So did a really poor job of staying up to date many times this past year but I am determined now to finish the year so I am going to write a recap of the time I had in Dang nepal at Gurukul school. I left the day after I arrived at 6 in the morning to head to the bus station and got a bus which stupidly was technically the third class bus. I was told i shouldn't arrive later than 7pm so I got on and went on a long adventure at one point the road split either straight north or theee hours west before heading north and the faster way two people had died on the night before so we went the other way which added some time on the the journey which originally should have been around 10-12 hours and was 17.. so that was a real adventure but it was exactly that an adventure and an experience. And the guy sitting next to me was super helpful and I've we finally arrived in dang they brought me all the way to the street the school was on where I was received by Teeka the schon Principal. It was already 1am and so they just showed me my room and I went to bed. The first 6 days I was there were vacation for the school because of local elections. One day Teeka took me to a local temple and holy spot where they sacrifice goats and sheep and also a local place to bring your family and have a picnic with a dirty lake where the kids play. He drove me there on his motorbike slowly and carefully but it was fun. I was also invited to join four of the founders of the school who were there for the vacation(two of them because dang is their home district and they were also there to vote) to go to swagadori one of the most holy places for Hindu people. For them basically what heaven is for christians. It was a real adventure three hours with the car up and down windy mountain roads with four adult men who acted like little boys going to the candy store. Once we got to the bottom of the mountain we had to get into a different car a four wheel drive to drive another hour up a small, dusty, bumpy and rocky path up the mountain. Once we got to the top there was another 20 min walking up this large stairs and by the time we got there it was dark with the most beautiful view of the stars I've seen in a long time definitely best in Asia. We got up to the top which was a temple with a stable for lots of cows a building with housing and a cafeteria type room. There was a school on the top for children of all ages to become yogis and we had dinner and settled into our room which was just a bunch of beds and thick blankets I got a whole row of beds to myself and the guys slept across from me. The next morning we got up very early and they went from temple to temple each for a different god and I was allowed to watch and take pictures. Everyone stared at me with such bewilderment understandably because I think very very few foreigners get to go to this temple. Aanant, one of the guys, told me they think probably what is this creature from what world did I come from. Really fascinating. And after the adventure to the temple we went to a city where one of the other guys came from where some of his relatives were running in the election so he went to wish them good luck and such. So that was a nice little adventure out of the campus. Which is extremely nice. Clearly a privat school with a lot of money but they are trying to be the best school in all of dang and that shows. There's three school buildings, a Montessori kindergarten, elementary 1st-5th grade and a jr high building 6th-8th as well as a cafeteria building, boarding school building and another building with a chemistry lab and music room and the best of all a swimming pool! So the days before school started I spent a lot in my hammock and hanging out with the 14 kids who live in the boarding school. We also started to create a theater show which was a really fun and stressful process because they are all very energized and not so good listeners but it still turned out pretty awesomely. Than school started and I had a little bit more of a schedule. Mornings after assembly, which was different every morning sometimes dancing, karate, yoga or swimming, I would go to one of the kindergarten classes either pre 1 a or b or pre 2 so 4/5 year olds or 6 year olds and sang songs or did origami. They were so adorable. Everything in the school is taught in English except their Nepali class so they could all speak minimal English and it was so cute to interact with them. They all wanted to sit closest to me in the circle and tell me about it show me all sorts of things. Very cute. Than I ate lunch and after lunch had a English class with 7th graders and than with 6th graders. I did the same thing in both classes and at the beginning was asked for a teaching plan of what I was going to do which I did and when I finished it the coordinator who asked me to do it was so shocked and said oh you could just follow the teacher that was a bit frustrating but because I had a detailed plan I also followed it. Teaching things like vowel and consonant sounds, how to write a paragraph or essay, reading stories, how to write a script etc. in the end I only had 8 days where I was actually teaching because at the end they started exams, all students in Nepal had them at the same time every day a different subject so that was kind of unfortunate. The first day with the 6th graders I got cornered and asked by every single one of them for an autograph on their arm or hand or journal it was pretty crazy and funny. But than after the English classes I had some free time where I usually took a nap and went to watch and play with the really little ones in foundations/play group so ages 2-4 really cuties they also got let out at 3:30 so I would watch as they all waddled away with their oversized backpacks and waved good bye or all huddled under one big umbrella when it rained. Really adorable. Than there was snack which was always delicious and after school I would either immediately have rehearsal with the kids or wait until they finished their homework or play a bit before rehearsing. That was basically my time there. There were two Spanish girls who came for 5 days they were scouts and it was one of their final projects before becoming a scout leader and than her supervisor. One evening I was invited to Depti one of the lovely kindergarten teachers home. First we went to a different local temple and than to her home. That was a really awesome experience her family was so incredibly kind and even without English we were able to communicate and have a good time together. It was super interesting seeing how the locals really live and walking around everyone asked who I was and what I was doing and I said the couple words in Nepali that I know. It was really lovely. Also incredible to think she walks an hour to and from school everyday to teach. Another fun thing I did was help one of the teachers with his music video for a song he wrote and produced in his music video really silly but lots of fun and I'm excited for the end result. It's a quitchy love song and a lot of slow motion of me running or twirling or being serenaded haha it was really funny to me but super serious for him and I support it!! Also funny how at the beginning of filming we had like 5 or 6 kids watching and by the end like 30 minutes later there were at least 25/30 people watching the kids got their grandparents and parents and little siblings and neighbors and we had a huge fan base haha. I really enjoyed my time at gurukul it was entirely different than all the other times mainly because the only other white people I met in the three weeks I was there were these Spanish girls otherwise only locals and they were so incredibly kind and giving and loving it was so nice!! And the food from the cafeteria was so yummy I definitely got a little sick or rice but once I left I missed it. All in all a really incredible time.

Dang- part 1