Rishikesh, where I had my first Maaza.

namaste,
be excited, this entry mainly consist of photos, since this past weekend definitely accumulated a LOT of them. plus, even i know pictures are more fun to look at then massive amounts of writing (sorry to those of you who suffered through the last entry).
this past weekend, 5 other interns and i took a 12:30 am bus friday night (sat morning) first to Haridwar, then to Rishikesh, a holy city for Hindus and a famous centre of pilgrimage. also, it's known as the yoga capital of the world (how sweet is that?!). we arrived in rishikesh early in the morning around 7:30...and so our weekend adventure began.
This was just a door we saw in Haridwar, but I was amazed by it.

This is my friend Cynthia checking out Haridwar. At first, I thought the blur would ruin the photo, but I like how it turned out...

We stumbled upon some gates and went in, and found this miraculous little setting of people cooking, talking, sleeping, reading, washing...and just bursts of color spread out everywhere. It literally felt like it was out of a dream...Indians are not afraid of color in the least, and I love it. As someone who indeed did a presentation on "Colortherapy" in high school (and proudly wears a hot pink wool coat), I can't stop gaping at all the colors, the cerulean blues and turquoises and magentas and yellows of women's saris and Sikh turbans. My favorite turban color to date is a pomegranate red, but it's rivaled by a royal blue...But even in the poorest areas, where there is trash and waste and dirt everywhere...there is color. The country drips with it.

After that weekend trip, I realized how naive I was about poverty in general. Being in Chandigarh already shocked me to some degree to come across beggars and especially children who had so little, but seeing more of India showed how progressive and developed Chandigarh is compared to the rest of the country. In Rishikesh, we came across a slum area, and rather quickly a small crowd of children formed around us, curious and eager and excited. And they loved seeing photos of themselves taken on our digital cameras, laughed and fought to take more photos. But their living conditions were unlike anything I've ever seen, and it was right then that it hit hard that this is exactly why you need to travel. Without being to India, I thought I could (to some degree) recognize and acknowledge poverty in general. In Chandigarh even, I thought I had attained a better understanding. But there is always another layer you overlook, another lifestyle you cannot fully comprehend. And even though we saw how these kids lived, there is no way for any of us to ever truly know what it's like to be them...But we took a path usually avoided by tourists...and, personally, it allowed me to learn more about this country and to face some of my own preconceived notions.

They were adorable, tons of giggles, such smiles.

1 in 6 people in the world live in India. It's incredible how you manage to fit so many people in one place. For example, last night we fit 9 people in one auto-rickshaw meant to hold 3. That takes skill (we're learning!).

Right before we entered the slums, we caught our first view of the Ganges. And cows. A lot of them. This one happened to be rather chill.

Later in the day, we moved farther up the Ganges and WENT RAFTING. Which is easily one of the coolest experiences ever; the view was unbelievable. This was taken from the bridge later in the day...but you can see a raft in it, just like the one we were in. A few of us jumped in the water, which was refreshing until we realized we were freezing...

This is Lakshman Jhula Temple, one of the most revered spots in Rishikesh. We climbed to the top, ringing bells the entire time. Nithin, another intern, accurately described it as a playground for all. Kids are running about, old people trekking it up with impressive strength...it's an impressive show of joy and faith in religion.

Lovely ladies who I get to spend the summer with! Starting left, Pauline from Belgium, Natasha from Slovakia, yours truly from the good ole USA, Cynthia from Chicago, Trithica from India, and Thavina from Malaysia.

Another shot of the bridge. Please just take note of the colors on the bridge, as well as those of the bathers by the riverside. I'm literally obsessed. I often get distracted trying to count how many shades of one color I see from one angle.

Ahhh...one of the best meals ever. The photo above was the view we had from Devraj Restaurant and Cafe, a German bakery and eatery that attracts mainly foreigners. Clockwise: Masala chai, Maaza mango juice (which I've had literally every day since--supposedly it's sold at Wal-Mart...will someone let me know? PLEASE?!), and homemade spinach pasta. And we topped it off the next morning with banana and Nutella crepes, along with a fruit salad of papaya, mango, pineapple, and more.

So that was Rishikesh, weekend trip number one. All in all, a success, even with the crazy, burning hot bus ride for over 7 hours. We made it though, and plan on many more...