On Strike!

Well, as you might have guessed from me not emailing you at the normal time of the week, things have been INSANE over here in Kakinada India!!! To put it simply, the state I am living in, Andrah Pradesh, is splitting. The people on the other side of the state want to split it very badly, and people on my side of the state do NOT want it to split! And because of that... crazy things are going on! 

Our side of the state is having massive bunds (similar to strikes). But instead of American strikes where they just shut down a business or two, throw up a few picket signs and call it good, Indians strike HARD!

The most pressing of matters is the fact that they are shutting down the electricity on our side of the state. For 12-15 hours a day they will shut down the current. (Which is why I couldn't email on Monday; there wasn't any power in the day time). Fortunately they usually turn it on at night time, otherwise sleeping would be quite difficult! haha sweating up a storm in your bed! :)

They also take big trucks and put them in front of the roads to close down the roads. Then people all get together in rallies and burn tires (don't ask me why they burn tires, but they do... whatever floats their boat, I suppose!)

Just imagine if Eastern and Western Washington wanted to split, and they started shutting down the electricity and roads to revolt against it. Ya, crazy.

Every day we go outside without our tags on (to make us look more like college students), and then given the advice to "be careful" as we go outside. haha solid advice I'd say! :)

What's also really exciting is the fact that there are no street lights as we cycle home, which means you are riding in close to total darkness! And unlike American roads, where if there is one pothole in a road you think "Wow, this is a bad road!", in India if there is a road WITHOUT any potholes you think "Wow, this is a superb road!" Needless to say, riding home can be quite an experience!

I love it all though!

I'd say I've definitely seen the promise in Ether 12:27 (in the Book of Mormon) fulfilled on my mission. Before my mission I was definitely a little fradey cat when it comes to scary things, but now I THRIVE on danger like this! It gets the adrenaline pumping! :D 

Plus, I've decided fear is a silly emotion, so I've decided not to have it anymore. Why stress yourself? I AM an obedient missionary though, and our handbook tells us to be careful, and that our safety is very important, so I do do my best to avoid the rallies... haha :) 

Oh, and I forgot to say, but we will be watching General Conference this weekend. We needed to wait for them to do the Telugu translation, so that the members can understand it. I can't wait to watch it!! Watching General Conference is like eatin' candy for a missionary! :)

Life is great here in India! You never get bored over in this country!