Delhi bound, then Deli bound

Our time in Dharmsala has come to an end and it was an incredible way to spend the last couple weeks our trip- the mountains, the yoga, the hiking, and great friendships with other travelers. A couple of the highlights for me were practicing conversational English with a group of monks at the Tibetan refugee center and SEEING the Dalai Lama! While Dan was on his trek, it was the 51st anniversary of the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala so he gave a special puja (prayer ceremony)and the public was welcome. I had a seat on the path from his home to the Temple so he walked right by me! Here are the photos from our time in Dharmsala.

We left one Tibetan area for another and are staying in the Tibetan area in Delhi until we fly home tonight. We've had the chance to prepare ourselves mentally for leaving and are feeling good about coming home. I am excited to hug and kiss my dad and Ralph and eat tuna and smoked white fish on rye from Star Deli!

Thank you to everyone who has followed us on this adventure. All of the comments on our blogposts and pictures and the emails have meant so much. Knowing that we had the support and encouragement from our friends and family made it easier to leave everything we had at home to go on this adventure. We are taking so much away from this experience, and while our time in India was not always easy, there is not one moment of the trip we regret. We intentionally focused more on the good and beautiful than the sad and hard in this blog. We were able to give our professional skills to our projects while also being able to travel and see so much, yet only a small fraction of this vast country. We will be back in India one day because we have a lot more to do, see, and give.

This is the last post of this adventure, but not our last adventure.
Namaste,
Kate & Dan

P.S. I meant to blog about this earlier, but never did. While I was here I read some great Indian literature, but at one point I took a break from fiction to read 'Half the Sky' by Nicholas Kristof, a gift from Edwina Davis a few months before we left. This book is filled with stories, facts, and calls to action on the topic of oppression towards women, throughout the developing world. It is sorta like 'chicken soup for the soul' meets the issues of women's oppression throughout the world, and a significant part of the book focuses on India. In addition to learning about the history, culture, and religion of India during our time here, I learned a lot about the social issues from our NGO, from my time in the field, and in talking with other AJWS volunteers. Of the many problems Indians are facing, like much of the developing world, is sex trafficking. I am sharing this article, courtesy of Dan Berman, if you want to know more about this horrific, abusive industry, and an example of hope. So this is my plug for Kristof's book- let me know what you think.