Hello all! Alice here with a super duper awesome update. We left Delhi for Sikkim on Sunday. After a long travel day first on a plane then a Jeep, we arrived at our home-stay just in time for some delicious tea and a hot meal. The next day was a designated rest day, but we did very little of that (who needs rest?). We headed into the nearby town called Gangtok, and walked around for a few hours. The next day, we drove up to a school where we are volunteering. The principal is from Massachusetts, and he seeks to mix Eastern and Western styles of education. Kaila and Sterling immediately left to accompany a group of kids to an archery lesson while the rest of us stayed behind at the school. Half of us worked in the library while the other three read to three young children. After a tea time recess (definitely something that should be implemented in all schools in the US), we switched jobs. After a delicious lunch at the school cafeteria, we drove to another school run by the government, whereas the first was a boarding, or private school. There, we were given free rein to do what we liked, so we played as many games as we could remember from our elementary and middle school days, such as Bob the Weasel, Sharks and Minnows, Ninja (which is ALWAYS appropriate), and Birdie on a Perch. Greta, Ellen, Tully and I took the girls while Dan, Kaila, Sarah, and Sterling had the boys. After we ran out of games, we had the girls teach us some of their favorite games, such as Fire in the Mountain (Run! Run! Run!) and In-n-Out. We had a wonderful time, and one of the girls told us as we were leaving, “I will remember you!” Definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.
Today was a change of pace. Recently, a major religious leader in Sikkim died, so it was declared a national holiday. His body was being cremated at Enchey Monastery, a short walk from Gangtok, so our group decided to go see the ceremony this morning. After a slow start, we made it to the monastery (along with hundreds of other people) to watch the ceremony and subsequent cremation. We stood (and pushed) alongside many many other spectators as the wooden structure that contained his body was covered in yak butter and burned. Originally, we had expected pictures to be distasteful, but it seemed that every other person present had taken out their phones and cameras to document the event, so we followed suit. Before the ceremony, we bought white scarves to bring to the funeral, though we didn’t have a good idea of what to do with them. At the ceremony, we saw people throwing them into the air towards the burning body after cupping them and praying, so we followed suit.
Dan, Greta, Tully, Ellen, and I managed to get up into one of the temples, which was beautifully hand-painted and so colorful. We walked back down the path to meet up with Kaila and Sarah, who had been waiting in the shade. Sterling was feeling a bit ill, so he took a taxi back to Tadong, where our house is. We split ways there, when Kaila and Sarah headed back to Gangtok to get some lunch and then to go home and nap while the rest of us stayed behind to taste some of the free food that was offered to all attendees. We were offered seconds at least 4 times, but we were so full that we had to decline. People certainly eat well here, even at funerals.
Together, we headed back to town, where Ellen, Tully and I went in search of an internet café. We agreed to meet up with Dan and Greta at 3 (at the time, it was 1). All the electricity in Gangtok was apparently out, so we ducked into a small “fast food” place (fast food here is different from fast food in the US, and so much better!) to wait a bit. After some time, we decided that we didn’t want to wait that long to go back to the house, so we headed down the mountain, trying to use the “shortcuts” that all the locals use, which are essentially hidden staircases that go down the mountain, instead of the road, which zigzags up the mountain. I was optimistic that we would be able to find our way, even with my notoriously bad sense of direction. Instead, I managed to get us very badly lost, to the point where no one even knew what we were talking about when we asked, “Tadong?” and looked very confused. We kept going down the mountain, which seemed to work. We finally got to a point where people did know what we were talking about, though no one could tell us exactly where to go. We finally found a taxi and made it home, just in time to phone Dan and Greta to tell them that we had decided to go home. Tomorrow we return to the schools!