Hi All!For the last month I've been doing an intensive Hindi program at the Landour Language School (one of the most renowned in India) in the foothills of the Himalayas, or as they call them here, the Himalyas. My Hindi is coming along and I can sort of communicate now. A good start. Its beautiful up here outside of Mussoorie. I got to live in the middle of a forest for a month, and I lucked out and got my own room. I've been meditating, doing yoga, and enjoying not having a lot of commitments. I feel really accepted by the group and loved, and I've also been able to spend time away from the group. I've realized that six months is SUCH a short time to get to know India.
Tomorrow morning I am headed back to Delhi where I will be looking for a place to live, choosing my classes, solidifying my internship (probably in theater), and finding a yoga guru. I'm excited to start the second big part of the trip.
I've been really happy. I know that I am in the right place right now. And things keep lining up for me. Roman, another student at the language school (not from the group) offered to teach me yoga for free while I've been up here. I have a great contact for an internship in Delhi, named Subhash who has already shown me around a bit, the director of the EAP program is a professor from Irvine who wrote a book called Perspectives on the Female Body (!!), and everything I ask for seems to be granted. I feel incredibly blessed. I can feel myself growing a lot and learning to trust myself and take care of myself and lots of other good stuff.
I haven't really seen much of India yet though. Which is what the next few months are for, I suppose!
PICTURES
1. My friend Hayley from Berkeley who I hadn't seen for a year happened to be really close to where I was staying. She was at a farm started by Vandana Shiva, an incredible Indian environmental/agricultural/fair trade activist who I did a presentation about in class last fall. On the farm there is a seed bank (left) where Navdanya, the NGO, preserves local plant species that are threatened by corporate genetically engineered seeds. And there I am with Halyley and a cow (rather common around here). One of the volunteers from the farm ended up coming back to Mussoorie with us for the night.
2. This is a Hindu temple on the top of a mountain around here. There was a beautiful gate between the temple and a path down the mountain. And some parents asked us if we would take a picture with their kids. The girl in the white shirt is a really close friend of mine who is coming to Delhi with me, and that's Thia on the right who is going to the south for the rest of the trip. There are temples and shrines everywhere! It's really interesting to be in such a religious country.
3.Our program took us all on a trip to visit a Hindi temple in the mountains up here. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been, see below. The picture at the beginning is also from Yammanotri.
4. Some pictures from around Mussoorie.
