I guess that I am getting used to India. As far as teaching goes, this week has been pretty darn easy. From Monday to Thursday, the school we are teaching at (Acharya Nanesh Academy) hosted a district-level volleyball tournament for students under 18 years old. The winner of the tournament got to move on to a tournament for the entire state of Rajasthan; competition was high.

The opening ceremonies. Peter and I were shown off like trophy wives.

The home team! All students were of Hindi medium schools.

Although we were teaching normal classes at the college for the entirety of the tournament, we were lucky enough to catch the final matches between both the 17 year old teams and middle school teams. Like I said, competition was high: these kids demonstrated great skills in their bumps, sets, and spikes. I wouldn't have stood a chance!

The team in baby blue on the far side, Nipania, won it all. They came from Chittorgarh, a city about 50 km away from Danta.

Then Friday happened to be national Teacher's Day in India. In this country, teachers are respected as intellectual, moral, and spiritual leaders or gurus. Students all call us sir or ma'am, and in passing bend down to touch our shoes in a showing of respect. Needless to say, Friday was pretty nice!

Students organized a day of performances, skits, and activities for the teachers to take part in. We received these gifts at the end of the day.

The students gave us these bracelets too. I'm still getting used to seeing this symbol everywhere.

One of the funniest things I have noticed here is the variety of shirts these students wear. It is fairly hilarious for a student to approach you, say "good afternoon, sir", bend down to touch your toes with the utmost respect, and then smile at you while wearing these shirts.

My personal favorite. No you aren't, bro.

Apart from the challenge that exists in teaching English language learners, life has been pretty amazing and easy in the grand scheme of things. I have been waking up early, staying healthy with a fresh, vegetarian diet, and spending my free time walking around the jungly-desert, playing my guitar, and reading books I have been meaning to read for a long time now.

It is hard to stay depressed when I get these views every day.

And it's hard to imagine that we are this close to the Middle East. India is a horse of a different color, for sure.

Well, by the next time I post, it will have been close to a month since I left home. Time is both creeping by in snail-like increments and flying by in a blink, an experience that is really hard for me to explain. Reading through a book that my mom gave me for Christmas, I came across a picture of my dad that she put between two pages. The picture was from a trip to Palenque, Mexico that the two of them took in 1988. I don't have a lot of pictures of my dad, but this is certainly my favorite.

I love the twinkle of adventure in his smile.

And hope he would be proud of the adventure I currently find myself a part of.

BJ