This post features student writing.

Day 11: Thursday, July 26

Today started pretty early with breakfast at 7 AM. After that we packed up to do our final trek home. The mountains were absolutely stunning with clouds settled in the valley below. It was ~dope~. We spent a few minutes taking “candids” in front of the beautiful view of the Himalayas. We discovered the wonder of portrait mode on our more advanced phones. Then we set off home to Salleri.

We saw many cows wandering the roads we trekked on as well as mules, ducks and other such vertebrae. At a certain point, the precise time of which I do not remember, it began to rain. We spent a fair portion of our journey within a cloud, something one learns to be typical of the Himalaya. We also crossed the flat part of a waterfall, which many found to be of relative coolness. When we arrived in Salleri, most were exhausted. Some rallied and drew portraits of each other in the eating area. Some students flexed their incredible artistic muscles while Nate demonstrated why it is important to be able to draw a chin. Today was ultimately a very tiring day, but we all pulled through and finished strong.

— Sarah S.

Day 12: Friday, July 27

After our super duper long trek, we finally got to wake up in the village again (yay!). After a few hours of some intense rock-crushing and dirt shoveling, we giddied up those hills back to the village real fast with our strong trekking legs. To quote Tim in a previous entry, “By midday we came to the realization that we could not go on without replenishing our hunger and thirst.” So, we sat down for some “dhal-bhat power 24 hour.”

We made cards afterwards and, not gonna lie, our cards were pretty artistic. We did this for the next few hours while others played a few matches of volleyball. After volleyball, we had another dance lesson. It was a howdy good time, even though we forgot all the choreography. Mingmar also taught us about the different death ceremonies and rituals in Nepal. Today was a very relaxing and peaceful day. It was the perfect time to reflect on what we had learned, and how we can become better people using that knowledge.

#difts #nepal

— Nora W.

Day 13: Saturday, July 28

Today was FAB! We made a river and then a bridge. Yay. Lots of love from the leader of ta day.

— Charlotte