Hello all! Lily here writing from an Internet Cafe in McLeod Ganj. We have had a wonderful introduction to typical India hodgepodge of power outages and holidays and I think are all learning to REALLY be gumby.
Almost immediately after we returned from our trek we were picked up by our home stay families to begin our wonderful cultural exchange. We have been placed in such different home stay experiences! I was put in a rather plush household. They have a steady income from the guest house they own above their home. They have multiple rooms, a large kitchen, an office, and another prayer room. I am living in one of the rooms they rent out and have access to a very nice bathroom fully equipped with hot water and a western toilet, which seem to be rare commodities here in McLeod. This is very different than the all purpose one living room/bedroom and kitchen some students are experiencing.
Besides our busy schedule spending time with our families we have been packing so much into our short time here. We have been taking Hindi classes with Neemala cramming past preset and future tenses into one class! His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is giving teachings right now. We went as a group which was so wonderful. To be in his presence is such an amazing experience. In addition to going to temple some of us have been taking jewlery classes and we all have been learning Tibetan massage! There is a beautiful waterfall a short hike away and we were able to relax and unwind there; we even conquered the dunk challenge! Ryan St. Pierre, a Carpe Southeast Asia Alum, joined us for the waterfall excursion. He was in town on his own and we luckily met up with him. He was very generous with answering all of our questions about his journey and Carpe experience. We even managed to do some hair revamping! Graham went black, Shayna went red, and Julia attempted to go blue! (Disclosure- there will be more hair changes to come!)
We are all loving it here in McLeod. The fresh air, crazy street life (cows and cars included), monkeys, traditions, people, lessons, and laughter will all be greatly missed.
Shout out to all at home in the states we miss you and love you!
Tomorrow morning we leave for Bir. Yay!