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Can you believe Christmas is almost here? I can't. Things have been scattered and random, but I've had some of the sweetest times with friends here. I'd like to tell you about some of my friends in the mountains.

Dixika--She was the first real friend I made in this town, but she got a job that requires her to travel all the time. I'd almost given up on ever seeing her again...and then a beautiful thing happened. I was on my way to the bazaar, looking down, listening to music, and when I looked up she was right in front me with a huge smile on her face. The next day I was at her house for lunch and it was the best time. She even gave me New Year's card. It has a scary picture of the Hindu goddess, Durga, on it but I didn't care. We're friends again!

Nitu--She owns a beauty parlor. I used to teach her English in her shop and then we'd have lunch and she'd never let me pay for it. She had a lot of financial problems for awhile but when I took her a Christmas present a few days back she seemed on top of the world so things must be better. Nitu has an attitude. It's fun--she gets this little smirk on her face and moves her head from side to side. She also has a big heart. I went with her to visit her grandmother in the hospital one day and it was really moving to be there with her family during that time. Her grandmother is at home now.

Jimmy--He works at a cafe I really like. He always knows what I want when I come in. Jimmy is a very talented artist and shows me his notebook with all his drawings. He also loves music and is on a deep quest for truth. Jimmy is very quiet, but once he trusts you he never stops talking. We have great conversations, and I always walk away with my mind full and a twinge of sadness in my heart. I want my friend to find what he is looking for.

Jessie--She owns the shop below Nitu's. She has smile that lights up the room, but it's easy to tell she is lonely. Jessie confides a lot in me and I don't always know what to say to her. Mostly we listen to each other for a long time and then find something to laugh about. Jessie is really pretty. She could be in a Bollywood movie but she wouldn't believe me if I told her that. I think I'll tell her anyway.

Sunita--She owns a shop on the road to my house. I think she will start teaching me Hindi next month. Her English is really good and her laugh sounds like bells. Usually she sits outside her shop in the sun and knits or talks to people. One day it was cold and rainy so she invited me inside and gave me black tea. You know how you just feel peace when you meet certain people? That's how I felt when I met Sunita.

Kamal--He works in a travel shop next to Sunita. He's from a nearby village and always offers to give me a ride home on his motorcycle. I always tell him I want to walk. He has shy eyes and a really good spirit. I don't usually talk much to men here, but I always feel at ease around Kamal. He is polite and sincere.

There are others I could talk about. Maybe I will get to them later, but I think this is good for now. It's amazing how community can give you a sense of belonging somewhere. The other day I walked home after talking with Jimmy and really felt like this was my town. I have friends. I have a computer guy. I have a tailor. I have grocery guy and a jewelry guy and a guy I buy books from. I know the Airtel people, the police officers, the doctors, and most of the restaurant owners. This is my town. And it's great.

Well, now that I've said all that I've posted some pictures below. We had a cool friend come into town to help us with some things and we went hiking one day. It was wonderful, but what's new? Hiking here is always great. Tonight some kids we love came to watch a movie at our house and our landlord's family is coming over tomorrow. THEN, our team is coming for Christmas. AND THEN, I will be reunited with two dear friends in Singapore. I feel completely joyous right now...and tired. I've been told about 20 times this week that I 'look weak' and should 'take rest.' I also broke my capillaries...I know...you're thinking, 'what are you talking about?' Well, I sat too close to my heater and the blood vessels in my leg are inflamed or something. I'm not sure when they will get back to normal, but I sure miss the days of central heating.

On Writing

Our friend, Hiralal just got engaged to a beautiful Korean woman, and we were able to attend his engagement party. He's going to move up north at the beginning of next year. Hiralal is a like a brother to us so we're going to miss him, but it's exciting to see him headed towards this new stage of life.

This has been a jam packed emotional week. So much has happened, and yet, I can't really find the words to tell any of the stories. Maybe they will come later. But, I have been reading this great book by Stephen King titled 'On Writing.' It's kind of a memoir of how he became a writer, and I'm finding it to be very compelling. Writing is something I've loved my whole life, but it's been a struggle for me in recent years. I think I used to be good at it. In 3rd grade I wrote a poem that won first prize in the Tri-County language arts competition. After that I wrote my first book about elves. It had five chapters. I wrote plays, poetic anthologies, book reviews, short stories, and summaries for the books I would one day write. My freshman English teacher told me she couldn't wait to have me in junior English. My English composition professor at OBU used to write 'Please consider changing your major to English' on all of my papers.

But something happened. Somehow in college I became fiercely private about my writing. I began to doubt my ability and was fearful of the vulnerability that came with it. I still wrote--yearbook articles, history papers, financial reports, an occasional journal entry...but I didn't feel passionate about it. Now that I'm reading this book it makes me wonder if I can ever feel that passion again. Along with that...can I get beyond caring about criticism? Can I find the patience to put my thoughts into words and form them in an artistic way? Can I share those words with those around me? Or let the person I really care about deeper into the way I think? I want to. Maybe I will try. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then I thought I'd end this post with a list of some of the books that have impacted my life.

1. One book that changed your life: The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The Diary of Anne Frank. My grandfather gave this book to me when I was young and I read it over and over again. I thought Anne Frank looked like me only with bigger eyebrows.

3. One book you’d want on a deserted island: Ulysses by James Joyce. Apparently it's one of the greatest literary works of all time, but I can never seem to get past the first page. A desert island might be the only way I'll actually read it.

4. One book that made you laugh: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. What a wonderful book! I could almost hear Owen's voice in my ear. I laughed and cried a lot reading this one.

5. One book that made you cry: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Wow, this book is powerful.

6. One book you wish you had written: The Great Divorce by CS Lewis. What I wouldn't give to have the persepctive illustrated in this book.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Um, I hate to say that any book shouldn't be written. One book I did not enjoy reading was Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The details and descriptions were amazing, but this book thoroughly depressed me for days. I guess I'm glad it was written but wish I'd never read it myself.

8. One book you’re currently reading: On Writing by Stephen King and trying to finish The Castle by Franz Kafka. The Castle is strange, interesting, and requires a certain kind of mood to enjoy. You were one weird man, Mr. Kafka!

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: There's a long list but I'll probably start reading A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway next.

Engagement

Today we went to my friend, Ruchi's, engagement. Ruchi is our landlord's sister-in-law, and I met her at the wedding I attended in September. This was Emily's first time to meet this side of the family and it was a lot of fun. The day was cold and dreary but we bundled up and took a bus out to their village. One of the traditions here is dham, which is eating on the ground in lines facing each other. Instead of plates they give you giant leaves and men walk by dumping rice, rajma, dal, paneer, and other things on your leaf while you try to keep up eating with your hand. I'm a big fan of dham because it makes me feel earthy, like I'd never need to bring utensils with me on a camping trip. After dham we warmed ourselves by the tandoor (indoor wood furnace) and then watched the engagement ceremony. Ruchi, of course, looked beautiful and she seemed very excited to get married. The pundits (Hindu priests) performed the ceremony and everyone went by afterwards to give their blessings to the couple. What typically happens in an arranged Hindu marriage is that the families express interest to each other for a union and then take their children's astrological charts to the pundits. The pundits have to match a variety of different things to determine whether or not the couple should be married. Afterwards, there is an engagement ceremony and exchanging of rings. The date for the actual marriage is also fixed once the pundits choose an 'auspicious' day. I know next to nothing about astrology except that magazines would tell me every month that I would fall in love sometime around the 21st. However, in India astrology is a huge part of their lives and 'What's your sign?' is a common question. Nidhi bought tons of books about her sign and always told me I was 'so Taurean.' Hmm...Taurus is a bull with a red eye, Aldebaran, and is about to get shot by Orion...so how do I identify with that? Since I don't really know I've just decided that for me everyday is an auspicious day! Anyway, I'm off subject here so I'll just say we had a great day with our friends and, as always, I took pictures.

Awhile ago my friend, Alicia, posted something nice about me so I wanted to say something nice about her! Alicia and I were roommates in VA before we came to India and we connected instantly. In fact, we often had to discipline ourselves to go to bed because we'd stay up talking all night. I'm not sure I'd survive India without Alicia. We live 20 hours apart, but we've still talk all the time, and by the grace of God, even see each other more than we thought we would! She is loyal, encouraging, funny, beautiful, and loves India with all her heart. We have such a great time together and I am so thankful for Alicia and my other friends in South Asia. It's been over five months since Alicia and I have seen each other, but the countdown has begun...only 16 more days and we'll be reunited with our dear friend, Chesi, in the beautiful and immaculate country of Singapore! Chesi is another incredible person in my life with an amazing gift in singing and songwriting. Check out her music here.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

ADVENT

We celebrated the beginning of the Advent with style! Yesterday, Emily and I went with our friend, Johanna, on a trek to a waterfall. It might surprise you that there are so many waterfalls in north India, but we have plenty of beautiful ones thanks to the glaciers of the greater Himalayas. Jo and I even went behind the waterfall (which is much bigger in the summer after the snow melts) and it was amazing! We lost feeling in our hands but we didn't care. Don't be fooled when I compain about the cold--I love it here!

and the world keeps spinning round. my world's upside down and i wouldn't change a thing.

I was listening to this song tonight and thinking about this time last year. I'd only been in India for about a month and had no idea what to expect. It's probably been the craziest year of my life (South Asia is synonomous with crazy)--and I don't know that I would've ever chosen some of the experiences I've had. But somehow I'm so thankful for them now. Maybe it's easier to look back and say this but I really wouldn't change anything that's happened this year.

We decorated our tree today. Our tree leans as you can see from the picture below. We have colored lights that blink. It's all they have here. We put them on the tree and took them off and put them back on several times to try and make it look better. Our efforts were in vain.

Today we had our first Advent reading and candle lighting. The picture below the tree is me lighting our candle, which is actually a Pumpkin Spice Yankee candle instead of a real Advent candle. Emily put a picture of a tree up on our 'Jesse Tree' because today's theme is the Root of Jesse. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.'

I don't understand why there are all these issues in America right now about making Christmas less offensive to non-Christians. Christmas is a Christian holiday. No one in India cares if you talk about Christ during Christmas. They expect it. And India is not a Christian country. Beyond that, why are people getting so angry about things like this and things like Michael Richards making racist remarks and Britney Spears being a bad role model and going wild? I guess this is all bad stuff, but there are real reasons to be angry. Most of Malawi's AIDS victims are dying in 'hospitals' where three or four people share a bed with more people lying underneath. They are there because they can't afford the $1 a day required to get the right medicine. Why don't people get angry about that? On a more positive note I watched a segment about charity--and while many complain that the US government should give more aid, Americans, themselves, give more money out of their own pockets to charity than anyone else. So, way to go America. The biggest donors: religious people from the heartland. So, way to go Midwest.

We have a rat in our house. It comes in through the drain and we've tried all different things to contain it. We can't seem to find rat poison anywhere either. What to do? Actually, we never saw it--only evidence of it--until tonight. I was in the kitchen baking and the it ran out of the drain and behind the gas cylinder. It's not a normal rat--in fact, it looks a lot like Sensei from The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I didn't know what to do so I kept baking. It went back into the drain.

Ok...I'm going to end this post with a picture of my favorite kid. If I could pick one kid to bring home with me I would pick him.

i've got nothing else to lose. i lost it all when i found you and i wouldn't change a thing.