the kindness of strangers

ok, so the highly rated guesthouse conveniently near to the airport that i had planned to go to upon my 12:35 am arrival in bangalore was completely booked by the time i tried to make a reservation. i was in the shuttle on my way to the minneapolis airport at the time, or about 30 hours out from arrival in india, but this was far more planning than i had done for my arrival in new delhi in 1999 when i pretty much got shanghaied. so i figured i was way ahead of the game. and the good thing about leaving my reservation to the last minute and not getting a reservation at that conveniently near guesthouse was that the airport that the guesthouse was conveniently near is no longer an airport. and the new bangalore airport is nowhere conveniently near the highly rated guesthouse at which i had planned to stay. so that all worked out great.

my problem then became where to go instead.

and here’s where the kindness of strangers comes in.

the guy sitting next to me on the plane from paris to bangalore said the obligatory hello, buckled in, looked through the air france magazine from cover to cover, and then promptly took a nap. and i’m like, you know, it isn’t every day one flies from paris to bangalore, so you could perhaps say something more than hello.

but not a word. i thought he might be quite a grump.

after he awoke from his nap, however, he came to life and we started talking.

he was an indian computer engineer heading back home from a recent business trip to milwaukee. his name was anil, and we had such a nice conversation that by the time we landed he offered to meet me in baggage claim and let me use his cell phone to contact my friend ravi, who had said earlier in the day that of course i should stay at his house.

but anil did way more than let me use his cell phone to call ravi.

anil hung out in immigration -- where i told a very small little white lie about where i was staying -- because at that point i had no idea what ravi’s address was. and then he waited nearby as another airport official questioned me about what was in my bags. and then he watched over my baggage cart as i went to change some money. and then we found a place to sit down and he used his laptop to connect my iphone to the airport wi-fi so i could post a safe arrival notice on facebook. and then he bought us each a coffee and paneer wrap at coffee day at 2:30 am because we were both starving. and then he shared his taxi with me and helped me find ravi’s house, which i alone with the taxi driver in the middle of the night would never ever have been able to do in a hundred million years. and then he gave me his phone number and address and said if ever needed anything, he would do his best to help.

so on those days when i've been overcharged, glared at, or groped, i will try to remember my flight friend anil -- and the huge credit balance on the india account.

you're going with me!

back in 1999 when I first learned about the trafficking of young girls from nepal into india, it bothered me, but i thought, i’m just me. who am i to do anything about it? but when i started taking steps to return to india, i soon realized that it’s not just me doing this. it’s we! i'm not going it alone, because you are all part of this now.

among the first to join were the faithful women of my bethany adult bible fellowship class, who made a splash on my birthday and are always there for me.

then the fabulous tracy newman and the reinforcements volunteered to do a benefit concert for me! this was huge. huge. i first heard tracy two years ago at brad colerick’s mid-week, soul-soothing, spirit-lifting hootenanny in south pasadena (wineandsong.com). it’s every wednesday night, and it’s free, and it’s wonderful! and if you’ve never heard tracy newman and the reinforcements, “like” the band on facebook, find out where they’re playing next, and do yourself a favor and go!

Tracy Newman Flyer2 - LKallevig event

before long chauncey bowers, ed tree, lisa turner, and the aforementioned brad colerick were on board for the benefit. my best so cal pal sharon printed flyers and promoted tirelessly, suzanne and keri coordinated, tracy and alexia promoted, leslie and nilo cooked a magical spaghetti dinner for the crew, john and amber brought dessert, judy and janice jumped onto clean-up detail, lois welcomed, brendan did amazing sound, church peeps brought cookies, dave hosted the delightful coffee and cookie break, and sharon and geoff managed the welcome and bank table.

all this combined with two hours of wonderful music made for a smashingly successful event that brought together my church family, my music family, my twin sister, my landlord, and many people i’d never met before, but who wanted to support my work. we raised $2700 at the event, and more money came in before and after from people who couldn’t attend. and it’s not just financial support, but awareness of the issue, readers for my blog, words of encouragement, lots of hugs, and much needed prayer support.

so for all of you who came and went and gave and helped and played and listened and hugged and read and prayed -- thank you thank you thank you for joining me!!

so what are we doing first? we’re heading to bangalore, where we have friends, to set up base camp. we’ll need a cell phone with an internet plan and an indian bank account, so we don’t get charged fees right and left for transferring money or using the atm. and then we’ll need to resume our study of hindi. we want to get beyond the beginner stage in the next six months. soon we’ll be volunteering with organizations in the far reaches of india. so learn to love the suitcase. and then let’s communicate often! -- on facebook, via emails, and on this blog.

next blog post: the kindness of strangers, or it's day three -- why don't i have a cell phone or a bank account yet?, or how i didn't get to the christmas play on time, or something like that!!

why i'm going to india

it all started back in 1999, when i spent much of the year traveling in southeast asia. it bothered me when i learned that each year hundreds of young girls from poor rural villages in nepal were given the "opportunity to get a nice domestic job with a rich family india" only to be whisked across the border and sold to a brothel and raped twenty times a night. ya, that bothered me, but what was i to do about it? i was just me, and i had a plane ticket. time to move on to the next place. but even when i came back to the states and got busy with graduate school it still bothered me. years later when i got an igoogle page i personalized it with a quote from ray bradbury's farenheit 451: "we need to be really bothered once in a while. how long is it since you were really bothered? about something important, about something real?" and every time i read that quote i thought about those girls.

finally in 2008 i felt led to some how some way get involved. a few months later i was on my way to india to volunteer as communications coordinator for an organization that works for rescue, restoration, and justice for victims of sex trafficking. it was a short-term gig, but it was great to be able to use my writing to help make a difference. this time around i plan to volunteer with a number of organizations that advocate for women and girls who are survivors (i like that word better than victim, don't you?) of human trafficking. i hope to use my writing in new ways and maybe find a place to dig in for a longer-term endeavor.

i've been to india three times, and believe me, india is not for sissies. and leaving california is not easy. i love my life here. i love the weather. i love the view from my apartment. i love my friends, my church, my car, my guitar, my refrigerator, my stove, my flush toilet, and my hot and cold running water. i love my green street taqueria, my nonna's pizza, and my wednesday nights at brad colerick's mid-week soul-southing spirit-lifting hootenanny.

i don't know how all this is going to turn out.

and i don't have to know. that's part of the adventure.

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to struggle used to be to grab with both hands and shake and twist and turn and push and shove and not give in but wrest an answer from it all as jacob did a blessing.

but there is another way to struggle with an issue, a question -- simply to jump off into the abyss and find ourselves floating falling tumbling being led slowly and gently but surely to the answers God has for us-- to watch the answers unfold before our eyes and still to be a part of the unfolding.

but, oh! the trust necessary for this new way! not to be always reaching out for the old hand-holds.

"a new way of struggling" -- by susan w. n. ruach