The adventure continues...today was our first day at our volunteer placement and to say "it blew my mind" really does not cover it...as I sit here and try to think of words to describe it, I struggle. Lily and I were transported via taxi to Kotwali Bazaar, a village market town 5 minutes away, to take care of 8 children for 2 hours. When we arrived, one boy was already there and others trickling in over the next 30 minutes...a room with cement floor, one mat, no toys, no lights, one window with bars on it and 2 teachers. Some children came dirty and in clothes that were torn and others in clean clothes with meticulously brushed hair. None of them speak any english, so when addressed, they call us "maam or didi (sister)" in the sweetest voices. So, what do you do for 2 hours with kids you do not know, do not speak the language with and have no control over while about 5 indian women (including the teachers) watch from the door and windows outside? Talk about pressure!!! A fellow volunteer had loaned me her guitar for the day, so we sang songs, played soccer, looked at books and drew on slates with chalk... all of these things we brought with us from the home base. The children have an amazing amount of energy and I would say little to no discipline...which we expected, somewhat so patience was key. Although I did study some Hindi prior to the trip with a Rosetta Stone program, I found I still had no tools to communicate other than with physical cues. Later in the day at our Hindi lesson, we learned phrases like.."don't hit".."sit down".."good job"..and.."do you have to pee?"..as I found out the hard way Sanjay had to pee while he was sitting on my lap!! Oh well! Now I know. Funny, Rosetta Stone did not include those phrases.

After lunch on the porch and hindi lessons, everyone then took taxis up to Macleoud Gange....the upper part of Dharamsala,(and when I say upper..it is literally UP..switchback and steep roads to get there..no guard rails and in fact on our ascent, we saw a van whose front tire had missed the edge and there were lots of villagers in the road attempting to save the car from tumbling over the cliff!!!!) It is also the home of the Dalai Lama and the entire refugee Tibetan community. The town is a bustling, touristy town where I saw many westerners and buddhist monks..many massage parlors, yoga studios, herbal remedy shops, homeopathic doctors..and our highlight...a pizza parlor. It was no new york style pizza, but it was good! When we got back home, it was dark and we literally crawled into bed after washing up. It is now early and getting light again, the birds are singing and I can hear the prayers and drums from the distant hills. Sending our love and thanks for the comments! XOXO