Four Months!

August went by so stinking fast, which is part of the reason it is now Sept 10th and I'm barely getting the blog up! We have now been here four months. At times it feels like four months but at other times it feels just like a few weeks. August has been a good month with a few adventures and great time spent together!

The beginning of the month was a little stressful as we were trying to get money transferred back to the states. It took I think seven trips to finally get the correct forms as well as documents on our end to get it all right. It should be much easier now the next time we have to transfer money though! Kaysi and I are so thankful for a guy at her work named Yashpal, who helped us walk through the steps to get money transferred as well as accompany me to the bank those seven times! We are definitely so thankful for the people who help us to make the everyday tasks much easier! (Side note, I transferred money last week and it took only two trips, one to get forms and one to turn in forms!)

I think a lesson Kaysi and I are both learning is the lesson of patiences. We are both pretty easy going individuals but being here I think you learn that lesson even more. Things that would be fairly easy back in the US take a little more planning and time here and so we have learned to not get upset when things take much longer than expected. As some of you know I tend to like to be in control and I am learning to adjust to the fact that there are few things that I can control here, or in life in general. We are learning to be appreciative of the simpler things in life that we often overlook! 

We were invited to a dinner with one of Kaysi’s patients as well as a couple of Jevene’s patients. who’s home the dinner was at. They have a beautiful home and were such welcoming hosts! One thing that is a little different in India is the timing of dinner. Most of the time we consider if we eat past 7:30pm we are eating late. Here in India most of the time you aren't invited to dinner until 8:30pm or 9:00pm and probably wont sit down for dinner till after 10:00pm. Although dinner was later than we were used to I ate so much I could hardly get to sleep once we arrived home! During the conversation throughout the night I was asked if I played golf. I told them that I did and Jevene’s patient offered to set me up with a set of clubs while I am here as well as to take me to show me a local course or two. About a week later he approached Kaysi at work and had her give me his number to get in contact with him. I was able to contact him and he did set me up with a set of golf clubs and took me to the driving range at the Delhi Golf Club! It was great to get out and hit some golf balls on the range as well as hitting a few chip shots at a chipping green they have as well! Hopefully I will be able to begin playing some during the weeks or at least going to the driving range. 

August 15th is India’s Independence Day, to celebrate the Independence weekend we went on a stay-cation here in Delhi! Our friends Foster and Kristin let us know about a special that The Imperial Hotel was running for the weekend! We were able to check in early on that Friday and not check out till Saturday afternoon! Kaysi and I both think it was the nicest hotel either of us have ever stayed in! The Hotel is absolutely beautiful! It is filled with all sorts of beautiful art as well as tons of historical documents and information! It is almost like going into a museum! The package also included a thirty minute massage for each of us which were awesome! We were also able to eat at one of many restaurants there at the hotel for a nice date on Friday night and a great breakfast Saturday morning! One of Kaysi’s favorite parts of the hotel was the bath tub!! I think she took a couple of baths in the day we were there! It was a great and relaxing weekend for both of us! A break Kaysi definitely deserved!

our beautiful room at the Imperial

Kaysi's favorite part of our room! A bath tub!

We have met a few good friends through church! One couple we met the first weekend is Peter and Eddy. They live out in a nearby city called Gurgaon in a beautiful condo community overlooking a golf course. They invited us out to their house two weekends back and we were abel to enjoy the afternoon and evening with them! We went down and enjoyed the amazing pool and then had a great early dinner with them!

August has brought some different opportunities with the church that we have been attending. I have been able to help lead prayer one Sunday and also helped with a responsive reading a different Sunday. There are also men’s Bible studies and I was able to join one that is at the Pastor’s house that is close by on Thursday mornings! It has been great to get to fellowship and walk through the Bible with others! It begins at 7:00am so I am able to go there and be back at our flat to eat breakfast with Kaysi before she heads off to work! I will also be helping lead a High School bible study twice a month starting in a few weeks. It feels good getting involved in various actives! 

August ends on a bitter sweet term. Our friend Jevene is leaving India to head back to the US and so although we are excited for what is next in her journey we are sad because have grown close to her. She has been a trailblazer for us and the others who have come here to Indian to work at Vardan. Her work has made so many things easier for us! We were able to attend two different going away celebrations for her! One was on this past Saturday night at Jevene’s friends Kailash and Christina’s house. It was a great time of celebrating here time here in India! Then on Sunday we were able to get go to a going away party for her with everyone from Vardan. It was a great time of visiting as well as lots of great food! 

Jevene's going away lunch with the Vardan Staff

The last friday night out with Jevene (Also welcoming in Mike and Katherine will most more on them next month)

Jevene's last day in Delhi and her birthday cupcakes!!

August was a great month! We are so thankful for all of the blessings we have had so far! We are sad to see good friends like Jevene go but we know that she has great things ahead of her! We are also excited for a few new CFMT’s coming from the US over the next month! Thanks for reading and we hope to have lots of neat things to share in the next blog!