Our time in India so far has been eye opening and filled with indispensable lessons about ourselves, each other, and the beautiful people and earth around us. Our trek to the other side of the world, despite being tearful, painful, and tiresome, has already left us with beautiful marks that will never leave us.
The blend of narratives and identities of all of us, including our leaders, adds to the way we absorb the experience; we all contribute in our uniquest of ways. We cry together, laugh until we cry, and most importantly, push through the challenges as a unit. Among these low points were having to ride an overnight train, battling homesickness, and living amongst tropical bugs and animals in a rural village.
However, our battles were made close to insignificant after the countless moments that made everything worth the struggle. We danced and sang in colorful dresses with schoolchildren, shared intimate moments over dinner with local village families, received the warmest of welcomes from the people of the Baraich and Tharu tribe villages, and simply enjoyed nature and the company of the beautiful people around us.
For many of us, our metropolitan lives are close to the opposite of the lives of people we have been honored to meet so far. Nonetheless, it has been made evident that our souls reflect the same light: one of immense curiosity and love for those to whom we feel so different from.
We all feel privileged and overjoyed to be sharing the same space and time on this earth, and holding each other up through all of it. We have been touched by the open arms of India and it’s beautiful faces all throughout, and are anxious but ready to see what else this crazy ride has in store.
“I felt so loved and appreciated by people who did not even know me. This clarified so many things in my life and made me a better person in many different ways“ – anonymous entry from our group journal.
The view from our host school. (Rural India near Bahraich, UP.)
Experiment Students Kelly And Cassidy working with students from the Global School of Learning on a team project. (Rural India near Bahraich, UP.)
Experiment student Josh speaks to group leader Rachel at the Delhi metro station (Delhi, Day 2.)
Experiment student Nabaa is greeted with a traditional Indian welcome by host country coordinator Archna Merh (Delhi, day 1)
