Today was a fantastic day. We went to a rockin church service this
morning with the kids. I don't remember it being so lively last year
and it was kind of surprising to me, because this culture is much more
reserved than the places I have been in Africa. But it was so much fun.
After lunch we went down to the school and the kids taught us a traditional Himachal dance. It was soooooo much fun. I think I probably enjoyed it the most out of anyone on the team, however, I know everyone else had fun too. The kids also thought it was hilarious and they had so much fun teaching us to dance. I have never got to dance on an eMi project before, but it was the funnest thing ever.
Tonight they told us it was one of the staff members birthday so we went down to the school for singing and a dance performance. After all the dancing was completed they told us they had a special request for us to perform our dance. I was so excited! Unfortunately about 10 seconds into the dance, the music went off and wouldn't work again, however, the kids absolutely loved it, and we are on the roster for a performance tomorrow. There is even talk of costumes. And since it is free style I have to think of some good variations to the moves I'm doing before tomorrow. A bunch of engineers doing a traditional cultural dance? I'm sure we don't look at all ridiculous. The construction team is going to have a hard time outdoing us with our mad dancing skills.
I have been having a lot of fun interacting with my team and have been reminded how much I love laughter.
After church today I came back and played hide and seek with some of the younger girls and then after that was finished, went up to the rooftop and talked with one of the older girls. It was so nice. She asked me to write her a page in her journal. Something to encourage her when life was hard. It was such a special moment. I love writing meaningful words to people.
People often tell me I have an exciting life and experience many adventures. Which is true I suppose. However, experiencing these kinds of things also takes risk. The risk of letting people in. I have let the people here in fully and completely and that is risky business. To hand that much of yourself over sometimes makes for hard times and makes transitioning back to life at home incredibly difficult. I also know that only being here for a short time is vastly different than being somewhere long term. The sometimes messiness of cross cultural relationships is not always easy, but so very worth the effort.
The jury is still out on posting a video of our dancing tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have the majority of votes in favour of posting it. Leave a comment if you want to see the video and I'll pass along your vote.
Until next time,
Jaimee
At our dance practice this afternoon.
Matthew, our project leader briefs us on the dance practice.
Getting details ready for the construction team that is soon arriving.
The backhoe made it's way straight up the mountain to prepare a spot for the new water tank.
Me & Nemcha.
The kids singing at church. Do you recognize the song?
After lunch we went down to the school and the kids taught us a traditional Himachal dance. It was soooooo much fun. I think I probably enjoyed it the most out of anyone on the team, however, I know everyone else had fun too. The kids also thought it was hilarious and they had so much fun teaching us to dance. I have never got to dance on an eMi project before, but it was the funnest thing ever.
Tonight they told us it was one of the staff members birthday so we went down to the school for singing and a dance performance. After all the dancing was completed they told us they had a special request for us to perform our dance. I was so excited! Unfortunately about 10 seconds into the dance, the music went off and wouldn't work again, however, the kids absolutely loved it, and we are on the roster for a performance tomorrow. There is even talk of costumes. And since it is free style I have to think of some good variations to the moves I'm doing before tomorrow. A bunch of engineers doing a traditional cultural dance? I'm sure we don't look at all ridiculous. The construction team is going to have a hard time outdoing us with our mad dancing skills.
I have been having a lot of fun interacting with my team and have been reminded how much I love laughter.
After church today I came back and played hide and seek with some of the younger girls and then after that was finished, went up to the rooftop and talked with one of the older girls. It was so nice. She asked me to write her a page in her journal. Something to encourage her when life was hard. It was such a special moment. I love writing meaningful words to people.
People often tell me I have an exciting life and experience many adventures. Which is true I suppose. However, experiencing these kinds of things also takes risk. The risk of letting people in. I have let the people here in fully and completely and that is risky business. To hand that much of yourself over sometimes makes for hard times and makes transitioning back to life at home incredibly difficult. I also know that only being here for a short time is vastly different than being somewhere long term. The sometimes messiness of cross cultural relationships is not always easy, but so very worth the effort.
The jury is still out on posting a video of our dancing tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have the majority of votes in favour of posting it. Leave a comment if you want to see the video and I'll pass along your vote.
Until next time,
Jaimee
Jaimee,
ReplyDeleteMom and I vote for you to post the video. Looking forward to having you home for Thanksgiving dinner.
Love Mom & Dad