This week was my last as a Cross Cultural Solutions volunteer. On Thursday Ben (who completed his program at the same time) and I packed up our bags and returned to Delhi to complete our final exit interviews.
Leaving Dharamsala was bittersweet… I’m sad to leave behind my volunteer friends and the staff, who have been like a surrogate family for the last six weeks. At the same time, I’m excited to be traveling and seeing new places again, and a little relieved to get away from the madness that has reigned since the new volunteers arrived. I didn’t even bother to say goodbye to one of our new roommates, who snapped at me the morning I was leaving about cleaning up my mess in the sink before I left. In truth, the drain was clogged with stinky cheese that some other volunteer put there – but I guess she’ll find out who’s really making those messes when I’m gone.
Ben and I opted to take a car/train combo instead of the overnight bus ride from hell, which allowed us to travel during the day, see some of the north Indian countryside, 
and visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar, in the state of Punjab. The temple is the most sacred shrine in Sikhism, and Sikhs from around the world come there. The temple was gorgeous, and it was fascinating to the sheer number of people there participating in worship, holy bathing and other rituals.
The trip was enjoyable, but also a shock after the relative peace and quiet of Dharamsala. As we drove into Amritsar, I felt completely overwhelmed by the noise, pollution and crowds. The traffic was intense (to put it lightly), and everywhere I looked I saw chaos. And did I mention the noise?
Thankfully, our train trip was a pleasure after that craziness. We were delighted with the meal service (snacks, tea, and a multicourse dinner in tiny trays), 
and there were even outlets to power our laptops. And as always, I was amazed and delighted with the porter service at the train station. It’s astonishing that you can pay roughly $1 and have a guy hoist your excessively heavy bags on top of his head and carry them wherever you like.
Ben and I spent Friday running errands all over Delhi, then had our CCS exit interviews and goodbye dinner. 
Unfortunately, from the exit interviews it sounds like the Delhi volunteers had a much different experience than we did. They were very negative, complaining about the rules and restrictions and schedules, while Ben and I were like some sunshiny commercial for international volunteerism. Somehow over the last six weeks we eased up and became very laid back and slower-paced, so it felt almost like an assault to encounter all their negativity. Thank goodness I chose Dharamsala!
This morning I made my way by train to Agra, where I plan to see the Taj Mahal tomorrow. This will be a busy week of travel around the “golden triangle” region of India, then next week I’ll head south to Goa for a couple weeks of R&R on the beach.
Thanks again to everyone who has been following along on my blog and sending me notes of support. It means a lot to hear from friends and family back home, as well as the new friends I’ve been making along the way. Best wishes to all of you, wherever you find yourself at the moment.
Note: I've added a new photo album for the remainder of my trip: http://babas.typepad.com/photos/my_gap_year_4/.
