A Jostled Joy Ride

Day 6 - October 17, 2021

Breakfast today was a struggle. After posting my entry from yesterday I became overwhelmed by all that I had seen and documented. I became emotional and then it wouldn't stop. I am not prone to fits of crying so I freaked out a little bit that I couldn't get the tears to stop. I tried to eat breakfast but I was dropping tears into my spicy soup, so I excused myself and went back to my room. When I tell you I SOBBED...it was aggressive. I was so overwhelmed and completely wrecked. This isn't new for me, I have seen this level of hurt, pain, rejoicing, and abuse before but this time it hit different and it hit hard. As in any good breakdown the goal is to acknowledge what's happening and then try to divert your mind so it can calm down. Yeah, that wasn't working. When I acknowledged what was happening I couldn't escape the feelings that were attached to the thoughts. So I called my man and he prayed over me. Moments after hanging up the phone, I was calm. I am mind-blown at how prayer works. By this point my hosts were all concerned and asking if I was okay. I was honest and told them that I was having a bad morning because I was overwhelmed from yesterday. Their response? "Welcome to South Asia sister."

Today my host and I drove to another city and on the drive I saw some...interesting things.

1. A man was bathing on the side of the road. Everything was visible. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
2. I saw chicken, ducks, cows, buffalo, dogs, pigs, goats, and sheep just chillin in the road.
3. I also saw dead chickens, stripped of their feathers, hanging from the roofs of shops, and waiting to be purchased. Delicious.
4. There were sugar cane and rice fields everywhere.
5. Also, women carry very heavy, large items on their heads.

If you have ever ridden a wooden roller coaster then you have some idea of how the ride to the other city felt. I was jostled to say the least, but in that time I was able to speak with my host and he shared with me a little bit about his life and his family's work. His family supports 62 leaders, 270 widows, and 72 orphans. Most of that support comes from his own pocket. He has some outside support but currently he is only able to provide for about half of the people that we was caring for before Covid started. That means there are widows and orphans who have not been given food or clothing in over a year. It is not uncommon to see women and children begging on the side of the road, in case you were wondering how they have been getting by. I'm not trying to get overwhelmed again so I'm going to stop there for now.

We continued on for a few more hours and grabbed some fruit along the way for a snack. When we arrived at our destination we tracked through good ole wet Alabama clay (but the South Asia version) to reach the building where the event was being held. At this event I was asked to speak, so I introduced myself and then spoke on overcoming disappointments. Afterward two more speakers shared and then we met the people who were attending before having lunch of cashew rice and chicken on banana leaves.

The ride back was the same as the ride up but I was able to rest some before we arrived back at the house. Turns out, if I lay down for a nap I will sleep for hours, straight through my alarm, and my hosts absolutely refuse to wake me up. Oh well. Hopefully, I will get myself on a regular sleep schedule soon.