First Programme

So we were off to Dharamsala again! A few bus journeys was all that stood between us and the arrival at the camp - what could go wrong? Not a lot really with the help of Suri, Devu and Raju anyway as they did most the hard work of making sure we got seats on the right buses. With our rucksacs on our backs or crammed into the limited space on the buses the journey was pretty smooth really - well as smooth as the Indian roads would allow with buses that didn't seem to know what suspension was. 

During the journey we had to split - as Raju and Suri were meeting the group at the train station and escorting them to camp. This left Devu and myself to go as the forward party to ensure everything at the camp was prepped correctly and to make sure everything was all good to go for when the group arrived. This was all good however Devu seemed a little confused at times speaking English although as we spent more time with each other it improved. We arrived in McLeod ganj at like 4am and it was cold and we had to wait a few hours for the next bus so some hot chai kept us warm and we were able to attempt to talk to each other. 

After two more buses we reached salli village, as Devu had never been here before it was up to me to navagate us to the camp. After a slight detour we arrived and met the camp staff and were welcomed with somewhere to sleep and some food. They were still busy preparing the camp for the groups arrivals - there were two of our programs running from here with nearly 200 people so there were tents still to be pitched and other details that needed to be sorted.  Once that was done all we had to do was wait for the arrival of the group. 

I was quite nervous about it as I didn't know if they would understand me, how things would go, if they would like me and if our planning and preparation meant the rest of the program would go smoothly. Although during this time me and Devu had chance to spend some time breaking down boundaries in order to make sure everything was organised. 

I didn't have too much time to dwell on anything being kept busy with one thing or another as soon the group would be arriving and it would be go go go time! With campers to show around camp and allocate tents to and make sure they get food and everything else that had to be done!