Weekend in Valsad

Before our last class on Saturday, Yogesh says to me in the staffroom, "I am very happy if you come with me to Valsad meet my friends and their families." The timing of his invitation couldn't have been better. I was really feeling like I needed to get away from Kadod for a little while, and plus, it had been some time since I explored other parts of Gujarat.

Since Valsad was a far-ish trip (2.5 hours), he decided that we'd stay for Saturday and Sunday and come back some time on Sunday night. In absolute, complete honesty, I loved every part of this weekend from spending more time with Yogesh, meeting people my age for a change, downing cup after cup chai at every house we visited, and eating amazing, authentic, home-cooked Gujarati food.

We made a trip out to a beach of the Arabian Sea on the outskirts of Valsad. Even though the "sand" was still India's typical alluvial soil, it was a huge improvement from the Surat debacle about a month ago. We walked up and down the shore, played a game of tag (that only made me realize how out of shape I am), and I rode my first camel!

I'm still so blown away by the way people open their doors and go out of their way to make me feel comfortable, at home, and welcome. No matter how much I would try to thankfully decline their offers of food, snack after snack and dish after dish were passing in front of me like an assembly line. When I start talking about my family, I feel like we start playing a game of 20 (or more like 50) questions because of how interested they are about knowing more about me. What sums it up was what one of Yogesh's friends said when we visited her house on Sunday. "Here, you have a new family."

Enjoy some more videos!