Heyyy!

Thanks so much to my dad for posting that to the blog! Im sorry it was soooo poorly written but it is so hard to put all my thoughts into an email when I feel like i have a million and one things to tell! I have sooo many pictures too. Heres a short attempt at explaining today:

We went on a 15 km hike in the foothills today! Boy am I going to be sore! It was sooo incredibly pretty (its so hard to find new words to describe my trip - i feel so limited!). We took a break at one point to visit a school. Many of the children walk 2+ hours to reach it and walk in flip flops. I cannot even imagine...I was struggling while fully outfitted. Its hard to understand life when I am walking for pleasure but they are walking for a better future...
We taught them "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" and then theyj taught us a song - I dont think any of really learned it! But it was really fun!

Later in the hike we ran into an older woman who (I swear) had the best smile lines I have ever seen. She just wanted to shake our hands and give kisses. She LOVED having her pictures taken and even through all her obvious hardships she wanted us to go to her house for tea. Unfortunately we had to keep hiking but I will always remember her face.


Once we reached the little town (about 5/6 hours later) we had lunch and met the sweetest puppy. There are so many amazing things that I love about India yet so many sad, frustrating parts exist. So many beggars, homeless puppies, roaming cows but yet this place is somehow magical! So many contradictions and yet such freedom...

I still have a million more things to say - I don't know how to catch everyone up but I promise to soon! We are leaving to Delhi tomorrow before we fly to Ladahk!!! Yayy! We are all a little nervous about altitude sickness because SECMOL/Leh is about 11,000 feet!

Much Love from India!
Taylor