today (sat, july 5th) we set out after a gloriuos coffee at cafe coffee day in pursuit of lifting people up at a durga we had been to a few times. it is near some of the homes we visit, so we knew we could get an auto for 40 rrps. well, the first set of autos quoted 80, so when we said 40, they let us walk with no protest. the second and third set of rickshaws quoted 70, but would not come down past 50. at this point, sarah and i were resolved to spend no more than 40. forget petrol prices! forget these supposedly "fair" and "indian" prices we are being quoted. despite speaking hindi, we were still getting ripped off.
after walking a few yards, an auto walla stopped and we told him "40 rrp, last last." we walked a bit, then he followed us.
"50."
"nahin! 40."
we walked. he followed. sarah and i felt stalked. but it continued. finally, i said "sarah, how bout 45?" "yeah, let's try it."
"50," he blurted out again from his rickshaw.
"45, last last."
"tk," accompanied by a familiar head bobbled telling us to get it.
while we had truly busted, it was a really funny time. we felt somewhat successful since we had taken him down from his significantly higher price, but at the same time, we felt very silly not giving in over 10 rrp, a mere twenty-five cents.
in other news, we went to the durga, met some people and told them "hum Isako mante hai," (we follow Isa). they didn't kick us out, but some of the devout men weren't too happy that we were there. we left after not too long and headed down a familiar street. i was getting fed up of these days of "what in the world should we do?" i blurted out, "well, if He is just going to work through the families we have met, so be it." a woman walked toward as, we greeted her, used the two other hindi phrases we knew, and she said in english, "come to my home?" so of corse we said yes. she has two teenage daughters, (even though one is about to be married), that speak fairly good english. we are still unsure of their motives for asking us over since we are pretty sure they searched our bags and wallets while the girls did our make-up. we don't know what will come of this relationship, especially since we only have a week left, but we shared that we follow Isa and He is bigger than us and our words. how thankful we are for this answered prayer!!!! continue to ask that this family will come to know the Truth! ask taht we would have patience has the put so much make-up on us that we look like prostitutes and that we would be sensitive to the Spirit.
the 4th was good. we cooked many dishes, the only one that was good was the grilled cheese. we shared a story about legion meeting Isa. we shared about how we pray and how it is different than when/how they pray. they told me i was not intellegent and while i am stills truggling with this a little, i know iwill be glad that my pride was injured.
we only have a few more visits with each family and we hope so dearly to communicate the Truthwith them clearly in these last visits. please ask that this would be done despite our fear and inspite of the language barrior. thank you so much for lifting us up faithfully!
oh, a side note, the weather hasn't been bad. i guess the hot months are april and may so we missed out, (ptl!). we haven't had too much rain either. anyway, that's all. :)
