February 11, 2025

Kids

As I write this, it is the evening of Monday, Feb 10, 2025. I find it hard to believe that half of GCIL is over and that we are that much closer to our final presentations for our GCIL projects. So many memories have been had these past 5 weeks. This past weekend, we all boarded a bus with fancy DSLR and mirrorless cameras to Hampi, one of the most memorable trips I’ve had thus far. I loved the lessons on photography because I also learned how interestedI am in it. How amazing it is to capture time in a photo. What wows is the memory contained in the photo. Pretty cool stuff.

At the Hyatt, I finally got a stable enough connection to video chat with my mom for several hours. This is how do it and this was laughably the best part of the whole trip, well, that and seeing what was on the 50 Rupee note, the stone chariot. This trip was incredible as I noticed all sorts of things out the window on our way from Bengaluru from giant windmills to big lakes that reminded me of my favorite place on Earth, Seward Park, Washington. Also, while on the way to Hampi, my brother in law asked me, what do I miss the most? I didn’t really know what to say, so I kind of put the question up for a poll of sorts to those around me and I got a great response that made me seriously contemplate if it was what I missed most also. The great American cookout. I do love a good BBQ with plenty of chicken, steak, fish and ribs. However, I thought about this for a moment and realized that the food here is no slouch as well and that while in other countries, it can become boring, it never really has become this for me here.

Apart from this writing piece though, I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to interview and interact with students at the Koramangala Parkirma School. For the privilege of pressure that is GCIL. Most recently, my team and I also interacted with older students in the 8th grade of 13 and 14 year old students and we were able to sing with them, play truth or dare, compare our drawing skills and handwriting neatness. They remind me a lot of what I also miss the most from Seattle, my family. Specifically my nieces and nephews. Back in the US, I’LL GIVE ANYTHING TO PLAY tag, fort creation, being witches and concocting brews and just running around wild with them. Also to the days we play soccer, play I spy games, and build things like transformer lego sets and gingerbread houses. For now, I’ll focus on building my project with Team Parikrma to put Parikrma Oxygen on a more stable path forward because I know personally the power of nature. Not to mention the learning and growing capacity it holds to honor what is truly important, the Earth and what we can do to protect it in the future. It is the opportunity to build a future education in nature for kids here in India, something we can learn from too.

By,
Manny