Oh boy... I have lost track of this blog. Hard to believe it has only been 2 weeks. So much has happened, it feels like I have been here for months! Lots of ups and downs, more ups than downs I would say so far. Let's see... So had a rough time getting out of Mumbai. Our train tickets didn't get off the waiting list so our ticket was canceled.. Little did we know that we could have got on the train anyway but not guaranteed seats. So we got on an overnight bus to Goa. Well worth it. Spent 4 days in south Goa (in peace and quiet, away from the party scene) with the love of my life. I was proposed to (and said yes) walking down the ocean shoreline. We also visited some of the north Goa beaches which were equally as beautiful but much more crowded. Still feels like a dream world. Got very sick leaving Goa because of shitty conditions of our hostel... Rough train ride to Mirazapur. Twenty eight hours in sleeper class is entirely to long!!!! Sleeper class is the cheap class that is basically communal and all you have is a plastic mattress basically, three tiered. It wasn't too bad other than being very ill. Highlight of the trip so far was staying on Gopalpur Farm with Ahana Organics. Very rewarding experience, working with local villagers and learning the farming practices. It still amazes me how generous people are... Dhruv Tripathi and his family welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts as their first WWOOFers. We had it made, living in a teepee and being in complete peace and harmony, away from the noisy and crazy cities. We did everything from pruning, planting, making compost, healing indigenous trees that fell victims to pest with natural products (a handmade mixture of neem oil, water and cow urine), took care of some of the farm animals, etc. We miss the farm already but are doing great things in Varanasi too. A good friend of Dhruv's named Michael (from Germany) lives here and has a school for homeless/beggar children as well as a bakery. The farm supplies wheat, barely, etc. to Michael. We are helping in the school to build roof top gardens in order to feed the children lunches as well as helping in the bakery. Got to Varanasi yesterday and took a boat ride on the Ganges to see the burning of the bodies and other religious ceremonies. More later on that experience and what it means to a Hindu to be burned and carried by the holy river. Very magical! What a beautiful part of death. Anyway, I am so blessed for this opportunity and happy to be in the holiest city. Miss you all. Will write more soon while I'm here with internet access.