today is our last day in ahmedabad. students participated in a hertiage walk of the city this morning and we will be going to darpana, the center for non-violence, this afternoon, where they have mentioned they have prepared some special performance for us!

yesterday was quite long but incredibly interesting.  we visited the center for environmental education where we were given a series of presentations on what the organization is doing to educate communities about environmental impacts and also raise awareness about ecological handprints (positive things individuals and communities can do to reduce consumption of the world’s resources and preserve the environment) and footprints (quantitative measurements of how many resources we use on local and global scales.)  we took a short walk around their campus and the group was treated to some sightings of magestic peacocks roaming the grounds as well as families of langurs hanging from the trees and frolicking in the foliage.

from there, we ate at mirch masala, a great punjabi restaurant which is themed after indian dhabas, or roadside restaurants/stands. the decor was fun to see and the food was great!

our meeting in the afternoon took place at drishti, a locally operated human rights video production organization that has been working to empower local communities to make their own culturally and locally relevant video segments. we watched one relating to slum improvements on sanitation and also met with the founder/director, stakin k., who along with dr. sara ahmed,  gave the group some background on the 2002 riots in gujurat and ahmedabad specifically. we saw the startling and disturbing video footage he took in the days following the riots, documenting the violence towards the muslim communities here in the city.  it was quite difficult to see some of the images but also quite important for the students to become aware of ahmedabad’s relatively recent racial/ethnic tensions and the work being done to detail these crimes.

we leave tonight on the train for dahanu, approximately 3 hours north of mumbai, for our last days together. having been together for almost three weeks now, we have much to reflect on! everyone is looking forward to seeing the arabian sea and trying chickoo, the local fruit.  it’s not over y-e-t!

as esha stated below, we arrived on the overnight train from udaipur (southern rajasthan) at 4:20am and were quickly whisked to our hotel, while at the same time apprised of the fact that a city wide bandh, or strike, would be happening today as a result of the mysterious deaths of two boys at an ashram across town.
after having a few hours of sleep, we ate breakfast and assessed the situation, calling our local guide and deciding to visit the sabermati ashram, gandhi’s first of two ashrams in india.
it was here he started the famous salt march to dandi.
the ashram and museum offered a wonderful glimpse into his simplistic lifestyle and values and we were treated to a hands-on lesson in spinning cotton used for khadi, simple cotton clothes. there was a wonderful library and bookstore where many of us purchased books relating to gandhi. it was a great place!

from there, we ventured back to our bus and could see the closed shops and restaurants, all observing the bandh. we managed to find a restaurant that was still open and willing to feed us and have since returned to the hotel for the evening where we plan to watch a hindi movie entitled munna bhai, a bollywood production with gandhi references.

tomorrow everything should return to normal out on the streets and we are scheduled to visit sewa, a local women’s collective. rest assured that we are safe and sound in our hotel tonight, bandh or no bandh. (actually, it was quite an experience for the kids to learn about what motivated this community to strike and how pervasive the support for the strike was in the different neighborhoods we drove through this afternoon—-from this teacher, another valuable learning experience!)

c is for chalo, which in hindi means, “let’s go!”
we’ll be off and running starting tomorrow morning and we’ll be posting more….
we have many unique opportunities in the comings days here in ahmedabad so keep checking in for updates!

we arrived in delhi last night, went through customs and easily retrieved all our bags. we were lucky enough to meet grace, who arrived from london, right in the baggage claim area. we all feel complete now!

after being presented beautiful marogld garlands and boarding our bus, we headed to our hotel for a much needed few hours of rest and being horizontal! it’s now almost 8am, the horns are honking outside our hotel on the street,  rikshaws are whizzing by and our first full day in india is about to begin!  there is much excitement as we will be seeing some of the important sites related to gandhi’s life this afternoon.

we’ll be in touch soon.

(how this posting ended up on the arts & religion blogpage, i am not sure….)one last request from your trip leaders before our monday departure: we’ve devised what we hope will be a fun, creative project for the length of our india trip but it requires some participation on your end. we’d like you to bring some small, meaningful objects (maybe that at this point could fit in a small zip loc baggie?) it could be some small photos of your family, a rock from your garden that reminds you of home, a small icon or keychain that reminds you of the best friend you won’t see for the next few weeks, etc. anything that is sacred and meaninfgul to you—— and s-m-a-l-l! we’ll explain what we’re going to do with all of these things when we start out in delhi but we want you to come with some things from home and you’ll have the opportunity to add more things as we go through the trip. i am bringing some small photos and other trinkets, just to give you a idea. the more personalized it is, the better your project will be!  

2 trips departed- we’re next!  i’m more and more excited as i read the other sage postings from the community service and arts and religions trips.  i hope you are getting your bags packed, your last minute items taken care of and spending time with friends and family. you are going to have some wonderful stories to tell and photos to share in a few weeks when you return home.  but in between now and then, there’s so much of india to learn about and explore!  see you soon,-joy

t minus 7 days and counting! as we get ready to depart for india, elliott and i would like to say how excited we are to meet all of you and share in the adventures that await. see you in newark next monday! -joy