HMI Diwali Celebration!

Hi everyone! This is Peder, posting for Tuesday, October 17.

We began this day at devotion, hearing a beautiful musical performance from Sikh Keertans. The performance lasted roughly an hour and was such a peaceful, calming experience. After the daily devotion, we got on a bus to travel to the Ramakrishna Math to hear from a Hindu Monk who teaches and resides there.  He spoke to us about Hinduism as a whole and the philosophies Hinduism consists of. Upon returning to HMI, we attended lecture with Dr. Yugalu Rayulu as he spoke to us about Indian history and contemporary Indian society, breaking for chai halfway through.


At night, we were lucky enough to attend HMI’s Diwali Celebration. It was a crowded, beautiful event, consisting of many prayers, songs, and dances from the community. Afterwards, there was a feast with unbelievable rice, curry, bread, and chai. Many of us finished our meals sweating from the spice, but it was certainly worth it and one of the most delicious meals we’ve had so far. When they started playing music, the dinner quickly turned into one big dance party and the floor was filled with kids and students, dancing their hearts out to Shakira. All of the kids were eager to show off their dance moves and we had the time of our lives dancing alongside. The dancing eventually came to a close and we went our ways, retiring until the next day. We will all certainly carry memories of this night going forward and we feel so lucky to have been able to be a part.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Are Family -12/1 Beijing, China

Image
Good day to you, families and friends of us Globies! Alexandra here again, struggling to find new ways to open this blogpost! Today we had the chance to sleep in, which is an opportunity none of us squander away. In the afternoon, we went out with our Chinese buddies to the Summer Palace, which at this time of year, is quite cold and the lake was frozen over, but it was gorgeous and we all had a blast making new friends. But the most exciting part of today by far was waiting with Matthew for acceptance emails from dental schools he applied to. Spoiler alert: He got in!!! Pretty early on in the trip, our group as a whole started to realize the potential for us to turn into an extension of our families. I always laugh a little to think back to Rome when one of our only-child Globies looked around the table at lunch and said something like, "You are all going to be my brothers and sisters at the end of this. I am sorry, but you have no choice!" I have to admit, there have...
Read more

The last day

To say that this was one of the longest days of our lives would not be an understatement, by the time we made it to the Minneapolis airport it was the 29th hour we had been awake (those who went to Seattle had a similar situation). This very long day was filled with a lot of active! Most of us (besides Ellie because she had already left) woke up at 7 to say goodbye to the 4 people fighting to Seattle! Those who were left in china finished some last minute packing and essay writing before we headed off to a group lunch at the “orange chicken restaurant”. All 12 of us packed into one table had a great last lunch. By the time we got back it was time to load the bus and set off to the airport. After checking in we all gathered at the gate waiting to board. When it was almost time to get on we said good by to the Riply Family and filed onto the plan. After a lot of movies, journaling, plane food and listening to a crying baby we touched down in the US. It was time for another round of goo...
Read more

We Are From

I am from 114 days of travel I am from circumnavigating the globe I am from Italy, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, India, Thailand, and China I am from 24 people who held me together and carried me through I am from Kate and her contagious laugh I am from Rachael's endurance and love for her family and friends I am from Matthew's tendency to go out of his way to help everyone he knows I am from Will's passion for all he does I am from Erin and her ability to wear her heart on her sleeve I am from Rose and her dedication to adventure I am from Peder and his enormous heart of gold I am from James' dedication to fully experiencing each new location I am from Ellie and all of the hard work she puts into everything, for her sake and ours I am from Alexandra and her keen sense of important going's on I am from Adam's desire to know everyone deeply I am from Anna and her ability to introduce laughter into any situation I am from Maren and ...
Read more