So I thought I’d share my last day of work, too, and our last few days here. I had been looking forward to my last day of work for some time now, until this week. I had finally got into a “groove” of things with Women’s Team and I started to really connect with the women. Building relationships takes time, and it was frustrating to me that just as I had begun to form real friendships, I had to leave. Also, I was getting pretty darn good at teaching, and I was really enjoying it! But you can’t stop time, no matter how much you want to.
Tuesday, my women decided that we would go on a picnic! I do love picnics. Even though it was pouring rain, we still had our picnic! Take that, weather. So instead of having English class, we drove to this temple that was about 20 minutes drive from the homebase. It was the Kunal Pathri temple, and is dedicated to the local goddess Kapaleshwari. We took our shoes off, bought some offering for the gods, and walked through the temple. It was interesting to me; I’ve been to a few temples, but I’ve never gone with Hindus. They all gave their offerings and bowed, and we just kind of walked around the complex. The girls asked for some instruments from the people in charge of the temple, and they received this cymbal-thingy and a hand drum. For about an hour, we just sat outside the temple and played music and sang songs. Apurvi told me later that they were singing Hindu religious songs, which I gathered at the time. They sang for the longest time! I just sat and clapped along and smiled. Other women stopped by, and they would dance and sing along. One older lady led a whole song and she looked like she was enjoying herself. At one point, there were 25 women sitting around and 4 or 5 of them were dancing! They all knew the songs, too. I guessed that the songs were like our hymns. After a while, we went to eat lunch. Since it was raining, we had to have our picnic in the van, with everyone smashed up in the back together. But it was fun, and the food was delicious!
Since Wednesday is always tandoori night, we decided that Tuesday night would be our last night on the town. We had a “food crawl,” where we hopped from restaurant to restaurant in McLeod and Bhagsu, and just ate all the junk we wanted. John was aiming to eat a record 50 momos that night—he managed to stuff 40 down his craw without puking! Very impressive, indeed. MOMOS. Gosh, they are the best food I’ve had in India. They’re like little yummy dumplings—we started the food crawl with spinach and cheese momos. Delicious! After that, we ate some breakfast food in Bhagsu, and then went to this little restaurant in a tent. It had a movie screen up, and they were playing “My Cousin Vinny”. It was a pretty funny movie! After several pizzas, noodles, and Limcas later, we went and got some Bhagsu cake, which is the most delicious dessert I’ve had in India. Needless to say, we were all very full and bloated when we waddled our way home that night. It was a really fun time.
Wednesday was my last day of work. We didn’t even bother having class; I brought a bunk of junk food and we just sat and ate and played pass the parcel and danced a lot. Inder showed me how to make this dessert that was made of some kind of grain and raisins. It was so good; I’m going to have her email me the recipe (even though I can’t cook). Mostly, we just took lots of pictures and danced. I played them some Lady Gaga, since they had never heard of her before! I had my laptop with me, so of course they wanted me to show them pictures, which I did. I gave them all parting gifts, too. I had noticed that some of the women, during our class discussions, had mentioned that they sometimes feel very angry or sad, and yet have no one to talk to about their feelings. I bought each of them a journal, with the hopes that they would use it to sort through their thoughts and feelings. I’ve always thought writing is therapeutic, so that’s why I wanted to give them these gifts. They gave me a gift too: a small notebook and two cool bangles. Eventually, I had to leave, which was awful. Of course it was sad leaving, but it was sadder knowing that I didn’t know when I would see these women again, if ever. Many of them said that they want to come to the US, but I know most of them won’t ever make it. Obviously, right when people starting saying bye and crying and hugging me, I burst out crying. I promised them that I would come back to Khaniyara, and I told them that they have to invite me to their weddings! I know I’ll come back to India, but I said to them that I didn’t know when I would come back. It may be one year, five years, or ten years. They were sad to hear that. When I said goodbye to Abhilasha, she said “I am missing you already,” and said that I was her mentor. It was hard saying goodbye to some of the girls that I had gotten close with, like Pooja and Arti. But I’ll come back and see them. Some of the girls are so young, I’m anxious to see how their lives turn out. We all walked down the road together—it honestly felt like a movie scene. After many more hugs and goodbyes, I got in the car and we started to drive away. Looking back at that group of women and seeing them all wave goodbye to me is a memory that I’ll cherish always.
So it was sad leaving. It felt surreal when we were packing up and saying goodbye to all the CCS staff. Monica, Anju, Kanchan, Pummy, Ashwami, Jeetu, Anil, Lalu, Rakesh, Makesh…they are just awesome people, and they made our experience in India really great. We’ll definitely miss them, too.
It feels like we’ve been in India a while, we know that, but it also feels like the time just flew by. It will be strange going home, but we’re both looking forward to it.
We’ll be in Delhi for a few days, hit up the Taj, and then head to the airport Sunday night. Monday afternoon, we’ll both be home!
So we may not have internet for a while, but we’ll post final thoughts and reflections eventually.
Peace out,
Ashley
Tuesday, my women decided that we would go on a picnic! I do love picnics. Even though it was pouring rain, we still had our picnic! Take that, weather. So instead of having English class, we drove to this temple that was about 20 minutes drive from the homebase. It was the Kunal Pathri temple, and is dedicated to the local goddess Kapaleshwari. We took our shoes off, bought some offering for the gods, and walked through the temple. It was interesting to me; I’ve been to a few temples, but I’ve never gone with Hindus. They all gave their offerings and bowed, and we just kind of walked around the complex. The girls asked for some instruments from the people in charge of the temple, and they received this cymbal-thingy and a hand drum. For about an hour, we just sat outside the temple and played music and sang songs. Apurvi told me later that they were singing Hindu religious songs, which I gathered at the time. They sang for the longest time! I just sat and clapped along and smiled. Other women stopped by, and they would dance and sing along. One older lady led a whole song and she looked like she was enjoying herself. At one point, there were 25 women sitting around and 4 or 5 of them were dancing! They all knew the songs, too. I guessed that the songs were like our hymns. After a while, we went to eat lunch. Since it was raining, we had to have our picnic in the van, with everyone smashed up in the back together. But it was fun, and the food was delicious!
Since Wednesday is always tandoori night, we decided that Tuesday night would be our last night on the town. We had a “food crawl,” where we hopped from restaurant to restaurant in McLeod and Bhagsu, and just ate all the junk we wanted. John was aiming to eat a record 50 momos that night—he managed to stuff 40 down his craw without puking! Very impressive, indeed. MOMOS. Gosh, they are the best food I’ve had in India. They’re like little yummy dumplings—we started the food crawl with spinach and cheese momos. Delicious! After that, we ate some breakfast food in Bhagsu, and then went to this little restaurant in a tent. It had a movie screen up, and they were playing “My Cousin Vinny”. It was a pretty funny movie! After several pizzas, noodles, and Limcas later, we went and got some Bhagsu cake, which is the most delicious dessert I’ve had in India. Needless to say, we were all very full and bloated when we waddled our way home that night. It was a really fun time.
Wednesday was my last day of work. We didn’t even bother having class; I brought a bunk of junk food and we just sat and ate and played pass the parcel and danced a lot. Inder showed me how to make this dessert that was made of some kind of grain and raisins. It was so good; I’m going to have her email me the recipe (even though I can’t cook). Mostly, we just took lots of pictures and danced. I played them some Lady Gaga, since they had never heard of her before! I had my laptop with me, so of course they wanted me to show them pictures, which I did. I gave them all parting gifts, too. I had noticed that some of the women, during our class discussions, had mentioned that they sometimes feel very angry or sad, and yet have no one to talk to about their feelings. I bought each of them a journal, with the hopes that they would use it to sort through their thoughts and feelings. I’ve always thought writing is therapeutic, so that’s why I wanted to give them these gifts. They gave me a gift too: a small notebook and two cool bangles. Eventually, I had to leave, which was awful. Of course it was sad leaving, but it was sadder knowing that I didn’t know when I would see these women again, if ever. Many of them said that they want to come to the US, but I know most of them won’t ever make it. Obviously, right when people starting saying bye and crying and hugging me, I burst out crying. I promised them that I would come back to Khaniyara, and I told them that they have to invite me to their weddings! I know I’ll come back to India, but I said to them that I didn’t know when I would come back. It may be one year, five years, or ten years. They were sad to hear that. When I said goodbye to Abhilasha, she said “I am missing you already,” and said that I was her mentor. It was hard saying goodbye to some of the girls that I had gotten close with, like Pooja and Arti. But I’ll come back and see them. Some of the girls are so young, I’m anxious to see how their lives turn out. We all walked down the road together—it honestly felt like a movie scene. After many more hugs and goodbyes, I got in the car and we started to drive away. Looking back at that group of women and seeing them all wave goodbye to me is a memory that I’ll cherish always.
So it was sad leaving. It felt surreal when we were packing up and saying goodbye to all the CCS staff. Monica, Anju, Kanchan, Pummy, Ashwami, Jeetu, Anil, Lalu, Rakesh, Makesh…they are just awesome people, and they made our experience in India really great. We’ll definitely miss them, too.
It feels like we’ve been in India a while, we know that, but it also feels like the time just flew by. It will be strange going home, but we’re both looking forward to it.
We’ll be in Delhi for a few days, hit up the Taj, and then head to the airport Sunday night. Monday afternoon, we’ll both be home!
So we may not have internet for a while, but we’ll post final thoughts and reflections eventually.
Peace out,
Ashley
Singing and dancing at the temple
Picnic!
This place is just so beautiful. And there was a rainbow.
Nearing the end of the food crawl....
Everyone :)
Last day
Jitender, me, and Binta
Pooja is so, so tiny!
Leaving the CCS house
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