Monkey-ing Around :D

                  While waiting for my auto rickshaw at the end of the school day (which happens every morning and afternoon) a few of us volunteers began to discuss some of the issues we have had with our area coordinator. It made me feel a little better knowing I wasn’t going crazy or something, but that there were many who had also experienced the unprofessionalism that is Dr. B. I came to the conclusion that that issue at hand was that instead of being support for the volunteers who are experiences extreme cultural differences when coming to India, he washes his hands of us. Walter, a fellow volunteer here for his second summer and ex-volunteer of Dr. B, talked a lot on the fact that we come here and pay a fee to be supported by our program, but that doesn’t happen. Several times he experienced the same abandonment from the coordinator and because of his unstable experience last summer, has returned on his own without the assistance of the program. Luckily he is amazing and wasn’t completely discouraged from returning, as it is for many volunteers who have gone through this program. I know if I ever return, which I hope to do one day, it will be similar to Walter’s decision to find his own housing and be on his own. I’m grateful for Walter’s honesty and willingness to share his experience with me and two other volunteers. I think some people can be afraid to be honest in fears that they are bad mouthing the program, but I think it’s important for people to bring their stories to the table so that others can really know what the situation really is. I know for me, I’ve had moments where I felt like maybe I shouldn’t speak honestly of my experience to other volunteers in fears that I would taint their image of the India experience, but I think that’s unfair to them. I know I’ve been most appreciative of the honest and true experiences of the volunteers I’ve come into contact with (i.e. Gabby, Walter, and Silpa). Us volunteers have to stick together, am I right!?

            Once I finally made it home from school, I was hanging out in my room when I heard something at my screen door to the balcony. When I looked to see what it was, I found monkeys! They were fighting and playing with each other. I got so excited I grabbed my camera quickly so I could capture pictures and video (see below). I’ve had a few encounters with the buggars, but this was definitely the best. I was able to get some footage of them, but then one of them saw me watching and decided it was time to bounce. I’m starting to not be as afraid, but I’m still very cautious of them. I’d hate to be attacked by a monkey! 

Dancing in the rain

            made me so unbelievably happy. I can’t describe fully the joy that today brought me, so I’m going to post some pictures and let you see a little of today’s fun. Today I felt the happiest since being here.

Auto Rickshaws go on STRIKE!

                 Yup, today the auto rickshaws of Faridabad went on strike. I didn’t think it was possible since most of the drivers don’t report to anyone with their earnings, however, the strike was against the rise in petrol costs. I didn’t believe it at first when my coordinator said the reason he hadn’t gotten me a ride to my project was because there was a strike, but then when I finally made it to the school, Dr. Savita informed me that there was indeed a strike going on. The streets were so empty! I also heard rumors that the other rickshaw drivers would beat the people who refused to strike. While I saw some autos still on the road, when I was returning home later in the afternoon, there wasn’t an auto in sight. I’m hoping that this doesn’t last long because it will make getting anywhere impossible, but more importantly, it will continue to delay me in getting to work. Just another interesting aspect of my experience I suppose!

            Today I returned to Prakashdeep and there is no doubt in my mind that this is where I belong. The moment I walked in, the kids lit up and began to wave like crazy. I felt so much love and happiness within myself. I guess everything happened the way it was suppose to: I learned a few lessons and I returned to the students who genuinely appreciate me in their lives. I’ve never felt more anxious to get back. Immediately Ram and the other boys were asking me for help on their homework as well as showing me some of their latest drawings. One of the boys, Raju, was talking to me about my return and when I told him I was here for another 3 weeks, he made this upset face. When I asked if it was ok for me to stay he said, “ Yes, but 3 weeks is such a short amount of time”. AH, these students are going to make it nearly impossible for me after the 3 weeks to leave. For now, more photo projects and some typing lessons. I have a few ideas for some photo projects that include taking pictures of things that start with the letters of the alphabet, taking self-timed pictures of different emotions and another one that deals with the different parts of body (arms, legs, head). I want to have the students do more with writing as well, so I figured they could write about the different functions of the body, things that make them feel certain emotions and practice their letters. I hope it goes well! I feel right at home with my Prakashdeep family <3

Special Thanks

              to my brother Elmer Moore, Mrs. Janice Jaffe, Eswar Priyadarshan and my love Jay Priyadarshan. The past few days have been a whirlwind of emotions and experiences, but it was because of these amazing people I have been able to overcome difficulties. Elmer and Janice came together to contact my coordinator here in India and make sure I was able to return to the project I had already begun. The awesome Priyadarshan men did an incredible job of supporting me if a move to Delhi was necessary. I really feel so blessed to have each and every one of these people in my life and their love/support is something I treasure more than words can describe. Thank you all so much.

           

            That being said, I am so happy to be back at the hostel! All the girls were shocked to see me, but very excited I was back. I had the most interesting cultural experience as well today. One of the beautiful women, Jyoti, had her mom and brother visiting for a few hours and introduced me to them. Well, when we were hanging out in the room, Jyoti’s mom began to rub coconut oil into Jyoti’s hair. It took me back to my younger days when my mom or aunt would run their hands through my hair. I thought it was so wholesome. After she finished, her mom told me to have a seat so that she could do the same to my hair! I can’t lie, I was really excited. The smell of the coconut oil was tantalizing and I soon found myself drifting into a daze. It was an experience that you couldn’t pay for, nor an experience many people who travel here can say they’ve had. I found myself feeling that I am exactly where I need to be, despite all the drama the past 2 days. I realized that these types of experiences are what I will remember when I look back on my trip to India and it is times like these that I am so grateful to be where I am today. 

Keep the Head Up.

              I can’t say I don’t appreciate the mess of an experience I’ve been having. I’m learning my own strength when it comes to handling myself in difficult situations as well as getting some practice dealing with disorganized people/programs. Luckily for me, I have a wonderful friend named Jay whose family knows people in Delhi. We’re currently looking for possible living arrangements so that I can find a new project in Delhi. I went there this past weekend and I’ve got the metro system down enough where I think I can travel to and from project sites. There is this group called Project Why that looks really interesting and was suggested to me by a Bowdoin alum. I’m hoping I can get in contact with the people there to figure something out. I really, really don’t want to leave India sooner than planned, so I’m doing my best to put something together. I’m not sure if I will have internet access once I get to my new location, so I will do my best to keep you all updated on my wild adventures. 

Leaving

is always the hardest part. Today was my last day with the students of Prakashdeep and it was one of the most difficult things I have gone through in India so far. It was hard to explain to the students that I would not be coming back tomorrow morning. They each thanked me for teaching them photography, but more so for the photo albums that they were able to keep. They each bring their photos with them everyday to class and I’ve found a few of them looking at them during the day. Today Raju came up to me with his book and said, “Thanks for this”. My heart melted and I almost broke down right there. I knew I would have a hard time separating from the students I came to know, but I never expected to feel so connected to them. I’ve been told secrets and shared in some of their amazing accomplishments. How do I leave this? I’ve accepted that this is something that I will continue to struggle through, but at the same time I have to remind myself of the impact I have left on their lives as well. It is my biggest hope that one day I will return and see all my beautiful photography students grown, happy and beating the odds. I believe each and every one of them has the grit to make it out of their current conditions, but even more importantly, I think each one wants to have more from their lives. Sigh, my babies are growing up!

            

             Not only did I have to leave the kiddos, I had to say adios to my girl Gabby. I’m suppose to be going to a new project and she is heading home this Saturday. While she will be going home for sure, I’ve been faced again with the unprofessionalism of my director. He has been telling me for the last 2 weeks that I would be going to Darmshala, however, as soon as I sat in his car, he started talking about there being difficulties with me going, as well as program fees I was not aware of. I’m so frustrated and it’s only been 2 hours since I’ve left my other house. Apparently I have to pay the extra fees, the fare to get transported there and it’s not even been finalized for me to be there! He said that the program has too many volunteers going there, so he suggested yet again another project in a different town. Augh, I wish this program was better. I’m looking to see what connections I was given from Bowdoin people so that maybe I can just go work in Delhi. I have a month left and I would really like to be productive. Once I told him that there are possible projects for me via Bowdoin connections and that I want to work with women since it was the focus of my Global Citizen’s Grant, he started saying how he has programs in Delhi that work with women. Where was this when I first came? I told him from the start that that was what I signed up for and that my focus was women’s empowerment. This just doesn’t fit and it’s so unorganized. I’m going to do some research and see what the heck I’m going to do these last few weeks. I was having such an amazing time. 

Blessed.

I am so blessed. I thought for sure I would have a hard time getting through my birthday without my friends and family, but I have been fortunate enough to find people here in India who care for me just as much as those back home. I had 3 different celebrations for my birthday and countless people wish me well. I felt so much love from back home, and love here that I honestly didn’t expect to get. My fellow volunteer, Gabby, helped to make my birthday special by taking me to dinner and drinks. She truly has been such a rock in my life these few weeks. I hope I can continue our friendship when I return to the states. Her mom even talked to me on the phone today and she said something that almost made me cry. She said, “ I have never met you before, but the way my daughter has become so close to you, it means you are an amazing person”. Wow, it’s insane to hear something like that from someone you’ve never met before. I felt honored and special.

            Tonight we went out to celebrate my actual birthday and I felt really beautiful. I have been so sweaty and nasty from the weather, that when I dressed up a bit for the dinner, I felt good. I felt great inside and out. I’ve tried to avoid looking in mirrors because I can be a hot mess at times, but it was nice to recognize the person looking back. Haha. I want to thank all the people that took time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday. I am truly grateful to have each and every one of you in my life. Here are some pictures from the night. I hope you enjoy!

my girl Gabby!

long hair!

ketchup :]

nom nom

surprise cake from my new love!

wish :D

chocolate wasted.

With Love, the Dominoes Team

            What a crazy last few days! I’ll begin first by describing my birthday celebration with the kids. I think I almost cried like 3 different times during the day. When I walked into the school, the children immediately started to shower me with hand made cards and other forms of birthday presents. I read them and as I saw all the lovely things they wrote, my eyes started to fill with tears. They have all become close to my heart, and I can tell from the love they gave me on Friday, I have grown on them as well. It was such an experience to become like family with the students as well as the staff. The students call me “Didi”- which in Indian culture means big sister. Everything they say to me begins with this term and it has become so familiar to me that I’m no longer surprised when one of them calls me by it. I really enjoy it actually. I love feeling as though I have become a part of their family. The Prakashdeep family. The director, Dr. Sivita, told me on Friday, “ I hope you know that you will forever be a part of the Prakasdeep Family”. Again with the tears. I haven’t had the easiest upbringing in terms of family, so being able to adopt a new family made me so absolutely happy. In that moment I had no words for the appreciation I felt for the students and staff allowing me into their lives and more importantly, their hearts. I am completely humbled by their giving hearts. To finish the day with the students, we all had cake. Now this is where I was thrown a curveball- I wasn’t told that whenever it is someone’s birthday, everyone feeds the birthday person from the cake. Yes, I was fed cake by all the students and staff. I was so shocked at first I didn’t know how to react so I just started taking bites. I soon realized it’s best to take extremely small nibbles from each person. The first few times my mouth was full, but then I got smart and started with the tiny nibbles. Whew, 25 people later I was able to sit and enjoy the company. Some of the girls did some dances they had learned before and a few of them sang their favorite Bollywood songs accompanied with the dances from the music videos. Again, I wanted cry. They are just so awesome.

The point where I teared up.

 Gift from Sepna.

 The staff gave me roses :D

            My second celebration took place with the girls in the house. Man, they are a funny group of girls. We went to grab some food from Dominoes [yes, there is a Dominoes here, no it is not as good as the one back home] and they brought along a surprise. The surprise turned out to be a tasty birthday cake. Again I had to be fed by everyone at the table. I don’t think that’s something I will ever get use to. Anyways, after I had a few bites of cake, the girls proceeded to rub it all over my face! It was messy, but very funny. Everyone in the place was staring- even more than usual. All I could do was sit there and take the abuse! Ha, it was cute. The girls thought it was the funniest thing ever, so I was a good sport. While we were waiting for food and talking, one of the male workers came up to me and asked me for my name. I told him and a few minutes later, he came back with a birthday card signed by the entire Dominoes team. SO SO cute. I thought it was super nice, so I asked for a picture with them all. Such a funny experience. 

My girl Neha.

 Group shot!

 Mistake number 1: Giving me a weapon ;D

Being fed, again.

Got.

 Dominoes Team <3

The next day, Saturday, I was off to finally see my darling Branden! After a 20 minute rickshaw ride, hour long metro ride, and 30 min taxi ride, I was finally at Branden’s hotel. Thank goodness we found it because it was in the middle of the most random street! I was so happy to see such a beautiful familiar face. It’s been 3 weeks since I left home, so I think I was due for a taste of home. After a quick nap we began our shopping brigade. The markets here are insane. No joke. Every 2 seconds you have a different person trying to sell you the most random things and telling you, “Special price for you only”. Ha, it’s such a sight. One experience that sticks out the most though was when we were looking at a suit for Branden. It was overpriced and my friend Gabby knew it, so she told us we should keep moving. However, the salesman had different plans for us. He continued to punch numbers into his calculator telling Branden he would continue to go down and give the best price. As soon as we were finally able to walk out, he came up to Gabby, said “you are my sister” and wrapped his arm around her. HILARIOUS! We all started laughing and couldn’t stop for some time. They really don’t give up easily. We all got some good buys and called it a night.

            We helped Branden move into his apartment today, but before we could get there we had to get through the most insane traffic jams. See the pictures for some of the placements of cars/trucks/motorcycles. Our driver literally got out, put the rickshaw in neutral and pushed us out of the chaos. He was a boss. At last we arrived, dropped off the luggage and went on one more shopping extravaganza. While I would’ve liked to spend more time with my darling, Gabby and I had a long treck back to our hostel because we have work tomorrow. Overall the weekend was good and fun way to celebrate my week long birthday. I’m excited for my actual birthday on Tuesday. I was suppose to head north on Wednesday, but it looks like my director had something else planned. I may or may not get there some time this week. We’ll have to see! 

I missed this face!

Scarves...for days.

The lovelies <3

Major traffic Jam.

         These kids are touching my heart. Yesterday we had a class gathering and the director of the school announced that 3 of the students had passed exams that they had studied for on their own. The students were given the material and told to study when they had the time and without instruction from anyone else. The director mentioned how this was the first time they had tried such an “experiment” and how nervous she was for the results. Fortunately, she has done such an amazing job with these students that they had passed the two subjects they tested in. The three were Devender, Shree and Raju- all students in my photography class. When she was announcing this, I cried. I was filled with happiness and excitement for these students. After being with them going on almost 3 weeks, I have been able to see what struggles they face with learning and the ways that their surroundings have so much power to lead them away from the right track. I couldn’t help but feel so proud and in that moment, everything came together. All my doubts went away and tears of joy took their place. Gabby was laughing at me as I sat there just so proud.

           On a lighter, less emotional note- I have successfully run my Photopals program! Today the students got to see their photos in hard form and put them into their own little books. They were all so anxious to come into the room and put it together that they kept sneaking in to “get books” from our newly created library. I couldn’t help but laugh. They’re all so wonderful. After we made their books, some of them showed me pieces of their artwork. Man, these kids are some talented people. I was then given art from Khan, Vipin, Devender and Amaan. I made sure to take photos with the artists and told them that their pieces would go on my wall once I returned home. I’m so excited to have a little piece of them even when I go back to the states.

 Devender

 Amaan- most attitude

Khan

 Vipin

Group shot <3

                 Since tomorrow is the last day before all the students come back to the program, we’re going to have a little celebration for my birthday! I’m excited to share such a wonderful event with them. I was going to leave to Dharmshala this weekend, but there’s no other people I could imagine celebrating my 20^th birthday with! Even though it’s not until Tuesday, hahaha. The girls in the house are also planning a birthday celebration for me tomorrow after I get back from the school. They’re all going home for their summer breaks on Saturday and since I won’t see them again before I leave, they really want to hang out. I can’t wait! They mentioned something about southern Delhi and a mall of some sort. We’re going to dress up and have a good time! Then it’s off to see Branden, hopefully. He’s still not fully settled, seeing that he just arrived last night and hadn’t secured a place yet! I want to see that guy before heading north on Wednesday. For my actual birthday, Gabby and I are going to have a last hoorah at the Geoffrey. It’s almost been a full 3 weeks since I’ve been in India and it is all coming together : D