New Shoes and New Views By Tyler Murrill

New Shoes and New Views

 

On Saturday, we had our cultural exchange. We perform some things, and some Indian students perform some things. The school we went to for the exchange was huge and the nicest building I’ve ever been inside of in India. They had an outdoor auditorium and tons of kids. We got to watch some cultural dancing, then some of the kids started singing western songs, like “Roar,” and they were amazing singers. After their performances, we got to perform for them. We sang “Let it Grow,” watched Clara dance, sang “Jump Right In,” danced to “September,” and sang a few more songs. If you think that singing “Let it Grow” to a bunch of Indian students and having it work sounds like something dumb I would do, you’re absolutely right. The cultural exchange was a ton of fun and it was really cool to see the different aspects of the culture here. Not only did we perform for the students, but we actually got to talk to the seniors of the school we went too. Their English was really good and it was interesting to talk to kids our own age but a half a world away. On Sunday we woke up early and got to check “hike in the Himalayas” off of our bucket lists. We hiked up and then got to go into a small temple. We all got safety bracelets and then had some time to chill and take some pictures. The view was amazing and I don’t know if I will ever find a better view.  Today is our second to last day in the school. We got to give our kids new sweaters and new shoes. Even though it was kind of chaotic to organize 46 kids and 46 sweaters and 46 shoes, it was worth every second of chaos. Right before lunch Allison, Ashley, Jake and Raj showed up with a huge bag of sweaters. After making sure that all of the kids had one that fit, the leaders left but the joy didn’t. All of the kids were having a phenomenal day and were all the way over the moon. Usually after lunch, the kids are a little more hyper than usual, but when someone showed up during lunch with new shoes for each and every kid, they were through the roof. We had our last lesson for the day and had another dance party. I had a camera and took a ton of pictures, but getting to dance with the kids was a blast. Even though they don’t understand the songs, they love to jam out with us. Coming soon to an airport near you, Tyler, who misses tivago and who will never lose at just dance. (3 points.)