Watch the exhaust!
Tim, Monday, February 27, 2012
Went to a village by the Krishna river. Ox carts along the road, on the road, everywhere pulling sugar cane. We were met by a group of boys playing drums that escorted us to the ‘tent’. Charles set up ox-cart rides to the river. Quite the ride! Marc paid his driver to beat us back. Ate a strange bean fruit from the trees. I gave some to a man on the back of the cart, he shelled them and handed them back to me. Thanks to the oxen I taught Richie another American term: cowpie. Again the children and people of India are so friendly. Helped with the medical camp, seating patients to see the Drs. Order was not determined by ‘first come first served’, but by the caste system. Rajesh and Minnie did a fine job with the village. One man came to me and said “I am mental – I am the son of god.” Charles hypnotized a chicken. Concerned about TB and his eyesight.
Kathy, Monday, February 27, 2012
“Tbe Doctor is In”
It’s getting to be “short time” here with TB and family. The impressions from our folks are mainly “I’m not ready to go home, I love it here.” That’s how the family and the ministry affect most. Today we went out to another village (I’ll have to get all the names from Charles later). This one was a bit farther out – or at least it seemed to be. The roads were rough and there was lots of traffic. This mainly consisted of farm equipment, as this apparently is the time of harvesting rice and sugar cane. Huge loads of sugar cane (which look like really long bamboo-like stalks) are hauled on wagons pulled by 2 oxen (brahma bulls). They take up most of the road. Once again we saw corn growing in various stages. The workers out in the rice fields have terribly hard work. They are practically bent over in half, bending to pick up the rice. And it is so hot! Anyway, it was an adventure just getting to and from the village. It was like dodge ball! Once we were there, these boys in colorful costumes came out to the road playing drums. They were rousing and very, very good. The people had a large canopy up for shade. Some of the girls sang for us. Then, what a surprise – an oxcart ride! They had hitched up 3 carts to take us all on a ride. What a hoot! It was like a hayride, without the hay and oxen rather than a tractor. Everyone here puts bells on the oxen’s horns. They went down hill quite fast. Mark paid his driver to pass the other carts! We had the children’s programs and the medical clinic afterwards. There were about 100 children for our program. They were a little more rowdy than the previous two groups. Corporal punishment is alive and well in India. The school teacher and an elderly man used switches as needed – not hard. After singing, I ended up telling the story of David and Goliath. We played with the tops and did some sack racing, but then the children had to go back to school, so playtime was cut short. It was very hot where we were, so that might have been a blessing. Oh, they gave us coconuts with holes in them, so that we could drink the coconut milk/water [through a straw]. It was alright, just not my favorite. By the time everything was done we were pretty tired. Came back, ate supper, mellowed. It was a good trip.
Visakhapatnam: [north of Machilipatnam] A heat wave will sweep coastal Andhra Pradesh, more so in south coastal Andhra during the next two days, said Cyclone Warning Center here on Thursday. During the last two days severe heat conditions were prevailing in the coastal Andhra Pradesh with occasional thunder showers. The rains did not bring down the temperatures.
