Spare Tires

After a month of living by myself at GRAVIS, I was overjoyed to welcome a new volunteer, Stephanie, into the organization and our room. Stephanie is the definition of a world citizen: half Peruvian and half American, she spent years living in Singapore, Dubai, and Texas. It seems as though she's been pretty much everywhere in the world. She'll be volunteering with GRAVIS for two months and then starting a year long fellowship in St Louis, where she also studied sociology. In just the first two days of her arrival we explored two awesome parks in Jodhpur that I had been wanting to visit. Scouting out the park on the clifftop, we wound our way through tight side street neighborhoods until finding the road that led to the top. We gazed down onto the blue painted buildings of Jodhpur at twilight. since it was getting later and we didn't really want to walk back down the long way we had come and go all the way around the main roads at the base of the cliff, we wondered if ther might be a shortcut. Walking to the end of the penninsula that made the top of the cliff, we saw something. Were those steps carved into the rocky gully going down the side of the cliff? They sure looked like it! And it wasn't too steep! If we took off our sandals for better traction we could scamper down just as well as mountain goats and pop out right behind a temple from where I could find our way home. So we did!

All the GRAVIS staff got a kick out of Stephanie's name, for in Hindi, "step ni" means spare tire! We joked that Ruchi, my friend always and fellow volunteer until last month, had left, so Stephanie would be her replacement! She'll be my replacement too, soon enough. No, she was so many unique skills and characteristics that she will make a wondeful volunteer, and upgrade not just a spare.

We've been waking up in the air conditioned library (we've moved our bed rolls in here because its the only place with AC and its too damn hot to sleep in the room) at 6 am. By 6:30 we're out the door and jogging through CAZRI (Central Arid Zone Regional Institute). It's the only decent time to get some exercise because now even the evenings are sweltering. I've been here in rajasthan so long I've seen the seasons change! I've also been trying to train a bit for the Himalayas, when Kirstin and Emily come over here, but its been a little difficult here in the desert lowlands.

Good thing Steph arrived with some workout videos! After jogging, we switch on some Power Pilates and Yoga for some ultimate core training! Never thought I'd enjoy them, but videos are professional, sincere, and man! You can feel the workout!

We've been having fun bouncing around Jodhpur together. For once I feel like the guide in india, answering a million questions and getting us from place to place.

Steph- I apologize for not sticking around longer and getting you on your feet! I relied on Ruchi for the full 2 months and more that she was here and she never seemed to tire of translating and answering my questions. She's incredibley patient.
Not long after Steph arrived came Kali, from Birmingham, Alabama. A really sweet girl, she'll be volunteering for 4 months, and boy she's picked a hot time to come, and then monsoons too! Happy birthday Kali!

All GRAVIS's volunteers are spares, I guess, but in this organization we never feel like it.