Did you know?

Did you know that dowries are still commonly paid in India? The wife’s family pays the groom a handsome dowry (the most recent example I heard was $50k) and then her family also pays for a wedding of hundreds (if not thousands) of people. While this practice is most commonly done by Hindus, even some Christian families here still offer dowries (sometimes it’s called “goodwill").

Did you know that private investigators are commonly used to research a potential mate before the wedding? Since people sometimes don’t meet in person (or only meet briefly) there are popular private investigator “packages” that people purchase to check-out how their mate lives. In fact, someone’s friend just had a wedding called off on them because the investigator tailed them for 3 days and he partied too much!

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Yesterday I shared my “testimony” (how Jesus has changed my life) with the girls in our vocational training program. It was a good experience even though someone had to translate it (since the majority of the girls don’t understand English).

Later I visited a few more Fair Trade and handicraft shops in India – still looking for good places domestically where we can distribute the products that the girls from slum communities are learning to make in our vocational training program. The side benefit to this “exploration” is that I have found some fun gifts and know just where I want to take my family shopping over Christmas for nice Indian souvenirs! After braving crazy traffic all morning, the highlight was a relaxing lunch with a coworker - the Indian food was really delicious despite the cockroach that walked across the table : )

Last night I attended a posh wine tasting dinner that was hosted by the Overseas Women’s Club. I met some fun women and enjoying hearing how well-to-do expats live in the city. Another Texas woman at my table (who looked about my age) was telling me how she has a cook, a driver, a gardener, a housekeeper and someone who works full-time WASHING HER WINDOWS. There is no judging here – as I’m thrilled she has the means to provide employment for all of these people – but wow there are truly different ends of the spectrum in India!