Alex Park February Update

Whoa! Well a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Nick and I are now in Chamba, where we went for our first expedition when we were in India a little more than a year ago. We have been staying with a Mr. Dahmi. He is a very wise man and Nick and I have loved the opportunity to get to know him better. We are very grateful for his hospitality and how he has treated us like family. Nick and I are here to set up everything for Utah County YMAD when they are here in March. It has been raining nonstop for the past 4 days, so we have been unable to meet with the schools and orphanages. So we’ve been stuck inside reading all day and talking about video games we wish we had. 2 Sundays ago Nick and I had all of the girls over to our house and we had our first Annual Pancake Fest 2010!
And our pancakes were amazing. Our secret? Lots and lots of butter. Actually Nick did most of the cooking while I sat there and cheered him on. I did set the table though. Pretty important stuff. I even had a nice little centerpiece. It really tied the room together. Our Pancake Fest 2010 was a great success and all the girls loved them. After breakfast Nick and I went up to see mother to give her some pancakes. Mother is a woman from Switzerland who has lived in India for the past 25 years. Her name really isn’t Mother. I actually have no idea what it is. She just likes going by mother. She is one of the Shastra Society board members. Ymad has had a lot of success these past few months and the Baird’s and all the previous interns have done a great job in this part of the world. James and Nefi found all these wonderful girls to fill our orphanage and Reshma started teaching in the elementary school and even got desks for the school there. Nick and I have continued to teach and we even got into the high school to teach a couple classes a day. But it feels as if Mother is trying to stop all of our progress. We don’t know what her plan is but it is clear that she doesn’t realize all of the blessing that have been occurring around her. But we know it is because of her that we are now in Chamba and it looks like we will be traveling to Calcutta. But Nick and I fully intend on going back to the Home for Peace before the end of our adventure and to be with our wonderful girls. And we totally forgot our hot chocolate mix in Kullu too. Now we have to go back.

Nick Clark February Update

We have had tremendous success in Kullu. The past interns have done an amazing job setting it all up. Alex and I were stoked to get our turn to make a lasting difference in Kullu. We have had so many things going our way. We would teach in two schools a day.
Help the girls with there homework and give them love they needed. There is much more we want to set up there. We made some really good friends there too. Raj and Nisha! There are some of the most down to earth, hard working people on this plane. Raj is the MAN that is all you need to know about him. He has looked after us the second we step of the bus. He is always thinking about other people, always asking if we are doing fine, or if we need anything.

He does wonderful work for the ashram, running place to place getting things done. And he has a great since of humor .We are in good hands with Raj Sir. Nisha is the warden for the ashram. She is like a mom/older sister to the girls. Making sure all their needs are kept. Keeping them on a tight schedule and always making sure they have all their homework done. The girls love her! She is a perfect fit for them.

YMAD could not have found two better people in this world to help them run this ashram. They are a blessing for up above.
It all sounds like every thing in Kullu is just great. But there is just one thing from stopping us there. And its name is mother. She a nice lady when she wants to be, the reason we our in Chamba right now is because of her. She just makes it very difficult to do anything there. So for the time being Alex and I are going to make a difference somewhere else. But we will go back to Kullu to be with our girls and our friends again! It pains us not being with our girls and our friends Raj and Nisha. It was so sad to leave them. I don’t think I have ever been heart broken in my life till now. It’s a crummy feeling. I was laying in bed in Chamba one night and I said what is this feeling of hurt I have in my heart? I started thinking I miss home. But I wasn’t thinking about American I was thinking of the people we love and the places we call home in Kullu. Because Home is where your heart is. And Those Girls have stolen it right out of my chest. But no matter what happens Park & I are on the trip of a life time and we our STOKED to see what happened next! We are so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you YMAD