Namaste from the forest of bliss..... also known as Varanasi or Banaras.
We have grown accustomed to our daily routine in Varanasi which includes Hindi class in the morning, followed by a delicious meal cooked by Shantiji (the cook in our hostel), and then a slu of internships and exploration. This morning however, we strayed from our routine and woke up at 5:00 a.m.. We groggily headed down to the Ganges river where we were greeted by children selling candles. We hopped onto a rowboat, and our tour began. All around us life was happening. Men and women alike joined at the mouth of the river to bathe themselves in the holy water. Women were drenched in their saris and men were much more scantily clad, wearing underwear of sorts. The sun was rising like a brilliant hot coal in the sky, and we were fortunate enough to witness all of it. During the day Varanasi appears to be hectic and crazy, but watching
morning rituals you can feel that Varanasi has a soul, and that it resides in the Ganges.

Sadly, we have to depart from this intriguing city by the river and continue on our journey. We are leaving with newly acquired skills and beautiful images to remember forever.

Shanti.

Smack through Bodhgaya + into Varanasi

Namaste other worlds!

We have left Calcutta with precise memories and sincere experience. After our overnight train from the city we entered into the state of Bihar ,home of Bodhgaya and one of the poorest states in India. The state is currently recovering from severe flooding, but the area we were in was fine. Upon being so formally greeted by the packs of taxi drivers and by-standers, we were on our way to the home of the Buddha's enlightenment.

The pace had changed relatively back to slow (compared to Calcutta anyway) and served as a nice recovery/processing ground. We had the pleasure of staying in one of the many Buddhist temples-New Karma (Tibetan). There is a temple for every country where Buddhism is a prominate religion; our neighbor was Japan. We has a breif introduction to Buddhism at the root insitute, which we all seemed to enjoy. All the temples were just so beautiful and peaceful, our experience there was an overwhelming blessing... to be in such a holy place with so much spirit.

The energy and sense of communal praise surrounding the Bodhi tree (the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment) was profound. Many large stupas have been built on this ground and of course a temple. Large gates now stand around the actual tree, but large branches spread widely over the top and above the heads of those sitting underneath. Naturally many monks come to meditate as well as a large amount of practioners from all backrounds of life, to offer their respects and encourage the personal growth in themselves. This is what personally struck me the most regarding this space. All those gathering around were their to support and develop a place in them that speaks their ultimate truth from their ultimate person .

After our short stay in Bodhgaya we made it firmly to Varnanasi were we being our Hindi classes and internships. We had our first class this morning, which seemed to have went well for all of us. It can be overwhelming to learn a new langauge but were catching on and taking it most of it in! Some of the internships we will indiviually be doing are in the fields of Indian classical music, cooking, jewelry making, stone carving, south indian dance, singing, fire dancing, and henna. We'll be rathering busy for our 10 days in Varanasi!!

Tata from Benares!
-Shanti

Greetings from Kolkata round two!

We are on our final day in Kolkata and it has been quite an excited 10 days here.

As soon as we arrived here it was obvious that there was a strong connection to the city with the whole group. Everyone seems to just love it here. Our usual schedule for the day is as follows: we wake up at around six oclock and try to leave the hotel by 6:30. We have about a thirty minute walk to the main Mother Theresa house and have a breakfast of bread, bananas, and chai with all the rest of the volonteers. After a quick prayer we all make our way outside to catch the bus to our various sites. The bus is quite an experiance in itself. We jump onto the bus with it barely stopping and it is usually too crammed to fit everyone on the seats so most of us have to stand.

Each of us shanti members are working in different sites so all of us have different experiences that I cannot personally share. But the site that I worked at was a house for people that need long term care. There are about 150 patients there which is quite a lot of people. But it seems like they are very well equipped with people to help and they seem to have plenty of food for everyone. Our volunteer work at my site consisted of a lot of cleaning jobs and then just spending time with the patients. A lot of the time the men need shaving becauses they are unable to do it themselves, and massages to ease their pain. many of them are unable to walk to they also need help with transport around the site.

We are done volunteering at around noon so we usually meet up with some of the other volunteers and grab lunch on the famous sudder street at one of the many great restaurants. After that we are free to do what we please. The city is so interesting in itself that all you really need to do to keep yourself occupied is to just walk around the city. We also went to a more westernized mall to catch a bollywood movie which was very interesting.

Tomorrow night we have an 11:30 PM train ride that is ten hours long to our next leg of the journey: Bodgaya. I think we are all very excited to go to the next step of the trip, but it will be very sad to leave this wonderfully insane city and the mother Theresa house.

Sincerely Jack and the rest of the Shanti crew!

KOLKATA!

Hello Everybody~
We've finally arrived in Kolkata, after an overnight train ride, after a five hour jeep from Gangtok. We said our longing goodbyes to the majestic Himalayan town up in the jungles. The drive was beautiful along the Teetsa river, which is wide, fast, and brown. We got a flat tire, but the driver fixed it in no time. We arrived at Mgp train station and it started to feel like good ole India again. It was a crazy scene down on the platform, with a lot of beggers, the rush of many travelers, food, chai, and things being sold. After a confusing rush to a new platform we boarded the train. The stimulation was a lot, but we soon settled onto our sleeper beds and rambled down the tracks. Out the window in the morning was beautiful sprawling green fields and people working barefooted on the land. Though, once we got into the station at Kolkata it was another story. The crazy city and the scramble into Taxis from the train was another overhwleming sight of India. Now that we've spent the day here I think we can all say we've seen at least five outstanding things we never had before. This place is quite incredible, and I'm ready for the next 10, seemingly intense, days of it. We all went to the Mother Theresa House to get oriented, and I feel very happy at the oppurutnity we have to work at such a historic center. I think we will learn a lot about the inner workings of India, including the begger mafia chain, while in Kolkata. We all have different jobs with the center. Some of us will be working with disabled children, ill children, the dying, ill adults, and mentally challenged women. So let's see what these experiences bring to the shanti table, shall we?
Much Love from all our hearts to those at home.

SHAnti Bahar!!!

Gangtok and trekking in Sikkim!

hello devoted readers!
hope all is going well at your end. My apologies for the blog coming so late.
After our stay in the sleepy town of Darjeeling, we headed off to Gangtok in a hired seven passenger jeep. After a long 6 hours of travel which included stopping for meals, permits and snack breaks, finally made it to our destination. We then made our way down to the main strip of Gangtok which was absolutely magnificent. There were rows upon rows of stores with almost anything you desire, on a street where cars are not allowed to travel, very cool!
after a two night stay in the very nice Sandim Hotel, we were off to Sikkim to start our trek. Another long jeep ride later and we found our selves at the first home stay. A very nice place way out in the jungle of Sikkim, very secluded and peaceful. During our stay, the local girls school came to our current home and showed us there traditional Lupcha dance (the local area is known for this dance) while we drank an ancient Nepally drink out of a giant bamboo mug! And of course they insisted we dance as well so keep your eyes out for some amusing pictures!
From there our host Dun-din and many other helpers such as Raju, Aaron, Kumar, Lun-lin and more took us to our first trekking spot. We hiked up a small mountain of very diverse terrain and made it to our destination in about 2 hours. From there we interacted with the local families, and set up tents for the night!
The next day we headed down the very same mountain back into the main part of Sikkim for a quick lunch. But there is no rest for the wicked! quickly after lunch we walked to our next hiking destination. Yes another mountain! This trek found to be less forgiving than the first. The terrain was straight up to the top! Lots of breaks were necessary! :) But alas we made it to the summit and slept quite comfortable none the less.
After we arose it was breakfast and a trip down the mountain. (which was much easier than going up i must say!) and a Jeep ride back to Gangtok. which brings us to where we are now. We are settled back into the Sandim hotel resting our weary legs waiting for the next adventure to start! we head to Calcutta by train tomorrow and who knows what it has in store for us! only time will tell....
Sending lots of love back home
Shanti Bahar (which is Hindi for peace out )
Group Shanti