Finally, An Update

I'm not even going to attempt an apology for not keeping in touch here. What I will offer is the promise to fill in ALL of the many missing details as soon as I return. I have them all written down, I just haven't had the time to write them here. Soon, I promise, soon.

I'm in Dharamsala now, way up in the Himalayas. It's absolutely gorgeous. I was lucky enough to be placed in a flat with a balcony overlooking the entire city. The mountain range gleams in the distance behind a sprinkling of mist. The sky has never appeared so vast and infinite in all my life. It's a phenomenal feeling to stand and watch the world illuminate beneath the sunrise every morning, to see every star burn in the dark night sky. It's so quiet and peaceful and amazing.

Of course, it's incredibly different from Delhi. We've added a whole new level to the India "roughing it" idea. In truth, we're just in a much poorer area. We can't take showers, but rather fill a bucket with water and pour it over us. We can't flush anything down the toilet. We (obviously) still can't drink the water, but have to be that much more careful here. We have no fridge, and often, no electricity. Still, like the locals, we're happy. Still, we continue on. It's really funny how little we need the things we've always thought of as necessities.

My volunteer work here lights up my heart to degrees I can't begin to express. Every morning I awake and walk down to the local water pump with my school supplies--crayons and paper and books. We get driven up and then down another mountain, past the dry river banks, past the fields of cows and workers, past the speeding sign that asks "what's the hurry?" We arrive at a small building, one room, and are greeted by 10 to 15 little Indian children all yelling good morning. They may be the sweetest things I've ever seen. I just adore them.

I teach them games and numbers and colors. They laugh and cry and learn. We dance, oh goodness how we dance, as the teachers drum along on old boxes. There's so much joy in that little room, so much unbridled happiness. I awake each morning smiling, just knowing that will be my day. One of my kids is named "Love," and I think that just says it all. I am so, so, so very happy.

Things have been noticeably different here than they were in Delhi though. I have much more down time to sit and think. The "market" is much further away and so we've spent very little time venturing out at night. Still, it's been a different kind of wonderful. We've sat out under the stars getting to know each other better. We have 16 new volunteers, so it's been a complete change from the group of original 9 we've come to know and love so well. I'm so glad to know them. I'm so grateful to them and for them, especially because there's been some upsetting home-life news slipping in via the internet. I'm so lucky to have these beautiful souls by my side to explore the infinite abyss, and not a day goes by when I don't think of that.

The love I feel to and for and from India is a love I never knew existed. It is truly the most comfortable and friendly place I've ever been to, and I feel more comfortable and friendly in it than at any other point in my life. I'm sure I sound like a broken record at this point. I know you want details. I'm just so consumed with the emotional aspect of my life here that the details have comparably become almost insignificant.

Still, I promise to share them all with you. I promise to share the beauty and suffering, the strength and fragility, the highs and the lows I see and feel here each day. There are a countless number of phenomenal moments to share. I just hope that one day, I'll be able to do them justice. I hope that one day, I'll be able to bring you here with me, to this place of magic and wonder and life. I hope that one day, I'll be able to make you experience the all consuming love I feel right now. One day I will. I promise.