नमसते (namaste!)
Sorry I haven' t written in such a long time - things have been very busy over here. I went on a white water rafting trip for quarter break which was a blaste! We went to a town called Rishikesh and stayed in tents on the beach. We had a yoga instructor come and we did yoga on the beach while watching the sunrise, it was beautiful. The group (around 12 girls) rafting on the Ganges (or Ganga as they say here) Rivers - it's a holy river were people bath, collect their water supply, and place dead bodies (because it is a holy river). It was quite an experience - I didn't see any dead bodies as we were near the source (thankfully!). The town was beautiful which great little shops - but even in this beautiful town there was so much poverty. We had to cross a bridge and the whole time we are walking (it was quite a long bridge) this little girl was following me and kept repeating "5 rupees, 5 ruppes" I almost had to run away from her once we got off the bridge because I felt so bad. My friend and I bought chips and handed them out to people who looked like they needed something to eat - in the US charity can sometimes be an insult but these people almost grabbed the food out of our hands! These little kids kept following after us say "काना (kana)" which means "food" I felt bad but we gave them their chips and then just had to ignore them. I am off on a week hike in around a week - it is a glacier trek (we get to see the glaciers) which I am very excited for but a little nervous because I am not in hiking shape. I will be posting pictures soon from Rishikesh and from sports day (I ran, did high jumps and hurdles) which was very funny because I have never done high jump or hudles in my life!

Until Next time,
केथरीन (Catherine)