Glitter Grace By: Grace Bergstedt

Today started out with a delayed bus drive due to the bus malfunctioning. However, we made it up the curvy road to the school. When we arrived, we saw the kids do their prayer ritual. Then we divided the kids into small groups of three or four, and prepared to teach. My overall topic for teaching is Mother Earth, and today I taught about insects. I showed the kids pictures of insects and asked if they knew the name of any of them. If one of the kids knew, I would reward them by giving them the flash card.I demonstrated how to decorate dragonflies that my team and I made the night before out of clothespin and popsicle sticks. They decorated the dragonflies with markers and glitter. They particularly loved the glitter, and spreading it everywhere. The rest of my lesson consisted of reading books, and finger puppet role play.

My favorite part about being in India is being able to interact with the kids. They have so much love and excitement that is contagious. My favorite part about today besides teaching, was the bus ride to and from the school. I loved this because our whole group was able to see the kids passing in school buses. It was so fun to see their reaction when they saw us. They all opened their eyes big, smiled, and waved at us. They are adorable!

Another amazing part about the bus ride is the beautiful scenery. I feel so lucky to be able to teach these kids, and witness the surroundings. The houses are so colorful, and look extremely beautiful from afar! The Himalayas were incredible to drive through! The roads are very small yet cars, motorcycles, cows, stray dogs, and people walking, all manage to fit. It blows my mind how they can all get three inches or less apart without crashing! Everything here is so different from what I’m used to, but so wonderful. I can’t wait for tomorrow!