Monday 29th March was our final day in Chennai, so we spent most of it getting last minute things done. After packing our rucksacks for the millionth time we were picked up by Raj to go for breakfast. We then picked up Sharon and were taken to visit one of Sharon’s top places to visit in Chennai, the shopping mall! We had a look around before going back to Raj’s to be kindly given Salwars as a gift from Christ the Rock Church, handmade by the tailoring class they run. Laura and I pranced around in our Indian outfits with the traditional jasmine in our hair for a while before being taken by the family for a lovely goodbye meal in a local restaurant. We had a giggle trying to get photos where everyone looked nice and not like they had plastered a fake smile on their face, and had a great giggle at the faces Raj was pulling. Still giggling we collected our things, stopped to say goodbye to Captain Thacker and pray and started off for the airport.
The rules with immigration etc seem pretty tight in India and so we had to leave Raj and Sharon outside before we could check in. As we handed over our passports to the immigration officer he stamped them informing us of the restrictions we might face for when we could come back to India with our current visas. Blasé as ever, I quickly told him “we wont be coming back thanks very much!” in a way that Laura cringingly explained to me came across as a bit cheeky, but luckily as I cracked up with laughter at my accidental rudeness so did the immigration officer and we all left giggling. I am getting far too comfortable in airports but am very aware I have to watch what I say more as I don’t want to get us into trouble purely by accident, especially with the stricter customs in some of the countries we will be visiting.
We had a wee while to wait for the plane and as we were talking Laura got distracted by a beautiful baby boy leaning over the shoulder of his mum behind her. After some oohing and ahhing and copious baby talk we introduced good old Leroy to the conversation. At first the baby’s face was covered with a gorgeous grin but not for long. Laura decided to become a bit more playful and as she was moving Leroy’s mouth pretending he was talking she moved him quite quickly in the direction of the baby to show expression in Leroy’s voice, but the poor baby jumped more than I knew a baby was capable of and became frozen in fear! I was almost rolling off my seat at the sight, but we decided we should maybe move somewhere a bit quieter until the plane arrived so as not to upset anyone else!
Another 10 hour flight and we are now in Brussels, which we know is way past Israel and closer to Scotland, but apparently is a cheaper way to fly! We spent the day here ignoring our salivating taste buds around the Belgian chocolate and casually reflecting on the trip so far. We have discovered that both of us are learning in different ways the importance of knowing what your own individual calling is, but also in understanding how different this is for each person and how important it is to appreciate and respect these differences. We were each made individual for a reason, with our hearts’ owning different burdens and it is nobody but our own responsibility to respond to these burdens in the best way we feel we can.
We are now waiting to board our next flight to Israel to arrive in at midnight their time. Both of us are exhausted but are still smiling and really looking forward to our time in the Holy land over Easter and to visiting the Nazareth Hospital which was founded by an amazing Scottish missionary who just so happens to also be the late grandfather of one of my best friends! What an amazing time we are having, and we are learning more than we can imagine, but we can’t help but be looking forward to coming home in a few weeks now!
Can’t wait to see everyone at our upcoming coffee morning fundraiser in the church on Saturday 10th or at the church service on the Sunday! Missing you all!
Jenn xx
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