Sitting In a Jaisalmer Internet Cafe

Hello Finally !

     So so much has happened I will get right in to it. Varanasi was amazing! Anything you have heard read or have seen can not compare to the utter awe the city of Varanasi gives you. If you have not heard of the city before please look it up and see some pictures as I am unable to post any at the moment. We left Hyderabad on a train headed to Varanasi and spent four days there. This was our first Northern Indian city that we had experienced at this point in the trip. The north is very different from the South as it holds all of the history and cultures that we are normally aware of in Canada. The south was an amazing experience but I am so excited to be in the history-filled North and to experience all the things that I had been reading about before the trip. Varanasi is known for the river Ganga. The river is a very holy river for Hindus and bathing in it is said to bring one much fortune. Unfortunately the river has become very polluted over time as it was the sole spot for all bathing and excrement for so many people over so many years. On a positive note, we were told that there is a lot of work going on now to clean the river by the local government. The river is also the hub for the dead of idea. The burning ghats (steps leading into the water) are located along the river where bodies are burned and placed in the river. As you can believe Varanasi is a very holy city for all Hindus. It was an amazing experience to be on the Ganges and see the sun-set and watch the many religious ceremonies happening, and that happen every night. I wish I could have been there longer or had more time to expand on my experience in Varanasi but unfortunately time is not on my side.

     After leaving Varanasi the group headed to Jaipur where we were to start the second portion of our schooling. It is here in Jaipur that we are all placed with local families and attend school. I was placed in an amazing home with two of my friends on the trip Paul and Lauren. We were placed at the home of Delilah and Yogesh who are the head of a large family home of one of the coordinators (her sister) of our time in Jaipur. I unfortunately got sick after arriving in Jaipur and was therefore unable to complete this post as I had hoped. Fortunately though my family has been very kind and did a great job of helping me get better. I was out of school for a few days but returned on Friday. I completed school on Friday and that night (at around midnight) or group was leaving the train station and headed for Jaisalmer.

     Jaisalmer is located on the North-western portion of the Indian subcontinent near the Pakistan border. The landscape again had changed and we had now been transported into an Arabian desert. It is like nothing I have ever seen. There is sand absolutely everywhere, it is like this town is out of a movie. It is centered around a very old fort. The fort is amazing and although it has many shops now catering toward all of the tourists, the architecture is like nothing I have ever seen. I spent the first day in Jaisalmer exploring the city and the fort. Our second day we had some free day in the morning and early afternoon before we headed out to the desert! We took a bus out into the absolute middle of nowhere and pulled up to a few dozen camels lying at the side of the road waiting for our arrival. I must note that although it was beautiful the sand was blowing hard and we all had to bundle up our faces to provide some protection for the harsh winds. Anyways e got out, hopped on our camels and headed for the desert. This experience, although not entirely comfortable, was amazing and something I had been looking forward to. We were able to see some sand dunes and other camels and took a short stop to race our camels before arriving at our tent city where we were to stay the night. Some of the girls and our professors stayed in plush rooms with outfitted bathrooms and TVs while another group of us faced the night out in tents. After brushing off the sand on our beds, our accommodations were quite comfortable. Our night consisted of a show with live music and dancing, a busy buffet-styled dinner, and a night of talking and more music. In the morning we had breakfast and promptly headed out back to our hotel in Jaisalmer to wash away the sand of the night before.

     Today is our last day in Jaisalmer and tomorrow we are headed for Jodhpur. I am not sure what to expect next but I am sure it will be amazing! Hope everyone is doing well at home and I will hopefully be making my next blog post sooner then the previous.

Talk Again Soon :)

So Much to Say in So Little Time

     So Varanasi was amazing and will need a lot of time to describe and talk about. Unfortunately I did not find much internet in Varanasi to update the blog while I was there. I wanted to write a quick post saying I have now arrived safely in Jaipur, am placed with my host family, and just finished my first day of school! I am doing great and now that I know where an internet cafe is I will update the blog with my adventures in the next couple days. This weekend I am headed to Jaisalmer! So much to write in so little time. 

Last day in Mysore! Off to Hyderabad

     So the terrible week of exams is over. It was a good wake up call to remind all of us that even though we are doing this amazing trip it is apart of school.I studied my butt off and we will see how it turns out :) I think in spite of this, most of us have the mindset that this isn't simply school it is an experince and all though doing well in our classes is important it is not the ost important thing. We all finished Friday afternoon and went out one last time in Mysore. A large group of us including the two professors went to a rooftop restaurant that overlooks the restaurant that we have frequented while we have been here. Today I plan on simply doing a few errands like geting to a bank and I wanted to get a blog post in because I knew that internet will be unreliable when we are on the road again. I promise I will try and get some Hampi pictures up, I just need to get to a computer that can read my memory stick. We leave today at 3pm to head to Bangalore, where we have a few hour layover inbetween trains, and then we will jump on n overnight train to Hyderabad. We are staying in Hyderabad for a couple days where we will be visiting a few NGOs inclusing ICRISAT. Other than that there is not much to report. I have told my parents that I may be travelling for a bit after this India semester. Past the initial shock they were supportive and I will start looking into that. I believe that if I do travel afterwards I will go to Nepal with a few people from the trip. It won't be for very long as I do miss home, but I am thinking that I should take advantage of being over here while I can because who knows when or if I will ever be back. I will try and kep in touch while we are on the road. Hope everyone is doing well and I will talk to you soon :)

Last Day of Classes!

     I had my last day of class today! Well my last day of class in the South. Tomorrow we are headed to Hampi, an ancient city that I am told is amazing. We head there on an overnight train, stay a night there, and then head back Sunday night on another overnighter. Once we are back in Mysore we have Monday to study and exams Tuesday through Friday. This semester abroad is split into two sections, the North and the South. Therefore we take courses in the South, write exams; and then take courses in the North and write exams. Two course marks are placed together to make a full course that the University of Guelph recognizes. We actually complete the same amount of class time that is necessary for Guelph courses, just in a shorter amount of time. I am a bit apprehensive about the exams so I will be studying on the overnight trains. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I have been in India for 5 weeks already!

      My time in Mysore has been great. I was ready to finally settle after travelling non-stop for two weeks. The longer I am on this trip, the more I appreciate how well it has been organized. We are able to travel and see many places, while at the same time, have the opportunity to stay and learn one location. The living arrangements in Mysore can be acquainted to that of residence in first year. It is great to be able to see everyone all the time but at the same time I see everyone all the time haha. When we are in the North we live with local families. I have billeted before when I was in Katimavik, so I am really excited to do it again. Although there is always some apprehension about entering someone else's place whom you do not know, it will be the best way to actually experience life in India.

      Mysore has brought many fun times! We have been able to explore some of Mysore in the minimal free time we get outside of classes. I have visited the local zoo and an "American" mall. I have also had many trips downtown to see the palace, the local market, and so much more. Many girls on the trips have had sari's tailored and one of the guys recently got a suit tailored.We have also had a few meals downtown at some local "touristy lonely planet" restaurants that have all been really good. I also should not forget to mention the monkeys. They have terrorized the group a few times by stealing bannanas from rooms or going through our garbage. They can actually be quite aggressive. A few days ago a few monkeys were going through garbage outside of our classroom. We tried to simply scare them off with no luck. A local worker actually had to grab a pellet gun to scare them off.

     I will try to post a few pictures in my next post. I am still having a great time and have been (knock on wood) quite healthy. Will update when I get back from Hampi :)

 Thanks for Listening

Chamundi Hill

     The Chamundi Hills are close to the palace city of Mysore where we are staying. The hills' average elevation is 1,000 meters. Yesterday we visited Chamuni Hill after seeing two amazing NGOs. One worked with children who are deaf and the other worked with people with mental disabilities. According to legend (Wikipedia), the demon Mahishasura, king of the area that is currently Mysore, was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari (also Chamundi) after a fierce battle. The hills are named after the goddess, and a temple honors her in the hills. Chamundi's main hill features a long stone stairway, in which we climbed, that leads to the top of the hill. There are 1,180 steps in all, with the first 600 steps being steeper than those higher up. En route to the top, the steps pass the large statue of Nandi the bull. I am pictured with the bull above.The statue is about 16 feet high and 25 feet in length. Nandi is the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva.

Mysore!

Hey Guys,
     So the rainforest retreat at the organic coffee and tea farm was amazing. I touched upon it a bit in my previous post but it definetly is worth mentioning again. I was with five other people in this really cool cabin in the western gats. Weeventually had to leave our paradise and face the reality that we are in school, so off we went to Mysore. Mysore has been great so far. We have had a few opportunities to go into town but most of our time is spent where we sleep and learn, at the Organization for the Development of People. It is a christain commune almost that is housing us and has another building where we take our classes. Professors come in to teach us our classes. For the first part of this semester while we are in Mysore I am taking Hindi, Indian culture and civilization, World Issues, Economics, and Natural Chemicals (a science course I am taking simply because my prof is teaching it). The days are very long and restrictive. A majority of the group has also decided to pay for a yoga instructor to come teach us in the morning which has been very cool, but just makes me fall into bed after dinner. I believe we still have another two weeks here. Everything is still going well. So much to say in so little time. I will hopefully be able to continue posting about how my trip is gong and share more stories with all when I return.

 Thanks for Reading

 P.S. I posted 3 pictures below. The first is at a fort in Kanyukamari, the second was taken in Turtle Bay while pushing our boat into the water to go see dolphins, and the last picture is our ridiculously long hike at the Rainforest Retreat.

A few more pictures!