One thing that my entire group has found quite hilarious is the substitution of the abbreviation "n'" for the word and. In America this is typically restricted to tween stores filled with glitter n' feathers, but in India it seems to be a pretty hip trend, my personal favorite being the store across from my hotel- Food n' Fashion. Their spelling here is just funny in general. Often we have unsaid contests to find the most ridiculously spelled food on menus, or the one that is the most-unidentifiable. Speaking of food, most of the menus have the same food, but just of varying quality. It is often hard to tell which restaurants will be good, even with signs like "kwality food". I am pretty sure that I will remain a vegetarian for the entire trip, because it just seems safer and the non-meat Indian food is absolutely delicious. I am quite proud of how many new foods I have tried (and liked) and how much my spice tolerance has improved, even over the past few days.
The train ride over to Rishikesh was quite quick and I really enjoyed watching all of the villages we passed out the window. Since we will be spending our time mostly in cities, or well established towns, I appreciated the opportunity to get a look at more rural areas of India.
Once we got into Rishikesh we got settled into our new guest house- called the Green Hills Cottage. It is much nicer than the place in New Delhi. I love how much more calm the town is. Rishikesh is known for its ashrams and yoga gurus. If New Delhi was NYC, Rishikesh would be like downtown Los Gatos. The first thing I noticed when we got out of the taxi was that there was silence. It is incredible how much constant noise for 3 days gets to you. Rishikesh is along the Ganga river and nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is beautiful and green and just adorable.
We have spent most of the time here just exploring. Yesterday we visited the ashram that the Beatles stayed at in their time in India. It has now completely fallen apart, and is basically part of the forest now, monkeys and all. We climbed up a pretty steep hill to get to the little meditation houses (which are shaped like small white domes) and the big buildings which housed people. We climbed to the very top and saw a gorgeous view of the city.
In just a few hours we are heading to the orphanage to start our volunteer work. I am so excited to meet the kids and the woman who created Ramanas. We had a short tour of it yesterday and it just seems like a haven for these children in the organized insanity that is India. Off to pack up!
Love,
Jenna
Once we got into Rishikesh we got settled into our new guest house- called the Green Hills Cottage. It is much nicer than the place in New Delhi. I love how much more calm the town is. Rishikesh is known for its ashrams and yoga gurus. If New Delhi was NYC, Rishikesh would be like downtown Los Gatos. The first thing I noticed when we got out of the taxi was that there was silence. It is incredible how much constant noise for 3 days gets to you. Rishikesh is along the Ganga river and nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is beautiful and green and just adorable.
We have spent most of the time here just exploring. Yesterday we visited the ashram that the Beatles stayed at in their time in India. It has now completely fallen apart, and is basically part of the forest now, monkeys and all. We climbed up a pretty steep hill to get to the little meditation houses (which are shaped like small white domes) and the big buildings which housed people. We climbed to the very top and saw a gorgeous view of the city.
In just a few hours we are heading to the orphanage to start our volunteer work. I am so excited to meet the kids and the woman who created Ramanas. We had a short tour of it yesterday and it just seems like a haven for these children in the organized insanity that is India. Off to pack up!
Love,
Jenna
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