Much has happened over the past few days since we’ve returned from Udaipur. We’ve continued our hard work at the construction site, and yesterday we put on a coat of primer on the chabutra, beginning our process of decorating the structure with different colors and designs. It’ll be a great way for us to put our personal touch on the project. Today we are putting the second coat on the chabutra and the girls are also continuing the ongoing project of painting the fence inside the temple with black, white, and yellow — the colors the local priests requested. While each construction day brings its own set of challenges — today, for instance, it has been intermittently raining, making the chabutra painting task a bit difficult — it feels great to be closing in on all the different projects we began weeks ago.

After our construction visit, we visited Taraji’s house for a final visit with the entire group. The girls have spent a lot of one-on-one time with her, learning embriodery and sewing skills, but today they got their outfits properly fitted. The girls will be wearing these outfits on the final celebration at Kotri, where they will perform the traditional dance that they’ve been working on. In fact, this evening they had their last dance class with the local dancers, putting the final touches on their performance. The girls have enojyed getting to know specific members of the community better with time, including both the dancers and Taraji.

Over the past few days, we’ve really enjoyed unwinding at the end of the evening with movie sessions outside, in the courtyard of the Raola. We hook up Ady’s laptop to Kaylee’s speakers and have enjoyed classic Bollywood films, such as “Highway” and “Queen,” as well as some classics from home. We’re also ensuring that we all get a good amount of time to relax during the afternoon, when we are most tired after construction. Some girls have really taken on the opportunity to learn from the in-house cooks, sitting by the fire with the cooks and rolling out homemade chapati — traditional bread made with flour, salt, and water. Hopefully they’ll bring some of the flavor they’ve grown to like back home!

We’re looking forward to a few busy last days in Kotri before we head back on the road again!

Until next time,

Lizzie & Ady