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