Words of Wisdom

Next time your in a crowded bus, or subway or street take a look at the person next to you, or the person that just past you. Meditate for a moment about that person, and where they might have just come from, or where they're going. Now think about what kind of experiences that person might have had to go through to get to this moment in time, whether spiritual, emotional or physical. Now think about yourself, reflect on past moments, experiences and challenges that have molded you to the person you are today and how those experiences have allowed you to be in this present moment in time. We all have our stories and we all have had lives up to this point. Lives in which we have laughed, cried, fallen, succeeded and maybe even have loved, or been loved. We won't ever be able to get to know every person we see or gain knowledge from their lives. We cannot learn from everybody. We can however appreciate their lives and be aware of the people outside our immediate circle of friends and family. I find myself way to often absorbed into my whole world that I don't realize the possibly thousands of people passing in and out of my vision every single day. Just think about it; all those people have their own lives, maybe with experiences similar to your own, and possibly experiences you couldn't even imagine. Like escaping a war torn country with nothing but the clothes on your back, or meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama, or travelling south Asia on a bike and so many more. These were all experiences I never thought about, but here I am, I've met the people who claim these stories as their own. It makes me wonder, what are my stories now and what will my stories be in the future?

Each person we encounter, whether for a few hours or many years has an equal opportunity to make a profound impression on our personal paradigm's. How are we to know which person will make a significant impact on our lives? The truth is we don't know, and we won't know until years into the future when we can look at our lives in hindsight and pick out the various names and faces of people. All we can do now is appreciate every person we meet, and possibly every person we don't. I heard somewhere that in the course of our lives we will meet an average of 10,000 people, only a couple hundred will be remembered. Who will those people be? What will they have contributed to your life? Was it positive or negative? What have you contributed or could contribute to their lives?

Camp!

This weekend half of the grade 12 students packed their bags and headed over to Poondi, Kodai's camping ground. The weekend was chock full of frisbee, volleyball, archery, rafting, hiking and of course campfires! The food was great, a few chef's from the school came down with us and cooked our meals over an open fire.

We hiked up far into the mountain in search for a waterfall. Our trek was unsuccessful in that sense, but we made it fun by playing games and talking, not to mention the killer view we had at the end, that in itself was a nice reward. The campsite was mostly populated with the invasive, exotic species of pine and eucalyptus, and the mountain side had mostly tannin rich acacia trees with a bright orange bark. As usual the hike back down seemed half as long as the hike up! We had some good laughs when a few of us got ankle deep in mud in the deceiving valley that was just at the base of the mountain.

We also had the opportunity of going on late night hikes and seeing (or as much as we could!) the landscape in a different perspective. Of course there was the occasional scream, but it was all in good fun!

For most of the day Saturday I decided to take up archery, and to my surprise I really enjoyed it! Hopefully when I return home I can pick up a new hobby!

Both Friday night and Saturday night we had a bonfire complete with marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers for a campfire classic, smores. On Saturday we also had "dough boys", which is pretty much dough on a stick roasted over the fire, and then when they've finished you can eat them with honey, butter, jam or peanut butter. They weren't as bad as i was expecting them to be!

The whole time while at camp you could look out past the lake and see women in incredibly colourful sarees carrying freshly cut logs from the mountain sides back to their homes, all barefoot. That seems to be a very popular footwear choice in India.

Overall it was a nice weekend, both relaxing and invigorating :)

My Home

just a few photos of my dorm, and around campus :)

1. the dining hall and 'flag green'

2. lake Kodaikanal

3, 4, 5. the courtyard in my dorm

Dorm Bonding

Tonight we all of us at Wissy got together to have dorm bonding. Our dorm mother made an amazing meal of pasta, garlic bread and salad as well as brownies and ice cream for dessert. We played games, laughed A LOT, danced and sang songs. Everyone here is extremely welcoming and friendly, making all the new students, myself included, feel welcome and at home. It definitely goes a long way, and I'm positive that the rest of my time here will be full of laughter and amazing friendships. :)

Starting classes!

Today was my second day of classes. I am currently taking beginners Hindi, Hinduism and Buddhism, international/Indian cooking and possibly baking, that is yet to be determined.

I'm so excited to learn about the religion and the culture of this country from people who have lived it their entire lives. This is immersion at its finest. Already I feel at home. I guess it's true what they say; "home is where the heart is."

Finally...

My first day in India! My first night was technically last night when I landed in Chennai, we went outside and never, ever in my whole life had I seen rain like that. It was a tropical rainstorm! But that's the monsoon season for you!

Anyway, here are a few word pictures that sum up our drive through Madurai: garbage everywhere, intense heat, people with no shoes on, cows wandering the streets, lush forests, the constant smell of burning vegetation, absolutely NO traffic laws, crazy drivers, if India had a national sound it would be a car horn, street vendors selling fresh fruits, and people everywhere.

The bus ride up into the palani hills was by far one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The hills were so steep and every time I looked down I felt nauseous. I ended up having to close my eyes for nearly the entire ride. Not to mention there was no guard rail, just a shallow concrete bock.. AND drivers were zipping up and down the road!

Needless to say our driver delivered us safely up to the top of the mountain, 7000 feet above sea level!

In Transit

Who knew flying could be so stressful! The main thing I'm trying to do is mentally prepare myself for the next twenty something hours I will be in transit. Next stop Brussels, and then to Chennai!

4 Days

I don't think I will be able to sleep on my bed for the next few days because of the fact that everything I'm bringing has decided to take up residence there. I am also in the very tedious process of putting name tags on all my clothes so they don't get lost in the laundry. It feels like camp all over again.

On a side note, Happy Canada Day!

The Countdown

So I leave in five days to begin my epic journey across the Indian subcontinent. This is a trip that I have dreamed about for years, and it's finally happening. I have yet to start packing, the thought of how much stuff I have to pack is looming over me and I'm not quite sure how to go about it. My mom says "It starts with opening a suitcase!", she's right. I guess because I haven't started packing it hasn't fully hit me that I'm going. First thing tomorrow.