Dark Chocolate – Marcus

Yesterday was a rough day. We had to say goodbye to all the little kids that we had come to love. Everyone was a mess, the entire village team, the kids, the village. It didn’t make it any easier that the kids were then trying to comfort me with the candy that they had received just moments before as a gift. The students were so selfless. They probably don’t get a lot of candy, they probably don’t have a lot of extra or their basic needs fully met, and yet, they were willing to give up all of it for me. I hope I can be half as loving as them one day.

This entire experience was summarized miraculously by our village leader Jaime. The word she used was bittersweet. It has been exactly that. You create a bond. The fate of which was never a mystery. We always knew our time in each other’s lives would be limited and yet the kids and I opened our hearts up effortlessly, but all good things come to an end. This end was sooner than anybody desired. It was like dark chocolate; sweet and bitter. Sweet because it happened but bitter because it we will never be able to return to this moment with these people.

Today we arrived in Shimla. It was a blast. We arrived around midday. After getting situated, we had a lunch from in the hotel. I made the unfortunate mistake of sitting by 5 other guys. Lunch evolved into a post apocalyptic war zone. Every man for themselves due to the limited resources. People were calling dibs for food, defending enemy advances with forks, and fighting to secure the best dishes were all just a part of dinner. Then after dinner, we decided to try to one up each other. First it started with eating an entire onion slice, then escalated to eating large amounts of the spiciest dish and finally climaxed when we ate some spicy peppers.  Some people (James. Much love, James) didn’t handle it too well but Madi and Coletgoon handled the peppers like champs. I’d like to think I fit into the latter category when I ate the pepper but I’m not too sure because my eyes teared up a little..

After lunch we all went to the markets. I found this really cool hoodie that was the style of vests and things that the people wear. It was too small and super expensive. We spent some time exploring the different shops. It was a hoot. On the way back some people got pudding cups and we all tried them. They were actually pretty good. Then we saw the most brilliant sunset. The sky was blue except for an amazing orange ring surrounding a red sun. 

I love you Mom, Dad, Moraya, Dominic, Garret, family, friends, strangers and more.

2 Responses to “Dark Chocolate – Marcus”

1. Bri Oglesby, on April 4th, 2017 at 9:13 pm Said:

   ahhh i’m actually crying!!! i can’t even think about leaving those kids i’m going to meet soon (less then a week !!) without crying… enjoy the rest of your trip! maybe we’ll pass each other in the airport 🙂 – Bri [Antar Bano]

2. Dee Cervantez, on April 5th, 2017 at 5:11 pm Said:

   So excited to hear your adventures and to see you. I know you would stay there forever but I have missed you and am glad you are coming home. Love mom