Hello From Bangalore!

Here I am.  A whopping 8,400 miles away from family & friends of whom I miss a lot, and yet a mere 10.5 hours away from those cool, Minnesota temps; which I miss roughly the same. Kidding! (Am I?)

Bangalore, India! What a place! Our group of 16 students (8 from Gustavus, 8 from Concordia) has been settled into our campus for roughly two weeks now. The campus has been such a nice contrast from the busy city scene. With roughly six acres of space & 45 minutes outside of Bangalore, I'm always happy to return after a chaotic day in the city. 

The 2012 Social Justice, Peace and Development group.
 Taken after our welcoming ceremony.

 I realize I'm starting this a bit late into the game so I'll play some quick catch up! We arrived on August 26th and since then, every bit has been a learning experience. We were welcomed to campus with a colorful ceremony & from there started our orientation classes. These classes are geared to get us to think critically about social justice issues, and unlearn many of the things we've held as truth. Needless to say, our conversations have been extremely thought provoking, at times frustrating, but all the while inspiring. 

So while we do spend much of our time conversing & analyzing, there's always room for some fun :) So far, we've attempted to learn the game of cricket, climb a coconut tree, cook traditional Indian food, receive henna from our peers - more about them later -  and many other entertaining things!

We share our campus with another group of students who attend Visthar's Community College.  These students are from India and tend to be lower caste/class.  We meet with them several times a week to exchange songs, dances, games, language, and so on.  Becoming friends with these students has been incredibly eye opening.  Not to mention my Kannada vocabulary is growing! I'd love to elaborate on these experiences, but for time sake I'll save it for later.

We have ventured into Bangalore a handful of times now, 

A typical day starts at 6:30am when we farm with the VCC students.  We have breakfast at 8:00 and our first class begins at 9:30a.  We break for tea at 10:45 and resume a second class at 11:30a.  Lunch is at 1:00p and our afternoons consist of study time, free time, etc.  Most days we meet up with our VCC friends before having dinner at 6:30p.  

farming onam bangalore night & day - 30 rupees