Sunday, October 25, 2009

Home Again


Sunrise on Australia
I returned home this week, after 8 weeks away. It will take me some time to process the experiences I have had, if I can at all. However highlights from my trip include
  • spending 6 weeks with the NGO in Tamil Nadu, teaching English and assisting with a human rights funding submission (it's fingers crossed now)
  • living in a rural and remote Indian village with no running water and relying on public transport
  • engaging in the lives of women and girls in their culture
  • discovering new places in South India that I love including Kovalam (Kerela) and Kodaikanal
  • 10 days in Nepal was simply amazing including
  • Kathmandu's Durbar Square, Swayambath and Bodnath
  • Chitwan National Park - Elephant washing and the Elephant Safari to see tigers
  • Pokhara and whitewater rafting, sunrise from the Peace Pagoda, Sunrise from Sarangkot Mountain, Downhill mountain treks and visits with local families on the way, and sublimely peaceful boating watching sunsets on the lake.
While traveling I was able to finish 3 books - soon to be reviewed, including
  • Brida by Paulo Coelho - this was part of my reading challenge for Lost in Translation
  • The last song of dusk by Siddharth Dahnvant Shanghvi - an Indian lovestory
  • Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami - this was part of my reading for the Japanese Literature Challenge 3
I'll leave you now with this image of the Himalayan Mountains on Pokhara lake, Nepal.