"Both are Favorites"

Dear friends,
I am enjoying these handful days in India as my friends and I have been at a beach front resort in full view of the Indian ocean. The Asirs are taking some much needed rest from ministry, and we are all enjoying the scenery, the beach, and the fun times very much.
It has been said by one very wise and clever comedian when commenting about his days in junior league baseball and his love for snow cones...."Cherry and grape...don't worry about which one to get...both are favorites, and if you only play half a game, you still get whole snow cone. So I would rather play half a game, because I still get a whole snow cone."
This is how I feel about two of my favorite activities in India thus far. I love getting Chai tea in the morning with the men, and I love riding on the back of Benesh's motorbike to and from the Asir's house. I will begin with going for tea.
In the morning, Benesh, Raju, Andrew, and I all wake up between 6-7:30 A.M. We live in a rented out apartment on the second floor. Adjacent to our house on the right are people doing construction--this means we wake up every morning and see men and women carrying anywhere between ten and fifteen bricks on their head up and down the stairs. We walk down the stairs to be greeted by the heat, the Hindu signs freshly drawn on the sidewalks in chalk, and, usually some India children all grabbing at Beneshs' arms. We take a left and start our walk down the street. At the end of our street, before we take a right onto a new street, there is a dump.
It is a place where everyone throws their huge amounts of trash like old rugs, old clothes, or broken appliances. The smell is thick and inescapable. It is about this time in the walk when we take a right, and the streets become strewn with trash and filled with people. Instead of being a street lined with houses; it is a street of commerce. People are selling food, newspapers, drinks, coconuts, and, of course, Chai Tea. When we get to the end of the street of commerce (about seventy steps), we are welcomed by the sound of bells of this elaborate and extravagant Hindu temple. The priests are chanting to the gods and ringing the bells. Two weeks ago, this raptured my attention, but it is now slowly becoming normalcy to my everyday routine. On the street of commerce, we take a sharp right and arrive at our Chai Tea place. We get a seat because we are Americans and some reading....then we try to blend in by smiling sheepishly and muttering a few words from our small list of Tamil vocabulary. The cups which we drink Chai Tea in are comparable to shot glasses. On the way back to the bachelor suite, we pick up an Indian newspaper written in English for Andrew and me. It is entitled, you would never guess, "The Hindu." We go home, take baths in buckets, and Benesh gets an auto for Andrew, Raju, and me to take us to the Asir's. Then when the auto (a yellow, three wheeled vehicle) arrives, I run up to Benesh and very excitedly ask, "Benesh Ana (older brother), can I ride with you on the motorcycle?" This begins my other favorite actvity in India thus far.
Riding on a motorcycle here in India gratifies my manly need for an adrenaline rush. It is everything, except safe. The ride lasts for about ten to fifteen minutes, but there are no stop signs or traffic lights where we ride. Thus, Benesh has to be able to turn, avoid being hit, or stop on a dime. The first time I rode; I almost pulled both of us off as Benesh weighs, maybe ninety pounds, and I weigh 210. He corrected where my arms should go, and we have not had that problem again.
In America, honking is rude, but here it signifies, "Hey, I am coming around a corner, or I am about to pass you." No biggie. The smell of smoke from the exhaust pipes fills my lungs, and the rush of passing people accelerates my serotonin levels. The-always-desired, but very-infrequent breeze pushes my wet-shower hair back off my forehead...and India, for a moment, almost feels cool. Instead of almost falling off or almost pulling Benesh off, I now feel like an expert at riding. I know how to turn with Benesh without making the back of the motorbike swerve. Also, when he turns, I can feel myself compensating for the turn by gently leveraging my weight to the opposite side to ensure a smooth turn. Whenever, we get where we are going, I am always disappointed, because I want to go further.
In my mind, I am comforted by the fact that I still have about nine weeks left to enjoy these things. So I dismount the motorcycle and smile to myself, because that morning I have been able to enjoy a motorcycle ride after some chai tea and "both are favorites."

In Christ Alone,
Seth Flores