I spent the summer of 2014 as a volunteer at Tashirat Orphanage & Yoga Ashram in south central Mexico. Here is a collection of weekly blog posts that describe my experiences and adventures.

Week 1

The past several months of my life were wonderful yet stressful and disappointing as well.  I fostered several new friendships and further developed existing ones.  I visited India for the first time during spring break, and I also visited Milan during Valentine’s Day weekend.  I briefly met Arianna Huffington at a book talk promoting her latest work Thrive.  I interacted with Penn’s president Amy Gutmann on two occasions – one in person and one over email.  In the midst of these great things, the major stress factor in my life was landing a summer internship.  I had bad luck in seeking a summer position in consulting or data analytics.  As May approached, none of my job leads panned out, so I had to make a decision soon because summer break was merely days away.  Instead of taking a random job that I didn’t really want, I decided to spend this summer (most likely my last summer break ever) doing something nontraditional.

The trip to India in the spring was my first exposure to the “third world”.  It was spectacular, but I saw extreme poverty and suffering for the first time in my life.  I recall walking on the sidewalk on a busy street in Santacruz East, a neighborhood in Mumbai, and noticing a little girl crouching on the curb and playing with some leaves.  She was maybe 18 months old, and she looked emaciated with absolutely no body fat.  It was like seeing a baby with normal adult proportions.  It hurt me so much to see this little girl alone and suffering on the street, so it motivated me to undertake some humanitarian efforts to help young, poor girls in India with greater access to healthcare and education.  Of course this is a very long-term and potentially overambitious goal, but I figured that I should use the upcoming summertime to gain experience in humanitarian work.  This led me to spending this summer as a volunteer at Tashirat, an orphanage in a small town in Mexico.

Tashirat is an orphanage, school, and yoga ashram in the mountainous town Tepoztlàn, about 50 miles south of Mexico City.  I plan to spend 10 weeks here as a volunteer; volunteers typically help with agricultural projects, construction, and occasionally helping out with the children.  It all sounds idyllic, but I have experienced major culture shock during the first few days here.  The volunteers stay in a poorly maintained bungalow that is infested with scorpions, large bugs, flies, and various rodents.  It is the rainy season, so it rains every day and the roof leaks a lot of water all over the floor in my room.  My room is swarming with mosquitos at nighttime, so my arms, hands, legs, and feet are extremely bitten up right now.  Furthermore, Tashirat strives to be as sustainable as possible.  There is no proper plumbing in the bathrooms; instead, in an outhouse there is a bucket that is placed in a wooden-frame box with a toilet seat on the top.  Afterwards, one covers the waste with sawdust.  When the bucket is full, it is placed in the composting area and a clean bucket is replaced.  Yes indeed, human waste is composted and used as “humanure” to provide nutrients to soil and plants.  The most uncomfortable part of using the outhouse experience is the rancid smell and countless flies buzzing around one’s face in a very cramped space.

The staff and children at Tashirat are strictly fruitarian, meaning that they only eat fruits and non-root vegetables.  Volunteers are expected to be at least vegetarian during their stay.  Even the vegetarian diet has posed challenges for me, but I am quickly learning crafty ways to make fruit and vegetables more interesting.  On the weekdays I attend morning yoga sessions from 8-930am.  Yoga has been very challenging and my entire body is sore, but I am already feeling the benefits of it.  My body feels more agile and my mind is more relaxed.

Regarding the work aspect, I’ve buried food waste compost into the ground and painted various buildings in the compound.  In the past couple days I’ve been able to interact with the children a bit more.  These kids are absolutely wonderful!  They are all well-behaved and treat each other so nicely.  Despite the personal struggles I face with acclimating myself to this new way of life, seeing these great kids makes me appreciate the chance to spend the summer here.  Several of them come from dark pasts of physical, mental, and emotional abuse.  Tashirat has brought these kids a long way into brighter and happier lives and it’s exciting to see them learn and grow.

Week 2

In the morning, gentle overcast clouds dissipate as the shiny sun makes its entry in the afternoon.  We rejoice in the warm sunlight until roaring, dark clouds defeat the sun at dusk.  These furious clouds unleash a tsunami throughout the night, and the leaking roof shows no mercy to my bedroom floor.  Such is every day in Tepoztlàn.  I’m steadily adjusting to life at Tashirat (orphanage/school/yoga ashram in Mexico) and things are getting smoother and easier by the day.  I’ve fixed a mosquito net over my bed, and I’ve placed a few buckets and towels on my bedroom floor to collect the leaking rain water.  I’m slowly getting used to the dry toilets, but the flies buzzing all around and inside of them still terrify me.  Flies in general agitate me so much here.  Whenever I’m sitting outside, several flies land and crawl all over my arms, legs, and face.  The kitchen is also infested with flies everywhere.  Given that I am staying at a yoga ashram in the mountains, I need to find a way to come to peace with these flies and not mindlessly swing my arms to shoo them away.  Maybe I should think about the fly’s perspective?  This reminds me of my favorite poem “The Fly” by William Blake.  It is wonderfully performed by Esperanza Spalding here:

http://www.portablepoetry.com/poems/william_blake/the_fly.html

I am living in the mountains surrounding central Tepoztlàn, so it is about a 15 minute ride into the town.  I’ve gone into town a few times by bus to buy groceries and explore.  The bus ride costs merely seven pesos, but I’ve discovered a new way to get to town for free: hitchhiking!  I’ve come to learn that mountain people are very open and friendly.  While standing on the street waiting for the bus, a car stopped by me and asked if I’d like a ride to Tepoztlàn.  I was hesitant at first, but I decided to give it a shot because I heard that hitchhiking is totally normal around here.  It turned out to be a wonderful experience!  The driver lived in a small village further up the mountain and was making his weekly trip to the town to buy groceries.  He spent a year of his life in India, so we bonded over how much we love India and long to go back one day.  In another hitchhiking adventure, the guy who picked me up turned out to be a Mexican physicist who got his PhD in Zurich, Switzerland.  His car was half fueled by water and half fueled by gasoline; he made the engine from scratch!

The tallest mountain in Tepoztlàn has an ancient Aztec pyramid at the top called Tepozteco, which commemorates the death of an Aztec king very long ago.  Last weekend I climbed the mountain and felt like an Aztec king looking down at the valley.  The climb was entirely rocky steps, so it was like using the Stairmaster at the gym.  Unfortunately the rainy season made the rocks extremely slippery as well.  After a few slips and bruises, I stood atop Tepozteco and could see three different cities in Morelos, the name of the province.  The hike was such a struggle that I considered turning back a few times; then I noticed that little kids and very old people were effortlessly passing me and ascending the steps.  I even saw a few ladies wearing high heels while hiking!  I pushed myself upward and onward, and the views at the top were definitely worth it.

I’ve become a lot closer to several of the kids at Tashirat.  Every Friday the older kids get together with the volunteers to play soccer in a small concrete soccer pitch in the compound.  I played for the first time this week and had a lot of fun!  Some of the older kids are incredibly good and play in leagues on weekends.  In the middle of the World Cup madness, everyone is so excited about soccer.  We all gather in the one house with a TV to watch World Cup matches.

A few months ago I received a thank you card from a friend for helping to sponsor her trip here to Tashirat this past winter.  At the time I didn’t know anything about this place.  The card had a picture of a little girl in Tashirat’s orphanage, and I kept the photo in my room on my bookshelf because it always reminded me about what really matters in life.  During the following weeks I remember struggling so much to find a summer job and solidify my summer plans.  Countless hours spent networking and searching various job boards, meanwhile my true summer plan was sitting right beside me on my bookshelf the entire time.  A couple days ago I finally met this adorable little girl, Joli, and spent a couple hours playing with her.  It’s such a surreal feeling; in some way, I feel that she is the reason why I am here.

Week 3

The third week marks the longest time period that I’ve ever spent outside of the US.  The lifestyle here at Tashirat (orphanage/yoga ashram in Tepoztlán, Mexico) is so different and outside of my comfort zone that it is hard to not miss home.  I miss my friends, I miss talking to my mom on the phone every day, I miss my Chemex and AeroPress, I miss Pamcakes, I miss having espresso drinks at La Colombe, I miss meat, I miss Pandora, I miss Indian food, I miss strolling through city parks, I miss Federal Donuts.  I miss a lot of things – mostly food related.

I’m trying to cope with my food nostalgia by indulging in some Mexican delicacies.  I discovered Oaxaca cheese a couple weeks back.  My go-to spot is little blue stand called “La Casa Azul”.  The Oaxaca cheese there is perfectly creamy, stringy, and wonderfully delicious.  I bought about 300g of it yesterday, and sadly it is already finished.  I’ve also discovered wonderful drinks at markets and on the streets.  Horchata is a rice milk based drink mixed with cinnamon and vanilla – absolutely heavenly.  There’s also a similar drink that is coconut based – equally delicious.

I’m starting to become more familiar with central Tepoztlán.  I regularly visit a coffee shop and enjoy a cortado and sparkling water, which is one of my favorite things to do in Philly.  A cortado is espresso “cut” with a bit of steamed milk.  I’ve also found a fancy chocolate shop that serves incredible Mayan hot chocolate, although ordering it was problematic.  The language barrier has turned out to be much more difficult than expected.  I know only a few Spanish words and phrases, so talking with shopkeepers is always a struggle.  A few days ago, I visited a little food stand in the Sunday market to grab a snack.  I tried to order a quesadilla with cheese, mushrooms, and tomatoes; instead, I accidentally ordered three individual quesadillas, each having one of those fillings!  My mid-afternoon snack became a hearty meal.

This past week, a group of Muslim volunteers through United for Service visited Tashirat.  They only stayed for a week, but luckily I got to spend a lot of time with them.  It reminded me a bit of my friend circle at school.  I noticed the stark differences between visiting Tashirat on a short program and volunteering here for an extended period.  This volunteer group stayed in buildings with water toilets!  They also enjoyed meals cooked for them three times a day (luckily they always invited me to join).  Despite the marginal luxury that comes with a short-term program stay, I find the experience of long-term volunteers to be more wholesome.  One week is far too short to truly understand this place and develop meaningful relationships with the staff and kids.  As much as I miss home, I realize that it’s a blessing to have the chance to spend three months here.

I’ve been doing a wide variety of work during my stay thus far.  I did a lot of painting during the first couple weeks.  I’m in the process of helping staff members develop a new accounting system to better understand Tashirat’s costs, revenue, and cash flow.  More recently, I’ve had the chance to help the chef in the community kitchen; it is interesting to see a kitchen in action for people who maintain a raw vegan diet.  It’s mostly washing, cutting, and blending.  An ongoing project for Tashirat is to become self-sufficient on eggs by raising chickens.  The volunteers help with cleaning and maintaining the chicken stalls – a very interesting, smelly task.

I initially thought that volunteers at Tashirat would have lots of interaction with the kids, but unfortunately it turns out that volunteers usually do not see the kids at all in a given day.  Painting, accounting, cutting fruit, and cleaning chicken feces all day becomes unexciting, so I try to visit some of the kids in the evenings to brighten my day.  I frequent a house of five little girls and a little boy.  They are all between 7 and 12 years old, and I’m amazed at how they are so kind and well-behaved.  After eating dinner, they clean the entire house together.  I definitely didn’t have the skills or discipline to do that at such a young age.  After they finish cleaning, the kids have about 30 minutes to play before bedtime.  Sometimes we play outside, watch a documentary, read aloud, or draw in coloring books.  There’s something really special about these kids, and it’s hard to verbalize exactly what it is.  They are some of the best kids that I’ve ever met in my life, yet most of them had rough pasts of neglect and abuse at such young ages.  It’s a humanizing experience to see these kids smiling and so happy.

Week 4

Unfortunately two volunteers finished their stay at Tashirat this week, so there are only four of us remaining.  Ramadan also started a couple days ago.  I’m a bit concerned about spending Ramadan here alone.  The closest mosque is in Mexico City, which is about an hour drive away.  I still have to maintain the vegetarian diet, though Ramadan is typically associated with fried, meaty specialties in the evenings.  It’s hard to feel the essence of Ramadan here, but I’m trying my best to stay disciplined and focused.  A lot of the work I have to do is laborious, but fortunately it is the rainy season.  It’s cloudy and rainy almost every day with temperatures ranging from mid-50s to high 70s.  Being outside all day isn’t too bad.

To celebrate one volunteer’s last night with us, we visited a live music bar in town called “El Mango”.  It happened to be the first day of fasting as well, so I celebrated by having pizza!  It tasted really incredible!  It made me realize that the food I cook here is so basic and uninteresting.  We volunteers rarely eat out because going into town is not easy on weekdays, plus eating out is very expensive compared to buying groceries and cooking.  The kitchen we have is very small and it’s tough to cook anything exotic.  I usually make sautéed veggies and warm up a tortilla, so it was a nice change to have a good veggie pizza.  The live music that night was very interesting.  It was a band that played with instruments that were partially made from scraps of trash.  The musicians were all exceptionally talented.

This past Friday I visited an organic market just outside of town.  I bought some incredible pumpernickel bread, goat cheese, yogurt, and various veggies.  After not having bread for several weeks, I’ve developed a new level of appreciation for it.  Sorry to say this, Mexico, but your tortillas just don’t cut it.  Thin, corn-based tortillas are charming at first, but it becomes very boring very fast.  This locally baked loaf of pumpernickel was outstanding, as were my other purchases there.

A couple weeks ago I visited a Moroccan restaurant with a couple others in town called Cardamamo.  A very cool Argentine lady served us in this much decorated restaurant.  She was excited to serve us so that she could practice her English speaking.  The food was interestingly different.  We ordered a couple falafel sandwiches, and it turned out that the falafel was served cold.  We also tried to order a side of Tatziki sauce, and it turned out that the Tatziki there was actually a very bitter yogurt drink.  It was still a pleasant experience though.  The following week, I ran into that same Argentine lady on the bus.  She recognized me immediately and we introduced ourselves.  It turns out that she actually lives in Tashirat!  She rents a bungalow on the opposite side of the compound.  It’s so cool to have these “small town” moments.

One of my favorite things about Mexico is the manila mangos here.  They taste absolutely heavenly!  When soft and ripe on the outside, these mangos are so sweet and delicious.  I can’t wait to have one of these after sundown!

Week 5

The fifth week marks the halfway point of my stay at Tashirat, an orphanage and yoga ashram in Tepoztlán, Mexico.  In the moment, time can move incredibly slowly; though in hindsight, life is fleeting.  Fasting has been challenging this past week.  Most of the work that I do is outdoors and laborious, so I’m dehydrated and exhausted by the afternoon.  I’m finding it harder and harder to wake up in the morning and motivate myself to work.  To help me push through the late afternoon and evening, I try to visit some of the kids.  I’ve been practicing my coloring book skills with some of the younger girls.  Sometimes I read a story to them before bedtime.  Below is an awesome drawing that Kimi made for me.  Note my very interesting appearance.

I’ve been here a bit over five weeks now, and I’ve become acclimated and settled in this new lifestyle.  I must admit that the work I do is not glamorous or enjoyable at all; it is rather dreadful and miserable at times.  It’s difficult to find fulfillment in cleaning chicken pens, sifting through “humanure”, and burying food waste compost.  This is the dirty work that is burdened on all volunteers.  Getting to spend time with the kids is the only thing that makes this experience worthwhile.  I wish that I could interact with them on a more interpersonal level.  I asked the staff members if I could help out with teaching or tutoring, but sadly I was turned down.  I’ll try to make the best of the evenings that I can visit them.

This past weekend I did a daytrip to Cuernavaca with a couple fellow volunteers.  Cuernavaca is the capital of Morelos, and the 40 minute bus ride from Tepoztlán costs merely 21 pesos!  The first place we visited was Costco.  Yes, Costco.  As strange as it sounds, it was a very interesting experience!  We walked from the bus stop to the Costco parking lot, and it felt like I was no longer in Mexico.  The parking lot was pristine and full of luxury cars.  The people looked classy and very affluent.  It felt like we teleported to a California suburb.  Costco is known for its large quantities and low prices, but this Costco in Cuernavaca was quite expensive, even when converting the prices to US dollars.

Later in the day we went deeper into Cuernavaca and walked through the town center and some markets.  The marketplaces reminded me so much of India – the congestion, the overpopulation, the pollution, the hyper-urban atmosphere, the bargaining.  This has been a recurring theme for me throughout the summer.  I’m seeing so many parallels between Mexico and India, both socially and culturally.  For example, both cultures are highly family oriented and the food is fairly similar.  I can see that both of these nations have great potential, but a few obstacles stand in the way: government corruption, overpopulation, widespread poverty, drug trafficking, and violence against women.  It’s a very complicated problem to solve, but I hope to see these nations thrive in coming years.

I’m starting to notice that I have a somewhat skewed viewpoint on the United States.  For all of my life, I viewed the US as a dream and goal for all people in developing nations.  Maybe I felt this way because my parents are immigrants and they always told me to be grateful for living in the US.  The more I travel, the more I’m starting to see beyond the perspective that puts the US on a pedestal.  Several people are living happily in developing nations.  I’ve actually met many people abroad who despise the US.  Perhaps the model of “developed” and “developing” countries is too simple.  Perhaps simple models lead to simple conclusions.  Nonetheless, I’m happy and grateful that I’ve had the chance to travel a lot in the past couple years and I hope to further expand my understanding of this world in the years to come.

Week 6

This week marked the end of the World Cup.  Experiencing it in Mexico fascinated me because I’ve never seen such immense national pride before.  Though interest in soccer is steadily growing in the US, it is not yet at the hype level of soccer in most other countries.  The Mexico vs Netherlands match left most of Mexico in anger and tears.  I even found myself quite angry at Robben’s blatant flop, earning him a penalty kick in stoppage time and leaving Mexico with no recourse.  Brazilian fans experienced even more agony with two crushing loses that left fans booing the Brazilian team on home soil.  It’s both interesting yet disturbing as well to see the extreme passion behind the World Cup.  I wonder, what exactly is the source?  It is truly the love for the game?  Perhaps merely national pride?  I wonder how people become so personally invested in sports.  Another recent example is the vandalism of a mural of the Miami Heat’s “big 3” after LeBron James’ announcement of returning to Cleveland.   The emotional draw to spectating sports is quite a puzzling phenomenon.

The third week of Ramadan has been rough; fasting is taking a major toll on my focus and energy level.  The previous two weeks were cloudy and rainy, typical of the rainy season.  Strangely, this past week was totally dry and very sunny throughout the day.  Working outside all day has been gruesome.  After 4pm, my body and soul are nearly dead.  I usually take a cold shower and lay on my bed for a couple hours to get through the early evening.  I become functionally human again at about 6pm, and somehow the final stretch before sundown is quite easy.

Down the street from Tashirat is a fancy hotel/resort called Jardin del Sol.  Most Sundays the kids at Tashirat visit this place to swim or watch a movie.  This past Sunday I visited it for the first time, and it turned out be quite an extravagant venue.  I was amazed by the surround mountain views, swimming pools, open area, and green grass.  I was staring off into the distant mountains and one of the kids asked me, “Why are you still looking at the mountains?”  I respond, “Not all places in the world have such magnificent mountains.  Where I’m from in Indiana, all of the land is totally flat.”  It’s incredible to live around mountains – nature, hiking, cooler weather.

One of my tasks this week was to cut down some weeds growing around lemon trees.  The weapon of choice around here is the machete.  It was my first time wielding a machete, which is pretty much a sword.  Some of the weeds were about my height and had very thick stems, but the rainy season had these weeds very green and soft.  The weeds stood no chance to a firm swipe by the machete, and it turned out be a fun job!  It felt like waging war against these invasive weeds

A couple days ago I was standing outside on the street waiting for the bus.  A passing car pulled over and the lady driving kindly offered me a ride into town.  She told me that she lives in a sustainable community further up the mountain.  She was quite perplexed that a college kid studying business and math chose to spend the summer learning about permaculture at an orphanage/yoga ashram in Mexico.  She asked, “What exactly do you want to do in life?”  The optimist in me wants to open a coffee shop in the Bay Area and adopt a baby girl from India.  The realist in me wants to have a somewhat tolerable job to pay off my dues and steadily save up money.  The pessimist in me claims that I’m an artist and that the world hasn’t yet come to appreciate my talents.  It’s a sweeping question and I’m becoming increasingly uncertain about it.  Yet again, the core idea is a very Western notion of pursuing dreams and aspirations professionally.  I wouldn’t want my job to fully define who I am and what I care about in life.  Professional life is a small component of the greater picture.   Hence, what I want to do in life may not necessarily correlate with my studies or future jobs.

Week 7

Spending seven weeks thus far in the mountains of Tepoztlán has sparked my newfound appreciation for nature and sustainable living.  It’s a stark difference from my everyday life in Philadelphia, but underneath it all I still feel that I’m a city boy.  This past weekend I enjoyed a brief hiatus to hyper-urban Mexico City.  With over 30 million residents, Mexico City boasts the world’s second largest city population.  Standing in the town center reminded me how much I love urban life.  Public transit, foot traffic, unique architecture, cultural diversity, and the hustle and bustle revived the city boy in me.

Visiting Chapultepec Park was the highlight of the weekend.  I had to walk about 90 minutes from my hotel to reach the park, but the walk was definitely worth it – walking is the only way to really get a feel for a city.  I traversed a large portion of the city and saw a few different neighborhoods.  Chapultepec offers a castle of a former king, a light hiking trail, a modern art museum, an anthropology museum, a natural history museum, a lake, and tons of street vendors.  I visited the modern art museum and casually stumbled upon “Las dos Fridas” by Frida Kahlo.  Mesmerized and star struck, I slowly approached this piece and felt tons of emotion.  I remember studying this particular piece in high school during art history class, and I also saw the movie “Frida” around the same time.  I could not believe that I was standing before one of Frida Kahlo’s greatest works.  Unexpectedly, photographs were permitted throughout the museum!  Granted it was a modern art museum, so there were several less impressive artworks as well.

Later in the day I visited the anthropology museum in the park.  It’s a huge museum that covers every time period in Mexican history.  It’s ambitious to fully explore this museum in one visit, so I had to skim through most exhibits.  It’s definitely one of the most impressive museums that I’ve ever visited.

I also briefly visited a neighborhood called Tepito, infamously known for its shopping scene.  Several of the shops and markets in Tepito sell goods for extremely cheap because the items are either stolen or counterfeit.  I read a news article claiming that distribution trucks for major companies are oftentimes hijacked and taken to Tepito for selling the stolen goods at a very low price.  The neighborhood is said to be unsafe, but it was very packed and bustling on this Saturday afternoon.  It felt strange because all of the shops are nearly identical.  There are repetitive rows of clothing, movies, tobacco, and electronics shops with tons of people walking in cramped pathways.  It became overwhelming and unpleasant after a few minutes.

Seven weeks down, now only three remain.  With mixed emotions, I’m starting to feel this summer come to a close.  Initially adjusting to this place was such a great struggle for me, but I’ve come to love this new way of life.  I feel better, I eat better, my mind feels sharper and more alert, and I’m outside most of the day.  I visit adorable little kids in the evenings, and I have a lot of time to myself throughout the day.  It’ll be hard keeping up with these good habits when I return to school.  The school grind brings out the worst in us: poor sleeping patterns, eating junk food, minimal exercise, and excessive stress.  Even after three years of college, I still haven’t figured out how to overcome these issues.  But this upcoming year will be different, I can feel it.

Week 8

This past Monday marked the end of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr.  Fasting physically challenged me to the brink this time around.  I spent most days struggling outside in the hot.  Every day I would take a cold shower after work and nap for a couple hours just to get through the late afternoon and evening hours.  Taking that nap threw off my normal sleep schedule, so I found myself wide awake and energetic until 2:00am every night.  Sleeping so late let to several missed suhoors and missed yoga classes; the chronic energy depletion snowballed into a huge mess for my body.  No more excuses now – time to straighten up for this final stretch.

I did a second mini hiatus to Mexico City for Eid prayer and a day off in the city.  Prayer was held in a sports facility in a northwest borough named Miguel Hidalgo.  There were enough people in attendance to fill up a basketball court, which is an interesting number to put in perspective.  Mexico City and greater Distrito Federal boasts more than 30 million residents, and the Muslim population of this massive, dense area merely filled up a basketball court.  The mosque around the corner of my apartment in Philadelphia gets more people to show up each Friday for prayer.  It must be tough to practice a religion as a nearly nonexistent minority group in society.  I’d imagine it would feel lonely at times.

At some point, everyone has to deal with loneliness.  Despite being in the middle of the world’s second most populated city, this past Monday’s Eid was one of the loneliest moments of my life.  It was my first time celebrating Eid without family or friends, so I tried talking to some random people at the morning prayer and sermon.  Language barrier proved to be far more difficult than expected, so most of the interactions were short, unfulfilling, and insincere.  Afterward I treated myself to a meal at Restaurante Gotan, the top ranked restaurant in Mexico City according to TripAdvisor.

The food was phenomenal, but there was something troubling about sitting there alone on Eid.  Afterward I took a stroll through Bellas Artes, the performing arts district; but even that felt depressing after seeing so many couples and groups of friends in the park.  By mid-afternoon I headed back to Tepoztlán earlier than planned just to escape that feeling of emptiness.

I’ve encountered this feeling several times before, most recently during my solo weekend trip to Milan during Valentine’s Day weekend earlier this year.  The first day in Frankfurt and Milan were so exciting and high energy, but the second day quickly became tiring, lonely, and depressing.  A weekend trip across the Atlantic is incredible, and along the same lines it is very unique to spend Eid in Mexico City.  It is a shame that feelings of loneliness in the moment can darken these great adventures.  But at the same time, moments of being alone can be great.  During my India trip, I had some alone time from family to climb a mountain and visit a Hindu temple at the summit.  From such a great height, looking down at Jaipur invigorated my soul.  Solitude is fickle.

I’m worried that this sense of loneliness and inner emptiness will only grow in the near future.  I’ll be graduating from college in about nine months from now, and life as a working professional in some random city will be a tough adjustment.  I’ve heard from older friends that social life changes a lot in “the real world”.  My social relationships are my primary source of filling that inner emptiness, but I realize that these relationships are transient.  After all, what isn’t transient in this world?  Perhaps this loneliness is transient as well.

Week 9

Time is ever fleeting.  I find myself with only one week left at Tashirat, an orphanage and yoga ashram in mountainous Tepoztlán, Mexico.  These mountains in south central Mexico are absolutely spectacular.  This past weekend I went on a hike with a few of the older teens to fully experience this unique terrain.  These kids took me on quite an off-trail adventure.  They were familiar with these mountains so we’d frequently go off the trail and blaze a more adventurous path that required us to climb massive rocks and descend steep, slippery slopes.  The hike itself was exhilarating, but the views at the top were even more incredible.  Seeing these majestic mountains and the distant valley invigorated my body and soul.

Further up the mountains there is a small town called Ocotitlán.  A couple days ago Ocotitlán celebrated its annual mole festival.  Mole is a traditional Mexican sauce that is made of several mysterious ingredients like chocolate, chilies, plantains, and various spices.  The result is a thick, grainy sauce that is usually served with rice, beans, and tortillas.

I again accompanied the older teens on an adventure to sample mole in Ocotitlán.  The main street and town center were lined with food stands, vendors, and small rides for young kids.  This area was extremely congested and unpleasant, but it turned out that the real festivities happen inside some of the residential homes.  We visited four homes and enjoyed four meals, entirely free of charge.  It blew my mind that we could simply walk up to random house, take a seat, and receive homemade mole with rice for free.  The houses even offered huge to-go containers of mole, absolutely free.

It’s hard to believe that I only have a week left here.  I remember coming here in early June and the immense culture shock and struggles I encountered in adjusting to this new lifestyle.  The first couple of weeks were dreadful and I had little confidence in enduring the entire summer.  It was a tough adjustment, but I’ve come to appreciate it all in a new light.  This experience is like acting school – I was broken down at first, but then rebuilt much stronger than before.  I feel like a different person compared to three months ago.  I’m ready to face reality.  See you next week, Philadelphia.

Week 10

The time has come. My stay here at Tashirat, an orphanage and yoga ashram in south central Mexico, ends today.  Mixed emotions tear my apart inside.  I look forward to starting my final year in school and shaping my future, but I’ll miss a lot of things about this wonderful experience – adorable kids, manila mangoes, living in the mountains, being outdoors all day.  There are countless takeaways from this summertime; here’s a few.

1. Grit and perseverance – During the first couple weeks I struggled here so much. The bugs, scorpions, vegetarian diet, and laborious work were far out of my comfort zone.  Every day I considered leaving here early.  I’m so glad that I pushed myself to stay, and thankfully things became much better after that rough start.
2. Kids – I’ve come to appreciate kids in a new light. I’m drawn by their youthful energy, curiosity, and innocence.  The kids here have come a long way from dark pasts, so it’s really wonderful to see them all so happy.
3. Widening one’s scope of life – The world is a very big place, but it is easy to become concentrated and localized along one pathway without acknowledging the myriad of possibilities out there. Coming here was very much out of my comfort zone, but I got the chance to engage in different lifestyles and cultures along the way.
4. Nutrition and health – The vegetarian lifestyle forced me to experiment more with fruits and vegetables. I’ve already experienced the health benefits of a varied, nutritious diet from increased energy and alertness.  I’ve learned a lot about good food combinations to make digestion as easy as possible for the body.
5. Defining success – There are many facets to success. My school preaches that success is investment banking or management consulting in the corporate world, but success is less rigid than that.  The staff members at Tashirat have devoted their lives to taking care of orphans and living in a sustainable, spiritual community.  They may have no income, but their work is meaningful and impactful.

Undertaking this unique experience motivated me to write these 10 blog posts, but the true inspiration behind this blog is the art of writing itself.  I respect writing as one of the highest forms of art and expression, so I wanted to spend time outside of academia bettering my writing tact.  After all, I only publicize this blog to my very few Instagram followers, which might be the worst form of publicity because it doesn’t even show up as a hyperlink on Instagram posts.  My underlying goal was not to reach out to an audience, but instead I wanted to foster intrinsic motivation for writing as a form of art.  I’m glad that I pushed myself to write these 10 posts because I’ve become more conscious of my writing skills and areas for improvement.

Here’s a brief list of thanks and acknowledgements to people who made this summer so great for me.

1. My parents for letting me do so many wild things. It was hard to convince you both to let me do this, but I’m sure you both see the value in it now.

2. Sheylin for letting me visit your house almost every day and spending time with your amazing little girls and Gaby. Seeing their smiles pushed me through the days here.

3. Joli and Nadia for being the most adorable little girls in the world. Spending time with you two was the most fulfilling part of this summer.  You both will always be the soft spot in my heart, and I hope to see you both again soon.

4. Taylor, Kalimna, Airen, and Eman for being my awesome summer crew. We shared so many good times and laughs in our humble volunteer bungalow.  I hope we all reunite one day!

5. Julio, Kian, and Anilem for all the good times we’ve had. You three are great role models for the younger kids.  It’s a shame that we started bonding right when my stay here was finishing.

6. Fahmida for initially introducing me to Tashirat. It’s hard to believe that our conversations about your short trip here in December led to such a remarkable journey for me this summer.

Hats off to an amazing summer!  Philadelphia bound, I’m coming home.