Hello parents, family, and friends of the Summer SAGE Arts and Religions trip!

I don’t have much time to post a whole lot at the moment, but I just wanted to let you all know that we made it safely to India, and our trip so far has been great!  We are in Bangalore at the moment, staying at the Sangam Arts Center about 1 1/2 hours outside the downtown. It took us a VERY long time to get here, due to some late flights, missing bags (only mine - everyone else’s made it safely, and mine arrived later), terminal changes, and heavy rains.  But the group did a great job in staying positive and helping each other out - and when we did finally make it to our destination, we had good food, beautiful surroundings, and wonderful hosts (Imo and Kiran) to welcome us and make us feel at home!

The group has spent the past couple of days getting to know each other, as well as taking part in a number of Orientation sessions geared towards preparing them for the adventure that lies ahead!  We had some lectures with a famous contemporary artist, Jyothi Sahi, and we had a chance to explore two Hindu temples in the Nilgiri Hills.  Today we have ventured away from the quiet village area around Sangam and into the heart of Bangalore - a very different side of India indeed!  The group went to their first market this morning, and had their first banana-leaf lunch this afternoon.

The group is getting along really well, and Jake and I are constantly impressed with them.

Tomorrow night we say goodbye to Sangam and head to Kerala for the next chapter of our adventure together…