When the rains come

After a long, hot summer the rains have come.  Ahhhh just the thought of it is refreshing and renewing.  The summers here are brutal.  Yes, I am from Texas and East Texas non of the less, so I know hot.  I know humid.  BUT, this is a whole new level I was not quite prepared for.  Not to mention that the area of town we live in is notorious for power outages.  On a good day our power would be out for 4-6 hours(in the heat of the day)...on a good day.. on a bad day or bad days...uggh lets not even talk about it.

In early May, our friends who work with us left.  The circumstances around their leaving are and were extremely difficult, and our hearts ache for them.  It felt like a blur as they planned to leave and tried to get all the ends tied up for the many months they would be gone.  R and I weren't expecting how hard it would be for us after they left.  It has definitely been a season of loneliness and reflection.  And the heat, oh the heat.  It made everything harder.  We felt so tired, drained, and cranky with each other.  It seemed that the weather was a perfect reflection of how I felt, dry and dusty.

We heard the rains were coming and we were excited.  There was a buzz in the city about the rains, yet they didn't come.  The humidity came and hovered like a thick haze over our city for about 2 weeks.  Everyone seemed to be miserably waiting in anticipation.  Our language helper told us God was angry because people were not walking the straight path(living right) and so God was not sending the rains.  In some ways it started to feel like that.

Then finally the clouds burst forth and the rains came.  It was glorious.  With the rains came cool weather and cool breezes.

 I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something extremely spiritual and healing happening in my soul since the rains have come.  The roads are muddy and wet, but the rain is so wonderful.  I love the smell of it, I love the sound of it, I love the way it makes the air feel cool and clean.

Is God powerful enough to withhold the rains, of course!!  Does he do it because he is angry and wants his children to suffer, no I don't think so.  Sometimes, it takes a dry season for our hearts to be ready for the rains.  I don't really know why and I don't really enjoy it, but there is one thing I know.  THE RAINS WILL COME.  So, whatever the dry season may be, whether literal or figurative, there is hope because the rain will always come.  Our God is good and I will trust that he will always bring the rain.   

Aggies are EVERYWHERE!

About a month ago, Ryan and I were roaming around a market that we often frequent.  We were honestly feeling pretty down and out and lonely about being the only Americans in our city for a while.  We did what we often do when feeling down, went and ate some ice cream.  :)  After leaving the new found treasure of an ice cream parlor(which we will visit again!), we walked to the road to grab a bicycle rickshaw.  To our left, also standing at the road, was a group of young westerners.

*Let me just say at this point that we are weirdos.  Sometimes at the mall we see Europeans and we just stare at them and discuss if we should approach them or not, usually we discuss it so long that they have walked away by the time we decide.  Anyways, we are weird now.*

I nudge Ryan on the arm and say, "look!!  should we go talk to them."  As we stand there thinking, I hear a voice behind me in a melodic American accent say, "Hey, where are YALL from?"  I turn around and see a man who looks like an Indian(his parents grew up in India, but he has lived his whole life in Texas) speaking to me in an American(maybe even Texan accent).  I think I stare for a few moments in confusion before saying, "America".  The rest of the group(there are 6 of them) make their way over to us and tell us they are also from America.  They are studying for the summer at the prestigious IIT Kanpur that is located just outside of our city.  If you are interested in learning about IITK go here.  These people are SMART!!

The whole meeting gets even crazier when they tell us what university they are from.....TEXAS A&M!!!  No way, that is where Ryan went to school.  We have just "randomly" bumped into a group of aerospace engineers(and one literature) majors from A&M...AGGIES in Kanpur!!

There was also another girl with them named Victoria who has been on a Fulbright scholarship from Princeton at IITK.  She is a civil engineer. Really like this girl!!  Sad we met her at the end of her time here in Kanpur, but it is amazing how God puts people in your life when you need them.  So, even though we just got to hang out a few times, I am so thankful for her!  Hoping she will miss Kanpur so much that she won't be able to stay away to long.....

We all return to the ice cream shop to chat a little bit and reminisce about Chuys, Chipotle, Rudys, and other wonderful Texas things :)

Apparently, A&M and IITK have just recently set up an exchange program during the summers.  So, we look forward to seeing who comes out here in the future, and if you are an Aggie you should look into it :)

Life is so crazy :)