This post features student writing.

7/13

We started the day with a breakfast of fruit, cereal, and toast. Afterward, we headed to the school to teach the kids and work on the storage room. The kids were ecstatic and rambunctious, as usual. We made great progress laying bricks and smoothing the cement walls. We walked back to the palace and enjoyed a hearty lunch of curries, rice, vegetables, chapati, and mango tang, a personal favorite. The group rested for a bit and then, we worked on our independent projects. We went to the tailor and finished sewing our skirts. Some took photos of the local scenery, and others embroidered head scarves. We came back and enjoyed some chai and cookies, as we shared stories from our projects. Later in the evening we had a magician come to our house and show us some amazing magic tricks. After the magic show we played volleyball with some local kids. The group really bonded over this fun sport. We then ate a dinner of vegetable curry and rice, with a dessert of mango and chocolate. The group played a couple rounds of games and then went to bed.

7/14

The day started off with a similar breakfast as the previous. We went to the school and continued to lay bricks and mix cement. The kids were very cooperative in the classroom and made great progress in their understanding of English. In Alice, Ava F, and Izzy’s class, we taught our students seasons, clothing items, and food. After our service, we ate lunch and headed out for independent projects. We worked on embroidery, tailoring, cooking, and photography. In the evening, two local women came to the palace and gave us henna. Everyone received a unique and individual design. Ava P. and Anne Marie made a dinner of (much craved) butter and garlic pasta for the group. We ate this cuisine along with vegetables and chicken curry. After dinner, we played games as a group and watched the stars.

7/15

We ate a typical breakfast of fruit, cereal and toast. The students did not have school today, so we went to the school solely for construction work. It was pouring outside which was a nice break from the extreme heat. After work, we had a group meeting to assess our experience so far in India and how we can make the most of the remaining days of the trip. We then took a long car drive to a nature conservation which was strongly populated with leopards. We were escorted through the territory and saw four leopards! Few of us had never seen a big cat in the wild, so it was very exciting. We had a long drive back to the palace, where everyone fell asleep immediately after dinner.

7/16

Wavy, Izzy and George woke up early to cook a pancake breakfast for everyone. After breakfast, we went to the school to finish up the last of the cementing while Ava F. and Neerav went to the market to pick out paint. By the time they arrived back, the walls were ready to be painted and we all began to lay a white wash base coat primer. We completed three walls. After that dried, the students laid down the first layer of pink paint which will be the background color for the various murals. George suggested this as it matched the rest of the school. The workers would finish the inside of the storage space and complete another layer or two of the pink so we can begin our mural outlines tomorrow. The students came up with ideas to paint a tree of hand prints on the big wall and on the smaller wall, Ava F. designed an elephant for everyone to paint. After, we came back and had lunch, rested and then set off for our independent projects. We all met back up for a 6:30 pm volleyball match and played several games. Some of us watched the sunset from the roof while others continued to practice more volleyball. We met back up in the dining room to have dinner and then played cards before bed.