Day 1- Chennai

Sat, 3:57am
So we just arrived at our hotel in Chennai, India after approx 30 hours of travel! Due to the time changes, we only spent 2 hours  of Friday in Hong Kong before jumping ahead to Saturday. Crazy!

The aromas immediately thicken upon exiting the plane. The airport was crammed with people coming and going. We were definitely the odd ones out for a change. It definitely is humbling. I never really noticed how white I really am!

The taxi ride from to the Hotel was probably the craziest thing I have ever experienced. Let’s just say we all made sure we were right with God once we saw how the Taxi drivers maneuvered…but hey we made it! Let me tell you how invaluable car horns are…They saved our lives at least 3 times. And check out these sweet rides! I felt like Dick Tracy:

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The 30 minute drive to our hotel was our first chance to absorb our surroundings. The strangest, smallest, jerry-rigged automobiles cluttered the streets, along with pedestrians and the occasional cow. Even though it was early in the morning the city was alive. It was definitely a 3rd world environment. It broke my heart to see people sleeping in the gutters and the sidewalks…especially the elderly. They remained completely ignored by everyone except the large rats who could be seen rummaging through their blankets and belongings.

We met up with Saresh at the hotel and were greeted with big hugs. Culturally, you are not supposed to say “sorry” or “thank you”, or use your left hand to eat or greet.  Additionally, our nods for “yes” and “no” mean the opposite so we are still figuring out how to interact, but hugs are okay! Oh yeah and men hold hands as a sign of friendship.
Saresh said he’s excited for us to be here partnering with Harvest India. He said India is a very dark place spiritually, with millions of different deities and gods worshipped. We are excited to see the amazing things Harvest India does!

We are all currently in our hotel rooms, trying to shake the time change (its 4 am Saturday here and 3:43pm Friday in Phoenix) and catch some sleep before our 6 hour train ride tomorrow at 1pm.  Thank you all for your prayers! I’m not sure what what kind of internet access I will have after the train ride, but I’ll be blogging everyday and upload it all as soon as we have the opportunity!