I'm back in Asia!

I was home for three weeks but never really had it in my to "summarize my experience" so it's only now, once I've just flown into Chiang Mai, that I'm going to blog again. I want to talk about my last week or so in India, and ruminate a bit on the trip as a whole before I move on.

We spent our last week of travel in Sikkim; a tiny state sandwiched between Nepal, China, and Bhutan in Northeast India. (We flew from Chennai to Kolkata - formerly known as Calcutta - and then took a train and a bus to Gangtok, the capitol of Sikkim.) It's a predominantly Nepalese Buddhist state - essentially it was a whole other India to see just before we left. I was particularly excited to have the chance to see Buddhism in India because Thailand is a Buddhist nation and it will be neat to compare the two. Sikkim is also chalk full of jaw-dropping views; both of vibrant Gompas (Buddhist monasteries) and natural grandeur. After spending time in Gangtok's largest Gompa, several tea shops, side-streets, and a handicrafts bizarre, we took a Jeep ride through slightly mountainous terrain to a tiny Village called Tashiding. The next day we took an hour-long trek to a nearby peak where the Tashiding Monastery is situated. The views......can't be described - 360 degree hilly/mountainous beauty from the vantage point of a peaceful, prayer-flag full Monastery. We stayed for several hours to journal, draw in my case, and take in the Monastery. The next day we trekked about 20 kilometers to Yuksom.....of course it was beautiful and the trekking company couldn't be beat - especially since two friendly dogs followed us all 20 kilometers without so much as a bread-crumb of encouragement (for the first 12 km....until we knew they were really loyal.) We christened them Ravi and Puri (the name of an Indian bread). Other Sikkim highlights include; a grueling trek to Kechapuri Lake - a Holy lake surrounded in prayer flags and silence, listening to monks chant and play music (horns, gongs, percussion) in a Gompa in Pelling, and seeing Kanchenjunga - the third highest peak in the world. Sikkim was a travel highlight for all three of us - we recommend it!

After a few (not so short) flights.....we were home. It was, indeed disorienting to be in a place that was once so ordinary and have it seem extreme in many some ways; extremely uncrowded/unchaotic/uncolorful...and extremely orderly. I'm glad I got to see my family and I know my mother couldn't have stomached another three and half months of me traveling without some maternal respite. Of course I was asked a slew of questions about my time in India when I was home....and I probably didn't answer any of them properly. I love talking about India though I'm always wary of getting caught up in my own recollections about the kids and becoming unintelligible. Actual concrete examples of "how I changed" or "how this affected what I'll do with my life" are fairly difficult to produce. (The more concrete change in myself I can offer up is a 2 milimeter thick callous on the inner joint of my right middle finger that is a byproduct of giving the children a whole lot of mehendi cone (henna).)

Still, I'm continuing to notice little changes in myself and my tastes that are pointing me along towards conclusions. It is clear to me that my time at the Children's Home was by far the most impacting experience I had. I could have predicted that before ever leaving Everett, but it has manifested itself differently than I would have expected. Because we traveled for the month after leaving the Children's Home, I forced myself to move on and live in the moment, not wanting to miss out on our travel experiences. Once I was home and beginning to share stories and photos with family and friends I found myself thinking and wanting to talk about the children more and more every day. My thoughts aren't necessarily that complicated; I'm usually thinking something along the lines of, "Pavithra is mischievous and wonderful - I love her!". I've always loved listening to people and learning how they see the world. That held true with the children; I was fascinated by how they related to each other, wanted to know who felt left out and who was a leader, tried to look out for the kids who seemed lonely - I was essentially obsessed with what Kate termed "Kid politics". I'm fascinated by essentially the same general trends in adults as well. The difference with kids is their freshness; they aren't yet complete slaves to their own habits which makes them both mystifying and rewarding to work with. Mystifying because they're always surprising you with a ridiculous and hilarious comment or erratic behavior problem. Rewarding because they are impressionable; that gives me the privilege and responsibility of actually affecting them; both emotionally and academically. All this leads me to believe that I should spend my life around children in some capacity; I love being around kids and they seemed to benefit from me as well.

On a completely separate note, I have the travel bug! By the end of our travels in India I was loving the daily barrage of colors, smells, and tastes so much that I couldn't wait to go back. When I do return to India, I will doubtless spend time at the Children's Home, but I also hope to travel more in Northern India and see Varanasi, Amritsar, Dharamsala, and Ladakh. I adore Kate and Deepa and will miss them dearly; they made my time in India exactly what it was. They are such strong personalities, and I learned about myself by defining the boundaries of my friendships with two such unique, intelligent, and strong-willed people. Thank you Deepa and Kate- I love you both very much.

So now it's on to Thailand! I've been here only an afternoon and already I can't stop thinking about the differences between India and Thailand...I'm sure that will continue for a while while I try to get my footing. I haven't actually seen Flora yet! I will be meeting her and her visiting family in Bangkok in just two days. From there, she, her dad, and Liz (a friend of the Weeks family who I am living with right now) are going to Angkkor Wat in Cambodia! That's a lot of action for a first week living in Thailand, but I'm excited!

Thanks for reading!
~Alice