7 / 20

Anganwadi with our whole group! Which is quite the feat after all of the sickness happening. We got absolutely drenched, it was pouring and the water was so gross and brown that we just had to walk through waterfalls over the road of to get there and back. We aren't leaving the home base the rest of the day though so that will be a good break. Today was a lot of just hanging out and having good conversations about anything from politics to religion to about the program we're on. We got to have a really good conversation with Laura, the trip director, about everything from the home base to the food, which is kind of a touchy subject for us, to even how we feel during group discussions. I've loved all of the bonding time and I love that even through the completely terrible sicknesses we are all still getting really close. Speaking of sickness: a boy named Bruke and I are the only two who haven't gotten sick yet which is really odd because we are the two who threw up on the way to Dharamsala. It interesting and we are hoping we got the bacteria out of our systems then but we can only hope! 

Tonight we watched a TedTalk called The Dangerous of a Single Story. It was amazing to hear how a "single story" of a place or type of people can affect those people. It was almost about stereotypes but at the same time it was more about how we grow up seeing that culture through media and other outlets. Just like the woman in the video who grew up in Africa but lived in a "normal" city with cars and a "regular" life - I put so much it quotes because those are very relative terms and I hope you can see what I mean and also see that that may not be normal to someone else. So when she gained an American roommate they asked many questions about her lifestyle and assumed things like that the speaker didn't know how to use a stove or listened to tribal music, but was absolutely shocked when she asked the speaker to play some music she put on a Mariah Carey album. This talk was a very different perspective and I highly recommend it. 
https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg 

7 / 19

It was a little boy's birthday at the Anganwadi today so we got to sing to him and we handed out special treats! They were very similar to Twinkies but, similar to many other cookies and snacks we have had, they were butter flavored. It sounds gross at first but the more you think about it it's easier to see that it actually should be and was weirdly delicious. It was also one of our more rainy mornings with the kids and we were forced to stay inside the tiny unlit room with all of the kids. It was actually a blessing to watch how unfazed they all were by the massive storm and the games that they created and started playing. We were also allowed to pleasure to teach them how to make paper snowflakes! I'm not sure that they knew what they were supposed to resemble, but they loved cutting and coloring the papers.

I've recently realized that I am very tired, not in the way that I need sleep because we have had plenty of it, but in the way that we haven't had solid protein this entire trip and we've been going going going this whole time. I'm not complaining of the action because I love everything we are doing and I'm going to push through to experience this amazing opportunity, but I am definitely feeling the wariness.

When we got back for lunch we saw a glorious site: spring rolls and potato slices. The difference in style of food was a gift in itself, but those rolls and basically potato chips were delicious.

It's Quincy Foster's birthday today. I know I didn't know her and I'm not in Haiti, but being with these children just reminds me of what she loved so dearly and I send my heart out to her spirit right now.

This afternoon we worked on some portrait lighting techniques as well as went over interview basics. We were instructed to go to our rooms and as a group film an interview of one of us talking about our day so far. My room finished fairly early as we got to use one the only microphones first and there were multiple of us who had done things similar to this before. Carly and I showed Rahit and Rahul what we had done and then the four of us just chatted while we waited on the other rooms to finish. It was really awesome to talk to these brothers about their lives and what they do. We asked a lot of questions about their job as well as their lifestyles here in India as they live in Dheli which offers quite a different lifestyle then here in a village in the Himalayas, but it was cool to hear the differences.

After dinner and mentor groups we were gifted ice cream floats! The ice cream was not too different than basic American vanilla except a slight flavor difference, but when paired with the Coke or Fanta, it was a very welcomed gift.

7 / 18

After breakfast we headed to our Anganwadi assignments. While we were there Danielle taught some of the kids how to make cootie-catchers, which are the silly little paper things that are folded and written on with numbers or colors in order to predict things about a kid's future. Well Anish, an adorable 8 year old boy, was making one and I heard him ask Antonios how to spell my name. He later came up and asked me to pick a number that he had written on top of his cootie-catcher. I picked one and he began to move his fingers in a pattern, he didn't quite get it right and I was about to teach him the correct way to play when I saw him opening one of the end cards and I realized it didn't matter if he knew how to play or not, he was on a mission. He unfolded the flap and pointed it at me. It read "Chelsea I likes you." and he ran off as my heart filled with joy. He was very sweet and it made my heart so happy that we were making an impact on him and his friends. Anish yelled my name and waved to me from his home that was very close to the Anganwadi as we left for the day.

We headed of to a Hindi temple after lunch. We were able to hear about their beliefs and the basis of their religion as well as had the honor to be blessed by the temple leader. Priyanka showed us what the paintings and sculptures meant and we were allowed to explore the temple and document what we liked, including the nearby waterfall.

We then left for a Tibetan institute that also held a temple inside it gates. There they teach weed carving, metal working, extremely intricate canvas painting and more. Many people learn these skills and use them to create works for temples or to sell. After taking a tour of the institute we were allowed to move more freely around the campus and document our experiences there as well as experience the amazing view from the rooftop of the temple, which also stands as the Dalai Lama's winter home.

When were arrived back at home base Priyanka led us in creating our own Tibetan Prayer Flags similar to what we witnessed at the temple as well as around the city. These flags are covered in prayers and hung to wave in the wind as every breeze that moves them takes their prayers with it.We used multiple colors and artistic designs in ours which we felt contrasted the very simple and beautiful writings of the Tibetans, but Priyanka and Kaitlyn told us that they see them as all equal, it is just a different language and way that we express ourselves. That makes a lot of sense to me and I just love that there are so many different cultures and groups of people around the world that all are expressed differently.

7 / 17

We were assigned our capstone groups this morning. A capstone project is a project that is normally a long term project that has a focus and can be presented. For us that meant the topics were Gaddi Culture, the local sports camp, the Anganwadis, and the local agriculture and food industry, which is my group's project. There are many different ways we could present our project and we were encouraged to explore all of those options before choosing one. Many often choose a documentary style video, a photo-essay is also popular, and my group chose a website that will showcase a short video interview with the head of a local farm and then have many photos and articles about the local agriculture.

We had our first morning of service at the Anganwadis and it was a very difficult situation for many of us. We were told that we would be leading the kids and to have some things planned but none of us really took that to heart and we all thought that we would be aiding the actual teachers in whatever they had for the kids. However, when we showed up there were many pleasantries exchanged and then suddenly nothing was said and all of the children were looking to us, as if the were waiting for instructions. We quickly realized that we were, in fact, in charge and had had absolutely no guidance in what to do. So my group, Danielle, Antonios, and I, quickly came up with a few games from our childhood for us to take turns leading while the others came up with a plan for some learning time. We decided to make this day more fun and explorative as it was only day one. We found out that the kids loved history, however none of us knew anything about Indian history, geography, and math, well most of them liked math. We did a lot with geography that first day but later decided that math was a good route to focus on for the rest of the visits. It was definitely a growing moment for all of us in terms of leadership; they really do focus on the 'L' in G.L.A. (Global Leadership Adventures).

When we arrived back at home base for lunch it began to rain and it was clear that whatever afternoon plans there were, weren't going to happen due to said rain as well as the many many people feeling under the weather. It was better to have a restful day. There was a handful of us that spent the rest of the afternoon playing card games and even teaching some of the Indian mentors how to play games like spoons and Egyptian Rat Slap, while they taught us their much quicker way of shuffling cards and their special rules in UNO. We had a quick refresher course in Hindi after supper and are headed off to bed now.

7/16

We woke up and ate another yummy breakfast and had a lecture on camera settings such as aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - the same lecture that I've heard a million times and even given to others about a thousand times, but I know it will always help to hear it again... maybe, but it is nice to be able to help the others who do not know quite as much about cameras or photography.

We then headed out to St. John's Church to put these ideas to use. It was a very foggy day to say the least but it just added more drama to the gorgeous architecture. We shot the vegetation and the people us and locals, around the church. It was absolutely beautiful and to be able to hear the Christian sermon happening inside in the middle of such a large Hindu community was a true blessing and made me feel so at peace. it was breathtaking.

Afterwards, we headed to the market to purchase fabric and get measured for our custom saris! We won't be able to see them again until next week but all of the fabric was beautiful and I can't wait to wear mine. While we were at the tailor, they handed out cups of cold Coke and in was not until I saw the condensation on the bottles did I realize how much I have missed ice and cold drinks. It was amazing to have something chilled after so long as in India it is dangerous to drink the tap water and we have been living on bottled water for these past few days. And because of that great water crisis it is considered a waste to use bottled water for ice in other drinks.

We left for home base and were greeted by a meal that was Chinese inspired and was very close to chow mein with soy sauce which was a very welcomed break very the bland rice-based Indian food.

We were surprised by a Hindi class after dinner that was lead by one of our leaders, Priyanka. It was amazing to see how the people here have translated their language into both English and a written version that uses english letters to explain the pronunciation. It was awesome to have our names translated into their written language as well.

7 / 15

Most of us were awake by 5 and all hungout watching netflix and listening to random music until breakfast at 8. But we finally had a proper orientation and played a few name games with the leaders after breakfast. We headed to the day cares or Anganwadi to meet the kids that we will be working with for the next week or so and headed back to home base for lunch. After lunch, we had a meet up with the brother photography mentors Rahit and Rahul Lal and talked about the rule of thirds. We then for ready and headed out for a market scavenger hunt.
They are really pushing us out of our comfort zones and into stronger leadership personalities as they let us lead and forced us to act on our own accord with no help at all when. We were given a list of items to buy or pieces of information to learn by asking people in the market, again without them telling us where to go or when to stop for help. They were there strictly for safety and translated when necessary and we chose when to ask, who to ask, and what to ask. We were also on a time crunch if we wanted to finish our list before the other groups and win the competition, which my group did.

We then came back to home base and uploaded pictures from the day and we each selected three pictures to give to Rahit and Rahul for a group critique. Afterwards we got a more westernized dinner, which was very very exciting, and we are currently preparing for a good night sleep!

7 /14

Just Kidding! The traveling is not over as in the morning we headed to the Delhi airport once again and took a 45 minute flight to Armitsar and then had a 5 hour drive to Dharamsala, the small village that we will be staying in and working in for the next week-and-a-half.

During our five hour drive we encountered many things but one of them was a cow just chilling in the middle of the road. We missed him though don't worry. They seem to be all over the place which yes makes sense but you don't truly realize the shock until you see it for yourself.
Well I threw up already but it's okay. I think it was just everything piling up, like food, travel, and windy roads etc. but at least I am not alone as a boy named Bruke did the same thing a few hours later.

We finally made it! I mean the showers are gross and there are spiders the size of a hand everywhere, including in those showers, but they are apparently harmless and easy to shew away and we have finally finally made it to the spot that we will be for a longer period of time, which feels great.

Three weeks ago I preemptively put a pin in India at the "Where have you served?" booth at General Assembly and today I have this beautiful view and can finally say namaste from Dharmsala! And now we will get an actual full night's sleep in a real bed! ... unless jet lag gets to us. BTW: it did.