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 Avery With our big bags stored and our goodbyes said we headed across the Laxman Jhula bridge to the last leg of our whirlwind India adventure. In the town square we were picked up by 2 friendly guys from Red Chilli adventure. After a surprisingly short ride to the Red Chilli office we got briefed by Kate’s new snack life role model, Vipin-ji, who gave us a small… Read More
Written by Maya Hello friends and family! As we head into our last week we are feeling very bittersweet. We are all very excited to go home and get to sleep in our own beds, and simultaneously sad that the semester is winding down and we have to end our adventures together.
Last week we spent 7 days meditating and doing yoga at the Phool Chatti Ashram, outside of Rishikesh.… 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
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 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
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
