The Himalayas

Last week a woman from Germany, Eva, came to Antaranga to work with the kids and help earn funds for the school. My family, not wanting to get in the way, took a train out to the Himalayas for the week. The train ride was quite the adventure just in itself, and as I walked on I had the vague feeling I was entering a house with an excessive amount of bunk beds. The train cart was split into compartments, each of which had six cots, three stacked above each other in two columns. I had the honor of getting a top bed, though to be honest, climbing a ladder with an overstuffed backpack over sleeping strangers isn’t quite as thrilling as getting the top bunk at a sleepover. Possibly the best part of the train though was when I left my bunk to go to one of the small rooms connecting the carts. I opened the doors and watched as the Indian countryside flew past me, the sun was rising in the background. I hardly think Superman could get a better view flying around the world.

In the mountains my family and I stayed with a local Nepali family in a village called Makaibari. Needless to say, I was exposed to a whole new plethora of foods, many of which I still don’t know the names of. Actually, I was surprised as to how similar the food was to Chinese food there (Illia and Eden, it essentially tasted like you had met an Indian friend and decided to have a cooking party). And, surprisingly, I had porridge for the first time in my life. No, not oatmeal, not cream of wheat, but legitimate porridge. I don’t think it’s a dish native to the region, and I’m not sure how the family we were with even knew how to cook it, but I will say that I finally understand why Goldy Locks kept on eating under the threat of monstrous bears. Yeah, I would’ve too.

Mostly though, my time there was spent hiking. And hiking. And hiking some more. We were staying on a tea plantation (made ironic by the fact that no one in my family drinks tea) and I spent a lot of time, sometimes with my family, sometimes alone, hiking up and down the slopes of the seemingly endless tea plants. Sean is still attempting to figure out how they plant tea bushes at forty-five degree angles. There were sections were one could escape this sea of tea, however, in more jungle-like areas infested with bamboo and a thousand tropical plants my mother would tell me the name of and I would instantly forget. It was on one of these hikes that I discovered a banana tree (that’s at least one plant I know the name of) and brought back bananas that my brothers and I spent an afternoon throwing on the road to be squished by cars. There’s something satisfying about watching a banana erupt into white goo across the pavement.

It was also on one of these hikes that I had what we’ve labeled as “Mikaela’s fall.” My Dad, Linea, Sean, Jocey, and I were hiking in the jungle on a narrow path. We had to go one at a time to fit on it and on one side was a steep drop-off (essentially a cliff) down to a river/ravine below. Dad stopped to take pictures, and I, being the impatient four-year-old I am, climbed out onto a tree over the drop off. Unfortunately, that tree didn’t feel like holding the weight and I went plummeting down the cliff side, rolling and tumbling, kicking up so much dirt I couldn’t even see. Gratefully I was able to grab onto another branch on my way down and from there climbed down into the ravine where I was greeted by a group of shocked natives washing their clothes. I’m still not sure whether they were shocked by the fall or just shocked that I had survived it, but either way after an awkward stare-off I just said “Hi. I’m Mikaela,” to which one of them (apparently English speaking) responded, “You OK?” Me: “Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” which is… mostly true. Just about every area of my body except my stomach is covered in scratches and I have a bruise on my shoulder and thigh the size of a baseball, but considering that I’m alive and didn’t snap any bones, I’d say I’m pretty all right. I’ve also discovered that luck must be taking special interest in me as a result of my stupidity. Either that or I possess magical properties that protect me from severe harm. The second sounds much cooler, so I’m going to go with that.

As of today I now have another week of teaching, after which I’ll probably be going to Kolkata with my family for a few days and then back home. So, see you all soon!