October 22nd- Gaining sympathy. Crossing a bridge in La Carpio, a poor community on the outskirts of San Jose, which some women must cross twice a day with their many children. 
September 19th- Creating friendships. Jonathan, Robert and me with our Borucan host family. 
September 9th- Sightseeing. At Volcan Poas on a day trip with GC. 
September 10th- Happiness. Here, Nikki is thoroughly enjoying some delicious fruit at Don Juan Mora's organic farm in Sarapiqui. 
October 11th- Seth holds the chord while children from the 5 Ways House (a grassroots project in Hualien, Taipei), play his guitar.
October 4th- James makes music in spite of the drizzle of rain, standing on a historic road in Sansia, Taiwan. (CRC)
First night in Boruca, poetic dramatization of the awe and wonder I was feeling after seeing the beauty of the village in the peaceful calm of the night. 
Late night adventuring with Kevin Kim Chi and Sassy Emma, and that night was such a blur of excitement. 
This was my view from the plane when flying to Costa Rica, and I'd like to think the moon was watching with interest. 
Caitlin and Robert made some of the first good jokes of the whole trip, and seem to have hit it off right away. 
Home
The Witch Tree
Culture
La Carpio, the world behind a smile: La Carpio, Costa Rica. Sept 14, 09.
Contrast: La Carpio, Costa Rica. Sept. 14th. 
Independence: Heredia, Costa Rica. Sept. 15th. 
Water Falls: Boruca, Costa Rica. Sept 17th. 
My classmate Elsa was instructed to trace her hand along the thin waterfall inside the world Religions museum in Taipei, Taiwan on the Comparative Religion and Culture program. This exercise was meant to help participants practice walking into the museum in complete silence and only listen to the soft fall of the water and the gentle feel of the smooth ripples. 
A big part of the Taiwanese culture is the food one may purchase from small stands on the street. These are fried dumplings filled with pork and accompanied with thick soy sauce. They were served on a plate covered in a plastic bag for easy clean up. Using disposable wooden chopsticks to eat this favorite food makes the experience much more fun. This dumpling delicacy was eatin in Taipei County, Taiwan by Sophie Kirpan as part of the CRC program. 
This photograph was taken of Molly at the Chiang Kai-Shek Hall in Taipei City, Taiwan on CRC. Although the buildings look miniature, it is a big, beautiful memorial hall. 
Molly and I are standing outside of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei City, Taiwan on CRC. This large area hosts other buildings including museums, convert halls (frequently attended by the president) and gardens. 
After Dandiya - "Dandiya" is the name of the dance for the 9 Nights Festival for Hindus. The dance and sticks imitates a fight between two gods. The photo is some of the India Center students after returning from the party. 
Indian Cloth - The first thing I noticed about India is the cloth - the colors and patterns are nothing I have ever seen anywhere else. This picture shows four different girls' 9 Nights Festival skirts. 
Heredia's local Saturday farmer's market, Costa Rica - Blocks and blocks of booth selling everything and anything, from fresh produce to fish to juice to clothes to flowers to chicken to soap to sugar cane to beef to honey to seeds to pork to coconuts to.......................
A Nicaraguan family's backyard
Rincon de la Vieja National Park, Costa Rica - The local volcano heats the streams that pour into this blue lagoon. 
La Gigantona, Nicaragua - A local legend. 
A woman peeking into a pouch outside of a mosque.
Washing of the elephants near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
A young boy crying on the stairs in Varanasi, India.
A woman overlooking the city in Agra, India.
9/14/09 - A stand at the Shilin Night Market boasts a dazzling display of colorful fruit - yours for $100 NT cup! Taipei, Taiwan
9/20/09 - A child's bicyle stands in a building in the gardens of the National Palace Museum. Taipei, Taiwan
Prayers tied to a tree at the Heian Shrine.
A shinto shrine being re-painted in Osaka.
A boy playing in the river during the Hassaku festival.
A traditional wedding taking place in Osaka. 
Two young Tibetan girls with their puppy.
Workers resting by a fountain at the unveiling of an artistic compound.
People enjoying the spring day at West Lake.
A bright shopping street in Nanjing.
Overlooking the wooden blue canoe that was the mode of transportation for my classmate and I during our independent projects on an indigenous community in Panama. 
Students prepare for departure in Ecuador for a grueling two day hike up the sacred Imbabura Mountain.
What is poverty? These boys are categorized to be living in extreme poverty in La Caripo neighborhood in Costa Rica. Despite the generalization, they seemed to be having a fine time playing with their newly befriended grasshopper held in the boy’s outstretched hand.
Can you believe that this is the space in which we are able to learn and grow? This picture was taken on Popas Island Number Two- where an indigenous community lives in Panama. It was taken during a two-week independent study project investigating the role of art in the Ngobe indigenous community. 
Bengali Mai, tantric aghori. Meeting her was part of our coordinator’s agenda to make Hinduism more complicated for us: a) it’s not clear how tantra is part of Hinduism, although they are commonly lumped together, and b) tantric aghoris are supposed to be male, and she’s not. Actually meeting and speaking with a living representative of the complexity and diversity of Indian religion makes it a lot less overwhelming and a lot more rewarding.
Head scarves drying outside a window in Istanbul. I had the idea that female, pious Muslims led relatively grey lives. There are certainly a lot of associated traditions that strike me as stultifying. But the Muslim head scarves are more colorful and expressive than almost anything that the liberated secularist women wear. In looking for expressions of individualism and personality, where do-I/should-I look?
Participating in domestic puja in Varanasi. Once I let my conceptions of religion and art, ritual and theater blur into one other, it ceased looking like superstition to me and started to become something I could appreciate.
Meditation in Thailand. Okay, they know what they’re doing. Give us westerners a meditation class with a great view over a misty valley and we’ll be happy. But they’re also wonderful about poking holes in our attachments. Meditation class was ridiculously simple, which made me realize how my preconceptions about meditation were ridiculously complicated. 
