Day 0.

     Did you ever feel so bombarded with new feelings and sensations you just burst into tears? I did.

The maginificence of what I am going through can not be described with banal words.I look outside my hotel window and I feel like a baby entering an unknown world. Everything amazes me, the lights of the buildings, the extremely hot temperature, the culture.. I feel butterflies in my belly, I am totally overwhelmed... 

Leaving my familiy and my friends behind wasn't a piece of cake. Seldom had I felt so home-sick. However, the more I picture myself playing in the garden with my brother, the more I convince myself this was the right choice. The purpose of this blog ins't to convince people to adventure themselves in a trip but to tell everyone my astonishing and tought-provoking experience. 

I left Montevideo on the 29th February 2010, my flight took off at 3 am that same day. I ovbiously didn't get a wink of sleep that night, my excitement and anxiety were stronger than me. I spent the hole night staring at the roof, examining every single problem that could show up and how would I tackle it. As you can see, I am a pretty preventive person. Suddendly, my alarm went on,  finally, the moment had arrived, it was 2.30. I took a cab and with the security and confidence every man has when he is leaving his own country I told the the cab-driver : 'To the airport..'

My seat was number 27B , next to me sat an old lady and a young boy. The captain told us the safety instructions and a we took off. I fell asleep really quickly and when I woke up the old lady told me the plane had flown over amazing landscapes and that she had taken photos of them. Had I known I was going to miss seeing that kind of paradises I would haver never closed my eyes.. Mountains, rivers, rivers between mountains.. When I finished looking at those incandescent pictures I heard the low voice of the captain : ' We are a few minutes away from our destination, please fasten your seat-belts'.. I buckled up and hoped for the best (p.s : I am kind of scared of landings, I always feel we are going to crash.)

I left the airport my suitcase on one hand and my 'mate' on the other. The moment I stepped outside the airport I realized I was a foreigner. Everything was new, everything amazed me.. A strange sensation of well-being invaded my body. I thought one last time about the people I had left behind in Uruguay and then I realized: there was no other place in the world I would rather be than here, all alone, staring at the most populated city of India: Mumbai.

What a city !

Volunteering in Kandivali.

Gratitude, that's the word I was looking for. The only feeling that beats hapiness is making someone else happy. I can assure you that the warm sensation you feel when a little boy tells you:'Thank you..' can't be compared with any other feeling. How can two simple words, as 'thank' and 'you', have such a profound meaning. I just don't get it. 
 My dictionnary says that a volunteer is:'A person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily, un unpaid worker'. I totally disagree due to the fact that while being a volunteer in a little town next to Mumbai I learnt some values that changed my way of watching the world. Volunteering made me realize I have nothing to complain about, the things I would instantly throw to the trash could be someone elses treasure... In a nutshell, I do not see volunteering as a work , is see it as an oportunity to give back a little part of what life has given you.

I spent a month and a half in Kandivali, a town near Mumbai. My job there was to teach math to  kids and adolescents that didn't have the chance to go to school. Each day I was given a small Blackboard and one or two markers. I taught on the streets, the kids would gather around me and hear me as if I was Gandhi. 
It was amazing. Some students really wanted to learn, others not so much. However, you could see in their faces that they were thankfull, that they wanted more. They were thirsty of wisdom...

Once, this kid called Nahumi asked, in the middle of the class, if he could hug me. I was confused, and I acted on the spur of the moment, so I huged him. I understood this kid had really connected with me, despite the fact I was his teacher, we were almost friends....

To sum up, my experience as a volunteer in India was mind-blowing. Not only, did I learn how to communicate with children but I also learnt the true meaning of the word: HELPING.

The end of it...

My life is in Uruguay, but my heart is in India.

It is impossible to write a conclusion of my trip. Hardly a day goes by when I do not remember the day I arrived to this wonderful city. My head full of dreams and hopes, I can not figure out how it is already over. 

It seems that two days ago I was packing to leave Uruguay and now , I am packing to go to Uruguay.

Sadness invades my body. When I was a little boy my father would always tell me: ' Do not be sad because something is over, be happy because it happened.'.

My flight from Mumbai to Montevideo departed at 3pm. Moreover, the old lady that sat next to me on the first flight was there. What a coincidence. The difference is that this time I dind't fall asleep and I could appreciate the wonderful landscapes. If India has taught me something , it is to appreciate the real beuaty of the world..

Furthermore, India taught to me so many things, I will always be in debt with it's wondeful citizens. Because of them I am the person I am today. Thank you, just than you. 

It is my coniction that not one of the people I knew in India is going to read my blog. However, I wanted to somehow repay them.