"Chuckles" from the Village

So, Mom was with us on this last village trip, and there were a couple funnies, that weren't quite so funny at the time.  Time (and pr@yer) has a way of putting perspective on things...so I wanted to share a few "chuckles" with you.

We Have Reached
In order to get to one of the places we teach, we have to ride a train that takes 15 hours to get there.  At the 15 hour mark, we were ready to get off the train and get to work.  Problem being, we weren't there yet, but we weren't sure where we were or how much longer it would take to get there.  It could be a half hour, an hour, an hour and a half...??  So, we sat and visited.  We decided to get some chai (tea).  We waited for the chia guy, but as is usually our luck, he never showed back up.  We have a tendency to decide we want to get something to eat or drink on the train and at that moment, that particular person quits coming around to sell what we want.

Anyway, we were waiting and waiting.  My face felt like it was crawling with dirt, so when I finally heard it would be another hour before we "reached", I decided to get out my bag, unroll my toiletries, find my face wash and washcloth and head for the teeny-tiny bathroom on the train.  I got in there, had to take care of some other business, and was finally relaxed, when I notice the train had stopped.  No big deal.  It does that quite frequently.  I continued doing what I was doing and then I heard a knock on the door and Julie's voice.  "We have reached and we have all your stuff!"  What?!?!  We have reached??  What happened to my hour? So, I quickly finished what I was doing, grabbed my stuff, and stepped off the train into the monsoon rain. Sure enough, we were there and everyone had all my stuff.  To borrow a phrase from my dad, "This was typical" of how things happen.  I just think I should have decided to go to the bathroom 2 hours earlier and maybe we would have gotten there 2 hours sooner!

Wheeza!
This past trip, we ate a lot in our hotel room.  I normally have about 3 things I order off the hotel menus.  These are things I know are good and not too spicy.  So, our first 3 meals, I ordered those things.  I didn't want to be stuck in a rut on what I was ordering, especially since Mom was with us, so I decided to try something I don't generally order, but had seen other people order.  I had even tried it before and liked it, so I thought it would be a good choice.

All three of us decided on Chicken Bhorta, so we called it in and waited a few minutes for it to arrive. When it arrived, we sat at our coffee table, and after blessing it, each took a bite.  This reaction followed our first bites:

Julie:  That is SPICY!
Elisa:  WHEEZA!
Mom:  Oh, Boy!

Yep, it was probably the spiciest thing I've put in my mouth in a long, long time.  Look at our faces!  We needed a spice extinguisher!

Thankfully we noticed the hotel also served ice cream.  Bingo!  So, we ordered some "vanilla" ice cream, and although I wouldn't necessarily call the ice cream "vanilla", it did work to put out the fire in our mouths!