I leave tomorrow - Thursday the 13th for Delhi and the start of my four weeks there.
On request, I am including some photos of people from CCS, my "mates" as well as some pictures of things I have done (all depending on how fast the internet is today).
This is a pictures of me and volunteers on the front porch of the main house - dinner and lunch are taken here and a lot of good conversations lasting long into the night transpire. The staff also is here and we have the opportunity to interact with them.(sorry for the computer gobbly gook- I couldn't get rid of it and ran out of time to redownload - appologies).
<This is a picture of vols Donna (from Australia), Jessie (from Boston), and Kit (oops I don't remember where he is from) and MuMu - the puppy we at the house are "rescuing"- she will get spayed and go to a new home soon!
This is Anju- she works for CCS Dharamshala and is the translator for the women's group - she dances and has an 18-month old son.
This is Surich (Sun). He is one of our "guards" - they work alternating weeks on day and night shift - they are great!
This is Rakesh- the chef- no he is not a cook - he is a chef- He is also a very interesting person to speak to -early in the morning eating breakfast. He made my favorite breakfast - daylia - porrage- twice this week just for me. He has given me some of his recipes, and I will help with the Naan bread tonight for my last tandoori night! Yum.
This is Kanchan. She works for CCS and is a great dancer. Here she is dressed in a special sari and is preparing to dance a Bollywood dance for us! She always wears the newest fashion.
There are other staff at CCS- including Anil-ji the Program Head here - He is hard to get a picture of - he is always very busy. I will try before I go. All of the staff work hard to keep us in bananas and milk and chai, great food, clean rooms and beds and teach us some Hindi along the way.
They always have a ready smile and are impeccably polite. I am also namaste'd in the market by those coming to recognize me. I tear up knowing that I am also now a part of these people's landscape - I have shared tea and talk. I am so much smarter about this part of the world - there is no Shangri-La but despite many difficulties, theirs is not a "terrible life".
This is Raju my yoga teacher - he is always encouraging us to "open eyes with great smiling on your face". I love his wisdom and great attitude to life- I will miss him greatly. He is only 19 and is going to southern India to study more yoga for five months - this is a great opportunity for him!
Over the last week I have visited the Fort at Kangra. This is a very old fort and is being restored. It was beautiful- some of it dates back to Paleolithic times, as well as Mogul times and the British Raj.
We also had a tabla and sitar and Harmonium performance. Some of the guys are taking lessons and demonstrated their new skills.
As I move on to Delhi - I will miss these people. I have shared chai in one room homes and is larger more formal places. I have learned so much about India. The most important this I will take is "slowly slowly". I do not know how this will translate at home - but I must somehow bring this into my life.
My placement in Delhi is with 4-7 year old in a mobile creche. I could have up to 40 children and only one other person there besides myself. I will be working about four hours a day - five days a week - quite intense in the big picture. There will be five new volunteers there besides myself. I am also looking forward to trips to the Taj Mahal and Jaipur in Rajestan to see the Pink Palaces there and maybe ride an elephant.
Dharamashala is forever in my heart- I know this sounds corney - but these gentle, hardworking people are dear to me. I don't think I could ever live here but despite all the places in the world I would love to see- coming back here would be on my list.
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