Hello all!
After what has been an incredible and incredibly LONG journey, I am finally in Rishikesh, and have safely arrived at Ramana's Garden (the orphanage where I will be staying and working for the next 2 months). Even though I have only been in India for about a day and a half, I feel as though I left home a week ago! After not sleeping more than a couple hours (thanks to Joe, who kept feeding me drinks at Sam's Tues evening), I had to get up at 4am to try to catch an earlier flight to Newark Wed morning, since my scheduled flight was likely to get me there too late to catch my flight to Delhi. Fortunately, I made it on a 7:30am flight, and arrived in Newark with plenty of time to spend getting fattened up by my dad at the airport (thanks, Dad)! My flight to Delhi was scheduled to leave Newark at 8:45 pm, but boarding was pushed to about 9:20. After boarding, we ended up sitting on the runway in line for almost 4 hours before finally leaving the ground. Fortunately, however, I was seated next to a very nice, young Bengali couple who live in New Jersey and were flying home to see family. We talked for most of the flight, and had exchanged phone numbers and email addresses before even leaving the ground. They were the first of many warm Indian people I have encountered.
After a VERY long flight, I finally landed in Delhi 4 hours later than I was scheduled to arrive. My bags were also not on the flight on which I had arrived, so I spent an additional hour or so trying to find them...meanwhile, it hit me that the driver who was supposed to pick me up was nowhere in sight, so I was directed to a "pre-paid" taxi (the only taxi service sponsored federally that will not take you to a dark alley and tell you your destination has burned to the ground). After waiting outside in the rain with a funny little Indian man who asked me everything under the moon, including what I have to be the most commonly asked questions of Americans by Indian people:
1. Where are you from?
2. How old are you?
3. Why are you not married?
4. What is your job?
5. How much money do you make?
6. How much was your flight to India?
7. How many brothers or sisters do you have?
Apparently I'm considered somewhat of a rebel for a)not being married at my ripe-old age of 23, and b) not having any biological siblings. (I've now just stopped trying to explain the "step-sibling" idea and saying that I have 2 wonderful brothers and a beautiful sister - which is true). I finally was driven to a hotel close to the aiport at around 1am, where I immediately tried to get in touch with my parents so that I could contact the woman running the orphanage to let her know that I had not been picked up and was staying in Delhi. I finally reached her to find out that the drivers had been in the Continental office looking for me (which is why I missed them), and that she was sending them to the hotel to get me. It was quite a production at the hotel when I walked down the stairs carrying my bags after just checking in. I waited in the lobby for a half hour while 5 Indian bellmen all stood in a circle staring at me as if I were a novelty they'd never seen. I just sat quietly and laughed to myself.
After finally being picked up at 2:30am, I drove 6 hours to Rishikesh in tiny, un-airconditioned car with 2 lovely Indian men who proceded to ask me the same 7 questions as the taxi driver. While I was exhausted from not sleeping for 20-some-odd hours, the drive was so much to take in that I forced myself to stay awake.
Rishikesh is only 150 miles from Delhi, but the drive takes about 6 hours due to the roads which are very poorly paved and quite narrow.
The driving in India is enough to write many pages about, but I will spare you. Most roads have 2 lanes, although there really isnt any acknowledgment of them, as everyone drives just about anywhere on the road. And although in India they drive on the left side of the road, cars going both directions will drive on either side, swerving to avoid hitting oncoming traffic. It's kind of like a live version of Mario Cart (for those of you who play video games). Also, Indian drivers use their horns more than they use their brakes. Even if there is no car in sight, the drivers honk, and when there are cars around, they honk to let them know they are passing them, to which that car responds by honking back. It's hillarious, and made LA driving seem like a piece of cake.
The scenery on the way to Rishikesh was breathtaking in every extreme. We drove through villages consisting of cardboard huts with people sleeping outside on just about anything from cots to bicycles. Cows, pigs and dogs roam freely through the streets, often times sleeping right in the middle of the road, ignoring altogether the cars honking at them to move. In fact, we had to stop at one point so that the driver could literally throw a dog off the road so we could pass. Once we got farther north, the scenery changed to rich greenery. They have a word in Hindi, "Hariahi" which literally means "the fresh air comes from the green trees" and it perfectly depicts the area around the northern Ganges where I am living. Around 6am we stopped for Chai and sat on a cot watching the sun rising over the lower Himalayas, and I have to say it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The air was sticky-hot, but felt incredible through the car window as we drove our final leg to Rishikesh.
I arrived at Ramana's Garden at 7am on what I though was Thursday, but was actually Friday. I was greeted by a swarm of little children wearing grey jumpers over bright pink shirts (their school uniform) who immediately took my bags and led me to Dwabha (the woman who runs the orhpange.
The compound (the land on which the orphanage is built) reminds me a great deal of the Tom Sawyer treehouse in Disneyland. The land is surreal, surrounded by incredibly thick, lush greenery that reaches out over the mountains that stretch out around the Ganges (which they call "Ganga") with a constant white fog tracing over the lower hillsides and over the river. The houses in which we live on the compound are round and made of adobe, and consist solely of 2 woven cots, and a shelf. The rooms are decorated with crafts made by the children. There are ladders leading up to literal tree-houses built much like those on the ground. Dwabha lives in an incredible, larger replica of these, with an office built right above, to which you have to climb a ladder leading up to swinging wooden doors. There is a kitchen which is constantly in use by the resident staff (mothers of children at the orphanage school) who cook around the clock. Down the hill is the gazebo, which is a straw covered room looking out over the mountains and Ganga where we meet each night for "Satsong," a prayer ceremony where all the children sit in our laps and sing prayers in Hindi. The classrooms are on the lower level, as is the Cafe which serves the local villages, and will open in a few weeks.
Instead of sleeping, I was immediately swept away by the children who introduced me to the other volunteers. There is one other American girl named Maggie who has become my closest friend. She is from New Jersey, and had been at Ramana's for 5 months in the spring and has returned. She is 19, but has already assumed the head role, taking on practically every responsibilty including giving medicine, teaching, and reprimanding the teachers if they are not behaving properly (one teacher was beating the children. She got fired). There is also a Dutch couple living above me, athough they only work in the afternoons, as well as a couple Canadian volunteers who live in town and come to Ramana's in the afternoons. Although Dwabha runs the place, she is not usually around, as she is constantly fundraising for the school, and has just sold a movie script. She's remarkable. I will tell you more about her later, as it would take a while.
That day, I had to help tutor the children after class, and we went down to Ganga where they bathed and washed their clothes. We waded in the river, which is flowing very heavily now because it is Monsoon season (it has been lightly raining since I've arrived). I spent some time with Maggie, and ate dinner (the food is incredible), and we all gathered for Satsong. This was by far my favorite part of the day. The children all sang a welcoming song to me, which was one of many things that made me feel at home here.
I have felt a sense of home since I arrived. Not so much in the sense of residence as in a feeling of belonging. Many people told me, although I am only now starting to understand the Indian way of community. The life here is not about the individual (although all individuals are acknowledged for their part), but moreso about the community. The team at Ramana's works so closely, all with the the common goal of ensuring the children are safe, healthy and educated.
The staff and volunteers met today to discuss what we will all be doing. Ramana's just got 5 computers donated to the school, so I am going to start (and teach) a computer class twice a week to the 2nd through 6th classes (grades). I am excited to take on this challenge, as well as the challenge of everything else I will be doing over the next 2 months. It is definitely beyond my usual comfort zone, but upon meeting the children, I realized that THIS part of my time here is not about me, it is about them.
The children are beyond amazing, and I will elaboate more on them next time, as I know this is getting long. I have left out many details which I will fill in later, but I wanted to at least send an email to say that I have arrived safely and am doing very, very well. I am now in Rishikesh with my friend, Maggie, as today is crafts day (which ended at noon), and tomorrow is my day off. I will try to write again tomorrow if we stay in Rishikesh. The LeapNow groups come in a week or so, which means we will get a few days off to travel a bit. I have taken a great deal of pictures, and will try to send a few next time I write. The man who runs the internet cafe is out today, so I cannot load pictures.
It is looking like I will be working Mon - Friday full time, and until mid-afternoon on Saturdays, with Sundays off for the next couple of weeks, so I will probably only be able to write once, maybe twice a week. However, I would LOVE to hear from all of you, so please keep in touch. Many of you have been in my thoughts a great deal while I have been here, wishing you were here to experience certain things with me. I see and feel so many things that remind me of some of you, and I see so many of you in some of the children.
There are so many things I would like to explain in more detail, but I am still a bit jet-lagged and tired. As I said, I will describe details more later. I'm just happy to be here finally and finding everything I could have hoped for.
I hope you are all well. I will be in touch soon.
Love to you all,
Cass
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