Namaste (aka: S'up)

Hey Gang!


We have returned from our summers in Peru and are super excited to be in Portland focusing all of our energy on the upcoming semester. We are not much more than a week away from seeing all of you in the San Francisco airport and beginning our epic journey around the world. It's going to be an amazing ride, full of highs, lows and pure bliss. Just remember to breathe! (This will be a great thing to cultivate now and through out the semester.

A couple reminders... consult the packing list and let us know if you have any questions. We are working on student calls and have enjoyed talking to those we've reached and look forward to connecting with the others. You should all have your India Visas by now, let us know if there have been any problems that we can help with. Come well rested and well hydrated; we are going to be in airplane and airport land for a long time on our way to India and it's very easy to catch a bug if you are not well rested. So please, no all nighters before the long ride, you'll regret it.

See you soon!!!

Jessica and Coby

P.S. Like the Blog? Ya'll (Southern term) will have your own chance to post (several times) through out the semester as well as other 'jobs' (Really they are more like fun activities...) that make the semester run smooth!

Sprindia Nahi Bahar Hai

Coming home is as much a part of the journey as leaving. It does not make it easier when you not only have to say goodbye to an amazing country like India but also to a group of wonderful friends. Friends whom you have spent the last three months with, friends who were there when you were ecstatically happy, when you were feeling tired, friends who made you laugh, friends who were there when you cried, friends who you made you so happy to be alive and friends who made this trip illuminating.

We will all carry each other throughout the upcoming journeys of our life, whether we see and talk to each other every day or not. The gems we have learned from each other will continuously remind us of one another and put a little smile on our face. So Sprindia is not bahar, it is inside each of us, forever.

So much love, Lotte and Ben

Thank you Mama India.

I don't think any of us can believe that we will all be going our separate ways in less than 24 hours. In some ways these 3 months have gone by so quickly, but then I think of all the things done like....

Going to the Baha'i temple, Eating 72 momos in one sitting, Increasing our spice tolerance to be able to handle any crazy Indian dish put in front of us, Seeing bodies being burned on the ghats of the Ganga, Cumulatively learning Hindi, yoga, meditation, tabla, singing, massage, fire-dance, painting, reiki, stone-carving, Ayurveda, cooking, macrame, jewelery making, and how to get a rickshaw back from Sarnath for 200 rupees, Seeing the romantic aarti fire ceremony from a boat on the ganga, Wearing sarees to an Indian wedding, Getting an Indian suit custom made, Meditating under the tree where the Buddha became enlightened, Surviving being 9 of the 15 million people that inhabit Kolkatta, Volunteering at the Mother Teresa home, Witnessing a goat sacrifice at the Kali temple, Teaching highschool girls in Sikkim, Climbing to 14,000 feet on a 5 day trek, Having a choreographed dance party on a bridge involving the squirrel, big daddy joe, crazy fingers, roll, vall, break, basketball horse, pop, worm, and jess, Completing 7 days of the ashram life, Going white-water rafting, Sharing free accommodation with thousands of people at the Golden Temple and eating some of the 80,000 free meals a day served there, Taking a travel writing workshop, Experiencing an earthquake, Seeing a tremendous lightning storm from a rooftop, Being in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Sharing one room apartments with Tibetan families and experiencing their hospitality, Going bouldering, Taking a dip in the Vashisht hot springs, Stargazing, Climbing into a giant hamster ball and rolling down a hill while trying to avoid pedestrians, horses, and paragliders, Managing not to get bitten by a single monkey, dog, cow, yak, buffalo, widow, or sadhu, Performing music for hundreds on Indians at train stations, 30 blissed out yogis, and a thousand school girls, Drinking around 810 cups of chai, Spending 23 hours on buses, 67 hours on trains, 40 hours in a jeep with 10 people and 9 backpacks, and a good few days on planes...

it seems like an entire lifetime. Never have we felt so much joy, excitement, love, sadness, frustration crammed into every single day. We have all developed so much love for each other and for this country, it is hard to say goodbye, but knowing that it is not goodbye forever, and that we will soon all get to see our much loved families makes it ok. Mama India has taken such good care of us and I know we will carry her and her lessons with us wherever we go.
Shanti Bahar,

Manali

At first when we saw the jagged white peaks all around, elaborately carved wooden buildings, green rolling hills, and sunshine sparkling off of waterfalls, we thought we were in Switzerland in India. But then we attended a night-time wedding anniversary-huge horns that sounded terrible, loud drumming, colorful scarves and money, matching outfits with cute hats. This region has it's own Tribal religion we'd never heard of! The town of Manali is super busy and full of Indian tourists, but we've been very cozy in the quieter and more beautiful village called Vashisht. A few min drive away you can find paragliders, horse back riders and rock-climbers all somehow magically in one spot. Lydia, Noah, Ben, Luke, and I went bouldering (scrambling up the sides of big rocks) and came back with sore fingers and happy hearts. Then we all pretended to be hamsters and went ZORBING! Uh huh, we rolled down a hill in big plastic balls. Ok, we'll write you more from Delhi.

Love! Phoebe

Tashi Delek!

(Hello/May luck be with you in Tibetan)

Mcleod Ganj! Hills covered in forest, bright colorful houses, so many waving prayer flags. Jagged white mountains shining in the sunshine. Monks in red robes chatting on their cellphones. Tourists from all over the world, yak wool blankets and singing bowls, momos, falafel, Bhagsu cake!

We adore our homestay families! It was hard at first-A lot of us are in one room houses! Noah's house doesn't have a bathroom, he walks 10 min to the public one! But they've taken such good care of us and fed us awesome home-cooked Tibetan food! My Tibetan dad is a master Thanka painter. He's been practicing his craft for 30 years and now is a teacher. His gorgeous works take up to 4 monthes to finish. Golden Buddhas, angry gods, fire, swirling clouds, snow leopards. So magical! Becca's house has a five-year-old so she's in heaven! Lydia's mom made her special tea when she felt sick and tucked her into bed!

Many of us went to Meditations in the mornings and Monk Chats, where we talk to monks about their lives so that they can learn English. Lydia's been mastering Tabla, Luke made an awesome sweatshirt, Jess and Maddi and Becca and Noah and I took some Tibetan massage classes, so many of us made dream catchers and jewelry, Noah and Luke were Reiki attuned! Annnd we had a wonderful time hanging out with two pals that visited-Brandon our Meditation teacher from Phool Chatti Ashram, and Mike the director of Carpe Diem's India program.

We heard a rumor that the Dalai Lama was coming home and waited outside his house with a huge crowd for half an hour. Five cars zoomed by at top speed! There were a few monks in them and most of us couldn't tell which one he was....but Ben and I decided it was fabulous just to be in his presence!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!! Yesterday Noah, Ben, Mike and I hiked up to Triund, a whole day of steep climbing that left our legs wobbly. So worth it! The snowy peaks rose up so huge and unbelievably beautiful before us. Noah made us Nutella banana cashew sunflower seed sandwiches, we ran around and played frisbee and hackeysack and then napped in the grass. On the way home we stopped by a restaurant where everyone was waiting for Noah's surprise party with delish carrot cake.

Off to Manali today! We're all sending you hugs!!

Phoebe

The group in front of the temple with Melitis at Deer Park Insitute, Bir.

A Tibetan monk is showing us a Tibetan monastery, temple and school near Bir.

One of the leaders, Lotte, at the Golden Temple in Amritsar

Lions and Tigers and Amritsar, Oh My!

With minds as clear as the upper Ganga, we left Phool Chatti with inner peace and outward tranquility. Music rang throughout the bus on our way to the train station, thoughtless contemplation ran high. Then the tornado of Indian travel ripped its way into our consciousness, tearing at our vulnerablilities and peaceful minds. Indian stares and crowded trains were bolstered with clashing vibes and unknown motives. We looked out the window not to see the Wicked Witch of the West on her flying broomstick, but instead the tattered reality of so many Indians. A similar disturbance. The busy streets of Amritsar threw dust in our eyes and the dark night was filled with blaring horns and headlights. And just when things seemed about to brim over, the storm settled. We had arrived at the Golden Temple, a little place I like to call the Emerald City of India. For the next three days we were fed and housed in this land of enchantment free of charge. The Golden Temple, the holiest center in Sikhism, was a place of breathtaking beauty and rich splendor. We ate our meals in the massive dining halls that give out 60-80,000 meals a day to pilgrims and foreigners. In case you were wondering, the cooking pots were the size of Paul Bunyans cereal bowl which is approximately the size of a medium sized rickshaw which is approximately the size of a small American car. We spent most of our time in the safe-haven that the temple had to offer, excluding our trip to the India/Pakistan border closing ceremony that featured the high kicks and battle-like cries of Indian border guards. A very odd experience I might say. When it came time to leave Amritsar, few tears were shed and a gentle excitement for our next destination set in. And so we arrived in Bir-a small Tibetan village nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. For the sake of the greater metaphor, we'll call it Kansas. Back in the comfort of natures silence and home-cooked meals, we settled into the Deer Park Institute brimming with childish excitement to pour our souls into our journals. We learned to travel write from Janet, our travel writing instructor. And so we did. We wrote, we shared, we listened. In a matter of days we were transformed from lowly squires to the fuedal lord of Travel Writing,I expect into immortal Kings sitting high atop the writing hierarchy. I expect at least all of us to be potentially published in the moderate future. We relaxed in Bir and spent our free time exploring a Tibetan temple, going for walks, admiring the paragliders overhead, and meandering amongst our fellow writing students. Our final night in Bir was capped with an epic lightning storm that illuminated the entire sky and a piece of our souls. The intensity of the piercing lightning and ferocious thunder mixed with the sound of spattering rain was something that I'll never forget. With Mcleod Ganj on the immediate horizon, the build-up to India's most storied location(thanks to Ben and Lotte) reached an all-time high. We scarfed our breakfasts, snapped some photos, and piled into the taxis that would be our vehicles into the next stratosphere of our Indian adventure-its gonna be a wild ride to the finish...-Noha

The Ashram Experience- A Spiritual Bootcamp

The last 7 days of our epic adventure have been spent at Phool Chatti Ashram. Because most of the members of our group have never been to boot camp, let alone base training, I took some time to describe the similarities and eventually we all agreed:
The Ashram Life= Spiritual Bootcamp.
A typical day in bootcamp looks something like this- (the Ashram equivalent will be explained in parentheses)

5:30: Wake up call/ Call to Duty (A Buddhist gong cuts through the morning air awakening us from our restful slumber and calling us to meditation)
6:00: Internal Strategic Strategizing (Silent Meditation)
6:30: Personal Gear and Gun Check (Cleansing of the sinuses with the use of a nettipot and Pranayam (Breathing Yoga))
7:00: Combat Training led by Commando Lalitaji (Integrative Yoga practice led by the serious but entertaining Lalitaji)
9:00: Morning Rationing ( Breakfast-simple but very tasty!)
10:00: Latrine and Barracks Duties ("Karma Yoga"- Cleaning and helping around the Ashram in a "giving back to the community" and karma-enhancing time)
10:30: Infantry Marching Practice- Led by Lieutenant Brandon (Silent walking meditation into the beautiful nature surrounding Phool Chatti Ashram: waterfalls, rivers, and the sacred Ganga - Led by the young, flowing haired, and (in some opinions) strapping American Brandon)
12:30: Mid-Day Rationing ( Lunch- Classic Indian Cuisine- Highlighted by Day 5 rice pudding (just ask Ben), and the constant friendly offering of "more chapati-soup vegetable-rice..." Silence Ends)
13:00: Soldier "At Ease Time" (Relaxation and free time- usually spent reading or doing some form of art- unless you are Lydia who found her new passion in "Extreme Rock Jumping"... kids these days...)
15:00: Combat Strategizing Session- Master Strategist Lieutenant Brandon (Discussions about life practices- Meditation, Yoga and how they can impact our existences as mere mortals on this existential playing field)
16:00: Combat Training II (Afternoon Yoga- Hold onto your bootstraps, the intensity picked up driving us all into a fiery orb or burning fire sweat. yum.)
18:30: Daily Human Sacrifice (JK, ROFLchopter. LOL. just making sure y'all are paying attention)
18:45: Ceremonial Battalion Cries- Led by 1st Rank Master Commando Swammiji (Pooja- the evening sun-setting ceremony followed by Mantra chanting by the fire led by the Ashram Guru Swamiji)
19:00: Evening Rationing (Dinner- Glorious to the body, mind, and spirit- I have been pretty into food these days)
20:30 Internal Strategic Strategizing (Guided Meditation- Silence Begins)
21:00 Beddy Beddy Bed Time (I am not sure what they call it in the Ashram)

What began as an experience we all feared would be serious and dry quickly transformed into a hypothetical soap-opera complete with interesting personalities and even juicy drama. Luke and I are the lead script-writers for "Ashram Life", a satirical sitcom we hope to have on the air by early next fall and will run for a minimum of 20 seasons. The show will follow our paths to enlightenment. Its gonna be a hit. Trust me.

The week ended with a talent-show that showcased the unrivaled talents of the Carpe Diem group as well as the interesting and entertaining ideas of our foreign counterparts. A fire-ceremony capped off the whole experience and we are off to Amritsar!

Noha

Everyone at the Phool Chatti Ashram

The Indian Limelight

In a country where the word 'cricket' means little more than a noise-making bug, you may find it hard to grasp the greater meaning of the word cricket, the cricket that may forever change the face of India. With wickets and overs and bowlers and sixes, you muggles may ask yourselves: what in the name of Ganesh is all this rubbish-talk all about? Ladies and gentlemen, its cricket. Its a sophisticated game of skill and prowess; a game that puts to shame the likes of our national sports in intensity and ingenuity. But in the Indian scope, cricket is not just a pastime, it is a culture.
Two nights ago at 11:06pm asia time, India, our India, rose above Sri Lankan mediocrity to claim the ultimate crown- Cricket World Cup Champions.The streets erupted, Indian flags ran rampant through the air, jubilant war-cries echoed into the night. The energy seeping from the depths of Indian society into a sea of luminous light. Carpe Diem India! And so they did.

-Noha

Rishikesh

Today we will be leaving our free days at our guest house in Rishikesh and on to the ashram.
While in Rishikesh we stayed at a wonderful cottage, and although the boys seemed to be favored by the restaurant workers, we always finished our meals happily. We have enjoyed our free days very much here in the yoga capital of the world. We have had chances to go shopping, eat falafel, and plan a few activities to entertain ourselves while we were here. Saturday Luke, Noah, Lotte, and Lydia went on a walk up to a waterfall, that they said was fun, then they hitched a ride back on an ambulance! Sunday we went white water rafting, with the exception of Lotte and Becca who have already been. The seven of us who did go rafting enjoyed it very much, and when we were in the cold water it was very breath taking and exhilarating. Our guide Sundi was also fun to be with. He had us play a game where we all took turns running around the edge of the raft trying not to fall in the Ganga. Now we are all looking forward to a peaceful week at the Ashram where we will be able to get in plenty of yoga and meditation!

-Maddi

The Tremendous Trek

Although three of us were sadly unable to go on our trek last week, the six of us remaining had a great adventure. We had a couple struggles, but were all able to keep high spirits and push threw them. The high altitude helped bring a few laughs too!

Every morning during our trek we would get into a circle and the captains of the day would warm us up. After we did our routine warm-ups we would do our routine dance moves that each of us had taken part in making. Ben introduced to us "the squirrel", and Lotte "grandpa move", Phoebe's dance was "the roll", Luke's "The pointers", Lydia did the "Val", I did "the Indian", Becca taught us the "Kelsey", and Noha's...well Noha's dance was very unique, we topped it off with Jess's "Wingle move" and we were ready to go. I'm sure we brought entertainment to our awesome trekking crew everyday with our crazy random dances.

We were served the most delicious meals three times a day by the cook crew, and were even brought hot tea or tang when we were getting close to camp each day by Mote! The warm drinks were much appreciated in the cold weather. And we can't forget the pack horses who carried all of our things everyday for us. One of the horses was always nibbling on toilet paper or whatever he could and he was named Munchers by our Carpe group. We also named the some of the other horses Showgun, Cappuccino, and Thumpers.

On the last day of our trek we finished it in silence then we were happily reunited with our other group members. Now we are enjoying a few much needed relaxing days in Darjeeling, before we go on to Rishikesh!

Love, Maddi :)

Trekking!

Taken minutes before the start of our trek with our mascot Cyndira the Unicorn in the background.

Our camp on the 2nd and 4th night of the trek.

Yay we made it to the top!

Two more days until the trek!

Today is Holi, the festival of colors, and it doesn't get as crazy
here in Sikkim as it does in the big cities, but there's definitely a
lot of very pink Indian men roaming around town. Jess and Becca and I
went into town today to get some last minute trekking supplies and
came back completely covered in colors. It was amazing.
Thursday was our last day of volunteering at the school, and to our
surprise the school organized a cultural assembly for us with
traditional songs and dances. At the end all the girls cheered for us
and asked us to sign autographs, we felt like celebrities. I don't
think I've ever been so overwhelmed with gratitude. Overall, the
experience seemed to be just as rewarding for us as it was for the
kids. They got a change of pace from their regular classes, and had a
lot of opportunities to sing Justin Beiber songs with us. As teachers
we were really pushed out of our comfort zones and I think we left
feeling much more self confident and empowered. I gained an
appreciation for all the different kinds of education I've received
throughout my life, and the lessons I continue to learn every day in
India.
On our day off we took a trip to the Himalayan Zoological Park where
we saw a himalayan black bear, an adorable red panda, lackadazical
civets, and a leopard with an attitude. Back at the house we've been
relaxing, eating delicious food cooked by our home stay family, and
playing tons of games. Now it's time to pack our bags and get ready
for the part of the trip I've been looking forward to since day one. I
can't wait to be up at 14,000 feet surrounded by fresh air and
beautiful mountain views. This is gonna be awesome.

Love,
Lydia

Gangtoking it up!

By the time we left Calcutta on Saturday night we were all pretty
frazzled and worn out from a week of hot weather and hard work. I
don't know about the rest of the group, but I was definitely dreaming
about fresh air and mountain views. After an overnight train and a
five hour jeep ride through the mountains we finally arrived in
Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.The population of Gangtok is 30,000
(compare that to Calcutta's 14 million), and the entire city is built
along winding mountain roads with spectacular views of green valleys
and snow capped Himalayan peaks in the distance. It's a dream come
true.
We just finished our second day of volunteering at the Palzor Namgyal
Girls School, a private school of 1,000 students. We had no idea what
to expect coming in, so we were all caught off guard when we found out
we would be teaching classes of 30 students with no lesson plan, just
a few games up our sleeves. We were even more surprised to find that a
lot of students were our own age. It's pretty intimidating trying to
teach subjects we barely remember learning about last year and I think
we all have gained a lot more respect for our high school teachers. We
did some brainstorming last night and came up with lesson plans and
ideas to get the girls thinking more creatively, so most classes went
a little more smoothly today. Luke taught philosophy, Noah talked
about politics, Jess led art projects, Maddi taught Spanish, Phoebe
sang and danced, Becca taught English and Hindi, and I taught a lesson about the demographic
transition model and world population growth, no big deal.

We have two more days at the school, and then a few more free days to
explore Gangtok and prepare for our trek. And since internet is pretty
sketchy here, we've decided to go technology free for the next 2
weeks! So don't expect to hear from your kids until we arrive in
Darjeeling around March 27th.
Stay tuned for one more update before we hit the trail, but for now,
Shanti Bahar.

-Lydia

Goodbye Kolkata and Hello Mountains!

Namaste!

We just finished up our week at Mother Teresa house, and have an 11
pm train to gangtok tonight. We're all excited for the mountain air!
volunteering at Mother Teresa has been challenging, but really
rewarding and I think we've all taken a lot away from it. We said our
goodbyes to people we've been helping and other volunteers, and we
even got sung a song that goes like this "We thank you thank you
thank, we love you love you love you, we miss you miss you miss you"
during breakfast, since it was our last day of volunteering.

Last night most of us went out for pizza, overpriced, but decidedly
delicious. The street food (i.e. chapati rolls) in kolkata has not
only been nourishing our bodies, but also made our taste buds very
happy. We're excited to get moving and are really looking forward to
our trek.

becca

Bodhgaya & Beyond

The Bodhi Tempel where Buddha became enlightened in Bodh Gaya


Luke and Noah doing the famous Indian "pinky hold"


Luke's birthday cake (that later got completely smooshed and was creatively put back together by Phoebe and Jess)


Lydia on our boat ride on the Ganga to celebrate our last night in Varanasi and the fact that we had traveled so successfully for the last 2.5 weeks.

hi readers!

we just finished our 2nd day of work at the mother theresa homes in
calcutta, but more on that later.

beautiful bodhgaya offered some respite from the hustle and bustle of
"city india". we explored temples, sat under the bodhi tree (the spot
where buddha became enlightened), and ate a lot of tibetan food. we
enjoyed beet juice tattoos, nap times, and yoga. our hostel was
beautiful, clean, and mostly quiet. we then headed towards calcutta
via overnight train, which was a tad late (2 hours), but during that
time we figured out everyone's animal resemblances (in terms of
personality, not likeness). they are as follows:

Lydia:Wallabee
Becca:Fox
Maddi: Lioness
Noah:Giraffe
Lotte: Golden Hare
Ben: Blue Heron
Phoebe: Red Squirrel
Luke: Salamander
Jess: Otter

We got to calcutta around 10 AM and grabbed taxis to our guest house.
orientation for mother theresa house was at 3, we checked in and
decided which specific homes we wanted to be working in. phoebe,
maddi, and i decided to work in a home for mentally and physically
disabled children (lydia works in a different home with the same
theme), lotte decided to work with toddlers, ben noah and luke work in
a home for men, and jess works in the hospice home. yesterday we felt
things out, and got our bearings. we're doing things such as feeding
people, helping them go to the restroom, or simply holding their
hands. breakfast (bread, bananas, and chai) is at 7, the workday
starts at 8 and ends at 1130. then we usually do yoga, go out to
lunch, or maybe just talk. there are so many great things to do in
calcutta, our free day is thursday so we're very excited to check them
out! maybe a visit to the victoria memorial or the indian museum?
today is luke's birthday so we're going out for a nice dinner (happy
birthday luke!). that's all i've got for now, happy reading.

becca

Tommorrow we leave Varanasi by train for Bodhgaya, the place that the Buddah is said to have reached enlightenment. The city now offers many temples to visit or meditate at, as well as a descendant of the very same bodhi tree the Buddah sat under thousands of years ago. But before we leave Varanasi we will enjoy an evening boat ride up the Ganges to eat dinner and watch hundreds of lotus flower candles float down the river, viewing the people as they sing, dance and pray in this sacred city. Varanasi has been an impressive experience, from learning local trades and customs to meeting amazing people in many feilds. Witnessing the cremations at the Ghats has been an unexplainable experience, as has volunteering at an after school program for kids in the red light district. We even attended a real Indian wedding!

PHOTOS!

Enjoying a lecture about Ajeet's work with Guria to eradicate child's prostitution in Varanasi and beyond.

Bollywood dance poses at an Indian wedding in Varanasi after taking over the dance floor for at least one whole hour.

All the girls so pretty in silk saris!

Becca loving the children (as always) at a artist colony just outside of Jaipur, Rajasthan


Dancing at the artist colony

Noah literally jumping in and chasing all the kids in his horse costume

Lydia making a little clay pot in Jaipur

The group at Amber fort in Jaipur

Varanasi and the Ganga

We have been in Varanasi, one of the worlds most ancient cities, for a week now. Varanasi has traditionally been known as a place for intense study, and nowadays this reputation continues with a more modern flair. Our time has been packed full with classes of all kinds: Hindi language lessons, tabla, fire dancing, painting, stone carving, Ayurdedic medicine, etc, as well as several lectures from local activist and educators. This city rests on the banks of the Ganga, India's most sacred river, which represents Lord Shiva in a natural form. On Wednesday we all took a day trip out to Sarnath to visit a local charity committed to helping women to create bags and artwork from recycled plastic. In Sarnath is Deer Park, the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and before heading back to Varanasi took time to visit this sacred Buddhist site. We have a few more days here in Varanasi to soak up the knowledge and insight the teachers here have to offer, and soon we will be on our way again.

The Jaipur Shuffle

After a very delayed bus ride we finally arrived to Rajasthan from Delhi. For the cleaner air and more relaxed atmosphere (and keep in mind that everything is relative in India) it was worth the 9+ hours in transit. Just after arriving to Jaipur we all settled into our home stays where we were welcomed by plenty of food and warm hospitality. For the past couple of days we have attended morning yoga classes followed by Hindi. The afternoons have been full with a couple lectures (Indian history, Indian Polity) and visits to local block printing and ceramic artists. It's hard to believe that already one week has gone by. We aren't sure if it should be longer or shorter, India seems to have us caught in some kind of time warp. Either way we have been having fun and becoming closer to each other. Tonight we plan on visiting a Ganesh mandir for puja and prasad, which is appropriate for the beginning of our trip, as he is called "The Remover of Obstacles" and is invoked by Hindus at the beginning of any endeavor or undertaking to assure success: Aum gam ganapataye namah!

In...India!

Normally the group would be blogging family and friends themselves, but, after long travels and a 13.5 hour time change, they are resting at last!

This is Amy from headquarters and I am happy to report that I spoke with Ben this afternoon. They have all safely arrived in Delhi. The group is all together and other than a little fatigue, all are well. They were headed straight to the hostel to sleep and start resetting their clocks.

Check back to the blog frequently. You will be hearing from the voice of the group soon as they begin their journey in Incredible India!

Headquarters, once again, signing off...

It's a GO!

It's official!

This is Nannette, and I've just received word that all of the SFO contingent of the India semester is together, accounted for, and checked in for Delhi.

The leaders, Ben and Lotte are so excited and ready to share their mentorship with this amazing group.

More when the final two meet up with them in Indira Ghandi Airport...

For now this is Carpe HQ signing off...

Namaste Team Sprindia!

Lotti and Benji signing in! As many of you know, we have been here at the office in Portland for the past couple of weeks preparing for our upcoming trip in India, though, in reality, nothing will ever prepare anyone for India. We say this with the upmost affection, excitement, and reverence for such a beautifully chaotic and chaotically beautiful place.
We look forward so much to meeting face to face with each person of our soon-to-be traveling tribe. Be well and happy, enjoy your last few days with your family and friends, and see you all so soon.
Shanti,Benji and Lottiji