the hill station that saved my sanity and the end of MSID

Time is such a tricky thing. Sometimes minutes are hours but weeks are seconds here. I can't believe my program is over. I just finished my Hindi final, turned in my final internship report, and had a delicious lunch of unidentifiable vegetables that looked kind of like lemon pickles and unidentifiable dal with unidentifiable fried balls that tasted just like french onion soup. so it goes. it's been a weird few days, everyone is getting ready for very different upcoming weeks, some are going straight back to the US, some to Europe, others spending a few weeks in India. Everyone is frantically finalizing travel plans, housing and and jobs internships at home, and planning meet ups over the summer. Its exciting and bizarre, the idea of being finished, of traveling, of returning home. Its been kind of an emotional ride, only made more intense by the extreme heat and insomnia.

So Wednesday Dana and I hopped a train to Mt. Abu, the only hill station in Rajasthan, a cool oasis from the intense desert climate. We spent our days hiking, saw what are considered to be the world's most intricate marble carvings in a Jain temple, and eating crazy amounts of a berry that must have been a close relative to the blackberry, so good.


the Jains know whats up.


on one of our walks around the lake.


at our favorite restaurant. the mysore masala dosa rocked my life, and was animal product free to boot.


Dana and I on one of our day hikes.

After a pretty miserable/long train ride to Jaipur, we made to our hotel and had an amazing reunion with our friends including a feast of fresh pomegranate seeds. The last few days have been spent wrapping up all loose ends, packing, donating, bartering, trading, shopping, and trying to making sense of the last few months of our lives.

Saturday I leave for Delhi, then off for more adventures.

hope all of your own adventures are going well,
love,
sarah