November 2011
2 posts
This has just become my new homepage and obsession →
Barefoot in Benares
One thing I have learned in India is to just go with the flow. Yesterday Shoshana and I headed over to our host families house at 2pm with the understanding we were going to some reading/play thing at the Ram temple next door. When we arrived it was just our host mom. We chatted with her and told her about our early morning and chat pooja. After realizing we had woken up at 4:30 am she then...
October 2011
7 posts
September 2011
7 posts
At Home in India
I have had many people ask me if I regret coming to India for study abroad, including myself occasionally. I can now feel complete confidence in saying I do not. September 19th: Today I woke up early. Took my time checking email/facebook and by 8:30 Tanya arrived to help me get dressed in my sari. About 8 folds and 4 pins later I was draped and ready to go. The gang: Alex, Kat, Sho, Darren,...
August 2011
9 posts
The Low Point of the W curve
Kalamazoo college gave every junior departing on study abroad a diagram labeled the W curve. The W curve was supposed to map your emotions while on study abroad. High point at the beginning, then low, then high, then low again, and then again high. I have hit the low point…
About a week and a half ago I was more sick than I have ever been in my life. I will spare you the majority of...
Lunch time at Nirman
So I am living at this little kids school where from 8-3 everyday there are tons of little Indian children running around in their all white uniforms. From the ages of 4 to 12. Their lunch time is at noon. One day I decide to finally get my butt in gear and clean the mold off of my backpack. I change into gross clothes, get the cleaning supplies, brushes, and head outside. I am just sitting down...
Raksha Bandhan
On August 13th we all went to Nila Mam’s (a woman who works at Nirman) home in order to observe their families celebration of Raksha Bandhan. This is a festival that celebrates the bond between a brother and sister. The main ceremony is the tying of a rakhi (a bracelet) on the brother’s arm. The sister ties one with a promise to always love and pray for her brother and symbolizes the...
On The Streets of Benares
Lanka is the market street near us which has everything you could need. Fabric, shampoo, samosas, shower buckets, bikes, shoes, floatation devices, phones, ladders, metal piping, bed rolls, and so much more. The only trick is walking there.
For the best description of the streets, I will pass the mic to my dear friend Sho…
Traffic:
There is a reason people are generally confused when...
Life During Monsoon Season
A week ago I wrote the following passage in my journal:
Its raining now and I have already learned to love and cherish the monsoons. Yes they bring more bugs, but it is worth the occasional bite. For with the rain you get green rice fields stretching as far as I can see out the train window. Although the streets fill with puddles, the breeze each storm brings is worth the mud. I...
June 2011
4 posts
Why I travel with Shoshana... →
“Few places in India are as colourful, charismatic or spiritual as the bathing...”
– Lonely Planet 