Satsanga >> A Place for Community

I totally forgot that I never shared the rest of my India pictures! Today I thought I'd share some pics of the place we stayed, Satsanga. It was really, truly, the best place I have ever stayed in my whole life. It's not lavish, but it's beautiful, serene, and feels like a home away from home. Satsanga means community in Sanskrit, and it is the perfect word to describe this place. These pictures don't do it justice, as is usual with such experiences, but hopefully some of the magic of the place comes through.

One of the things that made it so special, was all of the people working there. Satsanga employs about 25 people from the local village, mostly women, and this provided them with a good income. It can be very hard for women especially to find well-paying jobs in India. And they were amazing! They saw to every need, and always added extra touches to everything. There was one woman who went out every other day and placed fresh flowers everywhere, like on this Buddha statue. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the people. This is one thing I struggle with when traveling: taking pictures of people. They are what I want to remember the most, but not only am I too shy to ask sometimes, I also don't want to feel like I'm exploiting the people. I think it's a fine line of being respectful and treating people like they are on display for their "otherness."

This is the room where we stayed. I shared with another girl, who turned out to be an awesome and sweet spirit. The rooms were simple, but plenty comfortable, and we had our own bathroom as well. We left all the doors and windows open at night to get as much air moving as possible. The ceiling fan was a lifesaver!

This where we would often hang out, or eat together in the evenings. There were so many cozy places like this.

A traditional temple to Shiva, where many of the Hindu staff members would leave offerings of fruit and incense on their way in.

More cozy loveliness.

This is the larger of the yoga shalas that we practiced in. Isn't it beautiful? I didn't get a good shot of the other shala, but that one is up high in the treetops. The flower pattern was on the floor one day for another group who was finishing a teacher training.

In addition to all of this amazingness, there were several cats and three dogs who live there, and they were always up for a pet. I think that really made it feel homey, and helped me to not miss my own animals as much. And the FOOD! I could do a whole post on the food...it was soooooooo good.

Satsanga mainly caters to retreats and teacher trainings, but if they have space you can also just stay there as a regular guest. If you ever find yourself in Goa...

shanti >> sondra

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India v2 >> El Shaddai Orphanage

First off, thank you all SO MUCH for all of the lovely birthday wishes! It was truly a weekend to remember, I had a blast. Pizza was had, champagne was drunk, cupcakes were eaten, karaoke was (badly) sung, and Mad Men was watched. What more could a girl ask for?

Today I thought I would share some more pictures from my trip to India, this time from our visit to the El Shaddai Orphanage. Admittedly, I was a little nervous about this part of the trip. I sometimes feel like I'm not that great with kids, and I had no idea what to expect. Would it be sad? Would it be hard to communicate? Would they even care that we were there?

Well, I shouldn't have worried. The kids certainly weren't! They were just like little kids anywhere-- curious, playful, rambunctious, and carefree. These first few pics are of the building itself, where the children all live. This house had about 50 kids under the age of 7 or so living here. There were other houses for the older kids.

The room above is the main room where they sleep and spend their time indoors. The mats piled up on the back are what they sleep on.

All of the little toothbrushes piled up. How they keep them separate, I have no idea, maybe they don't.

This is where all of the clothes were kept. I think they're just sorted by size, and the kids wear them that way.

This is the back, where laundry is hung out to dry, and chickens are kept. There were also pretty new-looking bathroom and shower facilities.

Is this place grim, especially by Western standards? Most definitely. But after hearing that many of these kids are here because their parents were exploiting them in the slums, or because their parents couldn't afford to feed them (some were brought here by their parents, who can visit them), it doesn't seem as bad in comparison. Some of these kids, as young as 3, were made to collect recycling in the streets of Delhi or Mumbai, and told not to come home if they didn't have enough. They would likely not be getting fed everyday, let alone going to school.

Here, they go to school everyday, have a clean, warm place to sleep, and receive regular medical care. Their English is impeccable, and the workbooks they showed me were full of creativity, smarts, and big dreams. El Shaddai has programs that run all the way into adulthood, to prepare them for a life where they can work and earn a good living. Of course an orphanage is no substitute for a stable, loving family who can provide for you, but the reality is, these kids did not have that.

The girl above, Saraya, was SO CUTE! She attached herself to me right away, and wanted to play, play, play. She and her sister reminded me a lot of me and my sister at their ages.

We brought stickers and markers for the kids, who went nuts for them. As we started handing them out, more and more little hands would appear to get whatever you had.

I brought sidewalk chalk, which they were really into, but got taken away by the staff pretty quickly (I think because they didn't want them to make a mess -- fair enough!). I hope they get to play with it another day.

Almost as much as the stickers, the kids LOVED seeing pictures of themselves on our cameras. I took countless pictures of them, and as soon as I was done with each one, they'd run over to peer at the screen on the back.

It was such an unforgettable experience, and I'm so glad it was part of our trip. I had a blast playing hide and seek with the kids, swinging in trees, and taking pictures of each other. It wasn't much, but I hope it was a bright spot for them, because it definitely was for me.

If you'd like to learn more about El Shaddai and the work they do, or better yet to contribute, please check out their website for more info.

shanti >> sondra

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India v.1 >> The Beach

It's high time I start posting some of my trip pics, amirite? I've put off going through my pictures thus far for a couple of reasons. One, I think I wanted it all to sink in and absorb, before delving in and trying to recreate the memories and feelings in my head. It was too wonderful to just dissect right away like that. And, two, I was hoping I would be able to share some of the pictures from some other people in the group, but we haven't been able to get that organized yet. So, without further adieu, here is the first post!

I'm going to try and break these up thematically a bit, so to start off, we're heading to the beach! This is what we did on our first full day in India, so it makes sense to start there. Goa is all about the beaches, so naturally we spent our share of time on the sand.

The little beach restaurants and shacks would be at the edge of the beach, and then they would put out chairs and umbrellas out front. You don't lay on the sand in India, apparently it's not dignified or something. The restauants make money by having waiters walk around and bring you whatever you order. Pretty sweet!

This woman was walking up and down the beach selling fresh coconuts and fruit, which she would then hack open for you. We got fresh coconuts with straws. Mmmmmmmm.... I loved the way she carried it on her head, just she and the ocean.

These guys were out fishing and were carrying their nets. At one of the beaches we were at, they would walk around selling fresh fish to the people laying out on the chairs, which you could then have the restaurant cook up for you. I don't like seafood anyway, but those fish smelled like food poisoning waiting to happen.

We went to this same beach a few times, and this woman was hands down the best saleswoman in Goa. Every time we were there, she would talk us into buying things and then paying too much for them. She was good.

I hope you enjoyed this first glimpse of my India trip! Don't worry, there's LOTS more to come. I'll try and spread the posts out over the next couple of weeks so as not to inundate you all though. ;)

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It's actually a BEAUTIFUL day here in Seattle, so I'm going to get off my keister and out into the sunshine before I have to be sequestered to my desk at work for the day. I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

shanti >> sondra

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Leaving >> On a Jet Plane

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It's finally time for me to leave for India!!!! What do I mean, finally, I actually can't believe it's time already! You know how you anticipate something, and it always seems so far away, and then BAM! you're doing it? That's what this feels like.

I am super excited to be going though, it should be an adventure of a lifetime. I'll be staying for 10 days in Goa, India, which is on the West coast and is very beachy. I am staying at a yoga retreat center, and will be studying and practicing yoga for about 3 hours everyday. I'll then spend the rest of the time sightseeing, hanging out at the beach, and volunteering. I'm really looking forward to just spending some quality "me" time --  reflecting, working on some creative projects, and just relaxing. I have lots of books queued up, and am excited to delve a little deeper into a few things I haven't had time for. I turn the big 3-0 three weeks after I get back, so this trip is my way of saying goodbye to my 20s, and jumping into and looking forward to my 30s.

But you guys are in for a super awesome treat while I'm gone! A group of lovely ladies have agreed to guest-blog for me in my stead, and they have put together some fan-tabulous posts for you all. I hope you like their posts as much as I do, and hopefully you'll find a new blogger or two to add to your roll!

OH and before I forget: I am planning to Instagram like CRAZY while I'm gone! If you don't already, find me @instasondra to follow along with all my shenanigans! The more the merrier! (For the Luddites out there, you can use a web app like followgram to follow along, too!)

See you on the flipside, dude meisters!

shanti >> sondra

Oh, the Places >> You'll Go

Guys, I am so excited...in a little over 6 weeks I'm going to India! I put my deposit down just before Christmas, but this last week I bought my plane tickets and got all of my visa paperwork submitted, so now it feels real.

My husband asked me a few months ago what I wanted to do for my 30th birthday, and I said go to India. I half meant it, half figured it would never happen. But then, one of my favorite yoga teachers announced that she was leading a retreat in Goa, India in March, and the price was not crazy. So I said yes. Without too much thinking about it, without asking too many questions, I leapt. Sometimes, things just feel right.

I'll be going with 7 other women connected in various ways to this yoga community, but the trick is, I have to get myself all the way around the world alone. We meet at the retreat center in Goa. I am strangely not nervous about this. I'm sure as the plane approaches Mumbai I will feel differently. But for now, I am just excited to spend two weeks on the beach, doing yoga, and immersing myself in something totally wonderful and strange.

Aaaaaiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)

shanti >> sondra

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