By Kelly Tobin TOP THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TREKKING IN INDIA: 1. You never know where you are going or how long it will take. 2. Bring more chocolate then you think you need. 3. You will gain new animal friends (baby goats, dogs, and sheep.) 4. It will be very cold in November while hiking the Himalayas, bring warm layers. 5. The food is delicious, except desserts. 6. Mountain… Read More

By Emily Radek To paint the picturing of a sustainable living permaculture farm: • Wake up at 6am to join the group for some Chi Kung-to move the energy in the universe and in and around you. • Eat some delicious vegan food grown right on the campus • Then it’s getting to work. We worked with the local villagers carrying bags of sand up a mountain, pugged (aka danced)… Read More

By Emily Radek Our travel day(s) to McLeod Ganj was a long and odd one. We left at 4 am, took a 5 hour train ride, spent 7 hours in Delhi till our 12 hour overnight bus ride to Dharamsala. We got to our cute hostel in the beautiful towering mountains of McLeod Ganj, and we all passed out in the lounge on the roof– cute group cuddle puddle, as… Read More

By Kelly Tobin Our day on October 17 started bright and early with a visit to a travel agent in Rishikesh to work on our Student Directed Travel plans. We then proceeded to take a 20-minute Jeep ride on a mountainous road to Phool Chatti Yoga Ashram. At Phool Chatti, we had the opportunity to participate in a seven-day yoga, chanting, and meditation program along the Ganga river. Our mornings… Read More

By Katie Delaney We spent this past week exploring Varanasi, known as one of the oldest living cities in the world. Each of us has had a chance to explore some of our passions by taking classes including jewelry design, painting, music, and even fire dancing. We also had the chance to wake up at 5:30 one morning and take a boat out on the Ganges river and watch the… Read More

By Paige Marcano-Buchanan As hazy fog drifts over far-off trees, the rising sun dyes the sky a soft purple. We cradle hot mugs of chai in our hand listening to the birds flying overhead. With the strike of a gong, we march to morning meditation. This is a completely different experience from the boom and bustle of Kolkata’s honking horns; now we sit quietly and watch cows graze. Instead of… Read More

By Charlotte Clark Day 7 of our adventures here in Kolkata, yet it feels like we’ve been here for so much longer. We started out with orientation in this crazy city, going out a little more each day to ease ourselves into it. It seems as though there are no rules for driving, people honk more than they speak and if you can cross the street here you can do… Read More

By Katie India so far has been the craziest place I’ve ever been, but it’s also the coolest. The food is amazing and the people have been super nice but it’s also very hot.… Read More

By Emily Kolkata is very crazy. There are tons of people, you drive on the other side of the road and horns are always honking. The constant smell is a mix of incense, food, and sewage. Driving here is a free for all, there are no lanes. Its like 80-90 degrees everyday here with 100% humidity—I have never been so hot. The food here is really good and the people… Read More

By Kelly Kolkata is amazing. It is so vibrant and full of life. I am currently sitting in a computer cafe down on Sudder Street. I am doing well but realized a lot of my clothing is too heavy for here. It is about 90 degrees but 100 percent humidity. We are currently doing a scavenger hunt for different items without our leaders. It isn’t as scary as I thought… Read More

By Overseas Educator Suzannah Day 1 in Kolkata complete. After many flights, a quick tour of Singapore, and a car ride at midnight, we fell, exhausted, into our beds in Kolkata last night. Most of the day today was spent reviewing the trip itinerary and chatting about health and safety. We briefly explored outside our guesthouse, successfully crossing the busy streets with confidence. Katie ate some celebratory pomegranates (her request)… Read More

By Program Director James Simmons The Shanti crew is all gathered at San Francisco Airport, ready to depart!… Read More

By Overseas Educators Suzannah and Rebecca Namaste Shanti family, We are about to begin our journey through Northern India together and wanted to take a moment to commend you and acknowledge that taking this step into the world of the unknown is a very courageous thing for each of you. It is our hope that we will all come back from this experience with more open minds, bigger hearts, and… Read More

By Overseas Educators Bria and Peter As the two of us sit on the airport-express metro train headed back into the heart of Delhi, having just said farewell to all ten students outside the airport, we are filled with an overwhelming sensation of gratitude. The list of things we are grateful for is longer than an Indian train, but here’s a few: we are grateful for all of the teachers… Read More

By Isadora Smith After an action-packed week of camping, rafting, and rock climbing in the mountains of Rishikesh for student directed travel, the dreaded last day of the trip has come. Cue the scary music! We plop down our tattered bags full of souvenirs, memories, and accumulated dirt from every place we’ve visited throughout India in the lobby of Stops Hostel. I look around the room and see 11 of… Read More

By Keshav Krishnan My time as the official “Bilbo Bloggins” started at the Phool Chatti ashram. I enjoy the time I spent there in retrospect, although it was tough for me at (most) times. We had three hours of yoga asanas (the stretching and stuff) a day! We also had some incredible experiences outside of stretches that I couldn’t do. Every day we did a walk into nature, ending near… Read More

By Harrison Wohlfarth So this week was pretty dope. We started off with a bus ride from the O.G. city of Delhi to the humble mountains of Darhamsal after being delayed several hours (shout out to Indian transportation services). Despite having to wait several hours for the bus and meanwhile chilling on the streets of India, we eventually got to where we needed to go, though, which is all that… Read More

By Garrett Walker Hello parents and potential fans reading our Carpe Diem Shanti blog. My name is Garrett and I want to do the blog a little differently this week. Instead of the usual linear summary of our past week, I want to give you a summary, but through short little bursts of reflections I’ve had. Hopefully, Avy is a fan of this (Hi Avy!) and it gets posted and… Read More

By Overseas Educator Peter Benassi At the Root Institute in Bodhgaya. Registering to work at the Mother Theresa Home in Kolkata. Picking ginger at Dev Bala Farm in Gharoh. Relaxing at the Root Institute in Bodhgaya. Selfies with Harrison in Kolkata. A baby goat in Jhadol, Rajisthan!… Read More

By Jake Hansen Last week we stayed in Bhodgaya in a Buddhist Monastery called The Root Institute for Wisdom Culture. The first few days were spent on a pilgrimage to some of the most iconic spots along the path walked by the Buddha on his way to attaining enlightenment. We went to the cave where he meditated for six years, eating only five-to-seven grains of rice per day trying to… Read More