Let it Grow By Felicity Mills

Let it Grow

It has been such an amazing few days. Friday was our third to last day in school and the thought of not seeing my kids every day plunges me into a pit of depression. They are the absolute best. They’ve really taken to us now. As we walk up they call crowd the courtyard to come say hi to us before we go set up our lessons. During class they are so eager to please. They are such active participants. The oldest class is so sweet and well-mannered. They always call me “ma’am” and help me clean up. It’s a really nice contrast from the preschool class, who are adorable but slightly insane. On Saturday, we got to go to the cultural exchange. It was t our trip coordinator’s daughters school. It was way fancy. It was called Cambridge (written in big gothic letters cross the front gate). We had quite a bit of time to just talk to kids our age. The adult leaders and teacher left so that we could speak freely. The girls that I talked to were absolutely fascinated with American dating and dances. They told me that their parents absolutely forbid dating of any kind, but they all have secret boyfriends. They are so sneaky! They can’t really talk at school because their parents have all of the teachers spying on them. So, they just text. I know what you’re thinking. Surely parents of such caliber check their children’s phones. Well, they all have changed the contact names of their boyfriends in their phones to names of girls from school to throw their parents off the trail. Jason Bourne has nothing on these girls. They just about vanished off of the face of the earth when I told them about prom. They also had some really cool songs and dances prepared to show us. I thought it was all going to be traditional Indian dances, and most of them were, but there were a few performances centered on American culture. There was a girl who sang Roar by Katy Perry and a group who did the cup song from Pitch Perfect. I absolutely adored it. Somehow, we ended up singing Let it Grow from the movie The Lorax. As a general rule, I like to keep a safe distance from Danny DeVito in my personal life, so I have no idea how this happened (for all you noobs out there, the Lorax was in fact voiced by Danny himself). We also did our dance to the song September by Earth Wind and Fire. I was rooting for the Trolls version but nobody else seemed to be on board. Then, the girls all sang I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You. I don’t want to brag, but we sounded like angels from the pearly gates of Graceland. So, I was definitely lip singing. The best was yet to come however, because later that night we got pizza and milkshakes at a cute little restaurant with a red door. It was my first night in a while with no curry and I’ve got to say, it was an incredible thing. However, today was one of my favorite days of the whole trip. We got up early and went on an amazing hike to the top on one of the Himalayas. It was one of the most breath-taking views of my whole life. On the peak, we had a 360-degree view of the most beautiful mountains, dotted with brightly colored homes and temples. A faint mist had settled over the river snaking through the valley. We had the opportunity to enter into the temple up there. Hinduism includes many gods and deities, but this temple was specifically honoring the god Shiva. We sat in a room thick with incense and were blessed by the priest there. In the ceremony, they dot your forehead with a sort of red paste. Our translator told me it means may the blessings of the gods be with you. It was such a sweet ceremony and an incredibly peaceful place. The hike down was amazing. My dad would have loved it. When we got home, we did some much-needed yoga. I tend to giggle a bit during yoga, due to the occasional crotch flossing move. However, our instructor was really cool. He was definitely more focused on the spiritual aspect then the exercise aspect. I feel like in America we get so focused on getting sweet abs that we forget how deeply spiritual yoga can be. I loved it. I love India. If they had showers and Chick-Fil-A, I would stay forever.