything I've learned about evangelism is useless. Most of you know I don't believe in conventional door-to-door or street evangelism as effective. But I always gave organizations like Evangelism Explosion the benefit of the doubt, figuring that it would surely be effective in a third-world country. But I'd love to see how those methods are effective. In a country where a polytheistic religion is a way of life, tradition, and religion all at the same time how to do you tell someone they need your god instead of their own?
Am I suggesting the India can't be "saved"? Of course not. God opens doors through crude methods and even bad theology. And Christianity is ever growing in India. I'm not sure it is through running up to Hindus and telling them to drop their six million gods for Jesus, because Indians are so different from Americans in their reaction to such evangelism. It will take Christians in India showing the love of Jesus in a place where gods crumble physically and spiritually. Showing the love of Jesus in a place that has a broken and prejudice system. It will start slow, but to attempt to speed it up can do more harm than good.
Looks like we'll be taking a bus to Delhi as train is not an option and planes are expensive. Please keep us in prayer as the buses may be safe one day and unsafe the next. If they are unsafe, we will be fine, but our bus will be cancelled and we long for home and I'd hate to miss our flight.
Culture shock set in, but it was more a sense of wonder more than disgust. It could have been denial, I don't know; what I did know before I ever stepped foot on a plane was that nothing can prepare you for India. So, when I left the airport and got into my first Indian taxi I was immediately taken in by how the adventurous the average car ride really was. I didn't know it was so polluted, trashed, and unorganized. I mean, I kind of knew that things would be unorganized, but I had no idea that things were unorganized right down to a lack of traffic signals. I didn't know it would smell bad, I had envisioned a land of incense. I imagined bright and vivid colors everywhere, and they are, but they are also supplemented by the dirty streets. I also never imagined curry would get old and I would long for a good burger.
A couple of nights ago, Brittany and I made a list of everything we missed. Of course, we miss friends like Chris, Rebecca, Stephanie, Suzie, Kristina, and friends from work. Of course, we miss family. We rarely see our family anyway, but being half way around the world will make you miss your family. We miss our cat. Then there are the western commodities like clean bathrooms with toilet-paper, being able to drink tap water, central air conditioning, clean and organized streets where more signs maintain safer control and blinkers indicate a lane change, less noise, a more sensitive culture, working internet, and the list goes on. Then we miss certain food and drink. You know you can't just buy peanut butter here? We miss cheesecake, burgers, alfredo, a proper gin and tonic (with clean ice and real lime), steak, etc.
Then there are things I will miss about India. Today, I walked less than a kilometer from my hotel and came back with two mangoes, three bananas, two portions of curd (yogurt), and three bottled waters. Grand total? Less than $2 all together. We bought corn flakes, raisins, and almonds the other day. Mix them altogether and you get a great breakfast the Indians call museli (spelled several ways). Delicious. I'll miss the incredibly low fruit and vegetable prices, the ease of public transportation, mom and pop shops, cheap Indian food on every corner, the way everything has an art to it, the vivid colors in the traditional clothing, and meeting so many new people all of the time. I'll miss being able to walk everywhere, petting cows (which I do in secret, as not to offend locals), the prevalence of chai, and even the heat. There's something to be said for spending a long day in the sun and heat, walking everywhere you go. It changes a person on so many levels. There is, of course, the physical aspect of being in shape and weight loss. But exercise is good for you in that it helps you sleep better. Being out in the sun is also healthy, and a lot of research shows it's not just about getting vitamin E but the sun also helps reduce depression. And the heat? It's nice to have a safe-haven where I can use AC at will, but the heat is nice in that curbs my appetite some.
Brittany and I have been reading the book Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, a humor writer. He talks about being in France and the way everyone talks bad about America as if Sedaris embodied America. They might be at the table talking about America and instead of saying "America's latest policy is horrible" they would look at Sedaris apprehensively and say "Your latest policy is horrible". The same goes here. At the beginning of this month George Bush partially blamed the food shortage on the large populations of Indians and Chinese. While, person for person, Americans consume more food, the sheer numbers in India and China mean they have a higher food consumption. So, in a sense Bush was right, and on the other hand, I'm not sure how Bush expected India and China to take it. And when people ask how America is doing, as if the country is a good friend of mine, I always say "The economy isn't doing so well, but things are going as well as they might." and they usually say "Yes, but it's because you keep blaming your problems on everyone else. You say we are eating all the food, but you eat so much."
I know it is cliché, but to be honest, both countries could learn a great deal from each other. It's so easy to point the finger at another country, but just being in India I recognize that America isn't so innocent as we think. I know a great deal of Americans, myself included recognize many problems with the government and certain groups of people, but that wasn't fully realized for me until I took a step back. It's pretty annoying, actually, to hear people complain about America here. India accuses America of being wasteful, yet they discard trash just about anywhere that's convenient, only for their holy cows to come and eat. I'm not veterinarian, but I imagine plastic bags are not the best thing for a cow's diet.
India is not a country where the corporations have taken over so much. There is no Wal-Mart. Because India is still "developing" there's actually not such a shortage on jobs. The problem is two-fold. First, the caste system prevents the expansion of jobs. Second, a lot of the poverty is induced. Parents cut the limbs off of their children, so their children have a better chance of getting sympathy when they beg. If I give five rupees to a child, who knows where it will go, but I seriously doubt it is his or hers to keep. Husbands who are dissatisfied with their wives will stage a kitchen fire. Sometimes the women survive, but no only really cares; she must have had it coming.
The unassertive culture is depressing at times. Service goes right up to the mandate, and after that you're on your own. If you go into a store with an elevator, they would rather you wait five minutes for the elevator than waste energy running up stairs. Yet, when it comes time to get change, if the cashier doesn't have it, it's not unusual for them to refuse to get change from their neighbor. It is your problem, not theirs.
India is best taken by rolling with the punches. We must realize that much of what we see in the culture of India is based within a system that was developed long before Western society invaded. Then we have to realize that much of what we see in this society is a reaction to the invasion of Western society. Rajasthan was once feudal, which I believe is the direct conclusion of the caste system. It eventually united, and now each town has a palace and/or fort of some sort in which a maharajah still lives today. They mostly serve as philanthropists. Women put eye-liner on their small children, boy or girl, to keep demons out.
If there's one thing I've come to realize, it's that everything I've learned about evangelism is useless. Most of you know I don't believe in conventional door-to-door or street evangelism as effective. But I always gave organizations like Evangelism Explosion the benefit of the doubt, figuring that it would surely be effective in a third-world country. But I'd love to see how those methods are effective. In a country where a polytheistic religion is a way of life, tradition, and religion all at the same time how to do you tell someone they need your god instead of their own?
Am I suggesting the India can't be "saved"? Of course not. God opens doors through crude methods and even bad theology. And Christianity is ever growing in India. I'm not sure it is through running up to Hindus and telling them to drop their six million gods for Jesus, because Indians are so different from Americans in their reaction to such evangelism. It will take Christians in India showing the love of Jesus in a place where gods crumble physically and spiritually. Showing the love of Jesus in a place that has a broken and prejudice system. It will start slow, but to attempt to speed it up can do more harm than good.
Looks like we'll be taking a bus to Delhi as train is not an option and planes are expensive. Please keep us in prayer as the buses may be safe one day and unsafe the next. If they are unsafe, we will be fine, but our bus will be cancelled and we long for home and I'd hate to miss our flight.
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