catching up...

I apologize for slacking on blogging! I have a weeks worth of adventures and photos!
Last Saturday:
we had placement, so four of us left right after lunch for Amritsar its a 6 and a half hour drive from Dharamsala. two and half hours in to our trip our car broke down. Here is a of the three curious-little girls that watched the whole time the taxi drive and mechanic tried to fix our car.



After waiting two hours for another taxi and four and a half more hours of driving, we reached Amritsar. I have to say, traffic was much worse in Amritsar than it was in Delhi! It was also a new moon and there must have been thousands of Zeke's going to the golden temple for prayer. we finally got settled into our hotel at around 10 PM, where we ordered room service and relaxed.

The next morning we got up and went the Golden Temple! it was AMAZING! there were SOO many Zeke's! just like most temples, we had to remove our shoes! It was so hot outside, I thought I definitely burnt the first layer of skin off my feet.

Here is a picture of the Golden Temple:




Here is a shot of the crowd:



After we went to the Temple, our taxi driver took us to a museum by accident, but it was still awesome. it was for Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama. unfortunately we weren't allow to take pictures. but it was beautiful!

We got hungry, and the night we arrived we saw a Domino's delivery guy! so for lunch we had Domino's pizza! it was VERY satisfying! :D

Then we went to the massacre site in Amritsar. On April 13th 1919 the British opened fire on thousands of unarmed Indians. They made a beautiful memorial and garden at the site! I'm bummed, I ran out of memory card space. :(

Then we went to the Indian/Pakistan boarder and saw the changing of the guard! that WAS SOOOOO COOL! That alone was worth the trip. again, I had run out of memory card space, but I'm really glad I didn't take my camera it turned out to be VERY dusty! I used my friend Kristine's camera, and I'll get the photos from her before she leaves.

we had a long drive back! We got hungry, so our driver took us to a place called Tummy Full! LOL. I had delicious spring rolls! :D

We got back late Sunday night, and crashed hard!

Monday:

We had placement, and after CCS had organized a trip to the Tibet Art and Culture Center in McLeod to talk to a Tibet Monk! It was so inspiring! Here is a picture of the group with the Monk.




On Tuesday CCS had arranged for an environmentalist to take us on a walk and talk to us about all the different species of birds in Himachal Pardesh. I took a bunch of pictures but because of the internet connection I have to limit which ones I put up. My favorite shots from the walk, happen to be of the wild monkeys! LOL


Once again, I'm losing the internet connection...I'll have to continue tomorrow! I have the rest of the week and my weekend adventure in Manali to share with you! I promise it won't be a week until I upload again! Thanks for checking back and being patient with me!

till next time,
Amber

This weekend past weekend a group of four of us went to Armitsar, Punjab which is about a 5 hour drive from Dharmasala. On our way up, our taxi broke down and we had to wait for two hours till another cab could come get us. There were three curious little girls that watched us as we waited.


I'm TRYING TO UPLOAD PHOTOS AND IT JUST WON'T WORK!!!!

I think because its pouring down rain, and affecting the internet connection.

I'm sorrryyyy! We're going to a temple this afternoon, I'll try again when I get back!

the markets!

Thanks everyone, for checking back and leaving such nice comments!

That last few days have been awesome! We went the upper part of Dharamsala where it is predominantly Tibet people. The market was incredible! I wanted to buy everything. I spent a pretty-penny on a BEAUTIFUL hand-painted tapestry and some woodcarvings. I haven’t had a chance to upload my photos of the market yet, but I will soon.

Yesterday, we went to the market in the lower part of Dharamsala. Which is where the home base is located. A few of us girls had to get more traditional Indian clothes. You can have them made for close to nothing. I’m picking them up next week. I’ll be sure to post a photo. I’m also planning on having a custom made dress and possibly a suit while I’m here.

We had to work today (Saturday) because we didn’t start working until Tuesday, and we needed to fulfill the five-day workweek. So for us three-weeker’s next weekend is the only free weekend so a few of us decided to leave right after lunch and head to Amritsar to the Golden Temple and to see the changing of the guard. I’m excited. It’s about a 6-hour taxi ride there. We’ll get dinner and check into our hotel and tomorrow we’ll go see the temple and the guard. So I wanted to update and let everyone know I wont be able to Blog again until Monday (my time, so Sunday in America.) I’ll most definitely take lots of photos and post when I get back!

Again, that’s for checking back!

Love,
Amber

P.S.
My mom brought it to my attention that she didn’t really know what it was I’ve been doing in the day care with the kids. We’re teaching them the English alphabet, numbers and colors…we also color, play games and sing songs. It’s a blast!

The Day Care

Today was my second day at the day care! The kids are so adorable! It took them a little while to warm up to us, but once one or two did, they all followed. There are about 10-15 kids, about two-four years old. The day care is a single room, brick building. Its amazing how little they have, and yet they sill learn and have a blast.



Here are some of my favorite shots of the kids:
































Arn't they just adorable!!! They are so much fun!


Here are a few shots of our home base:




This is the second house, where I am staying.




here are a few shots from the market in Delhi:






I have not got a good shot of the mountains yet, but when I do I'll post it! they're stunning!

So far, the trip has been awesome, and the other volunteers are great! I'm excited to make friends from all over the US & Canada. we have a Hindi language lesson in a few minutes! I'm excited to learn as much of the language as possible in my short 3 weeks. I'll post more soon! Thanks for checking it and leaving comments!

Love,
Amber

At last, Dharamsala

We made it to Dharamsala! The mountains are incredible, and make me feel a little more at home. One the ride up, we saw tons of wild monkeys! some had adorable little babies!! There were also a lot of cows roaming around! I didn't take any pictures today, because it was only a short drive and my camera gear was all packed up from the plane ride, but I'll definitely continue shooting tomorrow!

The home base is very nice! I'm staying in the second house, which is older, but still nice. I'm actually the only volunteer with my own room. its really a closet with a bed in it, but I'm stoked for the privacy.

We start of each day with yoga! I'm excited about that! Tomorrow we have orientation, then we go to our placements. I'm excited because the other guy that is placed in the day-care with me speaks Hindi and can help me communicate with the children and learn the language more!

I'll post more tomorrow! (AND PHOTOS, FOR SURE!)

goodnight,

-Amber

been busy

I don't have much time to blog... its been a busy few days! we wen shopping for Indian clothes yesterday. it was overwhelming to say the least! We're headed North to Dharamsala today. I can't wait to get to the cooler weather! its been 95+ in Delhi!

I'll write again after we settle into the home base in Dharamasala.

Thanks for checking!
-Amber

Delhi

After an exhausting 16 hours flying, I made it to Delhi. I spent one night in a nice hotel to relax a bit before meeting up with Cross Cultural Solutions.

They picked me up yesterday from my hotel, and brought me back to the home base, where we had a delicious home-made lunch. Only 6 of the volunteers had arrived so we got to spend the day sight-seeing.

We went to the lotus temple, which was AMAZING



We also went to the India Gate...

Well, I'm out of time to blog now, but I'll continue later.

Thanks for checking!

-Amber