Battles with Fear and Insects

4.15.10.

Sleep has certainly not been the theme of this week. I spent the night in the Dar Ul Fazl (DUF) children's home last night: a beautiful campus of 3-4 story buildings, gardens, courtyard where the children play and smiling faces of the young residents here. It's just outside of the markets of new Manali, set deeper in the Himalayas, accessible by a steep, winding dirt road.

I had the true priviledge of rehearsing music with Charlene and some of the boys that live here in the home - a rehearsal for a service on Sunday morning. I then taught one of the boys a piano lesson for about an hour and, by the time we were finished, I was definitely ready for some sleep.

By the time I reached my room for the night, it was well into the darker hours of the night. As I shut my bedroom door, I was face to face with what sparks my inner girliness like none other: indoor insects. Moths fluttering around the long flourescent tube on the ceiling, unidentified crawlers on the walls (a few in my bed as well) and three to four stringy webs with their spider makers scattered around the room.

No, I did not sleep but maybe an hour or two, collectively. Yes, I lay in bed covering my ear with my hand (to keep the curious crawlers out!). True, I forced my eyes shut, trying desperately to also force out the sound of beating insect wings against the window above my head.

But I also became one of the quickest, most ruthless fly swatter users in all of northern India.

Worth it.