this is really Alex

hello blog followers, this is actually Alexander Barsher blogging as i forgot my password to my account. Anyways on to the interesting stuff. India so far has been one of the most crazy and fun expieriences of mylife. At first when we arrived in New Delhi my head was spinning from all the traffic and people. We then went to Varanassi where it was a little less hectic. Seeing the Ganges river was absolutley incredible, it is such an amazing body of water. We then travled to Armistar (who knows how to spell that) where we saw the golden temple another truely awsome expierience. We are now in Dharmsala where yesterday i was super sick and didnt go out of the room, but today we met with a tibetan woman who was a political prisoner in china for 27 years! her story was one of the most inspiring ive ever heard. After the free time that we have right now were meeting with a member of the tibetan government in exile. Im super excited to meet with this guy as im sure he will be super interesting. Now i have to go but i now think that everyone needs to go to India at least once in there life time!

Modern Tibet

Peter & Owen here doing a mutual blog (we only paid for 30 minutes of computer time). We arrived here in Dharmasala two days ago. After an exhausting bus ride, we arrived in the town that hosts the Exiled Government of Tibet. The scenery on the bus ride changed dramaticly in the last hour of the trip as we skidded along the treacherous mountain roads. Niether of us expected to be in the midst of Tibetan culture just 5 hours away from India's most spiritual town, but here we were amongst Buddist monks and The Dalai Lama. We are staying in a idyllic Buddist monistary, 365 dangerous steps and a quick walk from the main square. The views of both the Kanga valley and the Himalayas are breathtaking, and the town provides a nice change from the craziness of both Delhi and Varanasi. The most interesting part of the town is the ever present feel of Tibet. Walking around the streets, I could swear I was actually there. The struggle of the Tibetan people, however, is obvious as well. The monks seem slightly out of place here in India, and the amount of 'Free Tibet' stickers and hats are countless. Today, we talked to a woman who had been imprisioned by the Chinese for 27 years, before managing to escape to Dharmasala. Despite the cruelitly inflicted upon here and the Chinese current occupation in Tibet, she said she has never been more hopeful for the Tibetan cause, and she is sure that she will see the day when the Dalai Lama returns to Tibet. (She is 82) On a brighter note, Tibetan food proves to be amazing, especially the Momos. Apart from the Tibetan Tea, made out of butter and salt, everything is delicous and filling. Next, we will go to a cottage still higher into the mountains to hike and recover from overall alarming bowel movements. Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible for us, and we'll see you soon! Owen & Peter

Dharmasala

It is our third day in Dharmasala and so far the trip has been amazing! Every day we've done something that is super interesting, like today we went to hear this Tibetan woman talk about being held in a Chinese jail for 27 years. We also went to the monestary where the Dali Lama lives up here. My favorite part of the trip was listening to Krishna talk about Hinduism vs. science. Another amazing experience was going to the Golden Temple, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. India has been so great and I don't want to leave. Gabby

Golden Temple

After a two plane rides and a couple bus rides we made it to Amristar! What a beautiful city. We were only there for less than a day but it was extremely relaxing. The hotel we were staying at was much nicer than the previous places. I mean, it was no Four Seasons but it had western toilets so we were all happy. This was the point on the trip where almost everyone got sick. I was still having diarrhea, many others were too, and a few people started throwing up. But! We are all alive and functioning!
We went to the Golden Temple, it was incredible. There almost aren't words to describe the experience. It was so nice not to be surrounded by other tourists but it also made us more of a spectacle. We had a Sikh guide who was extremely knowledgeable. He took us through the temple and told us all about his religion and the temple itself. Halsey says it's more beautiful than the Taj Mahal!
Now, after a 6 hour bus ride we are in Dharamsala. So beautiful. Feels more like home than anywhere else we've been so far. And monks are some of the nicest people I've ever met.
Having a blast and can't wait to come home and share all our stories!


Gracie

Arrived in Dharmasala

Our last night in Varanasi was spent at Daali and Bantu's house listening to two world-renowned sitar and tabla players performing traditional Indian music. It was amazing to experience that music in a private recital.
We flew from Varanasi to Amritsar and enjoyed our one night in the "RV Continental" (our nicest hotel by far) and the group visited the Golden Temple.
The bus ride from Amritsar to Dharamsala was especially painful for those of us that had fallen sick, but we all survived and Dharamsala is gorgeous. We're staying in the guest house of a monastery that is a few flights of stairs down and out of the city which is a tranquil reprieve from our busy schedule. Everybody is loving Dharamsala and we've all enjoyed some delicious "Mo-Mo's" from the street vendors. A few more nights here in the town then we hike up to a even more "zen-like" retreat for a few last days before heading back to Delhi, and then Seattle.
We're loving the cooler temperatures-- it even rained this morning!

Bailey

Varanasi!

Namaste!

We're in Varanasi and it is very hot! Pretty different than Seattle's weather I'm assuming. But we'll be heading to Amritstar tomorrow morning! Really looking forward to seeing the Golden Temple.

Varanasi has been amazing! Much different than Delhi, one of the biggest differences I've seen is the lack of staring. In Delhi, it was almost constant, but here it's pretty rare.

Yesterday we had yoga on the roof top at 6:30, pretty amazing. Our instructor wore dress pants and a dress shirt and he still managed to be more flexible than all of us. After Yoga, we had breakfast and Doug taught us little bit about Hinduism. Sadly, I was the first one to come down with bad diarrhea. Luckily I only had to miss a couple activies but it was still pretty unfortunate. Squat toilets have made things a little interesting but overall I'm feeling a bit better. I'm really glad that I didn't have to miss the boat ride we took yesterday. Last night, we went down the Ganges. What an amazing experience. We watched the nightly ceremony at one of the Ghats. It was incredible to finally see something I had read so much about it books, in person. We were all covered up in long layers and 100% deet. I think we kind of made a big bubble type force field around our boat. Most people didn't get any bites!

Did a bit of shopping today! Got a couple of silk scarves and some really cool Indian MC Hammer pants which I am wearing right now. They're great for the heat! Hopefully I'll be able to wear them in the States too without getting too many strange looks. We also saw half a Bollywood movie today! I'm pretty sure the stories we made up about what was going on were better than what the movie was actually about.

We're headed to Amritsar tomorrow morning!!

Golden Temple here we come!

Namaste

Krishna

Hello all, reporting from India this is Gavin Grisham. Yesterday we had the chance to sit and listen to a very special man by the name of Krishna. A theoretical physicist, musician, and teacher, he is a man of many talents. Krishna embodies the well rounded western thinker while also being well versed in eastern thinking, religion, philosophy and life. This wide range of knowledge allows Krishna to present different view points, ideas, and arguments to commonly and uncommonly discussed issues. In the short hour we had with Krishna he spoke about the connections between religion, the environment, and ecology.
Krishna began with a short history lesson on how humans had reached the modernized world of today. Before western ideals and Christianity all humans war shipped mother nature in some sense. Krishna quoted saying, "When you step out of your house, you step into your temple." This shows how sacred above all else mother nature was to man pre Christianity. Krishna spoke of the bible and its message that man was created in the image of God and that man had dominion over all things on earth. This was the point when man first saw himself as above nature, starting the process that has created our world today. We see ourselves as quite sophisticated today, yet Indian villagers who have lived on the same land for thousands of years have existed without degrading their environment. Why can we not live in a similar fashion was Krishna's big question. Seeing spirituality and the environment as one, Krishna talked of a future when man reverts to his roots and sees himself as part of mother nature, not above it. This, he feels, will be the only way to combat the destructive lives we live and give generations to come a planet on which to flourish.
My description is brief and lacking, but I hope that I brought across some of the point that he made. He discussed an issue with a view not heard by any of us previously, quite and eyeopening and capturing experience for all.
Hope all is well back home, India is indescribably amazing and so very different than anything I have experienced. Thanks for the opportunity to be here Mom and Dad!
Gavin out.

finna make this a short one

Ayo! Going to make this short and sweet cause I want to get some last shopping in before we head out to Dharmasala early tomorrow morning. Varanasi is amazing, everyone is very nice and fun to talk to and hangout with. For the past two mornings we have been getting up at 6:30 to do yoga on the rooftop of our hotel. The view and temperature up there that early on is amazing. Unfortunatley I am not half as flexible as I need to be to do the positions but it was a really cool and fun experience. Overall I love love love love loooooovvve it here. The food is incredible (coud use 10x more meat). I have a million more things I could say but I dont want to spend all my time on the computer. Just want to say thanks ma and pa for this once in a lifetime opportunity, I can't wait to share everything with you guys. Love you and miss you. AB

Oh and Ma, the hand thing instead of the toilet paper is legit...

Humayun's Tomb and the train

Hey all, this is Nina. After splitting into four groups, two of them went to Humayun's Tomb - a Mogul tomb that gave inspiration to the Taj Mahal. GORGEOUS! We will add pictures later to show you. 160 famiy members are buried there, more than any other. A school of girls was there and found Gabby, Gracie, and me quite fasinating and we ended up spending almost half an hour taking pictures with them (poor guys, they felt a little left out - when they walked over to Adrian to have him take the picture, he thought they wanted one with him...they didn't). After a couple of hours exploring, Rigzin took us to his favorite lunch place, far from a tourist hot-spot. Gavin was beet red and sweating from how spicy the food, but just didn't stop eating it, although we discovered sugar is the cure to a spicy mouth. After lunch, we found a park that happened to be where all the couples go to kanoodle. Here we learned Kabbadi!! To give you the gist of it, six people are on each team and have to run across a line in one breath, while saying "Kabbadi" over and over, with the object of tagging someone on the other team, and avoiding being wrestled to the ground. On to the train....! 14 hours, overnight to Varanasi, lots of guys walking back and forth down the aisles selling chai and "playing cards, playing cards, playing cards." But overall it was a fun ride, of course, I was one of the lucky ones that could actually sleep well on it. Shout out to LP, Kels, and the rents!

first day in vanarasi

hey its maddy,

we arrived in varanasi this morning and since we have gotten all unpaked and settled into the tiwari lodge. i liked dehli a lot, because of how crowded it was and how much was going on, but i alsoreally like varanasi because of how peaceful it is. After breakfast today half of th group walked the two blocks down the street to the ganges river. words cannot really describe the ganges, and pictures can't really either. the water buffalo, boats and people bathing in the river seemed so peaceful compared to the insanity of dehli. after sitting on the steps leading down to the river we all returned to the hotel for classical indian dance classes. our teacher was a really good dancer and made all of us look really really bad. we were all sweaty and exhausted by the time that the dance classes were over and so when we went downstairs to find a little girl with henna waiting for us it was really exciting. everyone got henna, and they are all so intricate. half of the group decided to go on a walk down the ganges to see the funeral pyres (allison and i cannot remember the technical name right now). when we got to the pyres we could see smoke billowing up from piles of wood and dead bodies near the river. we sat and watched the funerals for awhile before we headed back to dinner. i am being eaten alive by mosquitoes, so i have to go until tomorrow.

xoxox

maddy

Old Delhi

HELLO!!! I'm blogging from a little outdoor internet cafe in Varanasi. We all just got henna tattoos and celebrated Owen's birthday since yesterday we were on the train. Yesterday was our last day in Delhi and we split into four groups. Two groups went to Old Delhi where we visited a mosque (the biggest one in India). We were planning on going to the Red Fort but it was closed. At the mosque, we clearly stood out as visitors and we were asked to leave during the set prayer time. Outside the mosque, we were bombarded with people asking to take pictures with us, they must think Barsher is a celebrity. After the mosque, we walked through the chaos in Old Delhi and came across a political ralley. We finally found restaurant that had air conditioning after a few hours of people in jam-packed crowds in high 90 degree weather. After lunch, we found a spice market where we bought lots of tea and safron. The trek to the spice market was unbelievable. We walked through the ralley, crowds of moving people, and stop and go traffic that is NOT like traffic in the US. I'm really glad I got to see Old Delhi and how different it was from where we were staying. At the end of the day, we all appreciated a cold shower because of the sweaty crowds and dirt in the air. After showering, we boarded the train and were off to Varanasi!! SHOUTOUT TO MY GRANDPA

We made it!

We're here in India! It's actually kind of hard to believe that after getting to SEA-TAC at 4:30 am, then getting onto a 5 hour flight to Newark, with a 6 hour layover, then a 14 hour plane ride to Delhi. It's definitely very different than home, takes some getting used to! Our rooms are small, cramped, and very toasty. At least for my room, it is sometimes impossible to unlock the door too. I've had to ask Doug and Halsey countless times to let me in.
When we arrived last night we were surrounded by about 30 people all with new TV's on little airport carts. We got onto a bus and were instantly surprised by the driving style in India. One article described it by saying, "All you need is a horn and good brakes." And he was right.
After getting settled into our rooms, we attempted to sleep. Some of us fell asleep faster than others. I was awakened by my roommate at 4:45 to see what time it was and then again around 7:45 when we heard voices outside our room. We opened the door and there stood basically our entire group all dressed and ready to go. We quickly threw on some modest clothes and sunscreen and met them all for Chai down the street. Never was a Chai fan until now.
We had a good calm day of watching some sort of Mock-trial type event and a delicious fast food Indian lunch. We went to a professors' home and he duscussed the caste system with us.
After an extremely crowded metro ride, we arrived at our hotel and are about to go out to dinner. Then tomorrow we'll have a full day and then take an overnight train to Varanasi.
So happy to be here! Hasn't quite set in that we're actually in India!
Hope to blog again soon,
Gracie Truex

Safe and Sound, Pictures to Come

We arrived safe and sound after a very long flight. We spent the day getting acclimated, going to Delhi University, and having a conversation about caste (more to come from the kids on that), and the kids have been great. They are excited and willing, and it's a great pleasure to see the country through their eyes.

I'm no Peter Clark, so I'm not a whiz with the camera, but I will try to update the blog with some pictures later into the trip, likely from Varanasi or certainly in Dharamsala. Tomorrow, we will do some touring around Delhi, the Red Fort and Humayun's Tomb, and then it's a long but fun train ride to Varanasi!
We will keep you all posted in days to come.
Alison

Delhi

We arrived in Delhi yesterday. We spent the plane ride here hearing Doug's horror stories about the "Heritage Inn" (our humble abode for our two nights here in the city), but after 26 hours on a plane and in airports we were all thrilled to arrive anywhere with a bed.
This morning the jet lag caught up with us and by 6:30 we were ready for the day. We passed the extra time in the morning on a leisurely breakfast and several cups of Chai Tea. Though not typically a chai enthusiast I am obsessed, "when in India..."
This afternoon we took the metro to Delhi University and observed a Moot Trial event (Indian version of Mock Trial.) We grabbed lunch at a chain-restaurant for our first real Indian food here and even the Indian McDonalds served delicious curry with paneer!
Our one main event for the day was a lecture with Ratan Laal, a professor at the Hindu College in Delhi University. We met Ratan at his beautiful house on campus and spent an hour learning about the history and modern implication of the caste system here in India. Although the caste system is something I think foreigners have a very hard time fully "wrapping our heads around" there were echos of American racism and segregation. Born low in the caste system, Ratan has fought in court for his position at the university and he talked about feeling as though he did not belong among the other professors.
Though today was leisurely, tomorrow is an action packed day. We're checking out the sights in Delhi before we leave on a overnight train to Veranasi tomorrow evening.
Namaste.
Bailey

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