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.