Alrightey, apologies for it being awhile since my last post...nothing very exciting has been happening here. I'll run through the basics and then get to the meat of this...
On Friday we hiked to the "View Point" which was a very nice hike with a beautiful view that was somewhat obstructed by the clouds. Honestly, Sikkim and this area in general is just incredibly, insanely gorgeous. It's lush and green and the views are to DIE for. Then we started walking back (originally, we were told hat it would be approximately 2km...then we found out (after walking for apprxomately 1km) that it would be more like 4-5km). As soon as we started walking, it began to POUR rain :) Many of you know just how much I love the rain, specifically dancing in it, so Claudia and I danced beautifully along the street. You literally couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of you because the rain was coming down so hard. Unfortunately, Anu and Rajiv forced us into a car to get us out of the rain. On the way home, I found a leech on my leg (in case you missed were I talked about this, there are blood-sucking leeches here) and screamed bloody murder until the kind man who was driving us got it off of me.
On Saturday, I was teasing wih Steven and Rebecca and jokingly mentioned that Alex might have rabies (he's been sick). Unfortuantey, Alex took this seriously and we had all of this drama because Alex was convinced that he actually had rabies. He went to the hospital on Sunday to be sure as well as to get the anti-rabies vaccine.
That's pretty much the sum of events until today. Today we walked down to the Tibetology center, then had lunch and then I went to the orphanage where I started watching Harry Potter with the kiddos. So onto some of my deeper observations here that I've been meaning to discuss.
Children- It truly never ceases to amaze me the universality of children. When you first meet the children at Lepcha Cottage, you're inclined to see them as "different" somehow, frequently better because they've survived hardship and don't have as many opportunities. But soon, you begin to realize that they are just like any other child you've met; some are loving and sweet, others hyperactive and overly energetic. Some are truly obnoxious and somewhat selfish, while others are giving and kind. Somehow, we, as a society, began to stereotype orphans and began to believe that being an orphan made a child something completely different. But I think that what the kids are teaching me (which is far more valuable than anything I can teach them) is the truth of human nature; that we all love, crave attention, can be selfish or can be kind. We aren't defined necessarily by our experiences, but by our common heritage of being homo sapiens. The fact that Harry Potter enthralls these kids here just as much as it enthralls spoiled children who have too much is a testament to what is truly buried most deeply within each and every one of us. Or perhaps more importantly, the fact that Harry Potter doesn't enthrall of the kids shows us that we are truly all the same. After all, there are a select few of us that don't love Harry Potter.
Alright, in the ever classic words of Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh", TTFN or ta-ta for now.
Lots of love from this sushi-missing kid,
Sara
No comments:
Post a Comment