Villages and...Redheads

Last week my workshop group (6 other girls) and I whirled around my tiny kitchen to make a delicious taco and tortilla dinner for my host family before we left for the train station, which is near my house. I actually slept pretty well in my bunk on the train! We arrived in Udaipur, the City of Lakes, the next morning. We freshened up and headed out in jeeps to Oghna, a small village about two hours away. We stayed with an incredible NGO that has organized and led so many initiatives- We visited a farm that is making organic compost, a lemon tree orchard, a women's Self-Help Group, a rehabilitation village for tribal people who were pushed from the forest, a female member of the local Panchayati Raj (local government), a health clinic, watershed development projects, gardens, and a kids' leadership club. I have really appreciated that SIT has given us amazing opportunities to experience development firsthand. It seems like we drive or walk through the middle of nowhere and find a whole community waiting for us under a tree, where we talk! Most days this week we had our lunch under a tree somewhere: in a mango grove, in a field, in a dry riverbed, by a lake.

I loved the fresh air and the chance to be out in nature again. The city can be overwhelming. But everyone in Oghna was so welcoming- the town is really small so we would stroll through and talk to people. The town made me think of the town in "100 Years of Solitude"...except...in India. Sometimes we would go for walks at dusk out through the countryside and we would meet people and talk with them cheerfully. There were little kids at the NGO's center that we would play with. The seven of us had so much fun- we laughed and laughed so much that my abs are still sore. When we got back to Udaipur, we bought some henna, which is red dye that you can make designs on your hands with. But you can also dye your hair with it...and it's supposed to be a great conditioner. So we bought and mixed up some henna and had one friend paste it all over our hair. We let it dry for about 2 hours...then began to wash it out...and much to our dismay, we all had bright. red. hair!!! We washed it several more times...and we still have red hair. Haha. It actually looks good on everyone, I think. For me it's more of a burgundy color. It will last about 3 weeks. But we laughed about how we don't need even more people looking at us when we walk down the street...and how we all look like Ariel from the Little Mermaid.
Also in Udaipur we explored the hilly, bustling Old City, a peaceful park, and the water's edge around the lakes. From a hill we watched the sunset slide over the lakes and behind a distant mountain... it was breathtaking.

Now we're back in Jaipur, trying not to stress out about all the upcoming assignments that are due. AND, tomorrow morning my mom will arrive in Jaipur!! It's strange to think about two worlds merging. I am very very excited to share my life here with her. :) She will stay until Wednesday, then head to Kerala, a beautiful state in South India, to be a Resident Advisor for graduate students at a college for two months. After I am done with my Independent Study Project in the Himalayas (YES!!!), I will be heading to Kerala to hang out until December 28th.