The Journey's End

Our last week in India took place in Mussoorie, back in the North. Mussoorie is well known for its ritzy Woodstock Boarding School. Woodstock was our base for the week, with trips to the market and hikes scattered throughout the week. The area is GORGEOUS. Walking anywhere in Mussoorie is a workout, but the beautiful views at the tops of the mountains make the strain worth it.

The week was mostly uneventful, as everyone was racing to

finish the final synthesis paper by the due date. Fortunately, there was lots of down time to get it all completed. Easter in Mussoorie was special, not because anything lavish happened, but because I was in a place where I could truly feel God' presence, and fully appreciate the holiday's sentiments. Similarly, my birthday was also special. Being in India was all I really needed as celebration.

As I sit writing this post, I'm less than twelve hours from boarding the plane for home. When I left, I told many of you that I might disappear at the airport and vanish into India, living without the stressors of responsibilities. I promise, I will be on that plane. Although it may be tempting to run away from responsibility, the truth is that I don't know if I could do it. There's too many of you who I care about immensely. I eagerly anticipate all stressors of life if it means returning to all of you!

I'll post again after my return, to close off the adventure. For those at EMU... Saturday, early afternoon, Hillside 3rd. be there! :)

The Valley of SIDH

We arrived by train in Dehradun (I had no idea this was our destination) in the early morning and bused throughout the mountains. After awhile, we had driven far enough into the middle of nowhere that the bus could no longer continue. So commenced a twenty minute walk with all of our luggage, ending at the Society for Integrated Development of the Himalayas. After a vital nap I was able to learn more about where we were and what we were doing, as well as appreciate the phenomenal view. SIDH is an NGO that provides mountain villages with an alternative to the common government schools, where the quality of education is getting worse and worse. SIDH subscribes to what they describe as the classical view of education, believing that it should not only help an individual acquire knowledge about self, society, and environment, but also help him or her learn to lead a happy life.

As part of our experience with SIDH, all of the EMU students divided into three groups and spent a day/night in villages that work with SIDH. I was in the group that went the Kaandi Khaal, a village of 40-50 members. Our time was spent having interpreter aided discussions with teachers, youth, and older villagers. We spent the night sleeping in the small SIDH schoolhouse and were awoken at 7:00am by the sounds of little children playing outside. When we walked outside, the children arranged themselves into a formation and began chanting their daily prayers. It was quite a sight. We spent the morning talking to the students and playing games. The children also performed a few songs and dances for us, complete with plate spinning.

For our last full day in the valley, the group got to go white-water rafting. The water was low since it wasn't the rainy season, but the river was still navigable. Our raft briefly lost a member to the rapids, but their (living) body was recovered. Unfortunately, I am without rafting pictures of our group, since a raging river didn't sounds compatible with my camera, but I did do some internet searching and found an equally excellent picture.

That's all for this week. There's less to tell in my blog entries as the trip is winding down and India has pretty much been pwned. Stay tuned next week for ritzy Woodstock School in Mussoori.

H.H. The Dalai Lama!

Hello again! Allow me to apologize preemptively for what will likely be a quick blog entry; there are people waiting in line for internet getting angry!

For several days we loafed around Udaipur with only a few structured events on the schedule. One morning we went to a polio hospital that I found particularly interesting. The hospital completes 40-50 surgeries a day. Unfortunately, I was able to watch because they were taking a tea break .

Our last night in Udaipur we spent the evening meeting and playing games with Indian children at St. Matthew's Christian School. The kids were all very cute. It's exhilirating to be able to share an understanding and enjoyment of simple games when languages are so different. Games we played: freeze tag, duck duck goose, sharks and minnows, and red light/ green light. It was also great to hear stories from the school's founder of Christianity turning lives around in the Villages despite persecution. I have to question if my faith would be able to stand up against heavy harassment and imprisonment.

The next few days were spent in Ranakpur at a resort. We visited several Jain temples, but the rest of our time was open. Free time was greatly enjoyed through swimming, playing chess, and competing in windy badminton competitions. I blame the gale on my early elimination...

After driving back to Udaipur, we took an overnight train to Delhi. As usual, we've had two days of in-between destinations time. We were surprised to hear from our guide that although we hadn't been able to see the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, he was coming to Delhi and we had a chance of getting into the conference. We went all the way to see him in Dharamsala, but we just had to wait for him to come to us! Yesterday, we were fortunately able to get in and were able to get in and hear the Dalai Lama talk at the Thank You India conference. The conference was a way for Tibetans to express their gratitude to India for accepting them as refugees 50 years ago. The Dalai Lama is an excellent speaker, and the 50 min. that he talked went by very quickly. The tiger may have eluded us, but we caught the Dalai Lama! Opportunity: not lost.

Tonight we board the train for Mussori, a town back in the cold of the Himalayan mountains. This will be our last excursion of the trip. 2 and a half weeks should go quickly and I'll be back in America before you or I know it. I'm thinking about all that I miss regularly and I'm excited to catch up when I return! Take care!

Assorted Weekly Happenings

As our trip enters its final month, the schedule is beginning to slow down. Consequently, this week has had less unique experiences... but I'm sure I'll be able to tell a few good stories. :)

We left Dharamsala on Tuesday morning, but not before making a stop at the Tibetan Children's Village. TCVs are essentially boarding schools for TCs in various Northern India cities. It was fun to disrupt classes and spend a little time interacting with the children, and, well, some of them also had a good time. Others, well.... didn't receive me quite as exuberantly. I promise not all of the kids' reactions looked like this. I can only be so charming... moving on....




Amritsar is located in the state of Punjab. Punjab is home to India's largest Sikh population and the accent of The Simpsons character Apu. The Golden Temple, in Amritsar, is a famous religious monument for Sikhs. The picture I took of a picture of the Golden Temple at night doesn't exactly portray it the way we saw it during the day. The temple was overly crowded with semi-clothed individuals bathing in the inner pool, walking through a stagnant foot pool was required before granted entry, various smells were overwhelming, and the free meal that was provided didn't seem exactly sanitary. It didn't help that I was already feeling sick, but needless to say, all of my OCD buttons were pushed. I felt bad not eating the meal, as I was essentially refusing a daily method of Sikh community service. I just wasn't feeling it. :/

In the evening, we traveled 20 km. to the Pakistan border to watch a nightly ceremony. Both Hindi and Pakistani guards put on an elaborate show that represents both rivalry and respect between the two countries. I was surprised at the rather large size of the primarily Indian crowd. It was a fun night of Hindu patriotism, but it's interesting to think that a similar American-oriented spectacle would have disgusted me.


Our time back in Delhi before heading to Udaipur was full of the usual bumming around and refueling. Once again, I made my way to (my favorite) Palika Bazaar, this time with Bryce as reiforcement, to get some more bootleg DVDs. I returned to the same place where I had obtained the movies the last time, but I was informed by the owner that there had been a police problem and the DVDs were no longer available. When I showed disappointment, he looked around over his shoulders before telling me quietly that the DVDs were still in his car, parked in the Palika Bazaar parking garage. I weighed the risk of being abducted against the prospect of getting new movies, but I decided the man was legitimately afraid of getting busted. Having been a previous customer and made it out alive, I figured we had established an amicable "don't kidnap me" relationship. I followed the man through the Bazaar and down in the to the very bottom floor of the parking garage. We arrived at his SUV, where he told me to get in and we could drive around while I looked so he wouldn't get caught. Don't worry Mom, I refused, and he agreed to have me look at the movies with the engine lid open as though we were doing automotive maintenance. As before, I made my selections, currency was exchanged, and I was sent on my way. I'm expecting by next time I'll be eligible for a Black Market Membership card.

The journey continues next week with stories from Udaipur and... some other place. I guess we'll both find out then. Peace.

Dharamsala: Little Tibet

Greetings from North India! Despite being a week with little structure, my time in Dharamsala is full of stories. I'll do my best to fill you in...

Before leaving Delhi last Tuesday, we spent the evening at a massive (and unique) temple on the city's outskirts. Unlike all other temples we have visited so far, this one was heavily Americanized, complete with educational boat ride (a la Disney World), IMAX movie, and food court. According to the boat ride, Indians invented everything before anyone else thought of inventing anything. Nationally biased are we??

We arrived in Dharamsala the next morning by car, following an overnight train ride. Dharamsala is situated in the South of the Himalayan Mountains, a lighthouse of civilization amongst seas of nearly unpopulated peaks. Dharamsala is a hotbed of Buddhism and serves as a refuge for Tibetans who are no longer safe in their own country.
Occuring all over India on this very day was the "festival of color" known as Holi. There may be more to it, but all I've gathered is that people spend the morning walking the streets and throwing paint at each other. Maybe it was the seeking of a new experience or simply a poor decision on little sleep, but I chose to take a walk. Witness the very purple Holi aftermath...
The most exhausting of the week's activities was a strenuous hike up a 10,000ft. "foothill" (as the Tibetans call it. The excursion took from breakfast to dinner and resulted in aching bones, but the incredible view from the top was well worth it. And for me, that's saying something!


Another highlight of my time in Dharamsala was getting to interact with the locals through one of our only common factors: basketball. In terms of height, we definitely dominated, but overall it was a good challenge. I've never been exactly suave at basketball, but my unique way of playing fit in well to the very different Tibetan rules and methods. To save myself embarrassment, I'll post a picture where I'm just standing still.

Dharamsala is so far one of my favorite places on the trip. I don't know if the chill aura of the city comes from the peaceful setting or the plethora of buddhist hippies that sing bizarre songs at coffee houses (see below), but it definitely serves as a nice change of pace/scenery.











In my opinion, the city itself was worth the trip despite not being able to see his holiness the Dalai Lama (Buddhism's posterboy).



Tomorrow we leave for Amritsar, the second and last stop on our journey through the North. It's bittersweet to be 2/3rds of the way through the trip; I'm eager to get back to all of you, but still loving every minute of it! :) Until next week...

Desert Wanderings

Hello again! The past two weeks I've been galavanting around Rajasthan, from Jaipur, to Ranthambore, to Jodhpur, to Ajmer.

We arrived in Ranthambore on 2/26, and were pleasantly surprised to be staying at a nice safari lodge (with a pool!). Free time was spent relaxing, playing rook, and playing 500 with a water bottle in the pool. Our main reason for visiting Ranthambore was the prospect of seeing the nature reserve's elusive tiger on a safari. It was fun bouncing around through the forest in large jeeps and seeing some animals, but unfortunately the tiger lived up to its reputation and remained hidden.
The next stop on our Rajasthan journey was the Blue City of Jodhpur. The city is not entirely blue, but from the right angle can legitimately hold the title. Our time in Jodhpur included tours of hillside forts and the Maharaja's palace that had been mostly converted into a 7-star (*******) hotel. We didn't get to walk through all of the palace, but we saw enough to make us jealous.
Out of Jodphur we embarked on a weekendesque trip to Manvar resort. The first night at the resort was spent a ways into the desert at a tented camp. The setting of the camp in the middle of the desert was pretty spectacular. For the evening's cultural night festivities the group got dressed up in traditional Rajasthani garb. Being in such a unique place made this one of my favorite nights of the trip. The following morning began early with a 6:00 AM wakeup call to begin boarding camels. The morning brought enough excitement that getting up was easy. The short camel safari that took place before breakfast led the group up to a distant dune to watch the sunset and back around to the camp. The limited time we spent on the camels was actually okay with me (camels aren't the most comfortable creatures to ride on). In other camel news, the bizarre things I didn't realize they did before this trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeC5u8ot6Us. Picture that video, but with the camels mouth full of froth. I have to wonder why they don't try do something pretty, like a peacock, as a means of attracting mates. Whatever works...
In the evening, we went on a desert safari, which is much cooler than it sounds. The group split up into several jeeps and basically went offroading all through the desert. Careening over dunes was as exhilirating as an amusement park, in the "Oh no. I might die!" sort of way. Fortunately, we all had very skilled jeep drivers. Along the way we had time for "we look awesome in turbans" photoshoot.

From Manvar we returned to Jodhpur. The next morning we drove to Ajmer, which was essentially a layover location on our trip back to Delhi. After a day of rest and seeing several temples, we completed the journey to our India headquarters. I realize I'm leaving out details from the several days mentioned above, but they simply seemed mostly eventless and paled in comparison to the time we spent in the desert.

It feels good to be back in Delhi. It might seem strange, but it's almost become my home away from home, since we've been here several times before. We'll be here for another couple of days and then will be back on the road. Next stop, Dharmsala and the Dalai Lama!

A Week of Adventures

After leaving the V.K.V. and heading back up North, we spent the next few days resting in New Delhi. Meat deprivation in the South made for carnivorous urges that could only be satisfied at KFC. They were.

The rest of the few days consisted of laying around, going to see Slumdog Millionaire (two days before the Oscar wins!), and playing endless games of rook. Nearby the New Delhi YMCA is the Palika Bazar. I can best describe Palika Bazar as a grungy underground market where shopkeepers will stop at nothing to get you into their store. Being the movie lover that I am, I was interested in obtaining some American movies so I could get caught up. I asked a man at a Hindi movie shop if he had American movies. It's all sort of a blur, but within an instant I was whisked off from my EMU companions down darker alleys and hallways until I was told to sit down in a little room that reminded me of a CSI interrogation room. The man I had followed strangely knocked on the ceiling of the room. A trap door in the ceiling revealed itself, and a man began handing down stacks of pirated DVDs. I wondered, "Is THIS the black market?!? Is THIS the place they're always talking about?!?" :) Not wasting any time, I quickly shuffled through the stacks, picking out seven that interested me. Rather than ask for my money, the man led me through more hallways to an unsanitary tattoo parlor where three men were sitting around a little DVD player. The man had them put all of my DVDs in and test for quality control. I probably would have had to buy the DVDs regardless, but I'm pleased the quality was up to par. I payed and was led back to where my friends had been, but they were gone. Not knowing that they had gone back to the YMCA, I searched for a while before making an announcement over the PA system at the Police Assistance Office. All in all, a time of sheer terror/adrenaline/disbelief at the situation's absurdity. Since I made it through unharmed, it's easy to look back and say that I'm glad I had the unique experience.
Another solo adventure I had occurred after we drove to Jaipur, Rajasthan. I had spotted some McDonald's while we were driving through and decided that was what I needed before bed. At the hotel desk the worker asked me where I was going and instantly dashed out of the hotel when I told him. After a couple minutes he came back after retrieving a little old man pulling an appropriately rickety rickshaw. I reluctantly got in and realized after 15 minutes of getting pulled around town in the dark that the driver had no idea where he was going. I asked a man passing on a bicycle, "McDonald's kahaa hai?", and pretty soon he had the driver squared away. Upon arrival, I enjoyed a McChicken meal and a soft-serve ice cream. Once the digestive process was far enough along, I went outside and made sure to take an auto-rickshaw back to the hotel.
There are many other things I could tell you, but I thought a few stories might be appreciated the most. Other than what I mentioned above, we visited several artisan guilds, Amber Fort, Jaigurh Fort, saw the Maharaja at his palace, and rode elephants. Through elaborate facial expression (click the picture to take a closer look), this picture documents the emotions felt when an elephant pulls you away from solid ground. Good times.
As usual, more adventures, like and differing from the ones above, await in the month and a half to come. Stay tuned next week for news from Ranthambore and Jodhpur!