Dalai Lama and The Kids

Today, June 3rd 2012, was by far one of my favorite days. We started the day by waking up at 7:00 am to be in the center of the market in Dharamasala to see the Dalai Lama drive by on his way to the school. I was ecstatic for this opportunity to see the one and only Dalai Lama. When his car drove by it was a lot faster than I thought so I couldn't take a photo and really grasp that I really did just see the Dalai Lama in person. After breakfast we headed up the long and steep pathway to the school with everyone else to see him once again. This time we stood outside the school waiting for him to exit and enter his car. This time we really got to experience seeing him and the emotions that came with it. I snapped a few photos of him and am more than happy to say that I was elated to be in his presence and to see him twice in one day, and ultimately probably the only two times I will see him in my life. After seeing him we went to the hostel and met all the children there. That was by FAR my absolute favorite thing we have done so far this trip. The children of all ages came running up to all of us and wanted to play, talk, and just have fun. The kids that I ended up interacting with were the cutest and most adorable children I have ever met. The one girl I met was named Mumba, and she was so much fan to talk to. I didn't get to sit down for very long with a single child, but I interacting with a lot of them. Since I was taking a lot of photos of the trip there and of the kids, it started a chain reaction of the kids wanting to take photos with all our cameras. Ibwas a bit uneasy at first to let the younger kids run off with my camera to snap photos, but after I saw that they weren't dropping it to its death I let them go off and take photos. One little girl LOVED taking photos and was really good at it too. If I could go back and give a gift I would give her a camera. By far meeting all the kids at the hostel was an amazing experience. I was elated with emotions and heart warming feelings from just being there. I was also pretty amazed at how well mannered and how well tempered they were. They had amazing manners and called us ma'am or sir, and loved to hold our hands an lead us around to show us the hostel and explain everything. I would go back an spend a day with them again in a HEART beat, or spend a year with them. The friendship they showed to me and the group was amazing and loving. It was by far the hardest thing to say goodbye and walk out the door on all the kids I became close with in the few hours I spent with them. I hope in the future I can come back and spend time with them and see them again because I loved being with them. Who knows, maybe one day they will need an on site nurse at the hostel and I could be there (: