Day 12 - Sunday, June 22nd

Our last day in India!!!! The time has gone by so quickly....except for the few hours that we were sick.

We drove to church this morning with Thomas as Shirley and the kids were coming by auto later. Since we were there so early, I stood at the piano and played a little bit. Michael and I then went out into the street to find a cold drink and look around a bit. As we returned to the church, Abishek (the associate pastor) asked if I would mind playing the hymns for the morning. So, I have now not only sung hymns on three continents, but I have now played them as well.

After church we returned to Paul Billy’s house and Shirley fixed us a very nice lunch of curried eggs and Ghee rice. Afterwards, we walked back to the guest house and spent a couple of hours relaxing and then started packing. I was very happy to see that we were able to easily pack all of the things we had purchased and even moved a few heavier items from our backpacks to the suitcases.

I had been eyeing off some of the metal work that was in front of the houses and wanted to take a few more photos, so I walked out of our house and turned right at the first corner. As I was taking photos, a girl around 20 came out and asked why I was taking “snaps” of the houses. I explained my reasoning, and then asked if I could take a photo of her. She smiled a huge smile, fixed her hair and said “of course”. After I took her photo, her mother came out to see who she was talking to and I continued my conversation with both of them. Another older woman also came out of the house and joined us. They were a delightful group of women and expressed dismay that we were leaving later in the evening. They encouraged us to “please return soon so that we can get to know you”!!! It was a wonderful interaction. One of the cute things that the mother asked was “what is your good name?”, meaning what is my first name.....they emphasize first names over last names here.

As we were standing and talking, the monkeys appeared again and we watched as one chased a man down a set of stairs. The women laughed harder than I did.

Thomas picked us up again at 8:00 and drove us to the airport. In this new airport, you cannot even enter the terminal unless you have a ticket and passport. After we entered the terminal, we realized that we couldn’t check in yet so we sat down in a group of chairs that were facing the outer doors. I noticed that the windows looking into the terminal were COVERED in hand prints, and we laughed when a young man walked up to the glass where FIFTEEN people were standing to wave goodbye. There were even more prints on the window when he left.

We made our way through the check in and found a place to eat.....this time we ordered a hamburger and french fries. The fries were good, but the hamburger was made with a filler and it didn’t look like it was cooked well, so we decided not to eat it. I was also excited to have a Diet Coke, but then remembered that European DC’s taste more like regular cokes and this one was no exception. I guess I will have to wait for good old ATL to get my favorite drink.

We have met up with a woman who we first met while waiting for our luggage on the incoming flight. We greatly enjoyed talking to her before our time in Bangalore and then have enjoyed sitting with her and re-counting our trip.