Happy St, Patrick's Day. It is also team member, Mike's birthday. After breakfast we sang Happy Birthday to him in the lobby of the hotel. Today we are traveling to Rameswarem, the site of the ministry conference at the BCM home. Billy tells us it is an eight hour road trip. Mike, Jan, and Chuck are to travel to a different site on the very tip of the southwest side of India. They are going to have a mini-conference for pastors who cannot travel to the other side of the tip to Rameswarem. We are told it is a ten hour trip to there. But until just after lunch we will be traveling together. We planned to leave Chidambaram at 8:30 but by the time all the luggage was loaded on top of the van and covered with a big tarp it was 9:30. Heading south we passed through many small towns and villages, seeing lots of people, cows, and goats, and little Hindu shrines. All the villages continue to look the same. The poverty is extreme everywhere we have been. As we travel south we see more rural areas and more farming. It is interesting to see that in some areas the farmers take over the roadways to dry their grain. Makes sense.........they are paved areas so the grain won't mix with the dirt. They are fairly smooth and in full sun. So, why not build a removable fence or blockade, lay your harvested grain on one lane of the road for as far as you need it, and let the traffic move to the other lane of the two way road. It's a good place to stand also as you are turning the grain over to make sure it gets dried. There are little roadside businesses along the way. We stopped at a little one where there were 4 or 5 people preparing cashews. They had a small fire with a black pot on it full of cashews in the shell. Then they poured that pot of hot, smoking cashew nuts on the ground to cool. At this time they were very black. There were two little ladies with rocks who were breaking the shells in order to take out the eatable nut. Someone else was putting the nuts into bags. Billy bought several bags for himself and two for our van to share. As fresh as they can be. In one area along the route we saw monkeys scampering across the road. We stopped so that we could take pictures. One had a little baby attached. About 2:30 we stopped in a fairly large town for lunch at a restaurant. In most of the small towns we've gone through there aren't decent restaurants, if any, so this one was nice. I think the waiters was a little flustered at so many of us so it took awhile to get what each of us ordered. I had chicken noodles which was like a chicken fried rice, only small noodles instead of rice. It was delicious. Sam and Chuck had french fries, of course, which were seasoned with a curry! The hand wash/toilet area was unisex with one enclosed squat pot stall and two big basin for washing hands.....since most people eat with their hands here. We then got on our way again for another two hours where we stopped at one of the BCM churches to split off in our directions. There we met Billy's mother. She had brought a car from Rameswarem for Billy and his family to drive back. There were many boxes of materials to take to the group that Chuck, Mike, and Jan are going to. The rest of us loaded into the one van to go 2 more hours to Rameswarem. We understand after we left them that the next leg of the trip for Chuck, et al would be at least 8 more hours of driving, putting them into their destination after midnight. They will teach there all day Wednesday, drive Wednesday night, and rejoin us on Thursday. As we got closer to the coastal area we began to see much lower trees, more like scrub brush, with tall palms shooting up. And many of the houses are looking better, some with bright paint and well maintained. Of course, there are still the many areas of thatched roofs. But all the buildings are block or brick. There are several large schools in the area. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the ocean and the bridge going to the island of Rameswarem it was already dark. Our 8 hour trip ended up being nearly 10. Entering the island we met many people and animals again. This is a pilgrimage site for Hindus. Shortly, we arrived at the ministry compound where we were met at the gate by a big group of people throwing flower petals and presenting us with little bouquets of silk flowers. We walked up to the big ministry building Billy is trying to build. It is partially completed. We climbed the stairs to the third floor conference room where there was a service going on. We entered, were greeted and presented with shawls ....this time not with towels!....watched a dance prepared for us.. and then left to be taken to dinner at Moses Paloose's (sp) house...Billy and Israel's parents. The dinner was nice....and there was a huge bowl of french fries! Sorry you had to miss this, Chuck! Then to the hotel. It is very nice on the outside.....and decent on the inside....but the first thing that happened was we got stuck on the elevator and they had to get us out! Lugging all of our luggage up three flights of stairs was tiring. Also, no hot showers tonight....hot water is only available from 4-8 a.m. and from 6-8 p.m.
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