As of 365 days ago we were all drifting far above the Asian continent, very much separate but somehow connected by gossamer threads of what destiny had in store for us… Connected by the simple fact that we threw our unharnessed faith in the Carpe Diem boat bound for India. I remember seeing the lights of Delhi waver into sight, a pit in my stomach of rumbling excitement and question- a brimming cesspool cauldron of emotion and anticipation that spilled everywhere in my head once the aircraft wheels hit foreign soil.

And so it began- walking into the Delhi night- pungent air and the unabashed use of horn and shout. Bumping down the road with Becca on my right, Ben in front, my eyes glued to the window- I remember thinking: This is going to be a wild ride. 

And so it was. A wild ride of meeting a world anew. A wildly beautiful ride of spending time with us as a group while seeing and feeling a country that seeped into our souls. From street meandering with Luke, to laughter and smiles over breakfast with our group in full, to experience after experience, I found myself smiling and contented in my sleeping bag as I drifted to sleep each night. Between that first exploration of the Lotus Temple in Delhi, to that last supper atop the roof in the city where it all began, there sits a bucket of memories, feelings, and experiences which embody beauty, trial, tribulation, growth, laughter, connection, and imagery of both outlandish sweetness and sorrow. The elastic ebb and flow of our trip, our group, and our connections, are feelings stored in that personal box of treasures hidden and protected in the tissue and bones of our bodies.

With the horizon of a new year stretching ahead- the possibilities and excitements of young life are grand and enticing. As I find myself looking forward, I pause to reflect on the visage of a year past that has both given and changed me so much. I hope that the crazy ball of light and connection, that was rolling around in India in different forms for all of us, has fragmented its way into your lives to make them richer and fuller away from our Indian home.

In some ways I’m at a loss for words to adequately describe how I feel at the bottom of all this. But you all know this feeling, this moment, that bubbled up in lieu of the significant date today. A love attack: Where I want so badly to see all the faces in front of me and know everything about them and share a part of their feelings and energy. I miss y’all (Thank you Maddi). I love y’all. 365 days ago I hadn’t ever seen your faces. 365 days ago I didn’t imagine 3 months could have meant so much.

Tomorrow we wake up in separate beds, separate realities, separate worlds. Very much separate but somehow connected by the gossamer threads that destiny, luck, for sakes christ, Ganesh? had in store for us. We wake up connected by the simple fact that we threw our unharnessed faith in the Carpe Diem boat bound for India. Tomorrow we wake up connected by gossamer threads of conversations, belly laughs, stargazing, yoga on the rooftops, dancing on bridges, piling in rickshaws, singing on trainrides, and seeing one another every sunrise for 3 months. My body sighs, my mind clears, I am a happy boy tomorrow as I was 365 days ago. The same happy boy with a different bodily perspective.

Sending love and connection- may the gossamers keep us close, Noah

Enjoy Mama India’s beauty!

Rishikesh wuz tyte.  Now in Delhi.  C  ya 2morrow.  BOOM.

Kyrlz n Smat Weezl

Namaste,

We have just arrived in Rishikesh last night, and have only a few hours of internet, phone, and food stock-up time before we check in at the ashram in Pulchati!  We’ll be on a pretty rigid schedule which includes yoga, meditation, cleaning the ashram, and discussion periods.  The thing which our group has been talking about the most is the fact that this week is a silent retreat.  There will be no talking any day of the week until 4:30, when we have dinner and discussion and bed.  We’re waking up at 5:00 am every morning too!  We’re all pretty exhausted right now, from our approximately 17 hour overnight train, our quick return visit to Delhi’s chaotic roads, and from our 8 hour seated-train ride with an overenthusiastic horn blaster (I just couldn’t say train-whistle blower).  I guess you’ll be hearing from us again after the ashram stay!!!!

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

InterNATE

We’ve made it to Rajasthan! After finishing our volunteer work at the Mother Teresa House in Calcutta, we boarded a flight to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, aka The Pink City…more like the the Terracotta City. We did a short homestay, visited the Amber Fort, and celebrated the most important of births…Coby’s! It was a very auspicious day to celebrate one’s birth, considering the fact that it was 11/11/11.  Next, we headed onwards, via the Indian railway system, to Udaipur, the City of Lakes! There, we did a short tour and met with an NGO that specializes in helping support migrant workers from rural villages who seek jobs in the bigger cities. We then boarded a bus and headed to Jhadol, one of the many wonderful Rajasthani villages, where we are staying at a boarding school for young children (and where we will be teaching, also!). We picked a fabulous time to come visit because it coincides with the festival that celebrates the birth of the first Prime Minister of India.  As we write this blog, other members of the group are out gathering materials for the delicious pasta meal we will be preparing for the villagers, as it is a custom that food stalls are set up all around to taste the unique village delicacies. Bye for now!

John and Ellen

Tonight over brownies, we were discussing what Hogwarts Houses we would be in if we lived in the time and world of Harry Potter! Here are the results:

Gryffindor

1. Nate
2. Jessica

Hufflepuff

1. John
2. Alexa
3. Hayley

Ravenclaw

1. Stephanie
2. Theresa (“Chai”)

Slytherin

1. Coby
2. Kira
3. Ellen

As weird as it is, it’s strangely accurate. Don’t ask how we came up with the results. Hope you enjoy!

So we’ve been in Calcutta for 6 days maybe and I would say it’s been a bit of a treat.  The roads are wide and smoothly paved, and a ride in a royal British motorcar taxi is hardly entertaining enough to keep your eyes on the road in front for lack of roaming cows, goats and dogs.  We stuff ourselves regularly with dosas, chicken egg rolls (different from eggrolls), and Korean fried noodles topped with spicy kimchi.  Our meals rarely cost more than a dollar here, thanks possibly to the local communist government that is democratically elected in West Bengal.  So, when I say stuff ourselves, you can imagine.  Best food so far, too, I have heard from quite a few of us.  This is maybe why there have been so many dates among the students and also with some of the foreignors we’ve met volunteering.  Most impressive is John’s man-date with a guy from Germany at the upscale McDonald’s.  Others have been with a very interesting British man named Dave, with an accent that Coby decided he had to have picked up from living so much of his life on the streets of London.  Like “My Fair Lady.”  Also, our program director Mike has been living with us for a few days, entertaining us with his light-up frisbee, his ukulele, and stories from his colorful life–he’s worked in Antarctica!  We’ve all been vying for chai dates with him.  I’m here in this internet cafe while Stephanie gets in her time.

Now, our expectations of Calcutta were more expansive than any other place we had been so far, but the main conclusion that we drew from all the talk was that Calcutta would be intense.  We heard about the screaming and the dying and the wounds of many colors and a few of us were terrified.  Our volunteering experiences have been slightly duller than this, thankfully, and we have finally finished our last day of volunteering with our sanity.  Jessica and Kira have been working with the handicapped children of Calcutta–washing their clothes, cleaning the house, feeding them, making art with them and dancing with them, and otherwise giving them natural attention.  It’s obvious as they leave the safety of the Mother Theresa house that these children wouldn’t be treated as kindly on the streets.  Jessica and Kira lead them to a fence-in playground where they can escape the stares of the more fortunate Calcuttans–more fortunate in the sense that they are not handicapped usually, but these ones do live in slums.  The rest of us ended up at a seperate house for physically and mentally handicapped adults and elderly people.  The girls at Prem Dan were probably in the most intense of our situations.  Alexa, Hayley, Stephanie, and Theresa were busy rubbing lotion on the residents, taking them to the bathroom, cleaning them, washing their clothes, clipping their toenails, helping to dress wounds, feeding them, and holding their hands as they sat in agony or boredom.  I applaud them for their hard work and absolute maturity in handling some discusting situations and some situations that have been thrust upon them without the training that would have been mandatory in the US.  The boys have had a lighter load, though the wounds and disabilities that we see are still profound–we wring out clothes every morning, sweep the floor with hand-brooms while John does some shaving of the men, then we sit and talk with the residents until tea time, where we chat with the awesome volunteers from around the world.  It has been impossible not to make friends.  Afterwards we feed and wash dishes.  We’ve been a little worried about Ellen, who has been feeling a fever and digestive problems recently.  We’re sure she’ll be done with these in a few days though. 

Thanks for reading!  Talk to you tomorrow from Rajastan!!!

Shanti,

Nate