Hi everyone!
Last week Vanisha introduced herself and told you a little bit about our work lives here in Kadod, so now it’s my turn to tell you a little bit about our personal lives! But first, let me introduce myself: My name is Priya Garg, and I graduated from Emory University this past May where I majored in International Studies and minored in Spanish. I became very interested in the Nanubhai Education Foundation because of my prior experience in teaching English to immigrants through a program called Project SHINE during my college years.
So this past weekend was one filled with discovery, walking, and sodas. On Saturday, Vanisha and I, along with Melissa and Cat, wandered around Kadod in order to find interesting sights and to get out of the house for a bit. We walked to the famous mango tree where some of the teachers at the high school had taken Melissa and Cat earlier in the week to get mangoes for our home. After looking at the tree and taking some pictures, we continued on to the hospital which was further down the road. We walked right up to the front door, but then stood about as we were unsure whether we were allowed in or not. We quickly decided that it was too hot to stand in the heat and decided to walk back onto the main street; once there, we decided to walk down even further as the street leading away from Kadod was extremely shady and we were quite hot! All four of us walked down that road for about 2 kilometers, looking at the scenery and occasionally getting scared by stray dogs or goats that would come into our path. Finally, after a long walk down that road, we decided to turn around and visit Rajasthan, the most famous ice cream parlor in Kadod. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to relax under a fan and eat delicious mango ice cream after such a long walk!
After we finished eating our quickly melting ice cream, we decided to visit the public garden, which was very close to the parlor. However, once we got there, we realized that the garden was not yet open to the public! After taking a few pictures from the road, we decided to continue on down the road to see what else we could find. Cat had mentioned there was a temple nearby, so we set out to find it and pay our respects. However, we never found the temple! We walked further and further down the road, but no temple was to be seen! Finally, we decided to turn around both because of our mounting disappointment and because of my feet: I was wearing flip flops that were rubbing my feet raw and I desperately wanted to get some new shoes! We walked home slowly to accommodate my injuries, and lo and behold! We found the temple! We became very excited, but then we came across another problem – we couldn’t figure out how to reach it from the road! We finally decided to admire it for a bit from where we were, and then headed back to town, our home, and my stash of Band-Aids.
The next day, some of the boys from Vanisha and my spoken English classes came to our house to take us for a tour of Kadod. We were really excited that the boys were taking us out, and we quickly gathered our things and headed for the door. We had been taken on a tour by some girls a few weeks earlier, so we were hoping they would show us something new. The first place the boys took us to was the greenhouse here in Kadod! We were so happy with this wonderful surprise! The greenhouse was huge, filled with hundreds of Berber flowers of different colors – pink, white, red, orange, and others! We took tons of pictures and then continued on our tour.
Ok, well that’s it for now! Please come back soon for more posts!
Best,
Priya
Last week Vanisha introduced herself and told you a little bit about our work lives here in Kadod, so now it’s my turn to tell you a little bit about our personal lives! But first, let me introduce myself: My name is Priya Garg, and I graduated from Emory University this past May where I majored in International Studies and minored in Spanish. I became very interested in the Nanubhai Education Foundation because of my prior experience in teaching English to immigrants through a program called Project SHINE during my college years.
So this past weekend was one filled with discovery, walking, and sodas. On Saturday, Vanisha and I, along with Melissa and Cat, wandered around Kadod in order to find interesting sights and to get out of the house for a bit. We walked to the famous mango tree where some of the teachers at the high school had taken Melissa and Cat earlier in the week to get mangoes for our home. After looking at the tree and taking some pictures, we continued on to the hospital which was further down the road. We walked right up to the front door, but then stood about as we were unsure whether we were allowed in or not. We quickly decided that it was too hot to stand in the heat and decided to walk back onto the main street; once there, we decided to walk down even further as the street leading away from Kadod was extremely shady and we were quite hot! All four of us walked down that road for about 2 kilometers, looking at the scenery and occasionally getting scared by stray dogs or goats that would come into our path. Finally, after a long walk down that road, we decided to turn around and visit Rajasthan, the most famous ice cream parlor in Kadod. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to relax under a fan and eat delicious mango ice cream after such a long walk!
After we finished eating our quickly melting ice cream, we decided to visit the public garden, which was very close to the parlor. However, once we got there, we realized that the garden was not yet open to the public! After taking a few pictures from the road, we decided to continue on down the road to see what else we could find. Cat had mentioned there was a temple nearby, so we set out to find it and pay our respects. However, we never found the temple! We walked further and further down the road, but no temple was to be seen! Finally, we decided to turn around both because of our mounting disappointment and because of my feet: I was wearing flip flops that were rubbing my feet raw and I desperately wanted to get some new shoes! We walked home slowly to accommodate my injuries, and lo and behold! We found the temple! We became very excited, but then we came across another problem – we couldn’t figure out how to reach it from the road! We finally decided to admire it for a bit from where we were, and then headed back to town, our home, and my stash of Band-Aids.
The next day, some of the boys from Vanisha and my spoken English classes came to our house to take us for a tour of Kadod. We were really excited that the boys were taking us out, and we quickly gathered our things and headed for the door. We had been taken on a tour by some girls a few weeks earlier, so we were hoping they would show us something new. The first place the boys took us to was the greenhouse here in Kadod! We were so happy with this wonderful surprise! The greenhouse was huge, filled with hundreds of Berber flowers of different colors – pink, white, red, orange, and others! We took tons of pictures and then continued on our tour.
Next, the boys took us through a neighborhood where we ended up at one of their houses, Amin’s. There, his family warmly welcomed us in, and his cousin offered to put mendhi, or henna, on our hands. I eagerly stepped forward and she put some of the most beautiful designs on my hands! Melissa and then Cat had their mendhi done as well; Vanisha decided to get her done later, so it would be fresh for a wedding she is planning to go to in a few weeks.
Now, while we were extremely happy to get our mendhi done, we came across some hilarious difficulties as well! First, Amin’s family insisted that we drink some Limcas they had bought for us, but it was very difficult to hold the bottles with our hands still wet! Then, after Amin’s house, the boys lead us to at least four other houses, where all the families insisted we drink sodas as well! We finally begged the last house to forgive us this once, but we could not drink any more sodas because we were so full! The family graciously let us off the hook, but made us promise to visit again soon.
When we finally came back home, we waited for about an hour longer, and then scraped the dried mendhi off our hands to unveil the most beautiful designs we had ever seen! Melissa, Cat and I were so happy with our newly decorated hands! We decided then and there that we would get it done again as soon as these designs faded!
Now, while we were extremely happy to get our mendhi done, we came across some hilarious difficulties as well! First, Amin’s family insisted that we drink some Limcas they had bought for us, but it was very difficult to hold the bottles with our hands still wet! Then, after Amin’s house, the boys lead us to at least four other houses, where all the families insisted we drink sodas as well! We finally begged the last house to forgive us this once, but we could not drink any more sodas because we were so full! The family graciously let us off the hook, but made us promise to visit again soon.
When we finally came back home, we waited for about an hour longer, and then scraped the dried mendhi off our hands to unveil the most beautiful designs we had ever seen! Melissa, Cat and I were so happy with our newly decorated hands! We decided then and there that we would get it done again as soon as these designs faded!
Ok, well that’s it for now! Please come back soon for more posts!
Best,
Priya
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