Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the long delay.

A lot has changed since my last post.  Shortly after coming here I decided that after I finished my program here I was going to pursue further studies in the United States.  After that I did a lot of research and determined I would have to leave India a in Nov. 2013 to finish a few classes and take the SAT so I could go on to a four year school in the US.  Once that was settled I worked out a program for the rest of my time here so that I could get the most out of what Vivekananda University has to offer.  However, the difficulties of living in India have finally caught up with me and I've had enough.  I don't have any excuse for leaving, I tried for some time to adjust and keep up my enthusiasm, but it's just too much for me to handle.  So I have purchased my ticket for January 1st 2013.  I'll fly out of Kolkata and stop in Australia for a month to visit family on my way back to the US.

But besides all that a lot of cool stuff is going on.  It's Durga Puja at Belur Math and I've been taking prasad with the public everyday.  They feed tens of thousands of people everyday and it's total chaos standing in line and trying to navigate it all.  But it's kind of cool in it's own way.  The Puja has also been cool, the Math set up this massive stage on one of the lawns where they have this huge image of Durga and the worship goes on practically all day.  Also, next week I'm going to leave the university and spend a month seeing some different parts of north India.  I'm really looking forward to having some free time to explore and really get a feel for the country.

So that's it, I'm doing well, but staying here is no joke.  By the end I will have been here 6 months, which is a decent amount of time.  I'll be back in the US sometime in early February.  Thanks a lot to everyone who supported me and for all the love and encouragement I got, I'll make sure to post lots of  pictures of my trip.

Ripkyn