(India)na Jones

Hello from India! These past few days have been an incredible non-stop adventure and I've loved every crazy moment of it. I've learned so much in India so far and fallen completely in love with this country and it's culture. 

The first thing I've learned is that Indian drivers are straight up the most confident drivers in the world. Moments after leaving the airport I learned that the lines on the highways are mere suggestions, two cars will drive in the same lane at a time just inches away from each other. They all honk just to let each other know that they're there, and then they pass each other, barley avoiding hitting each other. After we got closer to Kullu the roads head up the canyon and get really narrow - really only big enough for one car at a time, yet they drive on two lanes anyways. Our drive into Kullu was dark and as we headed up the bumpy curved canyon roads it literally felt like you were riding Indiana Jones in Disneyland. It was scary and you felt like you were gonna die, but at the same time you couldn't stop laughing. 

Another thing I've learned is that it's possible to have wild cows. Who knew. 

I'm completely in love with my school and can't handle how perfect it is. It's about a 15-20 min hike from the main road to our school. On the first day of school our bus driver just stopped on this road so I thought he was asking directions, but then we started getting out. There was literally nothing around but this canyon (Looks kinda like big cottonwood where the water is - but the roads don't have barriers on the cliffs, like at all). Turns out theres a narrow staircase going down the cliff into the canyon and the trail takes us over this beautiful bridge and we follow the river up to our school. All the kids are so beautiful and excited to have us there. On the first day they welcomed us with flowers and it was literally the cutest thing ever. Teaching them has been an incredibly rewarding challenge! We have a group of really young kids how kinda just stare at you while you try to teach up to an older group that can repeat and understand full sentences. It amazes me how much these kids know and how quickly they can catch on to what they don't. Every single one of them wants to be there and is really excited to learn and I just love it! After one of my lessons today I gave one of the girls my Chatbook I had made with a bunch of my pictures. She literally flipped through it 6 times getting super excited every time. When ever she saw me in shorts she would point and laugh (probably making fun of how white I am LOL). Then she would find pictures of Tanner and I and smile then show everyone in the group like it was the most amazing thing ever. Turns out they have two holidays this week so we're only teaching them 4 days. I can't believe that we're halfway through teaching them! I feel like I've hardly gotten to know them but I love them so much already! 

That's another thing I've learned: India has a ton of holidays... 

There's honestly so much more I can talk about but I just don't know how to put it into words. I've truly come to love everything here. The driving, the smells, the random colored buildings, the prayer flags everywhere, the people, just everything! I couldn't have asked for a better group either. We're always laughing and as Becca put it the other day "I just want to be unhappy for a minute - my cheeks hurt" 

I wish the best for everyone back home! I'm so happy you took the time to read our blog and I promise that we'll be blogging more! I love you Tanner ;) and of course love you too Mom. 

Makayla