Arrival in India!

Wow, I am finally in India! After 36 hours of flights and layovers I was ready to for Indian soil. I think I am still trying to catch up on sleep. I arrived in Chennai at 11:30 p.m. and thankfully a nice Indian man who I sat by on the plane helped me with my connecting flight to Madurai. I was a bit overwhelmed. I think he liked the idea of helping out a girl from the USA and I needed the assistance so didnt argue. He is Hindu and in the airport we talked about different religions and beliefs. He was very open to the gospel, hopefully he'll think back to our conversation. He was very heplful and genuinely kind. Then once he left I had 6 hours to wait for my flight to Madurai. Sitting in the waiting area and looking around I realized I was the only Westerner. Was pretty exciting... Thankfully when I reached Madurai there was a Projects Abroad Indian man waiting for me. We took a taxi two hours to the town ,where the Projects Abroad office is located. On the way we stopped for breakfast and I would say what we ate but cant for the life of me remember the names. All I know is that I ate a pancake of some sort dipped in a coconut sauce and something fried and yummy. ;) Then apple juice shake thing. Once at the office the I met the staff and they orientated me about what I would be doing. After lunch I took the ttwo hour ride back to Madurai where I will be living and working. Nirmala, one of the staff went with me and introduced me to the hospital where I will start working tomorrow as well as the staff. It's so different then in the US everything is so relaxed here. I had forgotten how easy going and friendly the Indian culture and people are. Next Nirmala took me to where I will be living these upcoming weeks. The Indian family is very nice and I think I'll like staying here. There as well are two other volunteer girls as well as a guy who lives on the roof with a room. ( us girls are in the basement) I have only met Emma of the volunteers. She is from France and extremely sweet and helpful. I very relieved that she will be showing my how to get to the Vadamalayan Hospital tomorrow. She works there as well in the pharmacy. This weekend I will be traveling with the other three volunteers to the West coast. They were thoughtful and booked me a ticket before even meeting me. I'm excited about observing and hopefully helping out tomorrow! Thanks everyone for you prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray that I will be a light for Jesus in India. Rach