"People in America Eat Cow?!?!"

Well okay, maybe the 20-some Indian children staring at me didn't have the vocabulary to actually articulate that. But, if I learned anything from teaching English as a foreign language, it was how to understand people based on expression and tone. Needless to say, the students' reaction suggested they were completely and utterly appalled at the very thought of human beings eating cow, an animal their religion deems as holy.

As I continued babbling about life in America, I noticed that every student in the class was clearly fascinated by me - if not by what I was saying (with their teacher translating as needed in Hindi), then by how different (non-Indian) I looked. They ate up every word that I spoke, full of questions and hungry for more.

Ever wonder where the expression "holy cow!" comes from?

Happy Holi!

In some places in India, there are more festivals than there are days of the year. In fact, life in India is pretty much one big festival and they certainly know how to celebrate it.

Though I've experienced lots of little festivals in three months, I'd been looking forward to experiencing one of North India's biggest festivals: Holi.

Holi is a Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon day of the Phalgun month (usually February/March). There are so many legends surrounding Holi that is difficult to get a clear grasp on the events. As one legend has it (in a very short summary), someone was thrown into a fire but spared his life because he prayed to Lord Vishnu.

Varanasi: India on Steroids

Take everything completely over the top and culture shocking about India, times it by 100 - and welcome to Varanasi.

The many ironies of India are further exaggerated and outrageous in Varanasi, one of the holiest yet dirtiest cities in the country. An ancient city even older than Jerusalem, Varanasi is the “beating heart of Hinduism.” Devout Hindus flock here with three typical purposes: to die, cremate a loved one and/or wash away their sins in the holy Ganga river.

This guy is the more decently dressed of some babus who are completely naked and
 hang things from their genitals. Let's just say drugs may play a part in the spirituality of some babus.

Living Like a Local in Pushkar

Everyone in Pushkar is either chanting, meditating, praying or on their way to do so. Most mornings begin with the sound of humming mantras, the days are filled with bathing and making puja in the holy lake and end with spiritual drumming late into the night. As one of the holiest Hindu cities in all of India, what better place to slow down and get comfortable for a while.

When you're traveling long-term, it's necessary to occasionally take time in one location without an agenda. In five months, the longest I've stayed in one place was two weeks in Bangkok. After moving around too much in the past month, I was in need of some serious soul rejuvenation when I arrived.

Got the India Bug

Intense.

That's the best I can come up with in a word, yet that adjective barely scrapes the surface in describing the subcontinent.

India is a country of stark contrasts: amazing and frustrating; straightforward and complicated; rancid and fragrant; ornate and poverty-stricken; tame but barbaric; sacred and ungodly; free and suppressed; modern and outdated; civilized yet discourteous; breathtakingly scenic and despicable; delicious yet bacteria-ridden; homogenous and diverse; sneaky but sincere; principled and corrupt;  full of creeps & thieves as well as genuine Indians who rearrange their entire day to make you feel at home.