Well it took me quite a few days to write my first posting but here I am!  I landed in Delhi seamlessly and was immediately immersed in the Indian way of life.  We had 2 1/2 days of orientation in Delhi which consisted of meeting the staff of CCS and our fellow volunteers, as well as a few lectures on the History of India (I didn’t quite expect to be back in school but it is funny how relaxed I take in information at this age compared to the college students with me taking notes).  We were taken on a shopping expedition to buy Indian clothing as they want the women to blend into the culture.

We flew Monday afternoon on a small turbo prop plane to Dharamsala, at the gorgeous foothills of the Himalayas.  Again, a small orientation and dinner… oh, by the way, the food is definitely good but I am already getting tired of the “indian spice” cooking so just maybe I will be successful in losing a few pounds (a little side goal of this trip I had on my mind).  The weather has been spectacular and the air so fresh here in Dharamsala.  About 65 today in the sun, although by 5pm it does start getting very chilly but still very nice.  The house we are staying in is quite beautiful and we have endless terraces on every floor to bask in the sunshine.  The staff is just wonderful and all my fellow volunteers are terrific – mostly young college girls.

This morning we rose to a Yoga class at 7am, breakfast at 8:30 and we were finally off to our placements by 9:30.  This is actually the HIGHLIGHT of the trip so far – meeting my 15 children today was incredible.  They are simply adorable, happy children ages 1 to 5.  I can already tell the oldest girl, Ria is most likely going to become my assistant!  My partner volunteer, Melissa and I are responsible for coming up with learning activities and games to play for each day so that planning will take up a part of every afternoon.  We will be at the nursery school every day from 10am to 12:30. 

I will post photos as soon as it is possible and hopefully be more in touch now that we are settling in to a routine.  I just can’t stress enough how incredible the experience was on Day 1 so I am so looking forward to the days and weeks ahead.