The last two weeks I have spent them in the middle of the desert in the little village of Setrawa. If you have been following me on Facebook you will have noticed that I am volunteering. Today is my last day… and it is bitter sweet. I know I am going to miss the children tons, but a part of me is ready to be back in a city. Y’all all know I am more of a big city type of guy. Well I will be writing all about it in the following weeks, but for now will leave you with my 10 best/favorite photos from my 2 weeks there!
10 photo round up of what I saw/did these last 2 weeks.
Hope you all enjoy them.
WEEK 56
When we 1st arrived we were taken to an even smaller village than Setrawa & there we met many children who had never seen a Westerner in their life. They were excited, scared, some showed no emotions. I shot many many photos, but this one is my favorite. Just as I was going to photograph this kid another one jumped in & I thought "ugh you ruined the photo". When I got back I saw it on my laptop & wow... I love it. Just look at it. You don't even have to see his whole face to see the child's despair. To me it's heartbreaking and am in aww that I was able to capture that. The other kid that jumped in makes the photo even more interesting.
I love taking photos of empty roads I am on... and this one is one my favorite. As we were walking back I looked behind me and saw this. I love it... the road goes on for ever a women in pink looking out into the distance. This is simply BEAUTIFUL.
During my two weeks volunteering I managed to take over 600 photos of the children & center, for some reason though I love everything about this photo.
Meet Mr. Daisy (we had named him Daisy before we realized he was male) he comes by and greets us just about every morning. Look at this photo closely its the door to the house we are staying at. We would see him get kicked out of our front neighbors house and then later on come by to ours. It's like he has a routine of visiting all the houses. Small town life is hilarious...
A group photo of the Peacock class. They come Monday - Saturday for 2 hours. These are children that are going to school already, but the center offers them extra classes to help teach them more than what they are taught in school. To give them a chance to leanr more and make sure they are learning what they should be learning in school. I will of course tell you more about it in future blog post.
WEEK 57
One of the things I love about India is that the people here are happy to allow you take a head shot of them. Yes children and adults alike... just love it when you snap the photo & then show it to them. I have managed to get so many of them and will be doing a IN PHOTOS post of them, but had to share this one now cus I just love it. This is one of the boys in my Peacock class and is always very very quiet and you would think he doesn't know much, but in fact is very smart. I love the structure of his face and get lost in his eyes when I look at this photo.
Well as you can see even the animals of India love head shots...lol. No I'm kidding... but one of the things I loved about Setrawa was all the animals that roamed the town freely. Yes you would see, cows, dogs, goats, peacocks, cats and even camels just about everywhere you went & well I photographed the crap out of them, but this lil cow got curious when I took out my camera to take a photo of it. In the end I snapped and got this photo... I love it. It's too cute.
Walking around the town one Sunday one of our students recognized us (not that it's difficult...lol), and invited us into her home and fed us some pastries and then later asked us to take photos of her and some of her family. It was a sweet experience and this was one of the photos I was able to get.
Awww my little Butterfly Class... these students come to class Monday - Friday from 1-3:30pm. This is my favorite class to teach. They are all so cute & adorable & amazing children. These students are getting a second chance by second chance I mean a chance at all. These are children who can not attend school for one reason or another and are given the opportunity to come here to read/learn basic Hindi, Maths and English, and a chance for them to wash and clean themselves.
Every time Val & I walk to or from the school we pass this part of the town and every day we see men just sitting there chatting away. They normally just look at us, and say nothing. Yesterday I finally got the courage to ask them if I could please take a photo of them. I love it... it's an amazing group shot. I wonder if they are all friends & if they are how long have they been friends?
THIS WEEKS UPDATES
- TUESDAY – 03/20/12 – New to India in New Delhi.
- THURSDAY – 03/22/12 – An intense Holi celebration in Mathura.
- TUESDAY – 03/27/12 – Visiting the one thing I knew was in India the Taj Mahal.
- THURSDAY – 03/29/12 – Jaipur the “pink city” that is NOT pink…
PREVIOUS PHOTO UPDATE
Jaime, I’m LOVING your photos lately. They’re SO good and I can’t stop just looking at them. The first photo in this post and the one of the boy studying by the green door are my favorite. You’re capturing some amazing moments!
India sounds like quite the adventure. Can’t wait to read more 🙂
Katie recently posted..Bully Movie
Thank you so much Katie, seriously thank you! I’m so glad I am able to capture some amazing moments.
Amazing pics! Wow- you have captured some incredible moments…well done Jaime!!
Skott recently posted..Forecast Calls For Scattered Travellers With a Chance of Orangutans and Enlightenment
Thanks Skott.
Can’t wait for the stories to come. The first one is especially cool.
Kent @ No Vacation Required recently posted..If You Love Chipotle, Get to ShopHouse
Thanks Kent… they will be up soon!
Amazing as always Jaime! Your photography is just getting better and better. I love the first and second ones the best, and the ones of the cows cracked me up.
Ali recently posted..Melbourne Basics
Thanks Ali so much… yes those are some of my fav. Oh & yes the cow one is just funny.
That first shot is gorgeous, your photos continue to amaze me.
Ayngelina recently posted..Playa is my kinda place
Thanks Aygelina!
These are fabulous! The kids look like they are having such a blast with you guys!
The Time-Crunched Traveler (Ellen) recently posted..The Weekly Worldview: The lone kite in the sky
Thank you so much. Oh the kids were amazing… and adorable. I am going to miss them so damn much!!!
Wow Jaime these photos are amazing! I noticed the kids don’t wear shoes, but the older men do.
I can’t wait to read your posts on teaching the children.
Oh all the kids have shoes, but we take them off before coming into the school. It’s kinda of like you don’t walk into a home with shoes. So the adults have it in the photo cus they are outside. The kids were in class so they didn’t have them on, but they do have them.
I totally agree with everyone else here that your photos just get better and better, Jaime! I’m loving reading about your time in India!
Amanda recently posted..Iceland’s Golden Circle
Thanks so much Amanda!!!!
Wow, these photos are fantastic! Love all the shots of the kids – adorable 🙂
Dani | Globetrottergirls recently posted..700 days of travel: Reflections on the last 100 days
Thanks Dani!
These are fantastic photos! You really captured the raw emotions well here.
Nomadic Samuel recently posted..Incredible India | Part 35 | Travel Video Slideshow Series
Thanks Sam!!!
Amazing pics Jaime, you have a real gift for capturing special moments. And the first pic of speaks volumes. Love your photos!
Thanks so much Kelley!!!