The Yak's Back

The Yak

By: Sarajane Clark

I rode on a yak.

The Yak was black.

Oh how big that black yak was.

I jumped on that yak and road on it's big back.

I fell off that yak's back.

But don't worry I got right on up and jumped again onto that yak's back.

I road that yak until I could not sit one more minute on that yak's back.

(You see big black yak backs are very uncomfortable.)

That big black yak.

Oh, how much fun I had on that yak's back!

A poem for you about a yak. I really did fall off too! But it wasn't my fault and I didn't get hurt so indeed it was all fun and games!

The Hike

Let me paint you a picture of a waterfall. It's like no waterfall you've ever seen but at the same time just like all the ones you've seen before. The blue water that flows from it splashes from rock to rock, the noise is thundering music to your ears, and the sight of it is breath taking. It's surrounded by the green of shrubs well feed by rain and cow manure. Stones of red, brown, grey, and green line it and the water that flows from it hurtles out of the mist far above. A pretty picture no? A master piece.

Sadly this master piece is covered in the fog of a grey and rainy day. The blue water was turned a milk white as it goes speeding by, the grass and dung are turned into mud, and you can hardly see the veiw do to the rain, clouds, and cold. This was the waterfall as I saw it.

The plan was to cross the waterfall on day seven of the trek and continue on to cross Rupen Pass and then walk to the closest town and catch a ride to Kaza. But, as I have learned in life not all things go according to plan, especially in the wilderness, after all our plan did not. The beautiful waterfall was not so beautiful the day we tried to cross it. In fact it was in a rotten mood. The current was too strong and the river too swollen from the rain to cross with the equipment our group had so we were forced to turn back. We hiked back three days worth of trail to reach the nearest road head and the caught a ride from there. Everyone was disappointed. The porters, the leader, my two companions and of course me. It was a bummer to hike all that way in the rain and cold and then not be able to reach our goal and finish our hike. I am however thankful for the chance to test my body and my patience. I am thankful for the chance to evolve as a person.

I am now in Kaza and am starting the next leg in the semester. I will be going to a local town tomorrow morning and staying there for about two weeks. I will be building a green house for a family there so that they can have fresh vegetables in the winters. I will also be learning about the lives of the people we will be staying with, about rural life in the mountains, and cooking! Also somewhere in that fourteen days I will be going on a yak safari! However, this does mean that again I will not be able to write to all of you. So, I am making the same promise as before: I will try to make the story well worth the wait.

Stay classy!

Good Bye for a While.

Dear readers,

I am about to depart on a amazing adventure. Tomorrow morning I leave for a ten day hike in the Himalayas. Me, and my four companions will be walking, learning, and exploring the whole way. I plan to learn and see a lot, not only about the world but about myself as well. The only down side to this wonderful adventure is that I won't have access to the Internet and consiqently to you. I'm not sure how long it will be until I will be able to write again and I will try to do so as soon as possible but I promise that it will be well worth the wait and that when I return I will hopefully have some truly amazing stories to tell you. But for now, I have nothing else to say so stay safe, stay happy, stay strong.

Please Someone Call 911

Yesterday I found myself in a emergency. There had been an accident in Missouri, the town closest to the school were I am staying, and the cable car that goes over the town had fallen and partially caught fire. There were five people in the car, four men and one woman. The scene was cayotic, people were running everywhere trying to help where they could and trying to gather supplies. As the paramedics arrived they split off and had an average of about two paramedics to one patient. I luckily found myself running around handing out supplies and not dealing with the screaming, crying, delirious patients. The blood was copious and disfigurement stomic turning, every one's adrenalin was pumping. There were patients with burns, patients with back and neck injuries, there was even a patient with a severed hand. It was a very stressful moment to what turned out to be a very long day and, to make the scene even worse it started to rain, rain, rain, rain. I can only be thankful that it was a set up scenario. I am currently taking an emergency first aide course before I go out hiking in a week. The course is very interesting and VERY interactive. I have learned how to preform the Heimlich, do CPR, take blood pressure, recognise life threatening symptoms and illnesses, and deal with the situation above. I have learned all this and the class is only have way over, I can only say it is amazing how many ways humans can hurt themselves. I have gained a new appreciation of how brave, strong, and smart people in medican are. I am truly thankful there are people out there that can and know how to take care of me if ever I should get hurt because the reality is that the world is a big place and there are many, many things that can go wrong. So thank you to all those people out there who do great thing every day, you are amazing.

Rakhi

In India there is a holiday called Rakhi, it is for brothers and sisters. On August 24th, all the sisters in India go to their brother's houses with sweets and tie a string on their brother's wrist then, the brother has to give the sister a gift. If the sister can't tie the string then a cousin or other female relative ties the string on for her. It even applies to people who don't have siblings or any sisters beacuse as I said above a cousin or female relative can be a substatute.
The tradition was started a long time ago when India was still broken up into little states and each state was ruled by a King or Queen. There was this one state being attacked by mongrels and they had very little protection and defenses so the Queen of the state sent a message and a string from her Saree to the King of another state asking him for protection and help. She said that he was now her brother and he responded by saving her kingdom. Ever sense then they have this holiday showing that the brother will always protect the sister and that the sister will always look after the brother.
I think it is a lovely holiday and one that can encompass everybody.

French Fries

Today at lunch they had french fries. I got so excited when I saw them, french fries are a really delicacy here plus I was socking wet and cold so I needed to indulge in something warm and salty, something that reminded me of home.
As I grabbed a tray and hurried down the lunch line I quickly grabbed half a sandwich and some cucumber slices, I was saving up for the real prize. As I not so patiently waited my turn my mind was focused on one question 'I wonder how many they'll give me?'. The answer? None. Not even one measly french fry. My mind went into a uncomprehending tail spin 'No french fries?' 'But I want french fries!' 'Why? Why no french fries!?!' It turns out the seniors at the school were having a special lunch and apparently were not into sharing.
So french fry less I resignedly picked up my tray and moved to the proper line where, the had rice and dahl, again, for like the how ever many meals I've been here for time. Rice and dahl. I am sitting at my tble and basically in a self enraged fit thinking thoughts along the lines of 'I only wanted french fries,' 'If only I had some french fries,' 'If I had some french fries I would be completely satisfied,'. As I sat stewing in my pot of self pity and hate one of my companions kindly asks why not and if we could please have some french fries. The man responds "When everybody else has eaten THEN you can have some." 'Bah! I want the damn french fries now!' my mind shouts. I eat the rest of my dull and dreary meal as I watch EVERYBODY else but me go and get some french fries. Now normally I do not go this nuts over food and especially over french fries but, I COULD NOT get my mind of them or the unfairness of it all.
Let it be said that yes, after about a half hour of bitter thoughts and longing I got my french fries. The were the best french fries I had ever eaten. I was radiating peace and satisfaction, thinking that it was the best meal I had eaten in India when they brought out the chocolate sauce.

Sarajane kahan hai?

Where is Sarajane? Sarajane India hai. I am in India. I arrived late on the eighth in Dheli to a hot, sticky airport full of bustling pushy people. I have to admit that I was not my bravest at that point. After being dropped of at the YWCA, the place I was stayed until the eleventh I wrote a few quick e-mails telling people I was here then when and hid in my room. I have to say, and I do not say it proudly that I pretty much stayed there for two days straight. I only truly ventured out after I met up with Mr. Kutty the program director and Neeha the women who is supervising the group. It turns out that there is only one other person in the Gap Semester, Varun. He is from Virgina and lives in a Indian family but does not know much about the culture or language. He is twenty and is taking a semester off from collage to do this program.

We arrived at the school two days ago, on the eleventh and have been very busy since. Every morning we wake up and go for a run/walk in the hills then come back, wash up, and head to breakfast. After breakfast we do assorted things and then in the afternoon go to our Hindi language classes. We have only had one class but as you can see above, I have already learned a little. The classes are long and slightly confusing but I am hoping that I adjust well to them.

I am enjoying the school, Neeha, and Varun very much and am sure that by the end of the five months I'm here I simply won't want to leave but, I suppose only time can tell.

Until next time...

Hi all, so this is really the beginning of hopefully very many posts. The purpose of this one is to tell all of you what I'll be up to in the next five months . I am participating in a Gap Semester at the Woodstock Boarding School in northern India. In short I will be studying Indian culture. Some of the high-lights of my trip will be learning Hindi, participating in service-learning projects, home stays in Himalayan villages, being taught advanced first aid, basic mountaineering, and introductory rafting, I will also we going on a wildlife safari and be introduced to human-animal conflict. If you'd like to see pictures of where I'll be going or just read more about the program you can visit the Woodstock web-site, www.woodstock.ac.in/gapsemester/index.htm. I know that every moment will be a once in a life time experience. I can't wait! Keep updated.

My First Blog Post

In a few months I am taking off on my big adventure. This blog will be my way to share it with you. I am going to India, and... Well, stay tuned.