Inder's husband and precious little daughter were home as well today. Her husband is sweet and caring and he seems to have a great relationship with Inder. I was surprised/relieved but I guess I could have guessed as meetings are held in his house to support women's empowerment. Inder's daughter is the cutest thing with the most darling voice I've ever heard. We played Minimum, the ever-famous Indian card game and Inder's daughter and I were on a team while all the Indians taught us white girls how to play. We had a blast.
I taught Aarti how to play rock/paper/scissors later. It took a while but she got it. Kind of like my fish joke..
The house is four small rooms with simple beds and simple slated walls. We all sat on Inder's bed and played cards/hung out for two hours. Where else do you sit? Usually we sit in the one common room on a big rug on the floor. Today was cool though. We had chai, watermelon, cantelope, and lemon tea all in bed. They put salt on their fruit and I thought I was going to vomit as I popped my first watermelon slice into my mouth. Inder's husband was constantly worrying about us and making sure we were comfortable. I was pretty much forced to shove more fruit down my throat and have no idea how my gag reflexes did not kick in.
Pummy picked us up and we picked these great little blueberries off the tree we walk by to get to the car (it has become a tradition with us all. Pummy told us the name of the berry but like many Hindi names, I forgot) Pummy also got us cds from his store and I am verrry excited to jam out at home like we do in his car.
After lunch at home and a quick meeting with the staff, six of us headed up to McLoud for the day. We walked the streets and had a great time. I am so thankful for these amazing people. There is never a dull moment. We are always chuckling, getting into shenanigans, or off to see or do something magnificent. I feel very blessed.
Apurvi, one of my favorite people of all Dharamsala, took us to a small hippie town about 20 minutes away from the heart of McLoud (well..it's like an 8 minute ride in a rickshaw!) I ordered a Kingfisher-strong at a restaurant that didn't exactly serve beer. The waiter told me I was, "special customer," and we watched him walk down to a market and buy me a beer. He wrapped it in newspaper, brought me a cup, and told me to stick the bottle under the table. Hops have never tasted so glorious in my life.
Apurvi bought us the most decadent chocolate cake in India and we went to town on it before we headed home. Sonali slipped and twisted her ankle on the way towards the town square and it became an unfortunate fiasco (although we still managed to be consistently chuckling). It was a fantastic outing followed by a delicious dinner at home that Julia, Daniella, and Ellie helped Ranesh cook!
Every time I go out on an adventure, I look around and see only brown people. We have 21 volunteers and I guarantee 80% of us are white. "Look at me and my brown people," I say on a day to day basis. It just gets funnier and funnier because it simply just happens. My mixie friend Ev with his long dreadlocks, Mariam from Pakistan, Apurvi and Sonali from India, and Venus who is Chinese Canadian. And then me. The good old Cashew white girl. Gotta love me my brown people.
My evening ended with a hot bucket shower (after Apurvi harrassed Manesh to fix the water for us!), some great chat sessions on the balcony, and the first 30 minutes of Mortal Combat with Maxine, Mariam, Ev, n Jake.
Another good day in Himachel Pradesh.
There's another MAXINE! Hello across large waters :)
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