Emily and I picked up the new group this morning. This group
is our largest group yet—20 people. Well 19, we are still waiting on one who is
having visa issues. The makeup of the group is basically two family groups with
a handful of lone travelers thrown in. Jordan from session #3 will be staying
through this session as well—which of course we are all so happy about because
she is an absolute gem! I am trying to convince her to come back in January,
and I think it may be working………..I hope it is anyway. Having the families in
this group will put a different twist on things for sure. Our youngest family
member of the group is 8 and then we have a 12 and 14 year old. The younger
ones are all super curious little boys so we will see how it goes. There is
already a more family feeling atmosphere in the elephant house.
India’s welcome to session #4 was cute and wet! Alamalu had
created a magnificent rangoli design just in front of the elephant house steps.
Rangoli blows my mind. They are made out of chalk dust or some other kind of
small material---sand, colored salt, etc. and I love them.
After orientation we
were just finishing up the campus tour (which ends at the children’s
hostels/playgrounds) and before I could even finish what I was saying the
children ran around the corner and literally jumped on/swarmed the volunteers.
They were so excited to meet new volunteers and all the glossy eyed jet lagged
volunteers broke out into the biggest smiles ever. It was
After playtime, I stopped by the kitchen to pick up dinner.
I was by myself, which wasn’t a huge deal until a torrential downpour ensued. Unbeknownst
to me, one of the new volunteers, Lindsey, was walking behind me and was super
sweet and caught up, took one of the pots from me, but everything was already a
drowning mess. I was soaked, she was soaked, I was trying to hurry to get out
of the rain and all that did was result in curry down my shirt and pants. It
was quiet the adventure. The courtyard of the elephant house filled up with a
good amount of water so the younger kids were frolicking around in it,
splashing it everywhere, etc. I tell ya, something “Welcome to India-ish” always
seems to happen on the first day volunteers come, and Session #4 got a flash monsoon
right before dinner time.
