From the journals and minds of the young trekkers, I present to you individual “Revelations/inspirations/moments of empowerment” from our hike/bus tour.
Brianna H.-wants to expand her eating horizons (unlike her Thai bus-mates who ate pre-packaged Thai ‘catfood’ instead of the freshly prepared Indian cuisine)
Erin-Being alone in nature she couldn’t run from her thoughts. This inspired her to be more present with her thoughts in the future and to allow… Read More
Dear Family, Friends, and Fellow Readers,
After seeing the other eight start their hike towards the massive mountains, Mariah and I began our journey with our contact, Arthur and driver, Snoop Dog towards Ghoom. Ghoom is a city about 8K away from Darjeeling. In Ghoom, we stayed with a man, who usually leads the India Carpe Diem treks, named Raju, his sister, mother, and two nieces.
On the way to… Read More
“Did you hear about the circus?”
…
“It was in-tents”
-Simone
And now I present to you, devoted blog followers, a reading directly from my personal journal detailing more “intents” events, documented during the hike.
disclaimer: please throw grammar to the wind, and enjoy the rugged charm of this raw, ranting journalism.
10/24/2011
4 mi hike. Who carries our belongings? A yak/cow hybrid that is nowhere to be seen. Who… Read More
We began our volunteer work Tues at Gaucharan, Govt. Jr. High. It’s a bumpy uphill hour and a half jeep ride away, accross small waterfalls and views overlooking green hills, valleys and rice fields. We arrived to school around (:30 and were assigned a class to observe. I walked into class and asked “wheres the teacher?” they told me “you’re the teacher!” I laughed “No really, where is he?” they… Read More
Final days in Calcutta/Kolkotta: some saw the museum (charging 150 rupes for foreigners and 15 for locals), some visited Kali temple or Victoria memorial, and some stayed in bed with rumbling tummies and/or fever, regrettably missing out on some of the excitement of the city.
On our “day off” from the Mother home, we scheduled a boat tour at the Sunderban tiger reserve (home to the largest mangrove forest IN… Read More
Hello parents, family, friends, and anyone reading this!
The next part of our adventure was a wonderfully cramped train ride to Bodhgaya. We had ten seats reserved for ten people…and all of our bags. We ended up getting six seats for all of us and our things, but only after a dispute with other people about who was supposed to be where. Thank goodness the train ride was only a… Read More
On a train from Bodhgaya to Calcutta, somwhere between consiousness and dream-state, one of the eight students writes:
Fall asleep now
And get your shit
Stolen.
Succumb to gravity + eyelid
And the small
brown man
who is sitting on his
flip flops
next to you
pretending to sleep
will
steal
yourshit
so ifiwereyou
i’d stay
eyewide
staring, as you are
at the
dirty blue wall
P.S.
Guess who!
Love,
… Read More
Varanasi, for a lot of us has been a pretty independent time for all of us. So no matter how hard I try I will probably not be able to capture everyone’s emotions and feelings on our time in Kashi, a city full of roaming cows and the dung they leave behind.
October 1st…
Was no different from any other day in the luminous city, we started the morning off… Read More
Today, this day was a brimming cup,
today, this day was the immense wave,
today, it was all the earth.
Today the stormy sea
lifted us in a kiss
so high that we trembled
in a lightningflash
and, tied, we went down
to sink without untwining.
Today our bodies became vast,
they grew to the edge of the world
and rolled melting
into a single drop of wax or meteor.… Read More
Cobie here reporting from the land of camels, turbans and prosthetic feet…for Shanti group land of air conditioned bus rides, home stays, and fine dining. Jaipur!
Sept 19th, we took a bus from Delhi to Jaipur. Upon arrival we were whisked off by Reshi Ji (our tour guide/program director) to the home of lovely Reika (co-director/artist/retired professor). After a short orientation and some hot Chai we were sent to meet… Read More
Hello, this is Kat, and I believe I’m the first student blogger. We’re all here and safe. Sorry about the lack of blogging so far; it’s been really, really busy so far. First of all, a couple of us have been sick, but we’ve all been better by the next day. Jake was sick the worst so far, but don’t worry; it was just “meat withdrawals.”
The first shock when… Read More
We’ve been in communication with the group leaders and all is well – in fact very little has registered that there was an earthquake in Sikkim, but since it could potentially affect the group’s volunteering there, it’s something we felt prudent to communicate to parents and vicarious travelers alike.
As many of you may have heard, there was an earthquake centered in Sikkim yesterday that measured 6.8 on the Richter… Read More
Hello Friends and Family!
After about 40 hours of travel through Hong Kong and then a surprise stop in Bangkok where we learned how to say hello and thank you in Thai we finally made it to Delhi late at night 2 days ago. Everyone is healthy and happy and soaking up all the 5 senses in a big way. Orientation is almost to a close as we head to… Read More
And it’s with great peace that this group appears to be departing. Just look at these yoga poses! It’s hard not to remember my own first journey to India … one that has had a lasting and profound impact on myself and the way I live in this world.
I know this will prove to be an unforgettable experience for all of the Shanti group: May it be rich with… Read More
Namaste, from your very enthusiastic leaders, Simone and Ole!!
This blog is a place for you to post photos, tell stories and share your experiences with friends and family back home. Send your loved ones this link so they can see and read about the places that your adventurous spirit is taking you.
Throughout our semester, each of you will have the opportunity to post to this blog, documenting our… Read More
Namaste Family and Friends.We finished up the ashram program with a nice Puja ceremony, in which we chanted a mantra 108 times before burning our worries away. Then we left the rushing Ganga and drove down to Haridwar. We stayed here last night and watched the news of the Mumbai attacks – a crazy way to come back to the world indeed. Scary, but luckily it’s far from where we… Read More
This is Ethan here, just wanting to reassure any worried parents in the light of the Mumbai tragedy that the group is doing well and are meditating their way through Thanksgiving at an ashram about 280 miles from Mumbai. They don’t have access to the internet at the ashram at the moment so I’m making this quick post: the group is OK and they are quite safe.
Please stay tuned… Read More
Our first few days in Rishikesh were very relaxing. We were able to explore the yoga capital of the world and reflect on our experiences in India thus far. Some of us took the opportunity of the clean Ganges water to wash our sins away. We dunked in the water 3 times, as is customary in the hindu culture. The water was cold and clear, but very refreshing.We also had… Read More
So now that the majority of us are certified Thai Massage therapists and Basic Healing practitioners, not to mention professional musicians, we have the time and energy to greet the Dali Lama as he pulls into his Temple after long travels. He has returned to his home in India! We are very fortunate to be here during the time of his presence although speeches will only begin after our departure.… Read More
