Welcome to the Himalayas (sadly no lemon snow cones yet)

Hi everyone!! I miss you so so much but you were so right I love it here so much. I’m not going to lie the first three days or however many days it was (it was a time warp and there’s no way it was real) were so rough and I cried and all I wanted to do was come home. I knew I looked so mad because when I woke up today (on Monday) and I got ready and went downstairs I was beaming and everyone kept commenting, “Sloane you look so bright and happy today”, it made me laugh because I know they were thinking I was going to be miserable the whole time and I’m not going to lie I thought I as going to too until I woke up today and the air wasn’t smoggy yet and the birds were chirping and the view from the roof was INCREDIBLE , also the humidity is doing amazing things for my skin. If you know me you know I’m terrified of heights so this is basically all my worst fears being manifested. The cliffs are sheer drop offs and the roads are so tiny and crowded. I feel comforted by the chaos, in some ways it’s peaceful but when it comes to the cliffs I did not feel peaceful in the slightest, fingers crossed I’ll be over my fear by the time I’m back in the US. But the drive and everything was all worth it. Of course my village is one of the only ones that has a drive with switchbacks and stairs with drop offs but I met the kids and they are so sweet I just love them. I was so nervous that the communication was going to be impossible but my translator is darling and so helpful and I love her. Also when it comes to these kids they love you just for talking to them and being there. They are so interested in us and just talking and playing that sometimes it’s hard to get through the whole lessons. I think it’s good though I would rather have them talking and engaged than not engaged and trying to do the lesson. India is so beautiful, I tried to capture it in pictures and it just does not translate. It’s a completely different world over here, the streets are packed with people, cars, cows, and dogs are EVERYWHERE – it’s so hard to not pet them because they are so darling and they come up to you and wag their tails but obviously we can’t because they are strays- there’s also the occasional donkey which was so cool to see. On the bus ride I saw monkeys and I had kinda forgotten that they exist in the wild just because it never crosses my mind. I love the mountains it’s comforting to have a taste of home the Himalayas surround us on every side and the houses go all the way up the mountain, in the daytime the houses are a splattering of every color you can imagine, and at night the mountains blend into the sky and the house lights look like stars (of course it reminds me of space mountain) . The mountains feel like home to me, I feel too open and exposed without them. They make me feel safe, and that’s another thing, I don’t feel scared here that much, sure it’s crowded and busy and everyone stares but I don’t feel scared. I also understand why they stare we saw another humanitarian group that’s here with HXP and my eyes were just immediately drawn to them, they stood out so much and it made me laugh because I realized that’s exactly what we look like. The culture is amazing and so beautiful, it’s so cool to see everyone walking down the streets in their outfits. It’s so different from the US. I miss the US but I also don’t and it’s way more complex than that but I can’t really put it into words. I miss home and my AirTag keeps beeping and I have no clue if it’s you guys playing the noise or if it just does that every couple hours, but either way it reminds me of home and how much I miss you guys at home.  It’s so weird to not have any contact but I am so glad I don’t have my phone. I feel like I’m immersed in the experience of India and that’s an experience I wouldn’t want to miss for the world.

P.S. I hope this made you cry mom because I’m so proud of it! Love ya!

-Sloane