It's a long way down…..

Goodbye, Delhi…. Hello, Bagdogra... You haven't heard from us for a while because we left Delhi on Monday to head to Darjeeling, India. John and I have been burning the candle at both ends (enjoying our time with ministry friends in the evening and then returning to our rooms to check in with our jobs, kids etc) then waking up early (around 4:30AM) to Skype the kids and get a start on the day. So, by the time we left Delhi to go to the airport, I could feel that funny feeling coming on--you know the one that starts with a few yawns? Then your eyes start to take extra long to blink and before you know it, you are nodding your head…..but not actually because you are indicating that you saying yes to anything. No, the nodding I am referring to is the one where your head is on top of your shoulders one minute and then spontaneously falling forward the next. John and I got on the airplane and by the time I had snapped my seatbelt, I was asleep. 3 hours later, we arrived in Bagdogra. Now, I don't know this for a fact, medically speaking, but somehow on Monday, I caught narcolepsy. And I had a severe case of it. John and I were met by an old friend (named Paul) and our driver Tony. Paul and John know each other from past JIWB stuff, and Tony…..well, all I have really figured out about Tony is that he is Nepali, and he could honestly make Dale Earnheart and the whole Nascar thing look like pre-school. His mission? To drive us to Darjeeling. Set in the lower part of the Himalayas, Darjeeling sits nestled neatly in the face of the mountains at an altitude where small engine planes fly. I wish that I could tell you the scenery on the 3 hour drive up was breathtaking, but you would only be able to take John's word for it. The narcolepsy thing--remember? Yeah, no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT stay awake. And by the way, pinching yourself to stay awake is just a lie, because it doesn't work. I would wake up long enough to mutter something, and then fall back to sleep. I did finally wake up by the time we drove the 7000 or so feet up in the mountains. I felt like a total loser and tried to mumble something about how pretty the drive was (you know, from the back of my eyelids)….and I am pretty sure Tony said to John "hey, what's up with Weekend at Bernie's?" Okay, maybe he didn't say it, but I bet he was thinking it. The interesting thing about Darjeeling this time of year is that it is really cold. John and I had cleverly boxed up all the winter clothes we packed because we felt like dummies the first week in India with 80 degree temps and above. So, we were caught off guard by the cold temperatures….but kept saying, "hey, we are on an adventure." The second thing about Darjeeling is that it is a mountain town which means everything is built UP. The third thing about Darjeeling is, that because it is a mountain town, water is a precious commodity: One other thing worth noting here is the mountain range that is visible from most parts of the town: Kanchenjunga happens to be the world's third highest peak and the most prominent mountain visible from the streets in Darjeeling. It stands at just over 28,000 feet (compared to Mt. Everest standing at over 29,000 feet…which can also be seen from Deejarling on a clear day). Beautiful… Tony dropped us off at our hotel which was pretty close to Paul and Anne's. Behold The Traveler's Inn… This was a much more modest room, and we didn't care….we were happy to get to be so close to Paul and Anne's. However, because of the scarcity of water, the fact that the hotel didn't have heat and that the walls were made out of copy paper, sleeping was going to be a little sketchy. THE GREAT news was that it had a western toilet. Remember, most toilets over here look like this: Before nightfall on Monday, John and I had the GREAT HONOR of spending time at Paul and Anne's House. Having both children grown and out of the house, they have opened their hearts and their homes to (8) students. It is has been really amazing to walk into that home and immediately feel immersed in the calming love that resonates through the air. After proper greetings, we all sat down together. Out of nowhere, instruments and song charts began to materialize… After listening to them sing to us in Nepali, Bengali, Hindi and English--we left the family room and shared a meal together: There are two things I LOVE about them already--their solid convictions and the fact that they all LOVE hot peppers! Such a neat group of people. Two of the younger guys walked us back to our hotel, and John and I prepared for the night. In many places in India, water is not your friend, and if you drink it, you can get very, very sick. So we have become accustomed to washing our faces, and brushing our teeth with bottled water. Purel is your friend. Again, to emphasize, water is not. We had forgotten the hotel didn't have heat, and we are too amateur to think to ask the hotel for a hot water bottle for under the covers, so we were shocked when we got in our room. It was FREEZING COLD. We decided to pile on some layers and sleep in our clothes. Because I had had narcolepsy ALL day, you would think that I would have been wide awake--but I was exhausted. We didn't have internet, so blogging was out of the question. Luckily, we cuddled up and fell right to sleep. A little before 4am, a crowd of people walked in our room, climbed on our beds, yanked off our covers and yelled right in our ears (oh, and they brought barking dogs with them, and the notorious crying baby….naturally…..)--Okay, I am exaggerating possibly just a little. They didn't actually climb on our beds, but they did stand right outside our door. I was so buried under the covers and still in a coma, that I didn't really notice the Hindi Party going on. John did. He woke up, just a little bit frustrated and a little bit shocked at the noise. In a stupor of confusion, he paced around the room looking for bodies…but when there were none to be found, he opened the door to the hallway and looked for the guilty crowd. Now, for those of you who know John Ivins, even just a little, I think you will probably find this hard to believe. When he saw no one (and realized they were camping in the room next to us) he morphed right into Oscar the Grouch. I think it's kind of cute, but I am sure he is reading this right now with a frown on his face. He was SUPER frustrated. He tossed and turned and neither of us could fall back to sleep. It was close to 5:15am when the sound of a huge bus/truck/tanker/space ship rolled up and the noise began to cease. Unfortunately, by then we were wide awake. We ultimately learned from the hotel keeper that it was a group of people leaving early to take a tour of Tiger Mountain and that we could expect that the next morning too. (Hehehe, that didn't help Mr. Crabs any)… We set out for the day and met up with Paul and Anne for breakfast. After a fun day of walking, talking, shopping and eating, we geared up for another evening at our friends' house. (Somewhere in the day, we did find a hotel with internet. Thus the reason I can type this to you now.) We got to their home at 5pm for a student gathering meeting. They asked John to lead and we gathered together in that same wonderful family room…. And to study together…. The really cool thing about Paul and Anne is that they are so gracious in offering their home to these students. Quite remarkable... The evening ended with…….more music and a calm settling. I love this place. May God keep you and hold you in the hollow of His hand…. John and Becky