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