The team arrived
safely to the airport in India at 3:30 AM after traveling for about 26 hours. An early morning
journey through the city with one car and two cabs, to carry the seven team
members and the luggage, allowed us to see the sights and sounds of our city as it awakens.
It seems that before 6 AM that traffic laws do not apply (so far I am not so sure they apply too much at any hour) so we randomly rode at times on both the left and the right side of the road sometime into oncoming traffic. Cars, cabs, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, light rail, buses, and pedestrians all share the limited road space and all jockey for position. Car horns are constantly blows but not maliciously, but more like "Hey, I am here", or "Look out, here I come". Amazingly, we saw, and experienced a few close calls but witnessed no accidents. We also saw traffic briefly stopped by a herd of goats, and slowed a few time by wondering cattle, things you do not often see in Norfolk.
We had a planning and briefing meeting with our resident friend and a local pastor. We were given a few Bengali phrases and greetings and talked about culture, dress, and the multiple religions that we will encounter.
The afternoon was spent shopping for Indian clothing for the ladies and Bill and I purchased man-dresses that neither one of us ever plan to wear out of our bedrooms. While shopping we had the change to share with a shopkeeper. His mother was Christian and he had relatives who were Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist, so he had a very pluralist view of God. He respected that Jesus was our path to God but only one of many paths. We shared with him the words that Jesus spoke on this subject when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me.". We left with an invitation to return for more discussion.
All in all, a very eventful day.
It seems that before 6 AM that traffic laws do not apply (so far I am not so sure they apply too much at any hour) so we randomly rode at times on both the left and the right side of the road sometime into oncoming traffic. Cars, cabs, bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, light rail, buses, and pedestrians all share the limited road space and all jockey for position. Car horns are constantly blows but not maliciously, but more like "Hey, I am here", or "Look out, here I come". Amazingly, we saw, and experienced a few close calls but witnessed no accidents. We also saw traffic briefly stopped by a herd of goats, and slowed a few time by wondering cattle, things you do not often see in Norfolk.
We had a planning and briefing meeting with our resident friend and a local pastor. We were given a few Bengali phrases and greetings and talked about culture, dress, and the multiple religions that we will encounter.
The afternoon was spent shopping for Indian clothing for the ladies and Bill and I purchased man-dresses that neither one of us ever plan to wear out of our bedrooms. While shopping we had the change to share with a shopkeeper. His mother was Christian and he had relatives who were Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist, so he had a very pluralist view of God. He respected that Jesus was our path to God but only one of many paths. We shared with him the words that Jesus spoke on this subject when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me.". We left with an invitation to return for more discussion.
All in all, a very eventful day.
