Greetings to my faithful readers who keep checking--at least periodically--even when I'm doing a very poor job of keeping you informed. Sometimes I'm too busy doing, and not taking the time to write about it.
Yesterday some of the Indians on our systems development team here took us out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. That was quite fun, as well as tasty, and touching that they wanted to do something special like that for us.
Oh, and the day before we had a Christmas potluck at the office for lunch. Since many Hindus are vegetarians, there were tables on two opposite sides of the room: one for veg. and one for non-veg. Then there was a table in the middle for breads, sweets, bananas, etc. I used Mary’s
large toaster oven (regular ovens are very rare here) to bake a vegetable quiche for my potluck offering and it came out pretty well. That was fortunate because it was placed on the middle table and was cut up into small enough portions that everyone who wanted could taste it. But other than that and a veggie pizza, it was strictly Indian fare. And it was very good! A prawn (shrimp) dish had a little “heat,” but I know now to scoop a little raitha (kind of an onion yogurt mix, in this case) with those bites and it’s not too bad.
The fun thing about that potluck was that it marked the end of their office Christmas game. It’s interesting to me that many in the office are not Christians in any sense, but they still participated. (Yes, many celebrations back home are totally secular, but this is India, where other religions are dominant, and sometimes blood is shed over their differences.) The game was kind of a twist on “Secret Santa,” but uniquely Indian. The person who drew the name was the “Chris-mom,” and responsible for giving a gift to his/her
“Chris-child.” But that was only part of the “mom’s” role. The authority of a mother in India is undisputed—she is to be obeyed at any age! So these “moms” were to covertly pass instructions to the “child” during the week or so leading up to our lunch. The ones I observed included wearing traditional Indian clothing to work, passing out candy to everyone in the department/office (I enjoyed that one), and greeting everyone who entered the door with the traditional, formal Indian greeting (sounds like “wanna come”). As far as I know, no one was instructed to stay home for the day! We weren’t invited to participate in the game, though, so I have no personal accounts for you.
The actual office Christmas party was last Saturday night, though. I think most of the people from the office attended, but it was not at all secular. We sang carols, saw the gospel presented in drama, and listened to an evangelist. IT (Information Technology) professionals from other offices were also invited, and many came. I pray that hearts were touched.
Yesterday some of the Indians on our systems development team here took us out to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. That was quite fun, as well as tasty, and touching that they wanted to do something special like that for us.
Oh, and the day before we had a Christmas potluck at the office for lunch. Since many Hindus are vegetarians, there were tables on two opposite sides of the room: one for veg. and one for non-veg. Then there was a table in the middle for breads, sweets, bananas, etc. I used Mary’s
large toaster oven (regular ovens are very rare here) to bake a vegetable quiche for my potluck offering and it came out pretty well. That was fortunate because it was placed on the middle table and was cut up into small enough portions that everyone who wanted could taste it. But other than that and a veggie pizza, it was strictly Indian fare. And it was very good! A prawn (shrimp) dish had a little “heat,” but I know now to scoop a little raitha (kind of an onion yogurt mix, in this case) with those bites and it’s not too bad.The fun thing about that potluck was that it marked the end of their office Christmas game. It’s interesting to me that many in the office are not Christians in any sense, but they still participated. (Yes, many celebrations back home are totally secular, but this is India, where other religions are dominant, and sometimes blood is shed over their differences.) The game was kind of a twist on “Secret Santa,” but uniquely Indian. The person who drew the name was the “Chris-mom,” and responsible for giving a gift to his/her
“Chris-child.” But that was only part of the “mom’s” role. The authority of a mother in India is undisputed—she is to be obeyed at any age! So these “moms” were to covertly pass instructions to the “child” during the week or so leading up to our lunch. The ones I observed included wearing traditional Indian clothing to work, passing out candy to everyone in the department/office (I enjoyed that one), and greeting everyone who entered the door with the traditional, formal Indian greeting (sounds like “wanna come”). As far as I know, no one was instructed to stay home for the day! We weren’t invited to participate in the game, though, so I have no personal accounts for you.The actual office Christmas party was last Saturday night, though. I think most of the people from the office attended, but it was not at all secular. We sang carols, saw the gospel presented in drama, and listened to an evangelist. IT (Information Technology) professionals from other offices were also invited, and many came. I pray that hearts were touched.
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