After an overnight train from Kolkata that was surprisingly on time, we got a jeep to Gangtok (about a 5-6 hour drive). We arrived that evening to Gangtok which was absolutely beautiful. We were staying at a Guest house/ Home stay but we were in separate rooms but we ate with the family. The family we stayed with was a very extended family consisting of a mom with her two… Read More
Here in Kolkatta the Shiva crew is celebrating both Halloween and the half-way day of our semester. It is hard to believe that we are half-way through – I am so proud of what our crew has accomplished as a group already, and looking forward to seeing even more self-growth, adventures, and hilarity in the remaining half! I wanted to give a shout-out to all of the family and friends… Read More
Namaste friends and family!
Our Shiva family is in Calcutta now, doing some volunteer work at the Mother Theresa Home. Before Calcutta, we spent a lovely couple of days in Bodh Gaya.
Bodh Gaya was a breath of fresh air. Literally. After crowded, polluted, over-powering Varanasi, it was nice to take a couple days to decompress in such a beautiful, calm, and spiritual place.
We stayed at the Root… Read More
Where do we even begin.
We left Amritsar on our very first sleeper train ride. We spent much of the early evening together in our little nook of our train car. To paint you a little picture, there were three bunks stacked on a wall, the middle of which swung up from the back of a seat cushion to become a hanging bed. All in all there were 6 bunks… Read More
Updates updates!! I’m sure you’re all wondering why half of our group is now bald, how we’re all coping without our lovely Graham, and where we are in the world now that we’re no longer stationed in McLeod.
I’ll start with the hair:
Lilly, Graham, Jake, and I (Margaret) have shaved our heads. Lilly was the initiator of this madness, and her excitement to have no hair rippled through the… Read More
The mighty Shiva group has left the Deer Park Institute in Bir, after a few meditative days in this peaceful Tibetan colony. Here the group has learned from the Buddhist and Jain traditions in a retreat setting. We wish them traveling mercies as they head onward to new adventures. Carpe Diem also says a fond and respectful goodbye to Graham, who has chosen to leave the program to remain in… Read More
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!… Read More
With gear loaded into our packs, we headed up the mountain from McLeod Ganj, following our leader Aneil-ji. Over the course of 4 hours, we walked about 9km, at a seemingly brisk pace, though Aneilji’s wife and family soundly beat us to camp. Our time may have been lengthened by several stops for passing cows and the rain-turned-hail storm that caught several of us huddled under a tree, as well… Read More
We find ourselves in a “cyber cafe” on the streets of Delhi. Our group- Graham, Julia, and Lily- The Esaelp’s (our team name derived from the lack of connection we made with esaelp and please). We apologize for the lack of team picture. We can’t figure out how to upload the pictures, so sorry.
So far we have been learning lots and lots of Hindi! We are on one of… Read More
Thank shiva that India is filled with such nice people. We (Jake, Shanyna, and Margaret) are currently on the second floor of a travel agency office in New Dehli using a random man’s computer. He heard us ask someone else where the cyber cafe was offered us to use his computer for free!!
The whole group was split off into two groups to explore New Dehli. The fun twist- we… Read More
Dear India families and friends,
Carpe Diem HQ is happy to report that the India Shiva group all found one another in SFO this morning and are currently en route to the Indian subcontinent! The group met one another with smiles, and “namastes”, and are very much looking forward to starting their journey together.
Stay tuned for photos and more updates to come as the group lands in Delhi and… Read More
Dear Carpe Diem Students and Parents,
It’s just a few more days until all our to-be travelers and Overseas Educators will be departing for destinations across the globe. We have been busy preparing the OE’s over the last two weeks while getting all the last minute preparations finished! We are all feeling really great and ready to embark on the myriad journeys that will take place over the next 3… Read More
Namaste and welcome to the Shiva blog! Carpe Diem staff training is in full swing here in sunny Portland and we couldn’t be more excited to meet the Shiva group in just a few short days. We’re busy with itineraries and maps and guide books…oh and bikes and frisbees and tea shops, too…all so we can be prepared for an incredible semester. Over the coming months this blog will be… Read More
As of 365 days ago we were all drifting far above the Asian continent, very much separate but somehow connected by gossamer threads of what destiny had in store for us… Connected by the simple fact that we threw our unharnessed faith in the Carpe Diem boat bound for India. I remember seeing the lights of Delhi waver into sight, a pit in my stomach of rumbling excitement and question-… Read More
