One Crazy Day

Sunday morning we went to a Bible church. We were the only expats there except for the speaker who was an Indian living in Canada. One of the elders was spoke about our position in Christ. It was interesting hearing the scenario he gave about our mark as being from a slum and "unadoptable." It was culturally different in the descriptions and the way he told the story. One thing I noticed when was giving a physical description of our Father, he said, "His driver got out and opened the door of his beautiful luxury vehicle and out stepped a very well dressed man." It was powerful to hear the God's word being read with their accents and the worship was beautiful. I felt out of place, since all but one or two women were wearing scarves on their heads during most of the service. There are a lot of young families at the church and I met a very sweet young mother named Agnes. She protected my children from the other ladies at the church. She instructed them not to pinch my kids faces. I think our kids, especially our son has had enough of that. It makes him very upset. I appreciated her so much. I hope to visit with her sometime over the next couple of weeks.

After church, we went to UB City to a place called Toscana for lunch. It was nice to eat at a restaurant that was very clean and had a lovely outdoor patio. The weather was gorgeous. We felt like we were having lunch in southern California. I seriously almost forgot where I was. We had pizza, pasta, and a delicious apple crumble--the tastes of home. I told my husband that I may be willing to stay in India for a longer assignment. After lunch, my husband went to pay for the bill and discovered his credit card was missing.

He thought he may have dropped it at the church, so we went back there to search for it. We never located the missing card.

After lunch we went to the beautiful Lalbaugh Gardens, where we bought some palm trees to put inside our apartment. It was a very hot day. We were all exhausted by the end.

We came home at last and decided to have a quick dinner: prepackaged vegan Indian food with steamed rice. We smelled something horrible while the rice cooker was cooking! "Oh no, we seriously just blew up the rice cooker?!" My husband brought the electrical component outside. The smell was awful. In the end, we had a laugh and carried on with dinner.

I was completely exhausted and it was only 6:30pm. Then my husband said to me, "What is that on your legs?" I looked down and noticed a rash. I didn't think much of it, it looked like heat rash, then we called a healthcare representative from our insurance company. I didn't have any of the other symptoms that would have made it more serious, until about five minutes after I hung up the phone. Chills, nausea, and diarrhea. I felt lightheaded. I think the stress of the situation was escalating how badly I was feeling.

We called some friends to find out about which hospital to go to. The ones they recommended were an hour away. Then we called our driver. Where was he? Unable to drive. Drinking at a party. To our disapointment, our carseats were in his car. At last, we had another driver who could come in a half an hour. Upon his arrival, we got into his little car with the kids in the car Indian-style. Our daughter in my lap. Our son on the seat without his carseat. Feeling like the worst parents in the world, we proceeded to the hospital. I felt like I was living in a bad dream.

We got a nearby hospital ER and immediately were stopped by a fierce looking guard. I asked for a bathroom. I had to pee really bad. I went through the crowded waiting room and around the corner. It was the moment I had been hoping would never come. I walked in to find merely a hole in the ground. I've been camping before. A hole in the ground, I may be able to handle, but no door in a crowded waiting room, and no toilet paper anywhere to be found? This was culture shock! I couldn't deal. I came out of the bathroom, thinking I have got to start carrying toilet paper. My name was called. I went into the hospital and found some version of a western toilet, and asked a nurse for some some toilet paper. She found some at last. Phew!

I finally was able to see a doctor. She told me that I was having an allergic reaction and needed an injection. I asked if there was a way around that and was thankfully prescribed some cream and an antihistamine. After a trip to the pharmacy, we were on our way home. I went to bed that night still completely nauseated and wondering if I was going to live. We agreed this had been the craziest day in India yet.