Kalimpong Sunset

I took this picture this afternoon and wanted to share.

Beautiful, isn't it?
Of course the picture doesn't do the actual view justice.

More Bugs

The latest bug I've encountered in India may be the worst of all--even worse than the beetles, cockroaches, and spiders.  It's quite different.

You see, I am currently having the pleasure of battling my first Indian stomach bug.  Woo hoo.  I imagine this joyous experience was brought on by Sunday's day-trip to Darjeeling, but who knows for sure.  What I do know is for the past few days, I've been a miserable.  Only today, after starting a cocktail of meds and consumption of re-hydration fluids (which has the tastes of body sweat, so I imagine), have I started to feel better.  Thank goodness I live with people of a health-care background that have access to modern medicines!

Long Lost Neville Brother?

This is VJ Traven.

Karin introduced me to him tonight.  Apparently he was once India's biggest rock star but has since turned Christian artist.  Karin stumbled upon his Facebook page and introduced me to songs such as this.  And this.  And even this familiar rendition.  And if that wasn't enough, I am pretty sure she played through some of them twice.  (For the complete playlist, feel free to check here.)

Chalk it up to personal tastes, but I think I am going to stick with my Lissie and The Civil Wars for now.  At very least, they don't remind me of Aaron Neville.  If, perhaps, I am listening to Christian music, I'll probably opt for something more along the lines of this, this, this*, or even this.  (My liking--if you can call it that--of that last ones stems from an old CD (or maybe even tape) my dad had, so judge me not! Ahahahahahahaah!)
*I chose to link this video in particular to showcase one great mullet and mustache combo!

My Latest Musical Obsession

Currently, I am listening to The Civil Wars on repeat.
I love them because of songs such as this...
...this...
...this...
...this...
...and this.
(And so much more.)


Go ahead, Faith, and try to one-up me by telling my how you've been listening to them for years since you first heard them on some show like One Tree Hill...

Tracts

Being the daughter of Tom Harrison, I am no foreigner to a random Jesus pamphlet here and there.  But never in my life have I laid eyes on so many pamphlets as I have today.

The past few weeks, we've been organizing different rooms of the house--and by we, I mean mostly Karin, Ritu, and Catherine with a few helpful labors here and there from me.  And by here and there, I mean after 10 o'clock in the morning.  Nevertheless, I woke up at my usual late morning time today and groggily stumbled downstairs to help tackle the medicine room.

Now the medicine room is the catch-all room of the house.  It houses all the medicine for the ministry, clothes to be donated to the villages, luggage for the entire family, spare auto parts, and so much more.  Given the size of the tasks at hand and my love for cleaning, you can imagine it was the highlight of my life.  Add the fact that everything was seemingly caked with a layer of mold, fungus, or both, it tops the charts as one of the highlights of my life.

Throughout the morning/afternoon, the only way I could cope (and not resort to a foul attitude) was to find humor wherever I could.  Much of it came from the Jesus Tracts we stumbled upon--although I am sure the original authors didn't have comedy in mind when they first created such texts.  There was a whole wide array of tracts for choose from: tracts in Bengali, tracts in Hindi, tracts in Nepali, and even a select few in English.  ...Hundreds upon hundreds, if not thousands upon thousands, of tracts.  I'm talking two large legit trunks full.  Never in my life have I seen so many--or really want to for that matter.  And reading through some of them was nothing short of interesting...

There were tracts that used scared tactics,...

...tracts that used more loving illustrations of Jesus,...

...and tracts that pictured the different states of the human heart.

Peacocks, lions, and frogs, oh my!  Some of you friends out there have a heart full of animals, I'm sure!  But then again, some of you need not worry, cause you've got a heart filled with knights, swords, fish, and Jesus with a man trying to slash it....???  I mean.... Really?!  And believe you me, there are plenty more where those came from.

All in all, after a day full of dreaded cleaning in mesothelioma-inducing conditions, I've got quite the collection of tracts.  AKA, I've got free souvenirs to bring home for you!  (Your welcome.)

Regret

I am kicking myself for not going to see Dolly in Knoxville when I had the chance this past July.  What was I thinking?!

Attractive, no?

Dear friends,

It has come to my attention that looking/feeling attractive in Kalimpong is not an easy task.  I am quite worried I am going to come home in January with the legs of this man...

courtesy of etbscreenwriting.com

...the facial hair of this woman...

courtesy of newanimal.org

...and the skin of this creep.

Courtesy of toomuchgaming.wordpress.com

But if I do, you'll still be my friend, right?

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Catherine "Cattie" Harrison

Missionaries Love ABBA, Too

When you hear ABBA blasting from the downstairs speakers after dinner, you can't help but race down and have a dance party.  And when you have an ABBA dance party, it will include...

 ...teaching new dance moves...

...jumping into the air...

...singing your heart out alone...

...singing your heart out together...

...tears...

...singing into each other's "mics"...

...Taebo moves...

...searching...

...a triple high five...

...flaunting money...

...silly group pictures...

...tiring out...

...Sidonia shuffling...

...Josh taking pictures of himself...

...Charlie's Angels-like poses...

...dramatic acting...

..."Bill shots"...

...fist pumping...

...and so much more!

(For a complete pictorial, see my Facebook album)

Today's Main Course

This was our lunch today:

The usual, daal bhat and vegetables, with an exciting new side:  pumpkin flowers.

It's literally just a fried flower.

 Before it's cooked, it looks like this:

Next you fry it like so:

Then enjoy.  (Extra cool points if your hair is in a slicked-back bun from a week's worth of grime when doing so.)

The finished product is actually quite tasty.  But then again, aren't most fried things?!

A Sunday Suprise

Twas late Sunday eve and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
...Now I don't know whose house that was, but it sure wasn't ours here in Kalimpong.  No, Kalimpong was quite a different story late Sunday night...

So get this:
It's approaching midnight, once again Sam is gone for medical training, and everyone else in the house is down for the night.  Being the night owl I am, I am just settling into bed, looking through some pictures on my camera, and getting ready to write a bit.  That's when I see the movement from the corner of my eye.  I look up.  In a matter of seconds, I realize that there are two dark eyes staring at me from the foot of my bed.  I freeze.  Then more movement from the end of the bed, and I make out a tail.  I fa-reak.  Immediately flinging camera, notebooks, pens, and who-knows-what aside, I jump out of (the mouse-infested) bed and get the heck out of there.

Quick interjection:  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  I am not a wilderness woman.  I reiterate: not a wilderness woman.  Therefore, creepy-crawly things and I get along best by keeping our distance--our lengthy distance.
Now back to the story...

Now what to do?  I out of bed...  Who knows what that mouse is up to... I've nothing long and hard--[Insert "That's what she said!" joke here]--to swat the thing with...  And sadly, that was the best plan I had...  As I mentioned before, everyone in the house was gone to bed and the house was closed for the night.  (In the case of our house set-up, that means the hallway of my floor is shut off from the stairs leading up to the floor everyone else is on by the front gate.)

That's when I scaled the staircase.  I climbed up and over only to get to the top and find everyone's doors shut to dark rooms.  Great.  Defeated, I climbed back down, went to the office, and did the only thing I knew left to do:  Skyped! .  Four hours later, I was finally calm and brave--or at least tired--enough to head back to my room.  Of course, once there,  I grabbed my pillow and a blanket--one that was no where near the mouse--and set up my bed for the night on a couch in the living room.  (By couch, I mean a hard bench with a few lumpy cushions.)

So once again, I've managed to barely survive out-brave the elements of India, and luckily I can laugh now despite how freaked I initially was.

One more thing:  If there's anything I've learned for the future, it's that the household cats are more than welcome in my room no matter how much they may upset my allergies!

My Sweet American Fanny

First, let's get two things straight:

1) I have a special place in my heart for fanny packs--many of you already know that...

2)I am a patriot--or at least for humor's sake, I often times like to portray one.

Now we're all on the same page...

So Friday I went to Siliguri and spent much of that time paroozing through many stores.  In one particular store that seemed to be the equivalent of an Indian Big Lots, this gem caught my eye from across the eclectic mix of luggage and handbags.

And who can pass up such a prize?!  Needless to say, I am now the owner of one great American fanny (pack).

Fill in the Blanks

Yesterday I went to the bustling town of Siliguri for the first time since driving through it on the way home from the airport.  Anxious to get out of Kalimpong for the day, I was completely pumped (up).  The drive, itself, was nothing less than panic-inducing thrilling.

Just for fun, fill in the following blanks:

The road to Siliguri _______________________________.

Acceptable answers include:
...is down-hill--or down-mountain to be more specific.
...involves curve after curve after curve after curve...
...makes the Dollywood staff parking lot look smooth.
...mainly follows the Teesta River.
...offers drop-down views of the Teesta River less than a foot away.
...is constantly under construction due to frequent landslides.
...seemingly has no traffic rules.
...is not for the weak-at-stomach.
...is congested with pedestrians, animals, motorbikes, cars, jeeps, cargo trucks, and more.
...offers the prime spot to play "chicken" apparently;passing the vehicle in front of you on a blind curve is the rule rather than the exception.
...will lunge you forward, toss you sideways, and completely bounce you up from your seat.
...is lined with monkeys.
...will have cows resting in the middle of the road.
...will bring life to such in-car conversations as "Did you hear about the local woman who was bitten by the cobra?"
...is about a two and a half hour drive.

Those are just a few examples of appropriate answers.
Now here's another:

At night, the road from Siliguri ___________________________.

Possible answers:
...makes the town of Siliguri come to life.
...sadly means having to leave a "cosmopolitan" town with department stores and coffee cafes.
...is pitch-black dark outside the city.
...still requires passing on blind curves, though now with limited lighting, and thus, limited visibility.
...is great excuse to crank up a new Abba CD and sing your heart out.
...will make you want to watch the Mamma Mia movie.
...becomes scarier and scarier the higher you drive.
...inspires creative cursing as not to offend the missionaries you're with.
...,in several areas, is sheer panic-inducing.
...reminded me I left my Dramamine at the house.
...will look like four or five roads parralel to eachother on the GPS screen.  Then you realize it's only the one road with that many curves.
...is not fun to ride on with a full bladder.

As before, these are just a few of the appropriate answers.

With all that being said, I absolutely loved my trip to Siliguri.  It was a much-needed venture out of the house past the city center of Kalimpong.  Unadventurously enough, most of my time was spent in shopping malls. I must admit, though, I rather enjoyed it.  Most noteably, I was thrilled by the coffee.  If I lived in Siliguri, I'd surely spend all my time in the local Coffee Day Cafe.  By the time we finally made it home in the late hours of the night, I was broke and worn out, but happy to have had a great day-trip.  ...A great way to conclude my first month here!