Welcome to my blog!

I'm starting up this blog in order to record my thoughts, struggles, triumphs, and experiences during the year I will be in India.

If you're here reading this, chances are you already know to a certain extent who I am, what I'm doing, and why I'm here. In the event that you don't, here is a brief summary.

I'm Andy Smith, 25 years old, from New Jersey. Now serving as a Young Adult Volunteer of the Presbyterian Church (USA), I'll be spending the next year in the state of Kerala in Southern India. In Kerala, I'll be living and working in the town of Aluva (pronounced and often spelled "Alwaye") at a place called Union Christian College. My job here is mostly to just be a presence on campus and engage the students in conversation, thus increasing their competence and confidence in spoken English.

I have journal entries dating back almost to the day I got here (in fact, starting before!), so I'm going to be back-dating a bunch of entries. After this initial confusion, however, I will keep this bad boy as up-to-date as possible.

So, if you are at all curious about life in Southern India-- people, customs, religion, food, music-- or if you just want to hear some entertaining stories about an American dude trying to survive in a different culture, or occasionally want to hear some theological musings from one who can't even pretend to have any expertise in the field, you are invited to check back here as often as you please. I'd be happy to have you!