Going to India

I had been thinking about India as a destination ever since Greece. So I was spending a lot of my online time looking for a meditation retreat to attend. I had decided to do a 10 day beginner Vipassana course (www.dhamma.org). I had a recommendation from a couple of people along the way and felt like it is what I am looking for. A kind of crash course in meditation if you will. Basically it is 10 days of silence. No books, no journal, no nothing but you and your thoughts. The day starts at 4am and ends at 930pm and in between those hours you sit for 10 hours of meditation. Woah.

There are Vipassana centers all over the world and many of them in India. I didn’t know where to go so I had just picked one, worked with my mom to fill out an application that she then scanned and emailed to me since I did not have access to a printer. I never heard back from that retreat. But while we were in Sarajevo, I found out that Tim, our friend from the train, was originally from India. He was telling me all about things and told me that Karala (a State in the South) is one of the safest and most beautiful places in India. It is also where Morgan was suppose to go when Katrina hit. In our talks I felt really good about going there. When we got back to the hostel, I looked online and found a retreat in Karala and sent in the very easy online application form. By the time we got back from our walk around town, I was accepted. That was it, I was going. All I had to do was get the visa in Rome.