Our first day back from Udaipur was packed and also, at times, challenging. In the morning, we headed off to two schools: one, a government-run all-girls school, and the second, a private, co-ed school. While it was slightly uncomfortable for the girls to stand up in front of a room full of strangers at first, by the end of the first session, most made great connections with the girls by playing games that incorporate learning (like numbers and the alphabet) or drawing a map of the world on the chalkboard and having them identify the U.S.A. and India.
The girls with students from a nearby all-girls government school.
Early on during the day, we realized that we were all pretty exhausted from all of our travels and busy schedule — plus, we’ve officially reached the midpoint in our program, a time when spirits can dip. So instead of our labor-intensive construction plans for the afternoon, and all the girls took a much needed afternoon of rest. We finished one Bollywood movie that we started before Udaipur and began another one while sipping on our soup before dinner, and generally had a very relaxing time. This morning, everyone was in better spirits and feeling much healthier! It was a good reminder that sometimes checking in as a group and prioritizing well-being is more important than the quantity of work we complete.
The girls hard at work on the chabutra!
Today, we visited the construction site in the morning to put the finishing touches on the chabutra (the work stopped while we were away!) and continued painting the temple. It’s great to see the progress that both jobs have made. After a delicious lunch, half the girls went to Taraji’s house to continue embroidering and sewing their clothing and afterward we had another restful time drinking chai. Later, the girls met with two local dancers and musicians and continued to learn a variety of traditional dances, which we will be performing for the community at our final celebration!
Tonight, we plan on finishing the second Bollywood film we started (called “Queen”) and having another of our amazing homecooked meals before getting to bed on time. We have a bit less than a week left in the village, but we still have so much planned, including a couple of day trips.
Stay tuned!
— Lizzie & Aditya