Namaste.

Welcome to India. Ok, so I have possibly already worn my welcome slightly...I have now been here for 15 days, if you don't count the time it took me to travel from the States. I feel as if I have already lived a legitimately lengthy lifetime since I have arrived in this mysterious place that is India. If you sense an air of sarcasm in my tone, you would be correct in assuming that adjusting to life here isn't all sitars, incense, and maharajahs. However, dear India, I must admit you have captured my heart in a way that surprised me, the result of a complex intertwining of ugly and beautiful, elegant and hideous, intoxicating and gag-worthy.

I would like to start from the beginning but alas, trying to completely describe my experiences here thus far would take days...if it's even a possibility at all. Suffice it to say that the last 2 weeks were filled with many wonderful moments and intense ministry as I built great relationships with 31 amazing individuals...while simultaneously overwhelming my senses with some of the most gruesome, stomach-churning, and gut-wrenching things I have ever laid eyes on.

India is so poor. "Poor" is a rather pathetic adjective in this case, it perhaps even wins the understatement of the year award. The living situations of the people I have encountered recently are more than mind-blowing, they are inconceivable...and I have even SEEN them. Spending two weeks in Tenali, India was merely embarking on the tip of the world's largest iceberg in the middle of the Arctic ocean wearing only a skimpy bikini. Translation: it would be completely impossible to solve every problem, clothe every child, and feed every empty tummy that exists in that city...and coming to that realization was a hard knock to my ever-lofty savior complex. What great humility I faced seeing the realities of the Third World. It was so heartbreaking that I initially shut off entirely, feeling nothing but...nothing. After a few days stuck in the abyss of nothingness, I had a total breakdown, finally feeling the overwhelming heaviness that is India itself. I figured all I could do was to love the few people I came in contact with, meet a few needs, and encourage a few souls toward the freedom found in the Lord...and then come to terms with the fact that change comes slowly but one soul touched is still a step in the right direction.

Fast-forward to today...I am now in Ludhiana, India, a city north of Delhi. How far north depends on the type of vehicle you take to get here...6 hours by car, 4 hours by express train, and 10 hours by cockroach infested slower-than-molasses-train, our personal favorite and preferred method of transportation. Cory and I arrived in Delhi this past Saturday. I ended up very ill from dehydration for the night but was well enough to travel by said bug-train on Sunday afternoon and evening. Let's just say I was NOT prepared for all that is India train travel and it's less than comfortable accommodations. It IS true what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I promise to start to blog more from here on out, I am finally settling in and starting to actually work. Until then let's take a moment to appreciate some new-found India-isms:

-Ludhiana. Population: 3.5 million. Stoplights: 1. You do the math.

-Indians eat ketchup on their pizza. Before you scoff, TRY IT.

-In India, speed bumps = speed breakers...this phenomenon not only takes the place of stoplights on the road, but in homes and buildings you will find that doorways are raised about 3/4 of an inch from room to room...and do dandy at breaking your speed via tripping you. Every time.

- Indians refer to surge protectors as spike busters. It's true. And for the last few days when an Indian person would refer to a spike buster, I was sure they were saying "spy buster" and wondered what fabulous video game, stun-gun shenanigans I was missing out on. Clever Indians.

- There is no such thing as trash day here. When your trash builds up to an impassible pile in front of your residence, you merely throw a lit match towards the general direction of the vile skyscraper...and the trash is officially taken out. Best chore in the world.

-Fact: your bathroom is where your behind is.

-Fact: it IS possible to get sick of Indian food.

-Fact: Indian people are incredibly hospitable.

-Fact: riding in an auto rickshaw in India is one of the great milestones in one's life.

More to come soon.

P.S. I am going to attempt to learn Hindi. I already know 3 words.

The Eve of Things New and Old.

What a delicious whirlwind of chaos my life has become lately. Preparing to move out of the country is not a small task and has far outgrown the shiny ideal situation that has long danced in my mind. I have been dreaming for months (years even) that selling off my belongings and jet-setting across the globe to help people in need and live an adventurous and meaningful existence would be all rainbows and butterflies as I skipped along toward my destiny...yet I now find that my ideals are a long way from reality, about as far from truth as this run-on sentence is long. I must admit that as hard as the reality actually is, it's already proved far more rewarding than I thought it would.

Beyond the jumbled mess of logistics that ensue when doing something as monumental as moving halfway across the world, the emotional, spiritual, and mental implications that come with a huge life change are heavy. I have done my best to prepare for the adventure on which I am about to embark, but I believe that almost nothing could prepare me for the things I will soon face, the sights I will see, and the ways in which I will be changed, challenged, and stretched. It is all starting to finally sink in...I am moving to India in roughly 43 hours.

India?!?

Though I have had my bouts of materialistic temptations, I have always considered myself a fairly level-headed person when it comes to owning, hording, and acquiring "stuff." Though I appreciate my comforts as much as the next money-mongering American citizen (ha), I have always felt proud of my hippie roots...so much so that I have boosted my confidence enough to believe I could live off nothing more than the earth itself...if I REALLY wanted to.

FALSE.

Let's face it, I'm a complete baby when it comes to my things and parting with them...and it took me selling off much of what I own to realize this. I spent a large part of my Christmas Eve sorting and packing...and as I looked at the meager amount of belongs I will soon be living off of, I started to panic. No cell phone...no wardrobe of "choices"...no shoe collection....no accessories or purses or...style. Something in me snapped and I felt terrified at losing my things, the things I had always thought I could let go of at any moment. Denial: the first clue that I'm an addict.

And so, as I sheepishly face my stuff-addiction and work to swallow my pride, I realize that I am not above the things of the world that easily trap us and blind us to our own vices. Truly, I am excited to be broken of my consumer-driven ways and to begin to see life as a collection of precious moments, not shoes. I hate to sound so shallow...but I suppose in many ways I am. I think that is much of what drives me to want to get out of my comfort zone and reach out to those in need...because I really have no idea how not to be shallow about certain things. I want to be challenged to face the parts of myself that are insecure without all the fluff to hide behind.

I look forward to sharing more about myself and the things I am learning as I venture out into the great unknown...not to brag or boast, but merely to offer a bit of my reality to hopefully challenge your own.

Seeing as it is already Christmas, I feel the need to share just how thankful I am that God loves us so deeply that He gave us Jesus as the way to gain eternal life. It's funny how elementary it sounds, but sometimes I need to be reminded that it is for that reason alone that I am even moving to India...to share with others what it means to know Jesus personally. The love I know in Christ is so vivid, tangible, and complete and I am called to share that with the ends of the earth...as hard as that will be at times.

I am also so thankful for my family, blood related as well as extended. Without my parents I probably wouldn't be able to even go to India; they have given me so much to support me in every way and I am forever indebted to their incredible love and encouragement. I am also so grateful for my amazing sister who inspires me daily with her insane amounts of creativity and the way in which she sees the world around her. I am deeply grieving having to leave my family...but I know it is only for a time. Beyond my blood relations, I have to acknowledge my lovely friend Tracy who has seen me through the best and worst times of my life. She is truly a sister to me and regardless of time or distance, we always pick up right where we left off. I am thankful for her heart, her passion, her sense of humor, and her unconditional love for me even when I suck at being a friend. And to my friend Sara, a dear and gentle spirit, I am very thankful for the way in which she loves me...with so much warmth and encouragement. She actually just got engaged tonight and as ecstatic as I am for her and her wonderful fiance, I am once again reminded of the things I am leaving behind and am saddened that I will not be here to be apart of her joys and stresses as she plans her big day. Finally, I want to share how thankful I am for my kindred spirit, Cory. I am about to embark on this crazy adventure and I comforted to know that he will be at my side through all of it. He is so special to me and our lives have already been so filled with insane parallels, coincidences, and happenstance that I am excited to see what lies ahead, it's sure to rock my socks off.

Apparently my long-windedness has once again turned my post into a novel. I haven't really blogged in a while...consider it a back-log of cranial goodies.

And with that, I bid you farewell and Merry Christmas...I won't be posting for a while, probably at least until I arrive in Delhi, India on January 9.

In that case, Happy New Year!

2010 is going to be a good one.

An end and a beginning.

For weeks I have wanted to write something to try and capture this intricate and delicate time in my life.

I am leaving for India in 9 days.

And as much as is weighing on my mind and heart at this very moment...I cannot begin to find the words to express how I am feeling.

Stay tuned. I promise I will get better at this.

India Benefit Print Sale

Help me out while supporting a great cause and buying some photography prints!

Read me: http://elanagracephotography.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/india-benefit-print-sale/

"Lord in the end now you can’t take it with. Gotta live."

Current Soundtrack: Draw the Line by David Gray

Thought of the day: I am freaking in love with David Gray.

I can't stand that I have gone nearly a month without sharing my many thoughts. I have been overwhelmingly busy and consumed with plans and preparation as I approach a new chapter and journey in my life that I have had little time to even collect myself. I am suppose to be working on editing photos from a wedding I shot but I am distracted and have been thinking about writing for several days now. Sorry photos, writing wins out tonight.

I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the things I will see and experience in the coming months. I feel blessed beyond belief to be so young and to be able to already see so much of the world. I hope I can be a good steward of my time abroad and be able to bear the fruit of my experiences sometime in the future.

My mind and heart are so full that I suddenly feel too overwhelmed to even write...in a good way.

Fin.