Become Indian, Just a Little Bit

I sang in chapel today at Bishop's College, a song in Hindi. Everyone in the group has been quite impressed by how well I picked up the pronunciation of the Hindi words ('No one will believe that this is your first time in India, you're Hindi is so sweet!'). I even learned the chorus from memory, which is something that astonished many of the students and professors here. It makes me all the more excited to attempt actually learning Hindi when I return to Chicago. There is something quite satisfying in mastering a simple traditional Indian hymn. It makes me feel like a piece of me is legitimately becoming Indian, which is something that pleases me greatly... my heart is already there.

Can't Get Away From It

So, I am singing in the choir at Bishop's College. I know, I know, big surprise that I would discover a way to sing, but its still fantastic to have music in my life here. We have a performance on Sunday at St. James Church (CNI, formerly Anglican) and I am very excited. Both songs are in English (one is 'Let Us Break Bread Together', one of my personal favorites), but they all have a very unique southasian sound. At first, it was difficult to remember the Indian pronunciation of words, yet those eventually stuck (though I still want to say the 'th' sound, rather than a simple 't'). Also, I am singing contralto (most of the 10 women are sopranos) and have to sing with a very nasally quality. Still, despite having to relearn technique, I am loving it. Today at lunch, one of the 3rd years asked if I would sing with the Hindi group as long as they were able to write out the lyrics in 'English letters'. I forget that everyone here considers the Western alphabet 'English'. Yet, it makes sense considering British colonization. I have been thinking about trying to learn Hindi or Bengali when I return to UC in the fall. It will be ridiculously difficult, but worth it, since I absolutely plan to come back. Have I mentioned that I LOVE IT HERE!?!?! I hope that Maggie's ordination as one of the first CNI female priests in Kolkata will give me an excuse to return. Maybe I'll even sing in the choir at her ordination service!

Finally! Lodging!

Well, I have moved onto the Bishop's College campus -- finally! It is really lovely having a more permanent place (I will be living here until mid-August, when I will return to the Delhi area for my last 10 days). My bed is beautifully comfortable, by comparison, because I have stacked two mattresses onto the wooden frame (I don't wake up desperately sore anymore!). It is one large room with a small dining table and four chairs, two big comfy chairs, a coffee table, a bureau, and a beautifully old standing mirror. The floor is bright red, the walks sky blue, the shudders crayola-crayon green, and the ceiling is white with yellow accents. The ceiling is incredibly high, and the floor space large, giving the room a feeling of airiness and space. The kitchen is small, but I have a gas stove (the kind where the two burners sit on a table and are linked by a hose to a tank of the floor... I'm seriously 'roughing' it here, folks!). This all means that I can now boil my own water for brushing my teeth! My favorite part of the room, however, is my bright pink floral mosquito net! I finally have the princess canape bed that I always wanted as a little girl!

Nothing about the guest house is shiny and new, but it is my exotic home for the next five weeks. I even washed three loads of laundry in a bucket in the bathroom yesterday and have utilized my mosquito-net line as my clothes dryer during the day. I still find the shower situation odd, but I simply appreciate my day dreams about showering at the Hilton near the airport on my final night in India all the more (only 7 more weeks until I get hot water!)...

Honestly, sometimes I wish I were sitting in my parents' air-conditioned living room drinking a cold Diet Dr. Pepper (with ICE!!!!!) and watching 'So You Think You Can Dance' on Fox, but then I smell the intoxicating aroma of curries drifting form the Mess Hall and wander outside to watch the seminary men play cricket. I remember that I am in Kolkata, India, and am so utterly blessed to be having this experience... I wouldn't trade it for a lifetime supply of Diet Dr. Pepper and lovely, lovely air-conditioning!

Lunch in the BC Mess

I sat down for lunch at the Bishop's College Mess Hall, prepared for my obligatory food conversation with every Indian before any meal. It goes a little something like this:

Indian: Oh... you are eating our food?
Me: Yes.
Indian: Are you certain that you can eat the food?
Me: Yes. I love Indian food.
Indian: So you enjoy Indian food. It is very spicy. You do not have stomach problems from the spices?
Me: No. I eat a lot of Indian food in the States, plus I grew up near Mexico and am used to spicy food.
Indian: Oh. So you are accustomed to spicy foods. Do you like our rice, then?
Me: Yes...

and so the conversation continues... usually we turn to the fact that I should not drink the water here... Yes, I have become quite good at brushing my teeth with bottled water! It is very impressive to watch!

Right, so I sit down to eat lunch, have the food conversation with two different people who sat down at the table at different times, then start talking Church with my friend Maggie (a first year ministry student and an oldest-child minister's daughter... no wonder we're friends!). Maggie began to complain that there are no 'lady priests' in the Kolkata diocese of CNI. There were a few in other regions, but none in Kolkata and certainly no female bishops! I asked what she thought the reason for that was (since there is no official policy against ordaining women), and another student answered. "In India," he explained, "women stay in the home mostly, and it is very difficult for them to leave the household. Also, in most countries, the churches are controlled by men (ain't that the truth! ... Bethany's inner monologue), so it is difficult for the women to become priests. They are scared to try..." Maggie responded with, "It is so stupid!" She is going to become a priest, no doubt.

I told them about my own seminary experience, where there are many more men than women at UC (I even had a class last quarter in which I was the only female in the classroom!). It is still not easy to be a 'lady priest', but it is possible. In fact, women are 'bishops' in my denomination, and we have even elected a woman as the GMP (General Minister & President, for those of you non-Disciples reading)! They all thought that was really cool, but I looked at Maggie and found myself in complete awe of her. She is so full of gumption and completely willing to take on the church to answer a calling to ordained ministry. I am not sure what I would do if I were in her position, and I am very grateful that I do not have the fight ahead of me for ordination that she does. The Disciples women pastors have fought that battle for me, several decades ago. Certainly, it is not perfect, but I feel really blessed to have so many amazing Disciples women as role models for ministry in my family (I include both grandmothers, my aunts, and my mother in that). I was even dedicated in the morning of my mother's afternoon ordination in 1984!

I won't have the struggle that Maggie has in store to answer my calling to ministry... I have such respect for her and for all the women who have gone before me to make my load slightly easier to bear. Thank you.

Lots of Random, but good, Stuff

Well, today was an interesting day. I woke up at 7:15 am (yay!) and rushed to get to breakfast at BMS. They say that it takes 2 weeks to adjust to the jet lag, and its two weeks exactly! I then went to Bishop's College and didn't really get any work done... but I did have some good conversations about CNI and its structure with several of the theological students over chai tea. I really do think that I will be okay once I move into the college guest house. Right now, it is hard to be alone every night. The culture shock has manifested itself in loneliness. It is hard to not have anyone to talk to at the end of the day, so I usually just read or go to bed by 9 pm.

At 4 pm, I went to St. James Church (formerly Anglican, now CNI) for a book release ceremony. Three volumes of the new Dalit Bible Commentary were released in West Bengal. I am such a nerd, I got super-excited because I thought a man whose book on ecumenism I'm currently reading was there, but I had simply misheard the name (I'm still adjusting to Indian English). Anyway, it was a big deal, because this is (if I understood correctly) the first Bible commentary written for the Dalit perspective (Dalits are the 'untouchables' in the caste system). Of the 250-million Dalit in India, approximately 20-million are Christian (this is a HUGE difference in percentage within a single community than the roughly 1% of Indians, overall, who are Christians). The publication of this commentary series is not only a move forward in Indian religious scholarship and academia, it is incredibly important to the Dalit community in general. Time and time again, speakers acknowledged the liberating message of the Gospel for the Dalit... ours certainly is a religion for the oppressed peoples of the world, and I was present at a really ground-breaking moment in the history of the Gospel at work.

After dinner, Cecile and I went to Park Street to meet a few of her friends (2 French women and a Moroccan man). Youssef looks frighteningly like my cousin Spencer, so that kept throwing me off, but I had a lot of fun with them. They spoke a lot of French (that I could roughly follow some of the time), but they all speak English well too... there was a lot of translating for me (I know, after 7 years of French, it is absolutely pathetic that I was so rotten at understanding basic chatter... ah well, that's why I'm taking French again next year). We went to the Park Hotel (think the W or Hard Rock Hotels in the States) to listen to a cover band (they were singing "Black Velvet" when we walked in... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE American music cover bands in foreign countries!). Cecile and I both thought that the lead singer was cute, but then I've always secretly wanted to be a rock band's groupie (I guess it's not so secret anymore). Youssef asked if I like Metalica and I said 'they're okay.' He then tried to tell me that I was not a real American because Metalica 'represents America'. I informed him that Lynard Skynard represents America, and I loved THEM. He was not convinced, and I reminded him that the American (i.e. ME) would know better than the Moroccan (i.e. him) what constitutes 'America'. That's right cultural snobbery! I later met a British Indian who is in Kolkata to visit his Indian relatives for a month. He name is Ronnie and he asked me if I would 'fancy some tea sometime'. I told him to ring me, so we'll see if tea ever happens. He's not exactly a 'Barrister-type' like I predicted, but I totally told Vince that were I to get engaged in India, it would be to a Brit who was here visiting his Indian relatives! I'm soooo good at calling this stuff! Anywho... he's got a great accent, and it's a hilarious story to tell!

Lastly, they moved me to a new room at SCEPTRE today (my temp housing until the guest house clears out at Bishop's College). This one is much smaller, but I got a sheet to cover myself with at nite!!!! So, I'm moving up in the world! Of course, the mattress in this room still has a plastic cover, so I feel like I'm sleeping in a 1960s 'nuclear' home each time I move! I'm not sure which is worse: no blanket, or plastic mattress wrap? I think that no blanket is much more pathetic, but the plastic mattress is down right annoying! Alas, such is my life in India!