Namaste lovely people...
Hopefully everyone is slowly recovering from the jetlag and even more ready to begin a new exciting phase. As we all know...the last part of the trip just flew by, and it seemed as though we were saying goodbye much sooner than we were ready for. I know that Shangu and I feel so very blessed to have met you all and to have had the opportunity to experience the magic of India with you. As you most likely will soon realize....India seems to be a place that once having experienced...is always in your heart. As cheesy as this may sound...you will always be in our hearts as well. Thank you and please keep in touch.

Chocolate Salami

Before we move on to less important matters, let us touch on a subject that is as deeply ingrained in our hearts as your love: Chocolate Salami.

Now, moving on. These last few days have been quite hectic with the Mumbai attacks, but thankfully we are all safe and sound in Calcutta. We are lucky enough to still be staying at Nalin's aunt's apartment and the hospitality has been superb despite our ever changing itinerary. We've spent the last few days catching up on what we missed the first time around, with a trip to the Victoria Memorial, a viewing of a Saturday matinee Bollywood film, and to top it off a delicious Bengali dinner. And all this following what was an indescribable week (and a bit more) in the Andaman Islands.

Our first attempt to the Andamans was unsuccessful. After flying 2 hours into the Indian Ocean and hovering over the beautiful islands, our captain made the announcement that we were unable to land and thus would be returning shortly to Calcutta. It's okay though, because everything ended up working out, as we were able to use our compensatory money from the airline to purchase 8 tickets to see Jethro Tull and Anoushka Shankar perform live in concert when we returned to Calcutta. The concert was a big hit and everyone left satisfied. Back to the Andamans.

Though there is much to say, we will touch briefly on a few of the highlights. Our week and a half included bike rides through tribal farmlands and beachside jungles, a snorkeling day trip with a local guide and his boat, and lounging on Time Magazine's Most Beautiful Beach in Asia on the gorgeous Havelock Island. Oh yeah, and Amy was bit by a dog and had to get a Tetanus booster, but it's okay Amy's mom, because she doesn't have rabies!! Our entire time on Havelock was unbelievable, and we all returned tan, relaxed, and ready to rock and roll with Jethro Tull. We can't wait to show you pictures of this majestic locale.

We are departing Calcutta tomorrow night to go to Delhi, where we will meet with the Shanti group and say our last goodbyes to India before we go our separate ways.

Love!!
Ariel, Topher and Amy

Namaste!!!

This will be a quick blog to first wish everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! We all just spent the day together, with the feelings of gratefulness emanating from us all about being together...and also for having the love and support from our family and friends at home. So grateful of all of the eye-opening and soul enhancing experiences we have had here.

Also just to let everyone know, we are no where near Mumbai. Our hearts certainly go out to everyone involved in this horrible situation....

We are in Kolkata (after returning from our amazing stay in the Andamans which the students will be writing about shortly), and will be leaving on a long but nonetheless exciting trainride tomorrow night to Agra. We all seem to be in disbelief that our time is almost over here...trying to savor our last amount of time both in India and together.

You will defintitely be hearing from us shortly...but until then....enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for us:))))))

much love..

Suzanne and Shangu

Calcutta - The City of Joy

Hey everyone!
We hope this message finds all of you very well. Today is our last day in Calcutta, also known as the City of Joy. For the past week, we have all been very busy. We have been volunteering at various Mother Teresa houses, such as Kalighat, Prem Dan, and Shishu Bhavan. The houses range from those that care for the destitute and dying to those that provide a childhood for orphaned boys and girls. Overall, each one of us has found our experience at Mother Teresa's extremely rewarding. With the flexibility of volunteer times and places, we have all been able to continue to explore India's culture through numerous different activities. For instance, today we did some sight-seeing, including Jain temples and the Ramakrishna temple complex.

On another note, we had a birthday in the group a few days ago. Nalin turned 18!!!!!!! We celebrated by going dancing at a club called Soho on Saturday night and by bowling and playing bumper cars on his actual birthday, which was Tuesday. It was all so much fun!!!!!

We have been so grateful to Nalin's family, who have graciously provided us with an amazing accommodation. Tonight, we will have one last dinner with them at his great-aunt's house.

Tomorrow morning we are off to the Andaman Islands, which we are all VERY excited about!!! The Andamans are somewhat secluded, and thus, we may not have Internet access while we are there. Don't worry, though, because we will be back in Calcutta on November 25th.

Have a great week!
-Nalin and Ariel

From the Bodhi Tree to the Urban Jungle

Hola Lolas!

After a delightful goodbye dance/Halloween party thrown in our honor in Varanasi, we departed for a "saturation in Buddhism" aka Bodhgaya aka the Bodhi Tree aka awesomeness. We arrived at the tranquil Butanese temple, where we spent our three nights. Surrounding the area were temples from all over Asia -- we were able to visit the intricately designed temples of Thailand, Vietnam, Tibet, Japan, and THE BIG BUDDHA. This last item wasn't a temple, but literally a giant Buddha made of stone. During our stay, some of us (aka Eva and Amy and the leaders) woke up at 4:30 in the morning to witness a puja (morning prayer) down by the banks of the hanky panky aka the local river. As the sun rose, thousands of people crowded down to bathe themselves and pray. And perhaps the most exciting part of our stay in Bodhgaya was the election of OBAMA!!!!! As soon as we heard the news, we toasted chai to him at a local bookstore with the owner. Now on to Calcutta.

After waiting for a 2 hour delayed train and being kicked out of many restaurants for loitering, we finally got situated for our 10 hour train ride, most of which was spent sleeping (for most people). Now we are here in Calcutta, staying at Nalin's aunt's apartment. Today we begin volunteering at Mother Theresa's Charity homes. We have all decided to work at different houses, some of which include the home for the Destitute and Dying, a home for mentally handicapped children and others similarly related. In other news, we are slowly preparing and building excitement for our choice of Free Travel -- The Andaman Islands.

We hope all is going loverly at home -- Goodnight and Goodluck (aka Goodmorning for us)!!

Yours truly,
Eva and Amy

Hey everybody!

We are writing to you as we near our final days in Varanasi after a delightful week. We have all been quite busy here in Varanasi a.k.a. Benares a.k.a. the City of Lights a.k.a. the City of Temples a.k.a. the City of Learning a.k.a. the culture capital of India. Indeed, we have been lucky enough to catch glimpses of the reasoning behind all these highly appropriate nicknames. The main focus of our stay here has been the wide range of internship opportunities available to us. Whether it was instrument, dance, art, or cooking classes, it is apparent everyone was just having a good ole time. In fact, a few of us were so inspired we found ourselves the new owners of some classical handmade Indian instruments such as tabla and sitar. Consider yourself warned of potential sleepless nights and distracted days as we dive deeper into the vast sea of music. Meanwhile, we have all also been learning Hindi for 2 hours every morning with our stellar instructor Pinku. Although it was a slow and somewhat frustrating beginning of a new and unique language, we all now able to form the simplest of past, present, and future sentences.
Aside from these opportunities, we were lucky enough to find ourselves as the newest residents of a Varanasi Hindustan University house with other students and travelers from all over the world. Included in this house was Shantiji, a woman who many have agreed produced the finest meals that our taste buds have encountered. Lunch buffets of rice, dal, vegetables, fruit, chapatis, and more have become highlights of our days.
Beyond just our classrooms and kitchen, we also have been able to witness the rich culture of Varanasi in other ways. In quite a bold maneuver, we rose early with the sun to enjoy a sunrise boat ride on the Mother Ganga, viewing the renowned and famous ghats that line the river banks and attract people from all around the world. Soon, we hope to finalize our plans for free travel and will keep you all updated!

Shanti Bahar (Peace Out)
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-Ariel and Topher

From the Golden Temple to India's holiest city.

We continued our internships regularly in Mcleod until the evening of the 21st, when we had a speaker talk to us about the issue of Tibet's occupation by the communist Chinese government. We learned a great deal and even purchased some of his writings at the end of the presentation. Afterwards we had a brief ceremony in which we presented our thanks to our host mothers along with a traditional white scarf for good luck. We headed out on the morning of the 22nd, after saying good-bye to our host families. We were bound for Amritsar, first by bus, and then by train. The bus ride was 4 hours long and quite uncomfortable, as Topher with his lack of legroom and sick seat-mates would attest. The train seemed shorter and more comfortable and before we knew it, we had arrived in Amritsar. After some difficulties getting a bus ride to the Golden Temple, a guide and his friend got us to the Golden Temple via Auto Rickshaw for a cheaper price. They were very helpful and ended up being our guides for the rest of our time in Amritsar. We stayed in one of the buildings in the temple complex and ate our meals free at the massive volunteer worked kitchen, which serves thousands of pilgrims and guests daily. The Temple itself was amazing at all times of the day, as it was completely gilded from the ground up. It was surrounded by a large pool and there were buildings filled with Sikh gurus waiting to offer wisdom to pilgrims. All in all, it was a very impressive complex that was almost entirely run by volunteers who did all the cleaning, cooking, and donating. The day after we spent the whole day looking around at the sites and ended it with the grand flag ceremony at the Indo-Pakistani border. The next day we had to leave on a 24 hour train ride to Varanasi, which went smoothly. Now we are here in Varanasi searching out what internships we want to do for the remainder of our stay. We're looking forward to the variety of choices such as, music lessons, traditional dances, and painting. Hope everyone back home is doing fine, as well as the other groups who may read this. Bye

-Eva and Nalin

From the Ashram to the Home of Many Tibetans

Namaste everyone!

We happily left Delhi long ago to journey to the wonderful land of Rishikesh/Laxman Jhulla, located right on the banks of the mighty Ganga. Our first train experience was quite luxurious, complete with padded individual seats, air conditioning, and food service. Once arriving in Laxman Jhulla, we all dispersed for accommodation hunting. Carrie and Amy found a lovely guesthouse on a side street off of a somewhat busier main road. While in Laxman Jhulla, we enjoyed a thrilling rafting adventure on the Ganga (with our guide, Isaac from Montana, who later met up with us for both lunch and a nighttime pooja). The following day, we hiked up to a riveting waterfall where many of us took the refreshing opportunity to splash around in the water. Our time in the city of Laxman Jhulla was short, as we left the next day to travel to the Phool Chatti Ashram. The ashram was an amazing experience for all of us. It was situated right on the Ganga (we were often able to swim during our free time) and was simply a beautiful, tranquil place to be. Daily, we woke at 5:30 am to meditate, chant mantras, and participate in yogic cleansing, breathing exercises, and morning yoga classes. Although we were told that breakfast would be incredibly bland, it was the highlight of the day for many of us. We enjoyed unlimited porridge, bananas, and tea (with as much sugar as we could possibly consume). After breakfast, we went on daily contemplative walks to unbelievable landscapes such as waterfalls, streams, and beaches. Lunch was just as satisfying as breakfast, with buckets of dal, supte, rice and chipati at our fingertips. Following lunch, we had interesting discussions with the Guru, more breathing exercises and afternoon yoga classes. As darkness fell upon the ashram, evening prayer and song sessions occured each night, followed by another scrumptious meal similar to that of lunch. Evening mediation was our final activity, often preparing us for a restful sleep (with the exception of Eva's insomnia). On our final days, we were graced with an evening bonfire and a morning fire ceremony. We said goodbye to our fellow ashram-ers and headed to the train station in Rishikesh. Our journey to McLeod began with a train ride (proceeded by downtime on the platform with cows and an obscene amount of flies). Our train was quite the experience: 10 hours with the 8 of us spread out throughout various compartments and seller after seller walking through the aisles offering cups of chai or small snacks. Some of us were able to sleep, some of us weren't, but we finally arrived in Chakki Bank at about 2:30 am. We then stuffed into a jeep that took us up to McLeod Ganj after a bumpy, swerving 3 hour ride. Finally, we were in McLeod, home to many Tibetan refugees and the Tibetan government in exile. We each were placed into a homestay with a Tibetan family, which we all currently LOVE. Our homestay families treat us like their own children, as they try give us warmer clothes before we leave the house, constantly refill our tea classes even if we're already full, and cook us delicious Tibetan meals. For most of us, this is just another amazing highlight of our trip. During the days, we are all participating in various internships and classes of our choice. The freedom we are allotted here is wonderful. Our days are filled with a wide variety of activities, such as jewelry making, cooking classes, art lessons, yoga, and volunteer work including teaching English to Tibetan refugees. We are all finding our time here extremely rewarding so far. We don't want to leave at the end of the week!

That's all for now...

-Ariel and Carrie

Back in Delhi and Getting Ready for Rishikesh

Hi All =]

We are back (and for the most part healthier thankfully) in Delhi after spending 5 glorious days trekking through Hemis National Park in the vast Himalayan mountain range. In what has been the highlight of the trip so far for many, we typically hiked a few hours each day while spending the rest of the time partaking in Himalayan homestays. The people we met and lived with briefly were very genuine and warm; and despite the language barrier, we were able to still determine where the bathroom was and inform them their food and tea was delicious. Briefly stopping in on these families' lives for a day at a time was a fun and educational experience. Along the way, some of us acquired culturally unique goods such as homespun yak wool and exquisite, hand-crafted copper spoons to bring home to....YOU! After these 5 days of trekking in the mountains that followed the banks of the Zanskar and Indus rivers, we returned to Leh to spend a night in a guest house before returning to Delhi. In a very sentimental moment for most of us (tears could be seen in Topher's eyes) we stopped in at SECMOL for one last round of tea and goodbyes for all. The next day we said our final goodbye to our amazing guide/mother/everything one would want in a host aka. Mama Kunzes and departed on an early flight granting us one last view of the majestic Himalayas before an abrupt arrival into the smoggy skies of Delhi. Soon, we will be heading to Rishikesh via train to do activities such as rafting on the Ganges, as well as a week of yoga and the accompanying ashram lifestyle. More updates to come soon. May peace and love grace all of you in your daily lives, despite the lack of our presence (and presents).

~Topher and Amy

Leh, Ladakh

Hey Hey Everyone!
Since the last post more than not of us have been rather sick with the altitude and other maladies. Things at SECMOL have been going great, playing games and getting to know the students better. Today we came into Leh around 10 and visited the Tibetan Children's Village (tibetchild.org). It's a very beautiful clean campus they have set up to house, and educate ~2000 children in family units of 20-25. The students range in age from barely older that toddlers to high school age. Many are orphans or their parents just cant provide for them. The village also accepts Ladakhi students from the surrounding area.
We've also visited several monastaries and Bhuddist temples. In a few days we are leaving SECMOL to go treking in the mountains.
Love and sunshine from the Himalayas!
Carrie

Jule from Ladakh

We arrived safely in Ladakh after a stunning plane ride, overlooking the Himalayan mountains. Although we had little sleep, there was no way we could close our eyes to the fantastic view of the sun rising over the snowcapped mountains. Once at the SECMOL campus, we were able to rest, meet the amazing students and begin to adjust to the high elevation of about 11,000 feet. For the most part our daily activities include eating all meals with the students, helping during work hour and with individual responsibilities, participating in the English conversation classes, and getting to know the students via volleyball (and various sports), dancing and day-to-day conversations. We have also been learning a little of the Ladakhi language. Right now we are wandering the streets of the town Leh which is about a half hour from SECMOL. The locals are generous and kind and we have really enjoyed learning about their culture and way of life.
Look out for more updates as we continue on our journey!
Jule,
Eva and Ariel

Safe and Sound

I wanted to post something immediately to let you all know that all of the students in all Carpe Diem groups are well, in good spirits, and bedding down for the night without incident. I'm sure some parents have noticed in the news that there've been some bomb blasts in Delhi and the leaders, in their safety-consciousness, have all checked in with me and had this to say:

hey Ethan,
just a quick note to let you know that we are all fine. in case you did not hear, there were 4 bomb blasts in delhi today - less than an hour ago. we have all the students here at the hotel - a little quarantine. nothing happened here in the pahar ganj where we're staying, but one bomb was at connaught place. we're just playing it safe. we will contact the embassy before heading out in the morning just to let them know we're well. sounds like a good night to do some sing-a-longs on the rooftop. or as leaders we can do bollywood interpretative dance. one never knows...

Hey All

Just wanted to say a quick hi. We made it safely to Delhi after several flight complications (making a stop in Canada). We are starting to explore the wonders of our first city in India after a delicious lunch on the rooftop of a restaurant overlooking the busy streets of Delhi. We miss you all and hope to hear from you. Namaste.
Topher, Amy, Carrie, Ariel, Eva, Nalin

Flight Delays

The group is doing fine and as we speak have all their luggage and some good meal vouchers from Cathay Pacific as they've had to make an unexpected stop over in Vancouver, Canada. There were some minor mechanical issues that caused the stopover and subsequent cancellation, but there's some good news. Everyone for INDIA and SHANTI that were booked on the Hong Kong leg have been rescheduled to depart at 3:10pm today on Cathay flight 839. They are scheduled to keep their existing reservation departing Hong Kong and arriving into Delhi on the 12th at 2:05 AM as shown on their regular tickets ... they will basically arrive into Delhi as scheduled, however missing out on the opportunity to explore Hong Kong.

I've just been on the phone with the Travel Consultant at Global Vision Travel and despite the unexpected hiccup, we both were extremely happy to have the pilot make the call to cancel the flight before being stuck over the Pacific ... this is yet another reason we love working with Cathay!

Yours,
Ethan Knight

Notes from the Airport

Well, it's official, they're together and ready! The group leaders just gave me a call and they have their full group - yes, everyone is there! In about three hours they'll be airborne and embarking on a journey of three-months and a thousand experiences.

I'm sure over the next few months you'll have photos of all kinds, calls of many emotions, and growth in more angles than you could imagine. May this be the beginning of a truly momentous and transformative semester!

Yours in spirit and adventure,
Ethan

Namaste

Yes, this is the place! Our 2008 Fall India trip blog...which will soon be filled with amazing stories and beautiful photos. For the students...if you have a digital camera and cables, we can include your photos. We are currently in Portland, just putting those last sparkling touches on our trip. Have a safe journey to SFO, and we will see you soon!
Suzanne & Shangu