Indian Village

As part of our cultural orientation, CCS took us to a local village; this was the first time they had tried this particular cultural exchange. Villagers who know about us volunteers (most people here do) invited us to come see the village and explore their homes and lifestyle. Some of the villagers travel 1-2 hours on the bus everyday to come to work in Dharamsala.
There were no cars in the village and the roads seemed too small (but cars must come in sometimes for deliveries and pickups) so we parked on the edge of the village at their local school and walked in. It was dense with foliage on either side of the path and about ½ a Km in we started to see houses, stores and local businesses. We attracted quite a bit of attention. All the children came running over to us and followed us through the entire visit. The adults all greeted us with a smile and “Namaste”.
We went to host house described to us as a multi-family unit consisting of an uncle (head of the household), three nephews and all their wives and children.
First they served us tea on their porch, and then the women invited all the women in the group to go on a tour of the house. The house itself was made out of dried cow dung (just looked like clay) and all rooms had a door to a porch. The kitchen was very small (smaller than my own kitchen) and the women who do all the cooking squat to cook- there were no counters. All the family members also sit on mats on the floor to eat. We asked lots of questions and the women were so pleased that we were interested.
They took us into their bedrooms as well. There was one for each couple and their children. Each room also had a small staircase with an upstairs which was mostly used for laundry and storing clothes. Once we were done, the men in the group also wanted to see the kitchen and the house. Again the women were pleased; I don’t think they expected this.
We continued to drink our tea and talk about differences between our lifestyle and theirs. They asked many questions about life in America and clearly the differences were huge.
After our tea was done the host family men took us on a tour of the farmlands around the village which they maintain and harvest. This consisted of a mango orchard and many, many rice fields. To walk through the rice fields we needed to walk single file and balance on a ridge of soil. I only fell off a couple of times. The children who were still following us ran up and down the ridges with ease. We also visited the flour mill, honey bee farmer and checked out the huge squashes growing on the roofs of the houses. There were chickens, goats, water buffalo, and of course there were cows. Overall it seemed to be a self sufficient village.
It was also peaceful and beautiful. What a nice healthy life for them all.