Today I choose...

            To be the best that I can be. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the events happening and the way I want to go about finishing this project. There have been times where I’ve really considered going home, but for those who know me, that’s NOT who I am in the slightest. I came here for a reason, and I am going to fulfill that purpose to the best of my abilities. The three of us went out yesterday and had really fun time exploring India together and it was in that moment that I looked around and was hit in the face with this obvious fact: I’m in India. I-N-D-I-A. Oh my goodness. For a moment I forgot this and lost a part of this overall experience because of the negative events taking place, but I refuse to make that mistake anymore. Silpa again helped me when she said, “As long as we can still laugh, there’s hope.”  I want to grow from this experience and I want to find inner peace from the many obstacles I have faced back in the US. I am so young and have earned a beautiful opportunity to experience life in a whole new light.  

            I’ve had some more interactions with the Indian culture now that I’ve been here for a few days. The bathroom usage here is very, very different. They don’t use toilet paper. Everywhere you go there is a bucket and waterspout to clean yourself. To cope with the difference, I use the toilet paper Gabby brought with her from her last host home. The food here is very different from what American Indian food places serve. Believe it or not, I’ve only had curry once. I thought for sure I would have eaten more curry, but it’s been an array of types of food. Today we had rice and beans! I felt a little piece of home in that moment and thought their beans were actually better than some Hispanic rice I’ve eaten. I’m super happy that they don’t eat pork or beef, but I haven’t had any chicken yet. I have figured out that chicken is a rare treat to have in meals because it’s expensive to purchase. Vegetables cooked here are insanely delicious! I had a dish the other night that had a vegetable, which I can’t pronounce, that at first looked like sausage, but had the best flavor. The cucumbers here look vastly different on the outside, but the same on the inside. I was told to stay away from the cucumbers because that’s where the ecoli lives and makes people sick. I haven’t had any real fruit and I think my body is missing it. I went from 2-3 bananas a day to absolutely no fruit in my diet. I think fruit will slowly come into my diet as I figure out which fruits will work with my body. I just saw a monkey on one of the houses on our block! I tried to snap a photo, but it was too far and too dark to get a good one. It started to come towards us, so we quickly began to flee the scene. He crawled down the house and we thought for sure he was going to follow us. Luckily he just strolled across the street. It was super funny.

            We started our new project on Monday and it has already been really awesome. Gabby and I are making a Library for the slum school! I’m really excited to finally get to volunteer with a singular project, rather than being moved around. Also, I'm going to be starting to teach some photography with the students at the school. The majority of the students are on break, but there's a group of older students who I get to work with. I'm stoked! It's going to be challenging, but I am so ready for the task. I feel as though these last few days have definitely built up my perseverance. I'll be sure to try and keep you all posted with the status of that. I'm using a fellow roommate's internet stick because the house wifi is not working for some reason- hence my absence and lack of writing on the blog.

             We had a dance off last night with all the girls and it was so fun! There's this song called "Sheila" and one of the lines is "My name is Sheila, Sheila, Sheila, I'm too sexy for you" and some of the girls messed around with me because I put my name instead. They think I'm a good dancer. HaHa. It was fun to be goofy with them because they're all in college studying to be great things. It's awesome to see the two sides of Indian education- one where the kids have absolutely no formal teaching to one where the girls spend most the day in school and after hours studying. I admire them so so so much. This part of my trip is what makes this entire experience so worth everything I've been through.

 I talked with my bro Elmer on Sunday, before our internet was shut off abruptly, and feel a bit more motivated to work through all the issues that have happened this last week. I swear it feels like I’ve been here for more than a week because the days here go by extremely slow. I think with more structure from the project will make the days seem more productive and exciting. I’d love to hear what you guys think, so shoot me an email with any advice or ideas on how to get creative with the students. I miss you all and hope the summer in America is going well : )