Tuesday Morning.

So this morning was the first time we had ever seen our placement site in person. I am still trying to process the last few hours. So me and some of the volunteers are placed at a local school called Vidya and it's located in the slums. Wow. I mean you can see pictures, you can read tons of books describing the slums, but it is never going to be the same as standing directly in the middle of them. It is unbelievable. There is trash everywhere. Piles of it on the sides of the alley ways and you are just taken back by it. It smells like human feces. And you can see it as well. Need I remind you, this is one of the very well kept slums in Delhi. There are about 3,000 people who live in this particular slum and the school educates about 50 kids or so. Each one of the huts in the slums are very clean and the residents take pride in their space and maintaining its cleanliness. So while the streets may be very unsanitary and cluttered, their huts are not. Once again, everywhere you look there are people staring at you. Once we got to the school the children are just so inviting. They are smiling and standing up so excited to see new people. You hear them call out "Didi Didi" which means older sister in Hindi. Their faces just light up every time they see you or they want to show you something. I am teaching a class of about 15 kids who are the age of 5 and 6. Each one of them so eager to learn and to demonstrate their knowledge to you. Occasionally you do have to shout out the word "ruko" which means stop or "acha" which means good. After a little bit of learning and teaching, we all went outside for play time. The kids love to play and dance and be around you. I constantly have someone pulling at my shirt or holding my hand or wanting to show you their latest handshake. But overall this was an amazing experience. The kids are just amazing here. And at first I almost started to cry when I saw the school and all the kids, but they don't see the sadness in their lives. They see happiness. The joy of having a friend and someone to give them love and attention that makes them smile as much as they do. And over time I know will see that too. Each one of them bright, energetic, and just so full of life. Before I left, the kids kept saying "tomorrow? tomorrow?" and I constantly reassured them that I would be back. I had a fantastic first day at the school and just like the kids, I can't wait for tomorrow!