A fire burns over the fields of mud and grain The smell of earthy manure and the humidity of the morning dew settle in the space around me Animals shuffle their way through the gravel roads, ambling side by side with their owners in a show of unity......Read More
29 Sept 2019 7:33 pm- Jaipur I am currently processing the wonders of this past week and listening to “I’m a Lady” by Santigold, one of the many songs I’ve just regained access to on account of hotel WiFi. This morning, we arrived by train......Read More
“If this time last year you told me that I’d be [insert crazy once in a lifetime experience here], I wouldn’t believe you,” was the sentence that characterized last week. From knitting, to cooking chapatti, to brushing our......Read More
After the winding trip to Majkhali, we made our way to the center for the contemplation of nature, a secluded cluster of buildings built on a mountain slope. We met Ajay ji, who founded the center. After eating breakfast, graciously prepared by......Read More
The old stone farmhouse where Fernando and I were staying in Majkhali certainly felt like a different world. In the mornings, I would wake up to the smell of cow dung fires and the noises of various farm animals at 5am, be offered chai by my......Read More
After a month in India, my Hindi skills don’t reach much farther than asking someone how they are, telling someone I’m doing fine, or complimenting the food. So going into a homestay where my host mother spoke no English was a bit intimidating......Read More
From when you wake up to when you go to bed, you make a large number of unconscious decisions. At Sambhaavana, the educational institute in Himachal Pradesh that we stayed in for one week, we attempted to deconstruct those decisions—and how we......Read More
Fossil fuels are killing the planet. If we want to survive as a species beyond 2050 we need to invest in sustainable infrastructure like hydroelectric power plants and wind turbines. That was the narrative I was presented throughout my standard US......Read More
After our intense and awareness building conversation with “Himanch Ji” and a few moments of reflection on what we learned, we broke for lunch. The mood of the day switched, as lunch was a special celebration of the end of the monsoon season,......Read More
Throughout our time in McLeod Ganj we were introduced to Buddhism and Buddhist thinking. As the current home of the Dalai Lama, McLeod ganj is the center of Tibetan Buddhism. We had the opportunity to meet two Rinpoches, which translates to......Read More
Meat. The intoxicating scent of fried mutton and chicken momos wafted through the narrow streets of Mcleodganj, a proverbial North Star to guide the iron- and vitamin B12-deficient members of the India cohort to the promised land of milk and honey......Read More
On our first full day in Dharmsala, we went to the Tibet freedom museum, which details the history of Chin’as attack and subsequent occupation of the Tibetan plateau. We wandered through rooms papered with the stories of Tibetan refugees. An......Read More
Arriving in Indira Gandhi International Airport, we disembarked from our day-long journey into the balmy air of Delhi. The first sight we saw as we stepped out of the airport was a wonderful three letters: KFC. (Fernando immediately wanted to go.)......Read More
As our first week of orientation in India comes to a close, we’re readying ourselves to move north into the Himalayan foothills: after several transit days (involving multiple trains and vehicles), we’ll settle into homestays in the......Read More
The first thing we noticed was the animals. So many animals. Dogs, goats, cows, bulls, water buffaloes, and even a camel. Each had its own air of individuality as it loitered in the alleys and streets of Udaipur, head raised as if it knew it......Read More
2 September 2019 – 6:56 am I woke up today with the sounds of nature all around me. Roosters crowing, peacocks hollering, birds chirping. Rain pattering on roofs, thatched and unthatched. We are staying at Krishna Ranch for the week, a farm......Read More
