Gems at GEMs.

Readers, bloggers, travellers, friends, anyone who may read this, I've been wanting to write this post ever since returning from India (amongst my other posts too) or even from leaving Sainji but I cannot find the right way to say any of this which I am about to say. So forgive me if it sounds preachy or perhaps overdramatic but just bear with me (grrr).

The main purpose of our time spent in Sainji has been to volunteer and help at the GEMs (Garwahl English Medium School) in Uttarakhand. We work with the children and have fallen for each and every one of them, each with their own heart-wrenching story, shining eyes and priceless personality. Our roles vary from teaching, to being makeshift librarians, to trying to teach Class 6 the history of English music, to mixing our basic Hindi with our failing English in an attempt to keep Nursery/Kindergarten's attention...the list is almost endless! I for one have loved planning our classes for Class 2 when their wonderful teacher took leave to get married (see my married master-post that it to come soon!) despite my moaning...the kids were the most enthusiastic bunch I have ever met.

Their love of learning and eagerness to be educating was humbling and made me see how they take nothing for granted at all. Their upbringing means that they know just how important education is. In the local area there is a poorly run Government school that may leaves kids with a feeble education at best, and having GEMs on their doorstep really in priceless for these kids. They teach English, Arts and Crafts (and PE!), Social Studies, EVS, Hindi, Maths, Grammar, Sanskrit...the list is ever growing, as is the school.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have been lucky enough to stay with Lori and Kunwar who both live in Sainji. I won't go into too much depth regarding their story, but when they met 6 years ago they shared a desire to improve the lives of the villagers and kids as best they could. If you want to read the fully comprehensive story then you can do so here on the school's website! The school is always in need of donations, and having experienced the kindness of the kids, the staff, and most of all their Principal and Ambassador, I am so eager for more people to hear about what this project has to offer.

The school was started in a cow shed just 3 years ago with near 8 students and now, only a few years on, the school has 232 children and an extensive staff. It's impossible to believe that some of these kids have been with GEMs since the beginning and will have seen the transformation from cow shed to brand new building. I wish I could name all the kids that made an impression on me, but it would take me all day. I was expecting to help the kids, not the other way around. But the impression that these children have made on me, on both of us, I know will stay with me for a long, long time. They really are gems.

Walking home with some of the kids.

With the use of just an iPod and some speakers, we were able to teach Class 6 all about 1900s British music! David Bowie, Twist & Shout, you name it we taught it!

If you want to find out more or are interested in volunteering (they're always looking for help if you're willing!), fundraising, donating, or even finding out a little more about the school then please don't hesitate to email me on catrin.podgorski@hotmail.co.uk, as I, and Flo, am/are just so eager to shout about this project!!

The God of Small-Rishikesh-Sized Things.

Congratulations if you got the reference in this post title - the publishers, 'Penguin India', are celebrating their 25th birthday this year, and so reprinted 25 of the 'best' Indian books. I read 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy which won the Booker Prize in '97, in Rishikesh and it gave me such a great taste of India. Although it's set in the south, it cemented me to where I was then and there. The assaults on the senses he describes were the same assaults I was experiencing, and that's my absolute favourite thing about reading travel books about the place you're in. You may never understand the author's feelings and descriptions as much as you do when reading 'Eat, Pray, Love' whilst in India or, 'Notes from a Big Country' when in North America.

Anyway, I am digressing from the point of this post which is catching you up on India so far.

This weekend we took a weekend off from playing with the World's Cutest Children to visit Rishikesh, a town a few hours drive from our local town Mussoorie, made famous in the 1960s by the Beatles christening it 'Yoga Capital of the World'. Knowing little of the geography of the North of India (Flo, do correct me if I'm wrong here!), we were both gobsmacked when, when driving up and over the local Elephant forest (in which resides the 'Killer Elephant' - don't ask), we spotted a slither of water expanding before us. The Ganges.

Aarti!

Our accomodation, costing us a mere 400 rupees each for two nights (around £4), was complete with running hot water - a luxury I can assure you, and a hammock each was basic and unbeatable. The Hilltop Swiss Cottage was perfect, and packed to the brim with western hippies and travellers alike. It offers a beautiful array of gardens (complete with fairy lights and some of the best Chai you'll find!) and full body massages, 75 minutes long, for just £5 each. And don't worry, there was no, ahem, funny business. I'm pretty sure the experience was legit...even the powercut halfway through...

In the evening (every evening) the Ganges Aarti is celebrated in Rishikesh, which is a ceremony organised and run by the local Ashram residents as opposed to a more 'theatrical' Pundit as other ceremonies are. While it is ever-so-slightly overrun with tourists and tour groups, it is still a particularly spiritual experience. Both Flo and I let our garland float down stream, without capsizing I hasten to add, and it was a wonderful experience to see the sun set just beyond our reach.

Among this, we played many a travel scrabble game, drank street Chai, read, and even partook in a very non-legit seeming Yoga class for £1.50. Needless to say, the week-long ache that followed was definitely not worth the small amount we paid. On the Monday we returned to Sainji which, oddly, felt much like coming home. We were welcomed back today to sunshine and cool mountain air, and I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else.

"Sainji Welcomes You Whole Heartedly"

The main 'point' of my time in India is to volunteer in a school with Flo in a tiny village nestled beautifully in the foothills of the Himalayas called "Sainji" - and we arrived this morning. This village could not have been further away from home, and truth be told I could not have fallen any more in love with it than I did. The houses were all painted a wide array of colours that shined in the sunshine, and irrigation ditches from the fields ran parallel to the cupboard like streets between the houses and rooms. The terraced fields carved their way into the mountainside and walking into the village, complete with corn hanging from every veranda and the friendliest villagers you've ever met, it felt almost unreal.

That there could be such a pocket of time and Garwahli culture in such a fantastic place. Flo and I have a lovely room to share with intermittent electricity and heating which we adored, provided by Lori and Kunwar - our contact in the village through a teacher at our high school. Their hospitality cannot be praised enough and I am still so thankful that we are having such a 'real' experience - complete with 3 day long powercuts and Himalayan storms. The weather is surprisingly cold (I say surprisingly only because I stupidly bypassed the fact that we were going to, you know, the Himalayas, and packed mostly summer clothes...) but with beautiful sunshine, and every morning waking up to this view is just such a tragedy...

The view from our veranda. I couldn't relish the fact that this is where we brush our teeth more.

Point proven.

Sainji has a population of 400, with almost half of the village living under the poverty line. Despite all the fantastic work that has been poured into the village, a few of the houses still don't have adequate sanitation. Our time in the village has already been a real eye-opener, especially as we were working so closely with the kids of Sainji and the surrounding villages at the GEMs school where we taught.

It wasn't experiencing India and retreating into luxury or our western lives, for me it was living and working in Sainji as I would have liked. And the experience has been just invaluable, I wish my words could do it justice. Farming was the main income of the village, and the hand-to-mouth existence of growing and consuming your own crops, I found particularly interesting and contrasting to home as it's not something I experience. You need flour? Go to Tescos and buy it, of course! But in Sainji, if you needed flour then grow corn, dry it out for a long period of time, grind it, and then you have flour! (And yummy flour at that...)

Our room, complete with books and biscuits galore! The combination of these and my headtorch meant that even the longest powercut could still be enjoyable.

The village temples (2/3 of them)

Cricket was a huge huge huge hit among the kids at GEMs and the villagers themselves, and shamefully, I came back from India still not understanding the rules, and still not being able to play...

Whilst in Sainji, Flo and I both have taken full advantage of the inexpense of tailoring and material, and while I got a simple Kurta suit tailored, Flo chose to have the Garwahli traditional dress tailored, which she looked beautiful in! Having babysat her Gargara for a few weeks I am very jealous...plus the older women of the village loved it! Sainji is already an excellent experience, I cannot do it justice - it was just perfect. Fun. Relaxing. And beautiful.

Where Can I Start? (Delhi Would Be Good)

Pre-India (chirpiness hiding the terror)

So, I've had a few lovely people ask me when I was planning on updating my Gap Year blog post-India, and truth be told I hadn't intended to keep it up to date what with my lack of internet and paint to watch dry...but I am now left with a week to go before Denmark and I've hardly given myself time to think about India! I arrived home on the 19th February, having left murky England on the 6th January and am updating my blog in Real Time due to having kept my notebook going in order to inform my blog properly!

Truth be told I'd done my reading before landing in Delhi- I'd bought almost every Lonely Planet guide under the sun, I'd read every Foreign Commonwealth Office piece of scare-mongering advice, and I'd tried my hardest to read travel magazines articles and books to prepare myself for my trip. Looking back, I can honestly say that nothing can prepare you for the shock to the system which is India. One article read, "India is not a holiday...it's an experience" and I don't think I could have put it any better.

While setting off through the Heathrow departure gate for the second time wasn't nearly as daunting as the first, my thoughts were scattered as we came in over India. "Wait what why am I here?! What was I thinking?!" and yet, as soon as my plane touched down, I knew I'd made the right decision. I've been in Delhi for 24 hours and tonight we're heading on the overnight train to Dehra Dun, were seen through rose tinted glasses. I have ignored the rubbish, the cold (coldest Winter for 42 years!) and the sheer populous and saw only the fruit stalls piled high with the most inticing stacks of exotic fruits, the women clothed in the most intricately embroided Saris and frock suits, and the cows that chose to have a nice sit down in the middle of the dual carriageway. The cars stacked 4 across in a two lane road, the tuck-tucks weaving in and out snarling at the stationary drivers, and the shouting, the singing, the sheer noise of...India. Within 30 minutes of getting lost with my travelling partner Flo in the centre of the Main Bazaar, forgetting our hotel's name, and ignoring all the key advice we'd been given about 'personal safety' (why not share a cab with a stranger if it's half the price..?), I am in love.

Delhi - complete with Tuck-tuck (the yellow/green cart in the corner)

Lotus Temple

A tiny glimpse of Connaught Place!

In our short 48 hours in Delhi we have trusted my Lonely Planet guide and followed it blindly, finding ourselves in the Main Bazaar, Connaught Place, the Lotus Temple in outer Old Delhi, and Hauz Khas village complete with Fort ruins. Our real adventure in Sainji is about to begin as the train is pulling into Dehra Dun, wish us luck!

"I Live in the Plaza and I Love it. All That History. All Those Stories."

My treat to Mum was the highlight of the weekend, and I treated her to Afternoon Tea at the Plaza Hotel just off of Central Park. Being a huge F Scott Fitzgerald fan (I recently read 'May Day' - the novella - which was brilliant!) I couldn't think of a more fitting celebration of Christmas and our reuniting than to do a Mia Farrow/Robert Redford, and indulge ourselves in finger sandwiches and scones galore. I have always wanted to go here, ever since studying the Great Gatsby in Lower Sixth. To my surprise, my Mother (the sneaky genius that she is) had turned the tables and made it my treat, as a late celebration of my 18th in the summer.

I was serenaded by both the piano player and the whole of the Palm Court and received a personalised menu AND free cake - I was in my element! To top it all off, the Lobby featured a tree in celebration of the new 'Great Gatsby' film that's coming out in 2013, and had dedicated it to their 2nd Patron - Fitzgerald himself.

We walked around Central Park, stumbled across many a Christmas fair, and ate far too much, and it was the perfect way to end my trip - I couldn't have imagined anything more perfect than losing myself in New York city before heading back to Blighty. Despite the price (prepare yourself if you intend to treat your loved one in true Gatsby style...) I would recommend this in a heartbeat for a Christmas present. A truly special experience, but book in advance! I cannot stress this enough - the holidays are so busy and you may need to book up to a month in advance to find your ideal time and date.

Being posh (what one does best)

Inside.

Merry Christmas from the Plaza!

Amongst the shopping and the soaking in of the city, my departure from the States after 2 and a bit months was imminent, and Sunday night saw us flying back to London Heathrow and landing in rain, fog, and the cold which seemed, well, perfectly fitting. Coming home has thrown a bucket of feelings at me that I am trying to deal with, but I'm mostly trying to process that the first leg of my Gap Year is over!

Being in America was the most incredible experience, and being part of the Bissinger's family down in Houston was perfect. NYC was the cherry on top, and started in Washington/Baltimore was brilliant. I am continually asked what the highlight of my trip has been, and I just don't have an answer - it was all fantastic. My British feet, while they are now firmly grounded in the UK for the next month or so, are definitely itchy and I can't wait to fly to India in just over a month! Thank you for an unbeatable time America, I will miss your pancakes, your politics, and your charm very very much. Maybe see you again soon. But here's to the experiences we've shared, and to the future.

And to a very British Christmas, and India!