I can’t believe I have officially been here a month! It feels like I have only been here a week, but also like I’ve been here my whole life. It honestly depends on the day. Some days I have my consistent schedule and I do the same things, which leads to feeling like I’ve totally mastered India and know exactly what I’m doing! While other days culture shock and major life differences make me feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. With college applications, my day to day here, and trying to take time to experience the culture and beauty of Jaipur, I have definitely kept busy. Honestly, this week wasn’t the most interesting in terms of projects or travel, but I think it was nice to be settled in enough to be able to think that hanging out with a monkey is fairly normal. The real standouts this week were the people and activities. At the start of the week we got three new volunteers, two girls from Spain and a man from America! I have been practicing my Spanish skills a bit, as one of the newbies is my roommate! It makes the workshops and overall atmosphere at the apartment more fun and enjoyable when there are more people, and new people means new experiences to learn about! On Friday, there was a big Dandiya dance held by Impact, which is the NGO for the school and the same owner as the volunteer company that houses and feeds us! Dandiya is a stick dance, where you dress up in nice outfits and dance with two decorated wooden sticks. It was incredibly fun, and a big night for Impact, as many overseas sponsors and donors were able to be there. All the kids from the school came dressed up and ready to dance and it was so amazing to see all the different people united by dance. Even when I couldn’t speak to some of the kids, they would pull me aside to dance and we were able to communicate kindness that way. It was incredible to experience, and I got to buy a new outfit and get all dressed up, which is always fun for me! Then, on Saturday, I did a food tour with the new guy who volunteers! We had street food in the Pink City (the main historical part of Jaipur) and got to try a lot of different foods I wouldn’t have been able to pick out on my own. I had a lemony yogurt custard at a street food stall with cardamom seeds, Pav Bhadji, Samosa, Katchuri, Chai, and a bunch of other stuff I still don’t know, but it was all delicious!! Anyways, I am hoping to do another small trip this coming weekend so hopefully my next post will have something new and exciting to report!!
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