Happy Easter!! How cool is it that people all over the world are celebrating Christ’s resurrection today? It’s fun to know that even though I’m halfway around the world, I’m doing essentially the same thing I would be doing if I was at home… just 9.5 hours earlier.
The day started off nice and early with an Easter rally through the city. Basically, all of the churches in the city get together and walk the streets, singing songs and holding signs and handing out tracts (those little papers that tell people the basics of Christianity) to the crowds that came to gape at us. The rally started at 6AM.
Last night, they told me to be ready to leave at 5:45AM, and like a good US-ian, I was ready at 5:40. I walked downstairs… and all of the lights to the family’s floor were off, and the door was locked. Cue panic! I was sure that they left without me because they didn’t think that I would be able to wake up in time. I ran all over trying to find someone left on the property who could tell me where I needed to go to find the rally start point. Finally, through some broken English and hand motions, I found out that everyone was still at home. Of course.
Pastor Daniel always jokes about Indian Standard Time (IST), and while that’s actually what the time zone is called, that’s not what he’s talking about. The real IST is official IST+1 hour. When they told me 5:45, I should have immediately converted that to 6:45. Beginner mistake. I obviously know that Indian time is a little slow, but it’s confusing because when Pastor Daniel and Ruth say a time, things actually happen at that time. Like church “starts” at 10AM, and it really does start at 10 (probably more on time than church at home, honestly). School “starts” at 8AM, and it really does start at 8. I figured that if they were telling me 5:45, they actually meant 5:45. Today, 5:45 meant 5:45 IST. If I had known that, I could have eaten more than just a butter muffin for breakfast! (In case you were wondering, yes, they are delicious. Though “vanilla cupcake” would probably be a more accurate and less confusing name.)
I’m sure this is shocking, but none of my siblings woke up in time, even with the delayed 6:45 departure. Pastor Daniel, Ruth, and I hopped in a tuk tuk and made our way to the rally. It had already started by the time we got there, but only barely. We found our church and hopped into the line, and as usual, I didn’t understand anything that was happening. They gave me a sign to hold so I could feel like I was contributing something, and they even found one in English for me!
After the rally, we headed back to get ready for church. The service was mostly the same… I don’t know what happened or what anyone said, but they had some extra music added in because it’s Easter. It was nice! And then during post-church tea, I talked to someone new! What a successful day!
Tomorrow, Ruth, Myra, and I are going for an early morning walk. Commence getting back into shape! We also talked about the bike again at dinner tonight, and it’s happening Tuesday. I’m so happy! They want me to try to teach Myra, and they’ll get one for her too if she can learn. I have no idea how to teach someone to ride a bike, but that’s what the internet is for. In exchange, I’m going to make her teach me some Hindi! Pastor Daniel has a whole list of things for her to do to occupy her time at home. He told her that she’s had two days to rest, and now her vacation is over hahaha. That sounds like the same thing my parents used to try with me over holiday breaks. Why don’t parents understand that that’s not the way this works?