Written by Alanna
Hello Parents, family, friends, and strangers about to read this blog post, hope you’re all well and wonderful.
This is an update from the Shiva Group, we’re all lovely and fine. We spent the last week in Varanasi, waking up at 5 in the morning for yoga classes with a wonderful teacher, starting to take classes to learn beginner Hindi, being daring enough to try the local street food, then heading off to our internships (Stone Carving, Fire Dancing, Henna, Painting, Sitar Lessons and Jewelry Making) ending the nights with lovely group dinners and views of the city from our hotels rooftop. Varanasi is a fascinating place and we did so much in such a very small amount of time there, we took a boat down the Ganga into the old city, tested out different chai stands, saw a fire dance performance, people watched from the Ghats, visited deer park (where the Buddha gave his first sermon), and spoke with a gracious leader of a local organization that helps women in poverty to earn a living wage. At the end of the week we boarded a train that took us to Bodh Gaya, where we adventured around looking at more temples from more countries than I can recount, though the most memorable of which being the Mahaibodhi Temple, which is where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. I’ve heard many members of the group express what a magical and wonderful place Bodh Gaya is, and I think we’re all a little sad, though very excited, to get on our night train to Kolkata tonight, where we will be working with the Mother Teresa Home.
We are learning so much and seeing things we never dreamed of seeing, though missing the people who make home so wonderful as well.
Thanks for reading, look out for the next blog post!