speechless... and then some.

so many things to say...

first and foremost- my brother is now 21! yeah, you heard right. t-w-e-n-t-y o-n-e. and I am a across an ocean. on a scale from 1 to jerkofasister I am pretty high up there. In any case, I love you vimz, Happy Birthday!

We had our exhibition in the village.... absolute madness. I don't think I'll be able to do complete sentences ... so good luck:

setting up the space
*painted the space... required going out into the desert with some kids, collecting rocks, smashing them, soaking them in water and painting with the clay that's created (!!!). Deep marroons and white, gray, ... a yellow that we couldn't find....
*a guy from northern England, Bipin, came to help us out. The boy is amazing, a godsend....
the story begins with a freak downpour 2 days before the event. My broken toes and I need to get to the other side of the village but a river (!!) has suddenly formed (the soil here doesn't absorb water) bisecting the village. 2 men insist on walking on either side of me b/c they're afraid I'll get swept up in the current... and I have to take off my shoes 1/2 way across b/c they keep getting stuck in the mud... so, of course, I hurt my foot again (it was numb by the end of the day.) So anyway, Bipin, ends up finishing the paint job, helps the tent guy set up ... finds a woman to help clean & fill water .. .. all while fighting off a goat who kept coming in and eating our supplies.... :) He's was lifesaver I tell ya, with a capital L and three v's.

the event

the good
*the women sold over 10,000 rps. worth of their work- every embroidery design, every color palate, every product design, and every price was a conscious choice of the woman artisan who created it.... (which added to the 40,000 rps of the 1st exhibition, they've collective generated 1/2 a lakh through their work).
*the Hindu and Muslim women got to meet for the 2nd time post earthquake- they had combined meetings (some self initiated), some women presented the exhibition to the women who weren't able to come, they spent 2 days hanging out together... :)
*the exhibition panels and permanent collection are ready for presentation to all of the area design schools as well as development and handicraft NGO's
*some of the women are taking up the initiative to have their own exhibition in 2 wks (w/ minimal to none of our help)

the bad
*a Muslim leader tried to shut down the entire event b/c apparently we had gotten involved in some sort of power play btw a village elder and the village sirpanch (a govt representative). Many of the teenage women had to leave to save face.

the ugly
*a brother-in-law of a Muslim woman who had attended both days of the event suddenly came to the event and began to hit the woman for attending- she ran home and he walked after her... (I still can't even process it- it all went down so fast... and right in front of me... )
...
after it happened, I had a conversation with the other women and girls from her village...the brother in law apparently hits her often. I told them they should go straight home if that was something that might happen to them. They said no, but were worried that he might come back (for me (!))(no worries, I was in no danger whatever). But I did tell them that I would rather he came after me than her. ....
which is when one of my favorite little girls, Noori, about 11 years old- super sweet and usually really quiet and shy, says 'rup, if he ever tried to lay a finger on you, every woman and girl here would stand up and chase him away.'

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it's strange to see how close I've come to nature out here...
I notice things like the phase of the moon... or changes in the wind or changes in the humidity and I find myself praying for rain so their farms will grow...

in any case,
the rainy season is approaching, the heat is lightening up (which means tourists will start arriving again), dates and apples and spinach are back in season.... it's all a flashback to how it was when I had first arrived here.

The seasons have fully circled back to one... signaling that this fellowship, my year, is almost over.

Holy. God.