By Moseley Davidson
Friday, June 3
Some would say this three week trip began in India, but I would say it started on the plane. The long flights tested all of us. For some it was difficult to fill the time, others didn’t have enough time to fill. For me, I listened to music I didn’t understand and played trivia. After arriving in New Delhi, we started to make our way to the mountains. I was surprised by the way people drive here. Honking the horn lets people know your there and trying to get by. The back of trucks have “honk horn” painted on them. I was surprised as people drove anywhere on the road – nothing or no one ever really seemed to stop.
For breakfast, we stopped at a tea house and got some chai. Strangely pleasant smells of spices and herbs filled the air. I was surprised to see so many houses that looked unfinished. I leaned that when Covid happened a lot of the buildings had to stop being made. When restrictions where lifted, it was probably cheaper to just stop building – I wondered whether people were going on, or moving places as they left these unfinished buildings behind.
Getting into the mountains, I couldn’t I was told that these where not that steep, but they were to me. After settling in to the mountain hotel, we explored for a little while. Jordan Bayliss and I tried to find what and where music was being played. We ended up walking down a small road. We saw two little kids trying to slide down the steep road on plastic soda bottles. As we walked further, a man called out “don’t open that gate, there’s a tiger inside!” We talked with him for a while about his life – he talked about his kids having a choice to be in school or begin work, and I’m curious about how people really make that choice. He ended up giving us a bag full of peaches from one of his trees.
Peyton said it this morning, but I’ve been thinking about this idea of change. Things in India seem to be moving a lot faster here, so I wonder whether it’s easier for other pieces to be forgotten? How can you choose to keep doing what your family is doing, or try something new? Overall, things are moving quickly and I am looking forward to getting deeper into the mountains.
I tried writing this in my bed but just kept falling asleep. The travel is catching up to me!
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