I Love Cricket

Orientation ended on Wednesday, and we won't start any real design work until tomorrow, so the last few days have been pretty relaxing. Half of our team left for their 2-week project trip, leaving only a handful of us in the office. Highlights from the past few days:

- Going to a local orphanage with two other interns and consulting the owner on the construction of their new facility

- Playing the great sport of cricket for the first time in my life

- Installing Windows on my Mac computer so that I can run design software on it (although I feel a little dirty inside)

- Learning basic Hindi phrases

The pics are views from above the city, where my house is.

First Week in India

I have a lot to recap from the last couple weeks, so I think I'll just start typing and see what comes out. It may or may not be coherent.

The rest of orientation in Colorado Springs was awesome. It involved a lot of introspection about my natural gifts and strengths and the various life experiences that have shaped me. That's not something I do often or naturally, so it took a little work for me, but it was really useful. I think the best part of the week was getting to know the other 20+ interns and staff and hearing everyone's life stories. I've never gotten that close to so many people in just one week. Sadly, we all had to go our separate ways last Monday, when I hopped on a plane bound for India.

I arrived in Delhi last Tuesday night after a relatively smooth 15-hour flight and 12-hour jump in time zones. 6 days later, my body is still fighting the jet lag. The descent of the plane into Delhi was a little surreal. It was super foggy, but when the ground became visible I saw the cars driving on the left side of the freeway and had my first “I'm in India!” moment. Customs and immigration were a breeze, and after a night in a Delhi hotel, my fellow interns and I took the 7-hour train ride and 1-hour taxi ride up the mountains to my new home. I must say, this town is gorgeous. Sorry Wisconsin, but I'll take mountains in my backyard instead of flat plains any day. (I'll try to get some pics on here soon.)

My first week here has been more orientation, but at a much more relaxed pace than in Colorado. We did some cultural training, a lot of mental preparation for the next few months, and a lot of just getting to know each other. There are 4 other interns, 4 staff architects/engineers, and 3 kids under the age of four running around. I'm the new guy at the office, but everyone has been very welcoming to me, and I get along really well with all of them. I'm looking forward to spending the next few months in community with them. The hardest part so far has been adjusting to life without the luxuries I'm accustomed to – hot showers, central heating, fast and reliable internet, meat in my daily diet – but I'm slowly getting used to it.

Yesterday I had my first encounter with the infamous red monkeys here. I walked to the market to get some bread and chips, and on my way out, I was surrounded by a few of them who wanted my food. I turned to walk the other way, but one of them jumped from behind me and slapped the back of my arm in an attempt to get my food. He missed, and I went back to the store, where the clerk wrapped my food in some newspaper so the monkeys wouldn't see it. I somehow managed to return home unscathed. Nick: 1, Monkeys: 0.

The first part of this week is more orientation, but with more of a focus on the actual design work that we'll be doing here. I'm feeling a little rusty after a 5-month layoff from anything engineering-related, so I'm hoping it all comes back pretty quickly.

And So It Begins

I arrived in Colorado Springs Sunday for my week of orientation after a fairly uneventful day of travel. I did manage to break a sweat running through the St. Paul airport to catch my connecting flight after a delayed first flight, but I got here safely and on time. Sunday was pretty introductory...lots of icebreakers and name memorization. There are 25ish other interns here, and I am the only one heading to the India office. (There are 4 other India interns, but they are all returning for a 2nd term and already at the office.) Monday was full of slightly cheesy team-building exercises and a lot of teaching – a seminar called “God's Heart for the Nations” and some really useful cultural training. Overall, the first couple days have been pretty long (training Monday night went till 11) but really good. I feel like I've gotten to know the other interns so much already and I wish I could spend more than a week with them.

I got my final support update on Sunday, and it looks like I will reach my financial goal! Thanks so much to all of you who had a hand in that...I can't thank y'all enough. When all is said and done, I'll probably end up right at my goal of $6500, which is pretty amazing. God provides for sure.

The rest of the week appears to be packed full of activities, and I don't think I'll feel like blogging again for a little while. My 15-hour non-stop flight to Delhi is next Monday, so expect to hear from me after that. Thanks so much for all your prayers; this is a pretty crazy transition in life for me, but my first couple days here have been confirmation that this is where God wants me right now.