Written by Kate and Doug Let’s look at some numbers, shall we? We were 9 humans From 8 different states in the USA We traveled to: 1 big, diverse county for 84 days We visited: 8 cities And 2 towns And 4 villages All in 8 different states We traveled by train: about 2,363 miles By bus: about 1,071 miles By domestic flight: about 2,276 miles By raft: about 50… Read More

Written by Tucker Hello everyone, We spent a week on this incredible farm near McLeod and surrounded by beautiful rice fields and towering mountains. The Dev Bala family was so down to earth. The land here was so vast and the family culture was wonderful! Learning how to hoe a field and then plant and harvest food is wild. We went swimming in a river at this hot springs near… Read More

By Hannah Tashi Delek! Hey, again friends, family, and followers! Our long days of travel from Varanasi to Delhi and Delhi to Dharamshala have come and gone pretty smoothly. We’ve spent the last week exploring McLeod Ganj and all the cool sights and experiences it has to offer. This is our Student Directed Travel week, the week where we give Doug and Kate a little break and take over all… Read More

Crowded train in general class. Countryside of India, view from the train. Our train in India, and one of the memorable characters we met during our journey. Happy Birthday Tucker Joseph Peterson! Birthday party! Morning boat ride on the Ganga River. Ganga sunrise. Mornings on the Ganga and the start of our old city tour with Pinku-ji. Our master stone carver, Maya.… Read More

Dinner at our stone carving teacher’s house. Jed Foreman teaching us about Buddhism at Sarnath. Watching the beginning stages of silk saris being woven. With weavers from the sari factory. Rickshaw travel is exhausting and fun! Happy Halloween from the Shiva crew! Bobbing for apples! Fire show performed by Kate, Sarah, Doug, and Hannah. Pinku teaching us Hindi! Hindi class! Bahott achaa!… Read More

By Isabel Armas Namaste loag!! Let’s just start off with how we got to Varanasi; it was quite the experience. Our departure day started amazingly. We ate with the “family,” said bye to Kolkata, and made it 2 hours early to the train station. It was about 30 minutes in when we realized that we missed our train. Whoops. Rawr. Our amazing leaders, Kate and Doug, were able to get… Read More

By Sarah Kelly This week has been wild! I don’t think any of us have had a moment where we aren’t doing something or moving to our next activity. I’ll do my best to summarize it all. We arrived in Kolkata (Calcutta), which was the capital of India during the British rule, last Tuesday. On Wednesday we signed up for and received our placements in the Mother Teresa homes. Kate… Read More

By Lexie Our time here is coming to an end as we set out on our next adventure. I think all of us can agree than the past 2 weeks have been some of the most challenging and best days of our trip thus far. Fortunately, we were all able to power through and make the most of our experiences. We started off with a few days in Leh to… Read More

By Avery Greetings family and friends! We have had a busy week in India. We started with a couple days in Jhadol, a rural village near Udaipur where an NGO started a school that gives opportunities to young girls in villages that would not otherwise have access to education. During our time in Jhadol, we stayed at a homestay with a family. Our homestay involved sleeping on the porch near… Read More

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By Maya Hertz Hello! We have had a very exciting past week. Last Wednesday, the 19th, we took a railway train from Delhi (where we finished orientation), to Jaipur, the “Pink City,” where we stayed with our first homestay families. Rehka-ji, one of our contacts in Jaipur, was a host to Avery and Sarah and also let us use her home as a classroom for Hindi and Indian history lessons.… Read More

By Overseas Educators Doug & Kate Floating on the lake in Udaipur, India with Rishi-Ji, our local contact.… Read More

By Sarah, Avery, and Lexie Warm and sticky air Our bodies shine in the sun Fall for this city Samosa’s and Dahl The sweet and savory smells Food will comfort us India’s red fort Beautiful on the skyline Old place, new people… Read More

By Hannah, Tucker, Maya, and Isabel Today is our first day going into Delhi without the OEs. It’s been an adventure. After stopping to get lunch at a street stand, we took a rickshaw to central Delhi in the government area. We are in a tourist information center writing this blog. The people are very nice and helpful, we already love it here!!! After this we will go and try… Read More

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We’ve received word that the mighty Shiva group has safely arrived in New Delhi and have met up with their final group member (Maya) at their hostel. They are tired from a long journey, but happy to be there and starting their semester. Shiva, we wish you all the best, and the blog is now in your capable hands. Stay tuned for more from India.… Read More

By Program Director James Simmons We’ve received word that the entire Shiva crew has gathered safe and sound in the San Francisco airport. Spirits are high and everyone is excited to begin the journey! Thanks to everyone back home for all of your support in getting our students to this first courageous step. We can’t wait to follow along on their adventure and will be wishing the crew the best… Read More