Sunday, June 7, 2015

A Day of Observation

Our first full day in India centered on our observations and the impact India has on one's senses. Here is a further report from today's group leaders:

June 7, 2015
Leaders of the day: Nicole Free and Amanda D'Auria

Our focus of the day was observing our surroundings and our senses.
After arriving at our hotel at around 4am, we all were assigned rooms and had the opportunity to sleep for five hours. Unfortunately, due to jet lag, most people found it hard to sleep. At 9:30am we went next door to eat at the buffet. The chai tea was amazing! Then, we all gathered and began with an ice breaker. The games we played challenged our comfort zones and allowed us to master everyone's names. Next, we had a surprise guest come and visit us; Raunak's aunts came bearing positive energy and goodie bags. They liked us so much they even decided to spend the day with us! Our first destination was to the Indian Gateway. Here, we all felt what it would feel like to be a celebrity; all of the locals asked us for pictures, but we had to politely decline. After leaving the crowded streets we headed to Bangara. This is a very religious body of water. At this point we are all extremely famished and sweaty (Amanda's back sweat was like a continuous waterfall). So, we all went to lunch. We are not sure what we had for lunch, but it was delicious and filling! Our final destination was to Mahatma Ghandi's home. In the house his books filled two rooms, pictures about him filled the walls, his spinner that he used to make cloth was presented in a glass case, and an art exhibit of his life was on the third floor. A lot of people had a strong connection to this house because we learned about Ghandi in our world religions class. Once we left it started to rain. When we got back to the hotel, we had resting time. Almost everyone slept...and almost everyone was late to our 6:00 meeting (oops!). At our meeting we discussed the question of the day, what did you observe, and we wrote our trouts in our journals. We also learned the Slumdog Millionaire dance. Currently, we are we at dinner, and a majority of us are trying to stay awake. The food just came out so we are going to have to go! See you all in 8 days!!! India is the best place on earth!!! 

With members of Raunak's family:


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