I just wanna feel the day

It has been just over a week since my last official day at PV and I am nearing the end of my trip as a whole.


     On Tuesday I left for Coorg at about 3pm. I had planned on leaving at 11pm that night for an overnight trip, but when I went to purchase a ticket, the lady sold me one for 3pm, so I went. The journey started out with the ticket lady spelling my name Suuoy when I said w, but they conveniently don't check ID on the bus and as long as you pay you are good to go. For the first hour of my bus ride, I was one of two passengers on the entire bus. I of course thought I was on the wrong bus or misunderstood the ticket saleswoman (seeing as that already happened a few times before) but I proceeded without asking questions for a while longer. We stopped about an hour in, and many more people joined on, still for the entire 7.5 hour journey I remained the only female. As the bus ride continued I nonchalantly read my Indian People Magazine and listened to my iPod, only to be disrupted by our bus ramming into another truck's protruding sugarcane stalks. Luckily, no one was hurt and we continued on our way without evening slowing.

View from Raja's Seat

     When I arrived in Coorg, it was about 10:30 at night (it was only supposed to be a 6 hour drive, but we tended to stop every 5 minutes for one reason or another). Throughout the trip I had been in correspondence with the home stay that I planned on staying at, and to my surprise the owner was waiting at the station to pick me up right when I arrived. From then on out I had only the most pleasant encounters with my host family. They were so incredibly kind and warm and went out of their way on multiple occasions to suit my needs

Alpen Glow Homestay

     After my first night in Coorg I woke up and had a delicious homemade Indian breakfast. Then, the owner dropped me off at a park called Raja's Seat where I could hike around and enjoy the beautiful views. Of course, I ventured off the beaten track a bit and managed to step in a huge pile of poop! Luckily, there happened to be a faucet at the top of the hill that I was able to clean up with. After Raja's Seat I hopped into an auto and asked the driver to take me to Madikeri fort, where my host had recommended I see, but unfortunately there was a miscommunication and he dropped me off at Madikeri court. It was no big deal though, I just walked down to the shopping area and wandered around the little town...and a few hours later Kathleen arrived!

Abbey Falls

   I met up with her back at the house and soon after we headed off to an Indian wedding with our hosts! It was a beautiful occasion, and I was so thrilled to have had to opportunity to see a wedding. I have been itching to go to one since I arrived, but I had come to terms with it remaining a lofty dream. We weren't able to see the ceremony but as soon as we walked in, we took photos with the bride and groom and ate a delicious, traditional Indian lunch.Our hosts seem to know absolutely everyone who lives in Coorg, probably because the family owns and operates the local newspaper. And we met a bunch of their employees at the wedding.

Abbey Falls

Wedding! (sorry for the blurriness)

     After the wedding Kathleen and I took a rickshaw ride up to Abbey Falls where we were able to see a beautiful rushing water fall! She and I later wandered about the town some more and managed to cover everything in just over an hour. For dinner we went to a little hole in the wall that to my surprise, was not that tasty. They stuck hard-boiled eggs in plain rice and called it egg briyani (which is typically an Indian rice dish full of spices and vegetables). We didn't have a ton of options for dinner seeing as the town is really tiny, and so we made due with the eggs and rice. On our walk back to the house there was somehow music was playing throughout and as the rain poured down (as it often does in Coorg) I felt like I was in a Bollywood film.
     The next day there was a city-wide strike so all of the stores were closed and none of the transportation was running. Supposedly, UNESCO is fighting with the town because they are trying to protect its biodiversity by putting regulations on the development. But, the townspeople are unhappy because they want to be able to develop and create more jobs. It was pretty disappointing that everything was closed and we essentially lost a day, but our hosts helped make the best of it and took us to their coffee estate. On the car ride there, I was sure I was on Indiana Jones in Disneyland!

Coffee Estate

     Friday, however, fully made up for all of the lost time! We started out by taking a bus to a few towns over to a town called Kushal Nagar where we went to Dubare Elephant Camp. Here we were able to watch retired elephants, that used to work for the forest department, get fed and bathed and then we had the opportunity to ride them! After the elephant camp we headed to Nisagradam where we walked around a beautiful park that lines the Cauvery River. It is quite a trek getting from Dubare to Nisagradam, but Kathleen and I got really lucky when we found Manu, the auto driver. He dropped us at Nisagradam and waited patiently while we spent time there. Afterwards, he took us to a Tibetan village where there are 9 camps and thousands of Tibetan monks who fled from China for refuge. The highlight of the village was seeing hundreds of monks praying in the Golden Temple, a hugely ornate Tibetan monastery. On the ride there Manu stopped and let us walk around a large pond to see giant fish swimming about. After the monastery, we went deeper into the villages to shop around and get lunch. Our bus back to Bangalore was much later that night so we tried to waste as much time as possible in Kushal Nagar. I didn't want to loiter around our hosts' home and be a burden while we waited for our late night bus.

     We finally, we went back to the home and as always, the couple welcomed us with open arms. When it was time to leave the wife gave us snacks,  coffee (which is SO incredible in coorg considering it is known for its coffee plantations) and gifts! Not only that, but the husband drove us down to the bus stand. It was such a terrific experience, and if anyone is ever in Coorg they should definitely look into Alpen Glow Homestay.

     After waiting a bit at the bus station we were able to get on our bus back to Bangalore. We arrived at 5 in the morning! And here, most things don't open until at least 9am so the one time we welcomed an untimely arrival, we came in right on time. The bus dropped us at the train station for some reason, and seeing as it was the only thing open, we joined with the countless people littered about the ground and propped ourselves against a wall. We ended up falling asleep here for a few hours while we waited for the morning to progress. Finally, we made our way back to Mathyoos, the apartments we were staying in before and where I am staying for the next few days. When we came in breakfast was being made and it felt so wonderful to be back in a familiar place.

     Earlier in the trip I got in touch with an ashram where I would be able to practice yoga for the next few days that I am here in Bangalore. So after I got cleaned up and fed I ventured off to look for the ashram. After a pretty long auto drive, and a decent walk I was able to find it. The owner and I had a bit of a miscommunication over what sort of practice I was seeking, but it ended up working out really well! He thought I was just looking for a studio to practice in, but I was actually looking for a class. He ended up talking to me for about 30 minutes about the ashram's rituals and the religious side of his practice. I had trouble personally connecting to his religious views, but I appreciated all the time he took to explain it to me. We went on to practice one-on-one for 2 hours and I really learned a lot. He showed me breathing and meditation techniques and different asanas. He was quite curious about my previous practice in the states even though I assured him that it was far from extensive. He asked me to show him some of the poses that I know and so I demonstrated my version of the Sun Salutation and some of the Warrior poses. At the very end of the session he asked me to show him the Sun Salutation again because he wanted to learn from it. I was really excited but also super nervous because I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. He was really encouraging though and thought it was wonderful. There are countless versions of the Sun Salutation so it was interesting to compare our two. Plus, if I messed up it wouldn't be the end of the world because there are so many different ways of going about it.
     After yoga I headed back into Shanthi Nagar, where I am staying, to meet up with Kathleen. We went out to an early dinner at Mavalli Tiffin Rooms which is supposedly the oldest restaurant in Bangalore. Its been acclaimed by all these different newspapers as the best Indian food in town. What a shame that we found it so late in our trip! We ended up sharing a table with two women who recommended the masala dosa and it was so delicious, I am going to try to go back once more before I leave Bangalore.
     After dinner Kathleen was off to the airport. So, for the next few days I'll be exploring all by myself. After weeks and weeks of having really positive encounters throughout India and of having really productive exploration of myself, I am eager to go back home to California and be with my family. I arrive back on Tuesday, but will try to update once more before then!

Crossing the River to Dubare Elephant Camp

Gaduge, found this while wandering around Coorg
It is the burial site of King Raja

  

Coorg!

     

Coming to a close

I apologize again for how long it has been since my last post. But, a lot has gone on and I am eager to update so bare with me as recap my last few days at PV. It has been a busy, busy week and I have just been focused on staying afloat amongst the ebb and flow of India, so here's my best attempt to update the last bit of time.

Talking with Pervin Verma

Leadership in an NGO
     On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to meet Pervin Verma. She is the former CEO of CRY India (Children's Rights and You), has been working as a consultant in the development sector for Ashoka Innovators for Social Change, Sutradhaar, an education initiative and Greenpeace India. She also works with Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS) to help create leadership for large scale social change. She was really fascinating and very easy to relate to. I had the privileged of speaking candidly with her for quite some time and she helped me understand where I lie on various issues, by questioning my feelings about SE and poverty with her probing insight.


     Pervinji focuses on noetic action at TISS, which she described as a combination of both knowing and wisdom--an important balance between academia and experience. She said that some of the most important movements have been started by the illiterate (and there is a distinction between illiterate and uneducated, because the people she is referring to have been educated by life experiences). She works to build leadership from this space; the balance between knowing and having wisdom. She stresses the importance of using this space to create action, hence her focus on leadership.
     A lot of power can be sourced from deep within, from the wisdom that you have gained through having different experiences. Pervinji creates strong, passionate leaders by turning knowledge and wisdom into action and by honing in on a few key questions:


What do you stand for? Your values.
What breaks your heart wide open?
What do you feel passionate about?
What do you want to offer? What will provide you and others will wholeness?
And, are you manifesting what you stand for?


     If you are manifesting what you stand for (in Pervinji's case it is compassion, dignity and integrity) then you will stand in your power and embrace those qualities. By doing so, you will also give others permission to stand in their own power. I could feel Pervinji standing in her power and manifesting what she stood for, which helped me open up and feel confident in standing up for my own values. If you can manifest what you stand for in yourself, especially in the NGO workplace, you will find that the hierarchy will dissolve and you can understand people on a human level--their values and their inspirations.

PV Team: Navee, Parisa, me, Kristen

     Of course, there will be fears and trepidations that you will face as a leader, and as a person standing confidently in the direction of their values. It is important to recognize those fears and name them, but then step away from them. Step into an area of power, where you are grounded and confident. Let that fear "muscle" atrophy. Pervinji said, release any self-doubt because if you want to inspire others, you must stand and act in spite of your fear.
     When acting as a leader you must also "enroll" others by inspiring them to see their contribution and ignite a passion in them. But first, you must be confident in your own stance and your own beliefs.
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And finally, there are three key components to being a strong leader:
Listening deeply, battling outside thoughts
Speaking responsibly, providing feedback that offers growth and inspiration through speech
and managing conversation, dealing with complaints.


Throughout Pervinji's talk, she really spoke to a lot of the emotions that I have been feeling since I arrived in India, and actually even before I came. When we were able to speak one-on-one afterwards, she really helped me sort through some of my thoughts about where I want to focus my energy, and where I can utilize my talents and passions best. She helped me validate my feelings of uncertainty and accepted my lofty hopes and aspirations. I really look forward to keeping in close contact with her beyond my stay in India.


Last week at PV
     As our last week of work came to a close it was extremely hard to say goodbye to all of the good friends I have made since being here. In just 7 weeks, I really feel like I have made connections that will last a lifetime. I am so deeply grateful for how open and accepting my entire workplace was with me, and how willing everyone was to mold me into their culture at work.

Lunch with Akeela and Pretha, the soft skills teachers

     The last week was really busy and work went on despite all of the emotions linked to the difficult goodbyes. My partners and I really honed in on our final business report and finished creating the entire framework for a focus group. Our final contributions to PV were using the surveys that we created and distributed at the schools to better understand the cultural context that we were working with. We used that data to create the best framework we could for a focus group. When we first came to PV, our task was to find a way that the company could maintain the quality that it currently provides to the 100 schools it works within, throughout its scaling phase as it adopts 400 more schools.

Final Presentation

Vasu's Birthday!

     Of course, this was a huge undertaking, and how to scale is a battle all organizations must fight. After refining our question many, many times and finally came up with (more or less); creating an assessment process that would help PV understand its impact on a large scale. The project has many, many facets and got pretty complicated, but essentially we decided that the videos that PV implements are the inputs and they are inspiring certain activities to take place in the classroom (ie peer-to-peer learning), and it is these activities that are causing student's SSLC (state exam) scores to improve. We used Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory as a framework for understanding how students learn. Then we decided that motivation, retention, motoric reproduction, and attention (the four domains of the theory) are all being affected positively by the videos and thus helping students learn. We are using the focus group to understand how students learn based on the perception of the students and teachers. We will use the information we gain from the focus group to assess whether or not the videos are properly addressing how students learn, and thus having an impact on their success. We trained the soft skills teachers on how to run a focus group and conversed with them about the most effective means for drawing information from a focus group. We learned so much from them and their expertise in psychology. On Friday, we presented our entire project to the different departments and administration at PV and received really great feedback. Suman, the head honcho (especially while Mr. Naresh is away) was thrilled with our work and jokingly said that he wasn't going to let us go back to the US, since he controls our employment visas. It was a really great feeling to have our work be seen in such a good light and be validated by those that will actually be affected by it.

Final Presentation

Falling ill

Sporting a super cute gown

     However, I was late to the presentation on Friday because I was at the doctor that entire morning. The night before (Thursday) I was in agonizing pain all night so in the morning it made sense to visit a doctor. She gave me a little advice and guessed around what my problem could be, but nothing could really be assessed without a blood test. So, I carried on my way to the office and made it to the presentation (it was about 1/4 of the way through by the time I got there). After a day at the office, I went home and met with a doctor who took my blood for testing. The next night we went out to dinner and I was starting to feel a lot better. I was taking the medicine the doctor prescribed and I thought maybe whatever it was had passed. But, that night it got much, much worse and I started having trouble breathing and couldn't walk so my friends and adviser called an ambulance. I went to the hospital and immediately got injections to help take away the pain, followed by a CT scan and a night of monitoring and IV drips. In the late morning the doctor informed me that I had two kidney stones. Supposedly, it is pretty common to get kidney stones in India, and so I guess I was in the right place for treatment. The doctors helped a lot and were able to take away most of the pain, so by the next evening I was itching to leave. I kept asking for urgent discharge, and finally they let me go. After I left the hospital, I was feeling much better and had a lot of medicine in me, so I quickly ran home got my sari and went off to our final celebration dinner.

     People from all the different organizations that GSE has been working with were at the dinner, as well as alumni that had flown in, and members of India's NGO community. It was a really nice evening and my partners and I had so much support from PV. My boss, Darsana, brought her brother along. He and I got to talking about kidney stones because he had one a few years back. In India when you have something in common with someone else (usually when you are wearing a matching outfit) you do the "same pinch", so naturally, he and I did a same pinch for kidney stones! You just pinch the other person and say "same pinch", and then you can make a wish. I am going to miss all of these little quirky interactions that happened on the daily at PV.
All in all it was a nice evening and I am so glad I was able to make it. I was able to talk to people from all different organizations and got a better understanding of what the rest of the GSE team was doing.


Prepping for travel
     Yesterday, I went out to lunch at this really cute restaurant with Bhavani and Sujith from my work, and Kristen and Amanda. It was so nice to just hang out with them and be able to relax before saying goodbye. They are such wonderful people and I am so glad that I was able to connect with both of them on such an intimate level. Bhavani made it very clear that if I need anything at all while I am still in Bangalore, that I needn't hesitate to ask her. I am really going to miss both her and Sujith, but fully plan on staying in contact with both of them.
     Tonight, I am leaving for Coorg, which is a beautiful area about 6 hours away by bus. There is a lot of greenery there a huge Tibetan monastery that I look forward to visiting. I had planned on traveling with Kathleen down to Alleppey in Kerala to spend the night on a houseboat, and then to Cochin for a few nights before reaching Coorg, but since I got sick it was no longer a good idea to take a 12 hour bus ride out of the state, plus going on a houseboat to a remote area no longer seemed like the best idea. But, I am still excited to meet up with her in Coorg, and I plan on staying a little extra time there before coming back to Bangalore to fly out on the 16th. I spoke with Suman about Coorg and he gave me a lot of great recommendations on what to do there, so I look forward to it!

Bhavani, Kristen, me, Sujith

Bhavani, Amanda, Kristen, me

The cows rule the road

Eating only the healthiest snacks and watching Laguna with Kasie

Delays

Again, sorry for the delay. I will update soon with my recent activity regarding my last days of work and all of my changing travel plans. I got sick so my initial travel plans post-internship have been flipped. All is well though and updates are coming!

First, to Navadarshanam and then to Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital and back to PV

At lunch the other day, sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs...

But somehow we still make room for icecream

For our final CSIM training session as a GSE group we went on a field trip to explore two different types of enterprises, the first was Navadarshanam which means new vision. Navadarshanam is an organization that concentrates on an ecological and spiritual alternative form of living that is inspired by Ghandi. The second stop was at Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital where cardiac care is the primary focus. Here I was able to see some truly incredible work.

Water, Energy and Waste

At our first stop we met with R. Rajagopalan at Navadarshanam. This is an ecological sanctuary that has been around for 21 years and is situated on 110 acres of land in Tamil Nadu (the same state as Ooty and next door to Karnataka). When Navadarshanam was first initiated, there were only 3 trees throughout all of the 110 acres, but through the implementation of solar fences, they have been able to keep the the cows from grazing and since countless native species of plants have grown back and the biodiversity has been entirely regenerated. There are still many cows on site and they are useful for their dung for bio gas, and for grazing the fire lanes, but no longer disrupt the land's native species. The property is completely off of India's power grid and primarily runs on solar energy (the org. has experimented with wind energy and other renewable forms of energy, but did not find success). The power grid in India is extremely unreliable, which I am finding to be true at the apartment also! Because Navadarshanam is in a rural area, electricity may be cut 12-14 times a day, and since it is so far removed from any city, the concerns and cries of the people at Navadarshanam are not heard . India as a whole is extremely centralized so power, pollution, waste, etc.all aggregate to the cities.

Rajagopala-ji

Cows grazing the fire lanes

     The idea of Navadarshanam was to develop a group of people to live and farm on these acres; people who would concentrate on spiritual health and environmental sustainability. However, Rajagopalan-ji was extremely honest with us about the hardships that the organization has faced throughout the decades; the primary concern has been attracting people. It has proved to be a struggle to convince others to leave their urban, modern lives for a life of positive development (of mind and environment) in rural Tamil Nadu. In order for the organization to progress they must have people to farm and sustain the land, but leaving a modern life for Navadarshanam often also means leaving your family.
     The trust that started the business is depleting too fast to uphold the entire organization, and so Navadarshanam has found greater sustainability by producing healthy food items to sell in Bangalore. They have found success in 6 million turnovers thanks to devoted buyers and stores. Their fiscal activity consists of visitors, workshops, and selling their organic farming products.

Navadarshanam

     R. Rajagopalan spent most of our conversation together expressing his concern for the future of the world in terms of environmental sustainability. He expressed that it is only a matter of time (likely a decade or so) until the depletion of water, gas, power, etc. collide and we face a striking struggle. He went on to talk about how he served his full sentence in the modern world, before joining Navadarshanam (2 years back) and seemed to diligently choose the word sentence, but also chose not to elaborate. He has decided to minimize the footprint he leaves on the world, but admits with remorse that Navadarshanam's footprint extends beyond its immediate surroundings. He travels all around the country and world preaching his concern through workshops and has empowered many people to live more conscientiously. Nonetheless, it is difficult to get others to compromise what they see as comfort, and oftentimes people's comforts take a toll on the natural world. He is afraid that the window of opportunity for society to improve this world is shrinking rapidly and time may exhaust before enough people agree to make changes.

Skylights

     As we listened to R. Rajagopalan speak, we sat in a building that was crafted entirely by Eco-friendly and sustainable resources. This particular home is made of stabilized mud blocks. The concept of creating mud blocks is really wonderful; they are made from natural materials that use up less conventional energy that is harmful to the environment. But also, when the materials are to be done away with, they can go right back into the earth where they came from, unlike concrete or metal. The roof has holes that are crafted in a way that light can come in to minimize the use of light bulbs, but rain cannot, and through convection all of the hot air is released so there is a constant comfortable, natural air conditioning occurring. There are countless simple solutions like these architectural ones  that can make a significant impact without compromising comfort and security.

     Our use of water, energy, and our production of waste really needs to be reassessed. Collecting rainwater will vastly decrease the amount of water wasted, and help our drains; installing an LED system of lights, saving gas, and using a solar focused system of lighting (via solar panels or skylights) will help regulate our use of energy; and by simply separating organic and non-organic waste for compost we can significantly decrease the amount of waste that we procure. The poet, June Jordan said, "We are the one's we are waiting for". I think this thought is really powerful because not only does it convey a sense of urgency, but also a responsibility to all. I have accepted, with open arms, the responsibility I have been given as today's youth and a future adult, but it is important to understand that anyone who walks on this earth can take some sort of action and do some sort of good for the present, which could largely influence the future as well. Rather than waiting for the next generation to grow into its role, the youth can start making changes today (and so can the adults and even the elders.
 Rajagopalan-ji wove in a number of materials for learning more about the environment throughout our conversation. Laurie Baker is an Englishman architect that met with Ghandi and after which stayed in India and created a campus on how to build eco-homes.You can also follow Joanna Macy's travels and exploration in what she calls The Great Turning, watch Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken or The Story of Stuff and What a Way to Go to learn more about some of the things that have inspired his work and the life he has chosen.

Fresh farmed food

Cardiac Care
     After Navadarshanam in Tamil Nadu, we headed back to Bangalore where we explored Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital. Here I was truly  touched by the work of Dr. Davi Sheety. Dr. Sheety currently works to give top quality healthcare to all people in spite of financial burdens or impositions. So far, he has never had to turn a soul away because they couldn't afford treatment.

Religious center outside the hospital

     Before entering the hospital, there stands a religious building with four separate sections, all of which meet in the middle and share two common walls. Each section houses a different place of worship; a gurdwara, a temple, a mosque, and a church. Then, once you enter the hospital there is a vast and beautiful Ganesha idol. In Hinduism Ganesha represents success and well being through to the end of your endeavor, whatever that may be, and Narayana (the hospital's name) means preservation of life; what a cool synthesis for a hospital to hold.

Telemedicine

Sam and Amanda at the hospital

     Narayana is the second largest cardiac center in the world and does 32-36 cardiac surgeries a day! 10-12 of which are on children, making it the largest pediatric cardiac center in the world. The average doctor here does 3-4 surgeries a day, whereas in the US the average doctor might do that in a week. The difference is primarily population, but by completing  6 days of surgery a week (compared to 1 or 2 for a US doctor) the doctors truly become experts in their work. Dr. Davi Sheety has saved 17,000 lives in counting. He also has invested heavily in telemedicine, this is where a doctor can meet with patients all around the world via web cameras and have consultations when they are miles apart. Sometimes these consultations lead to the patient needing to come to Bangalore to meet Dr. Sheety in person, or to simply go to their nearest hospital where Dr. Sheety can convey to their local doctors what needs to be done. On our walk through the hospital, we were able to see telemedicine in action. We also walked through the prenatal and pediatric ICU where I was completely taken aback and had trouble holding back tears.. There were rows upon rows of babies all hooked up to tubes, motionless and with their eyes shut. Upon leaving the ICU  I was uplifted to know that so many children were being helped and are in the right hands, but at the time it was a struggle to see so many babies that must have been in a lot of pain.
In a BBC interview that I watched, Dr. Sheety claims he is an ordinary man, not doing charity, but simply helping his common humanity with the talent he possesses and that is nothing extraordinary.

CSIM Family

Both of these excursions were hosted by CSIM. CSIM has taught me so many valuable lessons and has exposed me to some really remarkable people and enterprises. I am really thankful for the opportunity to learn from those that are fully immersed in the social sector and hope to take these lessons into my own future, working with society.

Sari Day

At work today, Friday, we all wore our saris! It was so much fun! All the ladies on the quality team wore saris of all different colors and patterns while all the men wore traditional Indian tops. In the morning our boss created a beauty parlor/ changing room in the small conference room. The women helped wrap us up in the dresses and adorned us with bindis. After which, the entire PremaVidya company met in the main office and joined together in chanting, prayer and meditation for our boss Naresh-sir. He is undergoing tests today to see if his brother is the right match for the bone marrow transplant. I have stressed this before, but it truly is a beautiful community that I have the privilege of working for and amongst . Everyone cares so much for each other and the support is unconditional.We all sat around in a circle and Naresh-sir's best friend led the first chant. All of our voices echoed and I entered a state of complete relaxation, I have never before been able to enter a state of such deep meditation. We were also led in a prayer from the bible and in another meditation and song accompanied by bells, drums, and a guitar. At the end we ate the blessed bananas and milk and sent on the bananas that we blessed to Mr. Naresh. So, not only did he receive our spiritual energy, but he also will be able to recieve the tangible energy provided by the bananas that were blessed through the various ceremonious activities. I am so lucky to be an engaged part of this community and I am really going to miss all of the wonderful people that I have the pleasure of working with each and every day.