What's Now?

As we have turned the corner of the new year and our travels- people seem  to want to know "What is next?" or even more "Are you planing on coming back to New York?" We are still working on what is now! And enjoying it immensely. 

I took Naia and Amit  on a side trip to see Krishna Das (a wonderful teacher and singer)  chanting on Mother Ganga and it was a wonderful week of bonding and exploring. We spent hours walking along the river, watching people bathe in the frigid water, offering puga and blessings to the river, asking for blessings from Mother Ganga and of course chanting our hearts out with Krishna Das. We ate delicious food, drank a lot of hot fresh chai and met amazing, inspiring and beautiful people. We chanted the Hanuman Chalisa every night on the river with about 50-100 people during Ganga Arti. We spoke to Bab's and Sadhus (Holy men) and became friends with shop owners who entertained the girls for hours with their wares. We witnessed homeless people, homeless families, sick children and neglected elderly. The travel was rough and the weather was brisk and cold but once again, the girls showed an amazing amount of strength and resilience. I am in awe of them and can only hope that we can inspire and support each other again and again. 

MOTHER GANGA- DIVINE

SWEET COWS ON MOTHER GANGA

BINDI ACTION!

GETTING A BINDI

We have been in Patnem, Goa since October. We love it here and have been enjoying the weather, the freedom, nature, growth, new friends, and being curious about what is next for us. While talk of the future is there all the time- we are making a point to just enjoy where we are and allow the future to reveal itself. Control and anxiety over the future is a path that we are not willing to be on.  It is magical and heart warming to be able here with the girls learning, exploring, and stoking their curiosity. We feel blessed to have this precious time together and it has taught us a lot about the way in which we want to live and raise our kids, the values that are dear to us and what we think all of us truly need in order to grow and thrive. We feel blessed to be able to put some tools in their toolbox to be able to navigate the world and hope that we never create barriers to their openness and curiosity. The girls are wonderful travel partner and have become super savvy little ones. 

Naia - "No mom, that is not a cow. It is a bull. Look at the horns." 

Amit- "That boy is not English. He sounds Russian when he speaks and his name is Russian sounding." (Her school is like the UN- many nationalities. And she is great at calling it just by their name and accent.)

Avigail - Singing away in Hindi all the time. Kissing nearly anyone who gives her a smile and loving to take photos with all the Indians who ask.

The girls are comfortable using squat toilets and are totally fine pulling down their pants to do their business most anywhere.

Amit learned to swim and duck big waves! Being in the water every day will do that.

They are all pros with the night busses and will fall asleep anywhere when they are tired. 

NOTHING LIKE A LOVING COW

PARMATH NIKETAN ASHRAM

GANGA ARTI 

MANY DEVOTEES AT GANGA ARTI

FIRE CEREMONY AT THE ARTI

KRISHNA DAS! 

AMIT'S BEST FRIEND- THE JEWELER

HOT CHAI FOR COLD DAYS IN RISHIKESH

MANY BEGGARS IN RISHIKESH

BEAUTIFUL BANYAN

ONE OF MANY ASHRAMS ON THE RIVER BANK

BUYING PUJA BASKET 

GETTING THE BASKETS READY AND SAYING PRAYER

SENDING OFF THE BASKET

BEING CARTED OVER THE RIVER FOR THE NIGHT BUS

BACK HOME WITH A FRESH COCONUT

WE ARE ALL ABOUT BEING NAKED

POPPY CAME FOR HANNUKAH

WITH JENN AT THE BEACH

JENN AND THE GIRLS

ELISE AND I

NATASHA AND THE GIRLS

BIRTHDAY GLITTER

BIRTHDAY BEACH PARTY FOR AMIT

SCHOOL PARTY FOR AMIT

BEACH PARTY FOR AMIT

In these past months we have had a fantastic time with our visitors from abroad: Jennifer, Michel (my dad), Natasha, and Elise, my sister. Thank you all for coming to see us. Having friends and family come from home was eye opening, challenging, and a lot of fun. Itay and I both felt that these visits sparked and stoked many good talks about our life and values.

The next part of our journey is a bit unknown and scattered (the way we like it). Our  Indian visa ends in a few weeks. We have decided to go to Thailand and come back here. We will fly to Thailand for one week, apply for a new visa and then Itay and the girls will return here to Goa. I will travel to Tulum, Mexico where I teach my yearly retreat and then I will fly back to India to meet the family. At the end of Feb. my mother comes  (YAY!)

and we will bid adieu to Goa and journey to Kochin, Munnar, Thekady with my mom. From there Itay and I are open. We have ideas of what to do, but are taking it one day at a time and allowing the ideas to flow and unfold. At some point we will go to Israel and then hoping to go to Greece and Spain. But who knows? Our plan has changed MANY times in the last months and really: we prefer to be plan-less! 

We will however, be sure to update the blog when new things are happening. 

Sending love and light.