I carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

Beautiful.

luck o' the Irish

For 2 years now, my cousins and I have been planning an expedition to Ireland for Summer 2010. We spent much of thanksgiving afternoon plotting and exploring resources and options, as you can see by our intensity above. But something very interesting has come of our preliminary plans. My grandpa and aunt went to Ireland 13 years ago, and now that he actually believes that we're going to go, he's excited for us. I'm about half Irish and half German, but I was raised to value my Irish heritage and cling to it. I think I'm gonna have to marry an Irishman one day (to keep my irish last name as well as the fact that they have the most amazing accents ever). My grandpa has always instilled an appreciation for our heritage in us--even in the most simple ways.

Today at lunch, his eyes lit up. "Susan," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "I have something for you!" He had collected all his old information from his trip, made copies of his travel logs to give to me, and attached ancestry lists from family who's traced us back to Ireland. There was something special about reading my grandpa's entries from his travels. When someone writes--I mean hand-writes, not emails and typing etc.--it shows their personality, and their heart. Even funny things, like details about what they had for meals made me laugh. I don't know why, really, but it was cool to read about things that my grandpa saw and what he thought about them.

I want to have something like that when I'm older. An experience, a set of thoughts that I can share with my grandkids. It just made me think!

Some Goals.

What do I want to do in the next 5 years?

-finish Medical School
-Residency in some cool city (I'll try not to be unreasonably picky)
-Ireland with the cousins
-Run a half Marathon

What do I want to do in the next year?
-Orchestra Concert in Cleveland and/or Blossom
-Go to an Art Museum
-A rural health experience
-At least one roadtrip every 4 months (to Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, or New York)
-Read 5 fun books

my token political post

I'm excited for tomorrow. There's something that always washes over me when I go to vote. The sense of national pride and belonging to a nation that I feel when I stand in endless lines of people to make little, seemingly insignificant marks on a piece of paper. Most people don't know this about me, but one day, my goal is to work for the government. Maybe this contributes to my love of participating in elections. During the months leading up to the key November day, I hate politics. I hate the nothing statements and the broad, unspecific dreams that are painted, with no practical ways of fullfilling them. This is one of the reasons I want to work for Washington. I want to be a part of working for the fulfillment of those promises and ideals. But once the votes are cast, the real agendas and character comes out. I love this transition. Who knows if it's good or bad, but integrity starts to enter the scene on election day. We have actions to match up with words and see what's really being said. I love it.

That being said, I'm also thrown back to where I was during the last Presidential Election. I was still in high school, and spent 2 months being berated by faculty about why voting for Bush is the only choice that lines up morally for Christians, and if you vote for Kerry you're an awful Christian (to be fair, only one person made this statement outright). Even though I wasn't able to vote, in nurtured a rebelliousness in me. Now I'm in medical school, where most people's number one issue will be healthcare reform and other related issues. I'm in a place where it's the assumption that everyone's voting for Obama. It's a pleasant place to be. I usually choose not to engage in these discussions, but it's fun to listen to people talk knowing that my opinions are actually the majority.

These should be my words

Whenever family and friends found out that I'm traveling by myself, I would be met with sympathy and concern. They never quite understood the feeling that I get when I'm waiting to board a plane or a train with an impending adventure. It could be boarding a plane to CA, a train to Nebraska, flying to India or Europe, or just driving to Chicago. It's this special feeling that wells inside of me that I'm quite content to ponder and meditate on in my own heart. It made me glad when I read an essay in this amazing little book called Cold Tangerines. I'm not by myself in treasuring the joy of traveling alone.

"...It began a love affair with traveling, and even more than that, traveling alone. I felt so small and so anonymous, surrounded by the sounds and smells and sights of a place I'd only read about, and I could go as quickly or as slowly as I wanted to... When you're with someone else, you share each discovery, but when you are alone, you have to carry each experience with you like a secret, something you have to write on your heart, because there's no other way to preserve it."
-Shawna Niequist

"Hope" is a thing with feathers--by Emily Dickenson

"Hope" is the thing with feathers--
That perches in the soul--
And sings the tune without the words--
And never stops--at all--

And sweetest--in the Gale--is heard--
And sore must be the storm--
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land--
And on the strangest Sea--
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb--of Me

6 months ago

Journal entry from 6 months ago, sitting in Hyderabad airport waiting to fly home.

"There's some finality about an airport. Something ominous and cold that I feel as I pull my carryon behind me, my purse hanging under my arm with a cup of coffee in my hand. As cold as I feel, there's an excitement of pending adventure. 34 travel adventures later, I feel more confident and more like I belong at the airport. I've stopped having nightmares about missing flihts. But this time, the feeling of excitement is almost nothing. I feel alone. Isolated. Small. I'm fully aware that I look more comfortable flying now than I ever have. But I feel like a little child. A scared little kid who's lost and misplace and alone. From today on, no one will ever fully understand me. From today on, there won't be the unspoken communication of frustration. From now on, I'll have to explain myself an dbe completely torn between lives. When I was here, I knew I was going back to the place my heart ached for. This time, I know better. I'm ready to leave, but I know that this trip signifies everything changing.

The moon looks like the s mile of the Cheshire cat. Or a hammock. I can't seem to make up my mind about which. I said goodby to my city tonight. I smelled th elast of the stale urine, and Ramesh told me to make th most of the sewage stench, seeing as I wouldn't have it at home. I had the last traffic experience. I was in the busyness of the city one last time. And the power went off 3 times in my last hour on campus as if to say goodbye. I had my last cup of dessert tea, walked my last lap, and waved to the last excited Indian child on the street. This phase of my life is done."

back in the swing of life!

So I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, I promise. I just haven’t known what to write. Basically, life in the US is a little less novel than life overseas. But a lot has been happening and I’m seeing things so differently than I was a few months ago.

First of all, I started med school 2 weeks ago. We’ve been practicing patient interviews this week, and I had to pretend to be the patient—bring a problem that another student can interview and counsel me on. My problem was reverse culture shock. I basically pretended it was 2 months ago when I hated my life a little ☺ . I’m through it now, but I remember what it was like so I put myself in that frame of mind for fifteen minutes at a time. The funny thing that happened though, was that I started feeling those emotions for real again. That strange sensation of longing and aching and of discomfort with where I am.

I love being back in the US. I really really am thankful to be back and to be placed where I am. I am so comforted that God has relieved my fears and worries with so many blessings. For example, I was worried about finding a community when I got back to be a part of. I’ve honestly had to ‘say no’ to things because God has sent me bountiful friendships and groups and opportunities. It’s pretty cool, and now I feel a bit sheepish that I doubted God when I first came back.

Med school is great (so far). Given I haven’t entered the crazy workload yet, but I love the atmosphere of school. I love the fact that there are 200 students with endless possibilities of friendships and relationships. While it’s overwhelming, its so exciting to me! We’ll see how I feel once the workload hits in another week! I’m sure I won’t be as excited ☺

And today is a rainy, dreary day. The type of day I longed for in the summer and winter of India. To be sitting in a coffee shop as rain persistently beats the ground just outside the window gives me a feeling of safety and comfort.

two months of recovered life

So Lufthansa lost my bag somewhere between Hyderabad and Colorado and just can't seem to find it.  Besides some certain journals and notes that I'm pretty bummed about not having, my adapter cords for my camera and my camera charger were MIA for two months.  Now that they finally decided to compensate me, I splurged and replaced my cords and charger so I can finally get pictures off my camera. Yay!  

So here are some pictures of the last couple of months of my life!

Colorado hiking with Ashley!

And then my train adventure from Colorado to Nebraska.  Who knew that America still had such cool train stations??

Finally in Nebraska with Amy and Megan!  

And then camping in the Smokies!

Then life back in Ohio.  

The girls all dressed up!

Me and Hannah!

Me and Lile!

Stalking

have you ever been car stalked?  When the parking lots are incredibly full and a car follows 3 feet behind you in hopes that they can have your parking space?  It happened to me a lot at Akron, but the mixture of me not driving for ten months, and then not attending college during the typical school year prevented my car-stalking exposure for the last year.  

Then I started working at Summa.  Summa likes to spoil it's employees, which as a current employee, I love :)  Since the staff parking lots are on the far corners of a vast campus, they supply shuttles that can take us from our cars to our building.  It's wonderful if you're in a hurry, or if it's raining, or if you just don't feel like walking.  But I spend most of my day sitting at a desk inside, or in a stuffy classroom, so I typically treasure these brief spurts of walking in the sun.  I pull into the parking lot and spot a shuttle.  It's sitting discretely (as discretely as a huge half-bus can sit) in the shade on the far side of the parking lot.  As soon as it spots me it begins to follow me around the parking lot until I pull into the empty space of my choosing.  It stops.  Waiting ominously for me to board, I almost feel guilty for waving it by as I begin my long trek in heels to the office.  That poor shuttle-driver just really wanted to help me, and I shot her down.  

Happy List

My best friend and I used to play this game whenever one of us was having a bad day and felt like everything was falling apart.  Whoever was feeling bad had to make a list of 10 things that made them happy that they were thankful for.  Over the next few days, the other one of us would send this list as a reminder of all the blessings we have.  

Well, I actually had a pretty spectacular day, and I want to make a happy list for great things that I saw and that happened.  

1)  It's gorgeous out--nice and warm and sunny

2)  Running at 6am.  It may sound awful, but being back in the wood when everything is serene--just priceless.  If the exhilaration of a morning run wasn't enough, a deer walked out in front of me and just watched me as I stopped and walked by her.  I've seen a lot of deer in my short life, but for some reason they still awe me when I see them up close

3)  making progress at work--I typed some little summaries into a computer and started figuring out my email and scheduling.  Little things, but I feel excited about my work.  I'm already learning so much about the health system and special needs of older adults and how the geriatric field of medicine works.  I enjoy researching these things 'cause I'm learning so much as I go and am being challenged and pushed.

4)  It's AA Founders Week this week!  Which means Akron is overrun with motorcycles.  Honestly, my favorite weekend of the year in Akron.

5)  Summa has pretty much the nicest librarian.

6)  a man was walking in front of me and Hannah tonight with a coat-hanger slung over one shoulder with fifty-some hemp bracelets dangling behind him.  

7)  I ate a bowl of ice-cream while sitting out in the sun chatting with a friend and people-watching.  Really, how does an evening get better than that??

8)  the guy in the bagel line kept trying to joke around with me.  yeah... I don't really get jokes early in the morning.  

9)  my grandparents got me special highlighters that they saw on Oprah.  

10)  Someone was riding a scooter around downtown Akron.  Serious joy.  

11) There are about 400 different shades of green in the world right now. 

12) I finally finished a book on Wednesday after my 6 week reading-block!!

13. People I really love:

14) ahh I love them.  good memories :)

Daisy

This is my parent's new puppy Daisy



Our last dog actually acted more like a cat--this dog, is definitely a puppy though! She chews everything and digs and eats sticks.

Evidence of her love of chewing everything--oh and everything turns into a game :)

By the way, this is Katie--who'll be my roommate in another month (ish) :)

Anyways, thought I'd share some pictures of my puppy :)

I should really go to class now!

life in America: one month

I just finished writing what should have been the easiest paper of my life.  10 pages on  my experience in India.  Easy, right?  I must say that it was one of the most draining things that I have ever written.  Every page I wrote made me more and more homesick for India.  I think its actually pretty funny when people think it's an easy transition to come back into my home culture.  

I was sitting in church my first Sunday back in the United States.  "Blessed be your name in the land that is plentiful, where your streams of abundance flow, blessed be your name.  Blessed be your name when I'm found in the desert place, thought I walk through the wilderness, blessed be your name."  We sang the same worship song the Sunday before I left for India.  I remember uncontrollable tears falling as I envisioned the material interpretation of that song.  I was going from a land of plenty to a land of want.  I was going from a place where I was established and have a support system to a place where I knew nobody and had no idea who would encourage and challenge me.  

Sitting in an American church once again and listening to the same song tears started coming to my eyes for a very different reason.  I was once again making a transition, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what transition I was actually making.  I am clearly going from a land of material want to a land of material plenty.  But I am also transitioning from a land of spiritual passion and vibrancy to a land of spiritual apathy.  How do I reconcile this in my mind?  

Elise and I had the conversation about 'being content' a lot while she was in India.  I was inspired by Hebrews 4:12-13.  "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  

In my observations, Christians living in dire poverty actually have less trouble with being content than those of us living in plenty.  Every time I've examined that verse, I've seemed to focus on the 'being content while living in want' portion.  But how often do we living contentedly while we have plenty.  Do we horde our wealth for ourselves, or do we feel guilty about our wealth?  What do we do with our blessings?  I have actually begun to think that feeling guilty for God's gifts is nearly as ungrateful as the greedy consumption of God's gifts.  Just something I've been thinking about and wrestling with for the last...year.  We are a blessed country.  What are we supposed to do with this?  

on starting over

"You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, I told him, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way ever again."
— Azar Nafisi

Girl, 6, thrown on fire for being 'lowest class'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/30/india.caste/index.html

(CNN) -- A man, incensed that a 6-year-old girl chose to walk through a path reserved for upper caste villagers, pushed her into burning embers, police in north India said Wednesday. She was seriously burned.

Dalits, or "untouchables," are victims of discrimination in India despite laws aimed at eliminating prejudice.

The girl is a Dalit, or an "untouchable," according to India's traditional caste system.

India's constitution outlaws caste-based discrimination, and barriers have broken down in large cities. Prejudice, however, persists in some rural areas of the country.

The girl was walking with her mother down a path in the city of Mathura when she was accosted by a man in his late teens, said police superintendent R.K. Chaturvedi.

"He scolded them both and pushed her," Chaturvedi said. The girl fell about 3 to 4 feet into pile of burning embers by the side of the road.

The girl remained in critical condition Wednesday.

The man confessed to the crime and was charged with attempted murder, Chaturvedi said.

The assault took place in India's Uttar Pradesh state, about 150 km (93 miles) south of Delhi. The state is governed by Mayawati, a woman who goes by one name and is India's most powerful Dalit politician.

Her Bahujan Samaj Party seeks to get more political representation for Dalits, who are considered so low in the social order that they don't even rank among the four classes that make up the caste system.

Hindus believe there are five main groups of people, four of which sprang from the body of the first man.

The Brahmin class comes from the mouth. They are the priests and holy men, the most elevated of the castes.

Next is the Ksatriyas, the kings, warriors and soldiers created from the arms.

The Vaisyas come from the thighs. They are the merchants and traders of society.

And the Sudras, or laborers, come from the feet.

The last group is the Dalits, or the "untouchables." They're considered too impure to have come from the primordial being. Untouchables are often forced to work in menial jobs. They drink from separate wells. They use different entry ways, coming and going from buildings.

They number about 250 million in India, about 25 percent of the population, according to the Colorado, U.S.-based Dalit Freedom Network.

"Dalits are seen to pollute higher caste people if they come in touch with them, hence the 'untouchables,'" the group says on its Web site. "If a higher caste Hindu is touched by, or even had a Dalit's shadow fall across them, they consider themselves to be polluted and have to go through a rigorous series of rituals to be cleansed."

Recent weeks has seen a rise in violence against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN, reported Wednesday."

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Shel Silverstein

Planes and Trains. and cars I guess

I've been in the US for a week now! crazy, huh? And I had the greatest mini-adventure yesterday. I took a train in the United States. For transportation. The price of the ticket was half of flying, and seriously, who takes the train for transportation these days??? The Denver train station was quaint and old fashioned with conductors in little conductor uniforms, and high-backed wooden benches. I didn't know places like that still existed in the US and I will totally have pictures up when I get the adapter for my camera back. I think that was the closest I got to culture shock yet. My train adventures in India consisted of massive amounts of people in the train station, pushing to board the train. Vendors walking incessantly down the aisle muttering 'panniwater, panniwater' and 'chaicoffee, chaicoffee.' I didn't know what to do with the quiet, nearly abandoned train station and a double decker, half-empty train that pulled in front of me. Anyways, I hightly recommend the train system. Just so you can tell people you took a train :) Plus, it was significantly more hassle-free than flying.

I lost a piece of my luggage, by the way. Sucks, doesn't it? I had packed it specifically with everything I would need for these 10 days of travelling--western clothes, toiletries, socks. At first this made it even more annoying. But now I'm just thankful that I have all of my 'priceless' Indian items. That would be horrible to have lost indefinitely. But I'm reaching my limit with airports. I think I have no desire to fly again too soon. haha too bad I fly again on Sunday to come back to Ohio!

So, you may be asking yourself, "What has Susan been up to this last week, if she STILL isn't in Ohio?" I mean, besides the coolness of taking a train. I got in Thursday night and spent a total of 2 days in the DFN office debriefing and another four with my friend in Boulder. I've been amazed at how quickly friendships form and solidify in India. I had made arrangements to spend time with my friends Ashley and Megan and Amy. But I ended up hanging out with several other people that interned with me for six weeks last summer, or who came out on short term trips. It was amazing to 'debrief' with people who knew India and who knew me in the context of India. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and feel much more capable of handling re-entry. This isn't to say that I won't be a mess occasionally... but I may be able to at least answer questions that are asked of me :)

Well, last night I took a train from Denver to Nebraska and am now hanging out in a coffee shop (a consistent theme of my US travels) while Megan and Amy are busy with their real people jobs! It's really yucky out--raining, dreary and cold. But I distinctly remember wishing that I could be curled up with my book and journal with a hot cup of coffee and a cold, miserable day outside. So I guess this is actually perfect for me!

I'm supposed to be working on some more debriefing stuff so I should probably go.

I have a ton of pictures from my last month in India, so if you're interested, here are the links

Medical camp in UP


Kerala

More Kerala

the end is near

I just completed 3 weeks of traveling. And am coming near to the end of my time in India. I feel ready to go home. I feel ready to start the next part of my life. That I'm here, right now, leaving aa place that's been my home for a year feels like a dream. One that's whirling around me, and I can't grasp the reality of it. And I almost don't want to grasp the reality, because I know when I get on the plane it'll be the jerking feeling that I get when the alarm wakes me each morning. But at the same time, being in India has worked on me in ways that I didn't expect. Its instilled in me a passion for work that needs done in my own country--for the needs both physically and spiritually that run rampant in our society. In a society where I know the language and the culture and I can relate to people in a way that I haven't been able to cross-culturally. Its given me a vision for America, and I'm really excited to start acting on that vision.

I'm just going to write about my first trip for now. We met a medical team from the US in north India. We spent five days running medical camps for villages that feed into the DEC schools. Most of the time I was helping with the physiotherapy section, teaching exercises, and taking histories for the patients before they went in to see the physical therapist. It was draining after awhile, but I loved getting to touch and connect with the patients that came in. A lot of the ones that came to us were older patients--mostly with arthritis. but you could see in their eyes the loneliness. It was wonderful to get to connect with them and relate to them. I loved it :) The American team was hardworking, and it was almost as if they were my preparation to re-entering American culture! I spent some time with the doctors also and got to see some pretty crazy stuff. One of the doctors was in her second year of residency and had never seen some of the illnesses that were coming though. It was hard, 'cause many of the patients needed long term care, and we were only equipped and able to meet short term needs.


I think I'll write about Kerala tomorrow--it's been a long few weeks and I'm ready to go get some sleep!

I like being a girl

I sit in distracted thought at the moment. Trying to find direction to my random processing. A part of my brain is working today that I don’t think has been active in a little while.

I have this friend. Our time usually is spent hiking through the woods along the river talking about God and life. She’s my ‘philosophical’ friend. I’m always inspired and challenged when I hear from her (or when I’m in the states, after our hikes). I’m reminded how big the world is. How much vision matters. How amazing it can be to dwell on God. I start thinking more abstractly after we talk (or I read her blog ☺ ). And she reminds me to live my life big. And to dream big and to invest myself in big visions.

Lately I’ve been thinking about value. Sunday was “Women’s Day” here at church. It was a very cultural experience in a way I didn’t quite expect. It was approached through womanhood as a married woman. I never realized how different even the definition of a woman could change in culture. At home, we are taught about womanhood and femininity as a single. We’re taught to invest our gifts as a woman and use the attributes God gave us no matter where we are in life. We may even be chastised for wasting our gifts by our community (in a good way) if we are wasting our gifts as ‘life-giver’ and ‘helper-completer’ (to use the terms of the five aspects study). While the west usually takes feminism way to far, I’m thankful that my culture assigns me value as an individual, with or without a wedding ring. I really like being a girl. I like the gifts that I have, the qualities God's given me, and the glory of his purpose. I've never considered that I have less worth as an individual. Never even crossed my mind. It upsets me that other women face this battle. Its something I've seen a lot here, but it really struck me on Sunday.

In other news, Annika and I booked our ‘holiday’ trip to Kerala. SO excited for this. It’ll be a short trip, but it’s gonna be beautiful. 5 days to dwell on God’s marvelous creation.

March

I know its been awhile since I’ve written, so I would like to fill you in on what life has been like this past month! After finishing auditing the masters classes in January, we (meaning me and my friend Annika) started working on some community health teaching for girls in their 20’s that are here for their Bachelors program. It was fun and they became really enthusiastic as we handed out chocolate for answering questions on our nutrition talk (I hope you see the irony). I then spent the next few weeks working on topical summaries of health issues that can be translated into different languages and used for community health education throughout the country. Currently, me and Annika are conducting basic health physicals and getting health histories for the Bachelors students on campus. There are 200+ students so we’re keeping pretty busy in the evenings ☺

Mid-march I leave to join a medical trip coming out from the US for about two weeks, and then Annika and I are planning to do some sightseeing in Kerala (southernmost India) which I’ve heard is one of the most beautiful places in all of India. We’re both really excited about these plans and are greatly anticipating the time of travel. But this means that my time in India is drawing to a close. Its strange to think that I have only a few weeks left living here, and I’m having trouble picturing life without some of the friends that I’ve made here! But at the same time, I’m very excited about the next stage in my life. A lot of mixed emotions.


Last week four more international girls came in for their 6 week internship. They’re sweet girls and are definitely still adjusting to India. Please keep then in your prayers as they process both their work and their free-time and also cope with culture stress and homesickness. You can pray for me as I wrap up my work in Hyderabad this next few weeks and seek closure in my time here. I also have a lot of preparations for coming home that I need to finish before I begin traveling. You can also be praying for safety as we travel from mid-march through mid-April.

This weekend we went to a place that I hadn’t been to yet. It’s called Little Rajasthan. Rajasthan is a state in North India with distinct culture—food, dress, dance etc. This is a place I haven’t been, but I’ve heard a lot about it. Anyways, Little Rajasthan is a cultural center nearby where I live where they present and expose people to Rajasthani culture. We made the trek there—and by trek I mean that we didn’t know where we were going and ended up walking WAY farther than we would’ve had to if we had gotten off at the correct bus stop. But it was worth it— We got to experience a lot that night. The food was unique to what we usually have, the dress of those there was different, the dancing was different. The reason I’m writing this, is that I know how easy it is to lump “India” together. But every state in India has a unique culture. It has its own special characteristics, languages, food, clothing, value systems, and composition. I’ve been here a year (nearly ☺) and I’ve hardly begun to grasp the diversity of this country.

I’m also sending a picture of my favorite place in Hyderabad. Golconda Fort. Its 1000+ years old and is spectacular. Plus it has a magnificent view of the city and the surrounding countryside!

long overdue post!

I would like to share with you some cool things that I’ve found in my reading and studying. I should say outright that I realized that these last few months in India could quite possibly be my last chunk of time where I can read and study whatever I want in depth and I’m resolved that I won’t waste it. I’m determined that I will use the next (approximately) 3 months to develop my mind, my character and my relationship with God. This has resulted in a list of 20+ books recommended from the MA classes that I’ve been auditing in addition to books that I just want to read ☺ currently I’m reading a good one on different types of counseling. I would like to share with you a few things that I’ve found interesting.

The first one is on our guiding values that give meaning to our lives:
1) Do my values and priorities and the life-style they produce, allow me to maintain robust physical-emotional health?
2) Do my values and life-style allow me time to develop my midyears potential intellectually and spiritually?
3) Do my values and life-style allow me time to enjoy the good things of life and to do the creative, worthwhile and fulfilling things I could do?
4) Do my present values and life-style leave me enough time with the person or persons I care most about?
5) Does my life-style reflect the most significant and life-giving values—truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, aliveness, justice, order, simplicity, playfulness, autonomy?
6) Do my values and life-style allow me time for a significant cause, a challenge beyond my inner circle, that will help others and improve our community?




There was also this great passage that I am going to include on developmental crises. These are the normal changes that come into our lives—the ones the come from moving away from home, starting college, getting married, retiring. There is like a 100 item list that is NOT all inclusive of things that cause us developmental stress—the things that just happen in life and we need to work through. I love this quote:

“When one puts on the glasses of hope and growth, each life stage from birth to death, offers a fresh set of emerging strengths and possibilities that did not exist in previous stages. This awareness is the source of an unfolding hope. Each stage also has within it a new set of problems, limitations, frustrations, and losses… The strategy is to help people deal with the problems and losses by developing the new strengths and possibilities of their particular life stage.”



Now those of you who made it through that long portion: Over the next few months, I’ll be working again on the Village Healthworkers Program. We have a nutrition public health presentation next week, then a lot of preparation and writing for a new aspect of the project—pretty exciting stuff!

We (and by we I mean my friend Annika and I) have been auditing MA classes here the last three weeks. It has been phenomenal! We’ve gotten to make friends with Indians and internationals from all over the world and learn from great professors. Although I took four classes, there were 3 that made a great impact on me: systematic theology, philosophical foundations of m*inis*try and leadership, and counseling systems. It will take me a long time to process and thoroughly grasp what I’ve been learning! Truly it was an opportunity I never expected to have, and I feel quite privileged that I got to learn just for fun—no tests, no required assignments.