Bodean Hedwards - English Teacher, India
"We arrived in Delhi in August, the heat was amazing and the humidity sucked the energy from all our bodies. There are 15 of us volunteers and as we left the airport there was no way that we were prepared for what we were about to encounter. There are only three things that you need for driving in India, good breaks, good steering and GOOD LUCK! Not what we wanted to hear less then an hour into our journey. Delhi is a city that is confronting in all aspects, and challenges you both mentally and emotionally. It’s a hot, humid and dirty place with little space for self indulgence. This was to be my first taste of India, and I can honestly say that it will be burnt into my memory for life. We all hit rock bottom on the third day when we all became witness to the real India, a girl no older then 5 eating from a pile of garbage mounted on the sidewalk, this was possibly the most heart breaking scene we had ever seen, and what made it worse was that at that point in time there was nothing in the world that I could do.
So I left Delhi the next day, and it was not a moment to soon. As the train pulled away from Delhi, and left behind what I am sure was hell on earth, I saw the India that was painted in my dreams, the endless rice fields, freckled with men in triangle hats, ushering their yak to continue the day’s work, both their eyes worn, but content. The sound of the train became a beat to my thoughts, and as I got closer to Dehra Dun, my heart fluttered in time with this Indian beat of the train.
I arrived in Dehra Dun at 12pm that day and was met by my Mentor, Tsering Pema, who would soon become one of my closest friends - a nun from the office at the Tibetan nunnery, and my Lattitude Rep and stand in mum and best friend. My arrival at the nunnery could not have been better timed, in the following weeks I would celebrate His Holiness Sakya Trizins birthday (the right hand man of the Dalai Lama), participate in a long life prayer or pooja for 10 days, and help in the awarding of the nuns who placed first in their English classes.
Over the next two weeks, I went through the most mentally and emotionally challenging time in my life. Everything that was familiar was completely left behind, and I felt like I was running blind into a room with no floor... at one point, I questioned myself as to my capabilities to even see out the following months... With the sincere love and support from all my newly found friends, both amongst the nuns, Pema and especially my Lattitude Rep, I came out of the room having learnt so much about both this new culture that I was living in, and more prominently, about myself.
So now life at the nunnery is a home, I teach three times a day, one class in the morning and two at night. There is a mixture of English grammar and conversational skills and of course the lyrics to Shakira 'Hips Don’t Lie' and the learning of the famous Nutbush! The food at the nunnery took some getting used to, a lot of vegetables that I had never tasted, and everything is salty, even the tea (which was a mighty shock when I first tasted it!) and then there is the famous Tibetan Tingmo! This is the most delicious tasting bread, and with some homemade peanut butter and jam, I have taken to it very nicely! It has however taken away the edge to the ultimate bikini figure that I was hoping for upon my return!
The nuns are the most beautiful people. Life is simple, and nothing is taken for granted, they live every moment like it is their last and have smiles permanently painted on their faces! Life here is amazing.
My travels are slowly coming along, and so far I have managed to bath my feet in the Ganga River, the most holy of rivers in India, and clap along to the prayers dedicated to it. I have looked upon the World Peace Stupa in Clement town, and kissed the feet of a 24-foot high golden Buddha. My travels are soon to be taking me on an elephant safari and around Northern India.
I have taken up Yoga and meditation, and along with the prayer that I sit in on most days, I have learnt to completely clear my mind, and for a moment completely lose myself... Pema and I wake at 5:30 every morning to go walking and watch the world wake up against a Himalayan background.
At the minute, life could not be better, I am living a life that I would never have dreamed, and yet always wanted."