From Brahma to Buddha, Spring 2010

For the past week we have been living in a small village a few hours away from Leh Ladakh. Although this homestay only lasts a week I have grown very close to my family and will miss them terribly when we leave. In my family there are three brothers a friendly neighbor and a cousin. We all hang out everyday during and after school. The youngest, a little four year old, is full of energy and loves to cuddle up on my lap, without a doubt the cutest kid I've seen on the trip. The other guys and I play cricket in the street after school using rocks as wickets. Its great fun. We also play a hakey sack type game with a bunch of rubber bands strung together. In this we kick the ball and the last foot it touches that guy has to whip the strung bands at the closest person. The other day I found out there's a thriving hockey community here and every winter they organize a team and play on the weekends. This past summer they placed second in the annual tournament in Leh. The cousin is captain of the team. When they found out I play they got together some roller blades and I went for a skate down the road with another member of the team. It’s a beautiful place to blade. Were surrounded by rocky mountains and on one side there's a magnificent snow peaked mountain. Also following the road is a creek that winds through the mountains. The first day I was here we hopped along the river over the rocks skipping stones across the flat areas. After I got back from blading I realized how out of shape I am seeing how every muscles in my body ached and I was gasping for air/ im not quite sure how ill fair on the trek next week. When its to dark to play outside we head down to the kitchen/living room. Here we play cards or the occasional chess game. One of the brothers is an avid chess player and although I've beaten him a few times he puts up quite a fight. As the night winds down we flip on the tv and watch some discovery or animal planet. The first day I saw a special on the wildlife in the area and there were clips of yaks on mountain sides and the elusive snow leopard making kills.
During the day we usually meet at the school where we have assisted in painting a few classrooms and then putting up posters. Afterwards we challenged the boys to a volley ball game and had some tough intense games. Every day from4 to six we would teach the students how to use the recently installed computers at the school as well as teach English.

- Eliot