Category: India
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Freedom to Play (Mar. 6th)
By Alice Johnson Going to sleep in one place and waking up in another – that sums up our 18 hour bus ride through the Himalayas. With a few breaks, we got to the top of our amazing three mile hike. We all had great attitudes and smiles as we hiked up the steep mountain.…
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Closing the Mental Eye (Mar. 8th)
By Charlie Lange Our fearless group walks the path to Dodital. One foot in front of the other. Six miles, seven miles, we lose track. We wonder, “will we ever get there?” Finally we come upon the sacred temple to Ganesh. The same location where Ganesh was decapitated by Shiva as he was guarding the…
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True Purity (Mar. 6th)
By Kelsey English After sleeping in for the first time, we woke up to a glorious mountain morning. Although towering mountains surround us on all sides, I have never felt a freedom so pure. The vibrancy of Agora overwhelmed me in the best possible way. After 25 hours of traveling we were finally in the place…
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Like Birds (Mar. 8th)
By Roy Berry Meaningful experiences are like birds. If you run up to a bird and try to catch it, the bird will quickly fly away. If you bait the bird on a daily basis, it will eventually let its guard down and then you can snag it. In other words, the idea is not…
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No Hesitation
By Natalie Stevenson As we hiked down the mountain to the Assi Ganga river valley my only motivation was to put my days without showering behind me. I looked around the rock-filled river bed and the streams of water spewing here and there. I reminisced about my whitewater rafting days in Colorado. It was a beautiful…
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The Unexpected (Feb. 29th)
By Kieran Hanley Even though I did not catch a GT, the trip has been amazing. Waking up and getting in a rickshaw to one of the best beaches in Asia was a surreal experience. The rickshaw drive was awesome because I got to see most of the island. There was never a dull moment…
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Photographs
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Roaming & Haikus
Shaohan stayed in Agora when the group split in two. He kept an active, introspective mind through various experiences and conversations in the village. He also spent a lot of time thinking through writing. Here are some of the results: Roaming more like lost in the village went to Balbir’s house He is out end…
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A Day with Shiva (Mar. 7th)
March 7th was the beginning of the Shivyatri, an annual event in the Hindu calendar that celebrates Shiva, one of the religion’s most important gods. All across India, people spent the day fasting and praying. One of our students, Evan, decided to join the tradition. The day was monumental for him (he describes it as…
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Exploring the Valley
The Assi Ganga valley is an incredible educational resource. Our group, diverse as it is, is combing the “classroom” for meaning. This has already entailed countless conversations, helping to build the roof of a house, eating local meals, sending half the group off to Dodital Lake (yes, a CCS group finally made it!), visiting three different…
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Happiness is Essential (Mar. 2nd)
By Zhuoran Wu Today, March the 2nd, is our last full day on Havelock Island. I can’t believe we are going to leave this place tomorrow. Happiness is essential for life – it is also one of the main topics of this trip. Everyone, students and teachers, separated into three groups today: all-day fishing group,…
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Beautiful Lessons (March 6th)
By Kathryn James Warm smiles welcomed us into the village. The gentle hellos and the bright facial expressions made me feel content and relaxed. Coming from the United States, where I think the little actions aren’t recognized enough, it was refreshing to visit Agora. I see a culture where one does not look to say…
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Update from Agora
We are settled into our mountain home. The travel from the Andaman Islands to this quiet corner of the Himalayas was epic – a 2 hour ferry ride, a 6 hour flight, an 18 hour bus ride and a 3 hour hike. This group handled it impressively, with smiling faces and eager minds. Our plans…
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Going All Out
By Caleb Lewis This trip has been amazing so far – from the start in New Delhi to going to the Andamans and arriving on Havelock Island. Havelock is beautiful, truly beautiful. The only word that can describe how I see it is unique. When I arrived on the island, I expected a perfect place…
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The Value of a Village (Mar. 2nd)
By Avery Shivers They smiled cheerfully. I asked them about their school. One child explained that his family lives in Calcutta (Kolkata) but he stays and studies on Havelock Island. He was about five feet tall and six years old. I thought of the misery of 6 year-old Avery being thousands of miles from his…