Mother Ganga

sooo the thing is.. i have to wake up to this view every morning as i step out of my tent.
but i'm not mad.

it is a little blurry cause that is how i see in the morning.
India is awesome.. and the Ganga is holy. many religious people come on pilgrimages to bathe in the Ganga to have their sins washed away.
and they carry water from the Ganga back to their villages.
Did i mention that they walk? often times they travel for weeks on these religious crusades.
I just walk down from my tent and bathe in the Ganga when i feel like it.
Awesome!
-Rams

btw, my pal JOE likes to write more than me so i am having him write this post...
but i will comment in blue..

Allow myself to introduce myself, This is Barrie Joe.
Rams and I sometimes, maybe between awesome rafting trips, adventure into the local cities.
Here's Rams walking by the store where they sell cow.

Look how huge i am compared to some humans.. what a beefcake!?

Not really. India just has a lot of cows. and buffalos. and oxen. Sometimes they belong to village families. But sometimes, as best as we can figure, some cows just wander the streets aimlessly.
This guy was eating a card board box when we saw him.

its crazy these cows just look at us like whatcha lookin at cracka!! this is my HOME!!

Here's the boats and my man, Raju. He's cool. He likes Indian food, and so do I.


The luxurious accommodation we call home is this kick butt old army wall tent. 10x10. That's right, 100 square feet.
LUXURY!

One time, on a town adventure, which I hated because of all the smells, we visited a holy place. There were a lot of pilgrimagesers collecting water from the holy Ganga and this statue of shiv, his cobra, his wife, and his horses. Here we are in front of it. The whole thing weirded me out pretty bad.

the cows and manure, the crazy beggars, the smells of vomit and food mixing in the air. Tooooo much "culture" for me to absorb in one day. I don't think I'll be back soon. or ever.

I decided that it is not wrong for Joe to not like the culture and experience, however I thought it was beautiful.. the culture, the colors, the wierdness, even the smells and insense, and ceremonial smoke.., shiv. awesome!

out of time.. until next time..

Rams

HAIKU?

where now are thy feet

thy path be always with them

never seperate

Maybe the reason i never blog is because i always feel like i have to catch up...

never more.

id like to say that i just dont care but i am soo secretly compulsive that may be a lie.

i still like cheese. a lot.

i keep getting older but im not sad about it cause it doesnt look too bad (my mom still thinks i am handsome).

but you can decide that for yourself:

i feel like i always look a little better with some pastel and a nice background.

so here i am still being a wolverine

i decided to do something special this semester called my practicum and internship.

that just means i have a legitimate excuse to have an adventure in India.

..and get school credit for it!

i will leave on thursday to India to be a river guide on the Ganga river

Haiku-

Embodied Ganga

Devine goddess formed on earth

wash away my sins

-by Joe Nielson

my pal Joe and i will be living on the river near the city called Rishikesh.

RISHIKESH:

An city, which by law, is vegetarian, alcohol-free, and has banned the use of plastic bags by shop keepers and vendors. also, considered by many to be the yoga capitol of the world.

souls deep symphony

the Himilayan foot-hills

there may she be heard