By Overseas Educators Bria and Peter As the two of us sit on the airport-express metro train headed back into the heart of Delhi, having just said farewell to all ten students outside the airport, we are filled with an overwhelming sensation of gratitude. The list of things we are grateful for is longer than an Indian train, but here’s a few: we are grateful for all of the teachers… Read More

By Isadora Smith After an action-packed week of camping, rafting, and rock climbing in the mountains of Rishikesh for student directed travel, the dreaded last day of the trip has come. Cue the scary music! We plop down our tattered bags full of souvenirs, memories, and accumulated dirt from every place we’ve visited throughout India in the lobby of Stops Hostel. I look around the room and see 11 of… Read More

By Keshav Krishnan My time as the official “Bilbo Bloggins” started at the Phool Chatti ashram. I enjoy the time I spent there in retrospect, although it was tough for me at (most) times. We had three hours of yoga asanas (the stretching and stuff) a day! We also had some incredible experiences outside of stretches that I couldn’t do. Every day we did a walk into nature, ending near… Read More

By Harrison Wohlfarth So this week was pretty dope. We started off with a bus ride from the O.G. city of Delhi to the humble mountains of Darhamsal after being delayed several hours (shout out to Indian transportation services). Despite having to wait several hours for the bus and meanwhile chilling on the streets of India, we eventually got to where we needed to go, though, which is all that… Read More

By Garrett Walker Hello parents and potential fans reading our Carpe Diem Shanti blog. My name is Garrett and I want to do the blog a little differently this week. Instead of the usual linear summary of our past week, I want to give you a summary, but through short little bursts of reflections I’ve had. Hopefully, Avy is a fan of this (Hi Avy!) and it gets posted and… Read More

By Overseas Educator Peter Benassi At the Root Institute in Bodhgaya. Registering to work at the Mother Theresa Home in Kolkata. Picking ginger at Dev Bala Farm in Gharoh. Relaxing at the Root Institute in Bodhgaya. Selfies with Harrison in Kolkata. A baby goat in Jhadol, Rajisthan!… Read More

By Jake Hansen Last week we stayed in Bhodgaya in a Buddhist Monastery called The Root Institute for Wisdom Culture. The first few days were spent on a pilgrimage to some of the most iconic spots along the path walked by the Buddha on his way to attaining enlightenment. We went to the cave where he meditated for six years, eating only five-to-seven grains of rice per day trying to… Read More

By Alec Mabie This week was spent in one of the holiest cities in India, Varanasi! When we first arrived in Varanasi our leaders gave us a tour of the city and we got to meet the teachers for the internships. We had so many options to choose from. I picked jewelry making, Ayurveda, and music. Other popular classes were fire dancing and stone carving. After meeting with our teachers… Read More

Photos courtesy of Rishi.… Read More

Photos courtesy of Rishi… Read More

By Emma Clements Our past two weeks have been filled with incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experiences; it is too hard to just pick one thing to write about. So, instead of writing about WHAT we did, I will tell you the feelings and thoughts of what went into it. It is the sad, mad, and beautiful of India. We have all seen the madness, especially in Dehli, with all the cars and… Read More

By Mayana Gibbs After a few days exploring Delhi, it was finally time to move onto our next adventure in Jaipur! We got on the five-hour train at 6:00 am and arrived in the late afternoon at our homestays. We got to see and explore the Amber palace and got to see elephants, monkeys, and camels! We then had the opportunity to learn some Hindi, which was very useful and… Read More

By Ella, May, and Keshav Hello from an internet cafe in Connaught in New Delhi! Today is our fourth full day in Delhi and we’re doing a scavenger hunt by ourselves throughout the city. So far we’ve taken two rickshaws, been helped by a couple of friendly locals, and tried our first lassis! We’ve experienced many cool things so far in this city. On our first full day we went… Read More

By Jake, Harrison, and Isabel Since arriving in Delhi, our group of 10 has already piled into rickshaws plenty of times to get from one place to the next. We’re a fun, loud, and silly group, but we never seem to talk much when riding in rickshaws. Maybe it’s because we have no idea if the driver will take us to the right place, or if we will get there… Read More

By Alec, Garrett, Isadora, and Emma We have been in India for six days and have seen several beautiful things and have met so many interesting locals. What makes India different than any other country is their bountiful kindness. As we walk the hectic city of Delhi, people come up to us and offer us assistance and tell us their stories. There are billions of people in this country and … Read More

The Shanti girls with the bride of a Muslim wedding they were invited to.… Read More

The Shanti crew explores the entrance of the Red Fort—a majestic World Heritage Site—in Delhi, India.… Read More

Namaste from the Shanti Fall 2017 leader duo, Bria and Pete. We are beyond excited to meet our team of stellar students in just five days! The next three months will be full of learning, adventure, and community. We will be spending the first half of our journey exploring several historic cities and sites– from Delhi to Jaipur to Varanasi to Kolkata. We will also have an opportunity to be… Read More

Namaste Shanti travelers! With our departure for India only a few short days away, we are thrilled to share our first blog post of the Spring. As the semester progresses, this blog will take the form of a (mostly) weekly update of our journey through India, written by students. Friends and family can look forward to reading stories about city life, overnight trains, yoga, ancient temples, outdoor adventures, home-stays, and… Read More

It’s the afternoon of December 6th, and the community of Shanti Fall 2016 huddles one last time, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, the tops of our heads touching as we look down at the circle of feet below us. It’s a tradition that started early on in our trip; it became the way we often ended group meetings and gatherings, and has taken on more feeling every time. In… Read More