The Great Indian Adventure Begins! By Kira Rogers

The Great Indian Adventure Begins

 

We made it!! After DAYS of traveling including, 24 hours of flying and a 14 hour bus drive through Delhi and roads that I SWEAR somehow stretch to fit two full size busses, cows and scooters. We made it to Kullu Sunday night exhausted but so excited to be there! We have pretty much taken over a hotel in town surrounded by beautiful mountains terraced with lots of colorful houses. We are so lucky to have amazing cooks, translators and the wonderful Raj who has worked so hard to get everything organized to make our arrival that much smoother.

 

After a great and much needed nights rest we got up this morning ready to go to our schools and meet the kids these teens have been preparing to serve or the past year. After yet another death defying bus ride we made it to our school just in time to watch the kids do their morning prayers, meditation and pledge to their country. I have to say, these kids are so CUTE! The teens and the kids were both a bit shy and nervous, not knowing what to expect, but as the day went on they both warmed up to each other. It was absolutely wonderful to watch these relationships start to form.

 

As an adult leader of the orange team I was lucky enough to watch all the teens teach their lessons and get to know their little kids.

Owen was so animated! His first group came around and I don’t think he stopped smiling the rest of the day. He did great teaching the kids introductions and they LOVED learning “high fives” and “bones” and continued doing them the rest of the day.

Lili was so sweet with her kids. She helped them learn about their bodies and the Mr. Potato head game was a hit. She was so kind and the kids responded so well to her wonderful spirit.

Calvin was awesome! He taught the kids about construction and tool names and I think all the kids loved creating towers with the gizmo blocks. Calvin’s book is probably one of the wordiest ones but he had two cute girls in one of his groups that read, no, yelled, every word of that book and had so much fun.

Grace had so much fun and the kids loved giving her high fives. Grace was awesome at including every kid and helped them learn about animals. They made the cutest little thumbprint animals.

Mckelle was our group leader today! She did awesome! She did so well keeping everyone organized taking pictures and helping the groups when they needed it. The kids played red light green light and when green light came they would charge her with hugs. It was so sweet!